Sad Roos

I’m taking a break from retirement today because I am sad. My Dad told me of the passing of one of my biggest fans.

Marcy Butler Challen was a real nice person and loved us greyhounds very much. Lots of people loved her too and are very sad now—just like me.

She always told me how much liked my stories and what I had to say. I liked her too and I hope she gets to play with lots of greyhounds in Heaven.

Me and my Mom and my Dad are going to miss her.

Sad roos today.

Into the sunset!

Yesterday Dad called me down into his office and said he had to talk to me. I wondered what it was about and ran quickly to find out. I like when me and Dad have talks. I don’t get in trouble much and usually when we get done talking, I get a treat cause I am a good boy.

Dad said I should sit cause this was important news. I could tell Dad was stressed right away, cause I don’t sit and he knows that. I walked over to Dad, gave him a wink, and said, “Talk to me, Dad.”

Dad told me the news; he said that he is not going to be president of ESGAO anymore. I couldn’t believe my ears cause I know Dad loves helping us Greyhounds find homes. Dad said that he had to stop being president for “personal reasons.” I am Sky and he should tell me what personal reasons mean, but what he said is that if he is not president, he will have more time to play ball with me and go for long walks!

That’s all I had to hear—if Dad wants to play more with me, then I want to play more with him. Right then and there, I decided I have personal reasons too, and it’s time for me to retire from writing my blog so I have time to play with Dad. Dad said he also wants to spend time with Petey, cause he is sick and Mom and Dad want to take good care of him.

Being a big star is a lot of pressure for a greyhound. And being a writer means spending a lot of time researching things on The Google. I’d rather research which treat is the best and see how fast I can chase the ball!

So this will be my final blog and I want to thank everyone for loving me and reading what I have to say. In a year and a half, I wrote more than 50 blogs. That’s a lot and I need a break, for personal reasons. I am so happy in my new home and my counter says that over 7,000 times folks visited fiveroos.com to read what it is like for me to be a retired racer.

I’ll leave my blog up for awhile . . . and you never know. Maybe one day me and Dad will not have personal reasons anymore and I’ll start writing again. But for now, I am a retired, retired racing greyhound. It’s time for me to put down my pen, grab my ball and roo off into the sunset with my family and Petey— and maybe Bailey too.

Thank you again for being my fans—I will miss you. Come visit me anytime! Five roos to everyone!

Spend a Day with a Grey . . . Come home with a Stray!

Spend a Day was so much fun, I was so happy to see so many of my old friends! I wish every day was Spend A Day . . . With A Grey. I was so tired after the event that I slept for two days.

While we was there at Spend A Day, we could hear this little dog whining and crying behind a wall. He sounded so sad. When we were getting ready to leave, mom found out that he was a stray dog and that nobody loved him. He had been behind the wall for four months cause the nice person who picked him up couldn’t find out where he lived.

Mom and Dad talked about that dog the whole way home, they were very sad for him. I didn’t know this dog, but I was sad for him too. Only thing I knew was that we wasn’t a greyhound because he didn’t come out from behind the wall and play with us.

All week we were all thinking about that poor dog and finally Mom asks Dad if she can go get him. Dad said yes. So on Friday Mom goes and gets this dog and now I know what he looks like. He is small and cute and acts like a puppy, not like a grown up like me. He looks like a mini Petey, except he is black and Petey is white.

Mom and Dad are taking care of him until they find out who wants to love him. They named him Bailey, I don’t know why. I think Mom and Dad already love him—they go outside and play with him. I met him too, but I don’t know if I love him yet. He keeps wanting to jump on me and I don’t like that.

Mom and Dad messed up Spend A Day; it’s not come home with a Stray. It’s eat a hot dog and save a fast dog.

Dogs without no homes get no roos, but people who save dogs get 5 roos . . . I don't know, I'm so confused. I hope Bailey gets a home soon.

Spend A Day is almost here!

If you’re like me, you’re counting down the days to Spend A Day . . . With A Grey. It’s the best day of the year for us greyhounds from ESGAO. Mom and Dad and many other nice folks are working hard to make it a special day. I heard some of the stuff they were saying cause I got to go to the planning meeting. That was a fun day too . . . I was playing with Rollie and Macho and gosh so many friends. For a while Rollie was chasing a tractor and I was chasing Rollie and Macho was chasing me. We were being so silly!

I heard April is also National Adopt a Greyhound month. I looked it up on The Google and it’s true! I was adopted in April two years ago, one day before my mom’s birthday! That will always be a special day for me. Please adopt three greyhounds, or as many as you can, every April!

I am going to have my own Five Roos table again, so you can come see me and say hello. My cute friend Kelsey is coming to help me with my table. She is a very nice girl. If I am napping, just say my name, “Sky,” and I’ll hop right up to meet you. I will have my t-shirts for sale for my loyal fans. It has my picture on it and they won’t cost very many dollars. I also have some super cute can covers for sale.

We’re also going to play games, eat treats and roo real loud. If you have a lucky ticket, you can win $500 worth of gas. If you don’t want gas, you can give that to me cause Dad says gas for the SUV costs a lot of dollars. There is also a silent auction, but it is not really silent, you’re allowed to talk and roo. I double checked it.

Please come see me! I’ll give each person who comes and says hello to me five roos!

Private Sky

Mom and Dad have been calling me Private Sky lately. You see, I like to investigate things. When mom comes home, I have to go through her bags and things to find out where she has been. I want to know. And also I am looking for food, duh—right? Sometimes Mom and Dad bring home leftovers and it’s very important that I know what they brought me right away.

But I investigate everything, I have a good nose! The other day, Dad had an envelope and I stuck my nose right in there. The people who sent Dad mail had a dog and I could smell it. I think I know who that dog was—it was a greyhound for sure!

Dad says I don’t go for walks anymore, that I go for a sniff! I do more sniffing than walking. Dad said it’s my walk and I can do what I want, but sometimes he rushes me along. “C’mon Sky,” Dad says when him and Petey are ready to go. I say, “Please, just four more sniffs, and Dad sighs and says hurry it up!” I like sniffing up the neighborhood—I need to know what dogs have been getting walks—and I have to let them know that Sky was here!

I think I am good investigator. If you need something investigated let me know and I’ll get you answers. Between my nose and The Google, I pretty much know everything!

Knowing everything is fun, I give it 3.5 roos!

What does the Sky say?

Ever hear that song “What Does the Fox Say?” Dad said it is silly and that I should look it up on The You Tube. I found the video and watched it—and Dad was right, it was so silly and I loved it! I was laughing and wagging my tail really fast. It is a funny song—it is about animals and the things they say. But nobody knows what the fox says and they make up voices that sound nothing like a fox. And they also put on goofy clothes that don’t make them look like a fox either. A bunch of them start dancing all funny.

Dad knows I like that song now and when we’re singing and dancing, we will do a greyhound version. Dad will stop and look at me at say, “What does the Sky say?” Right then I get ready, cause I know my part is coming up. Dad says “roo-roo-roo” to start it off and then I go “roo-roo-roo” real loud!

Then we’ll sing it again—sometimes like five times. We’ll just keep doing it. Petey just looks at us and laughs too. Petey don’t sing (don’t ask, it’s not a pretty conversation) but he likes dancing and watching us.

Over the holiday, we sang that song as a phone message for my Mom. She didn’t know what the heck was going on. The phone said, “You have one new message.” When mom played it, she heard, “What does the Sky say, roo-roo-roo, roo-roo-roo” real loud.

I like silly songs and I like singing when I know the words. The fox song gets 3 roos.

You're it!

Hey, I learned this fun new game called “Tag”! Have you ever heard of it? Dad says it has been around for a long time; he played when he was a young boy.

So what happens is that I am just standing around, probably doing nothing, when Dad sneaks up on me and taps my backside and says, “Tag, you’re it.” After Dad says that, he goes running around the room. I want to say wait, “I’m not ‘it’, I am Sky”! But no time for debate, because the way the game goes, I have to run after Dad and “tag” him.

Dad’s already got a head start because he was playing before I even knew what was going on. He started running and his advantage is that he knows the lay of the land. But I have speed on my side and I use it to my advantage. Greyhounds are faster than Dads.

Mom likes when we play and she is always rooting for me. She says, “get him Sky, get him!" Sometimes Petey runs interference for me, trying to slow Dad down. Petey knows the faster I catch Dad, the sooner we get a treat.

We play in a circle and it’s important that I catch Dad fast because if he gets half way around the circle then he starts messing with me. He starts running one way and then when I start chasing that way, he runs the other way. Dad laughs because he thinks it’s funny that a fast greyhound can’t catch him. Dad thinks he is smart.

But I do catch him, I always catch him—even if I go the wrong way. I am too fast for Dad. And when I catch him, I let him have it. I jump on him real hard and then I start spinning in a circle. I might even roo sometimes.

It’s a fun game and I hope we play lots more time. I give it 3.5 roos!

Happy Roo Year!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Roo Year! Can I get a roo-roo?

I hope everyone made good resolutions. Resolutions are important to make goals for us to do things better than we did last year. The Goggle said that most people do not keep their resolutions, but it is okay to make them anyways.

Last year I made 5 resolutions and I did pretty good with them. But they were challenging and I worked hard on them. Since I am a greyhound in retirement, this year I made some resolutions that I plan to keep—nothing too ambitious!

First, I resolve to eat more. That is a good one and I am certain I can do it if people give me more food. I also resolve to go for more rides. It is important that I go for more rides and I will ask Mom and Dad all the time if I can go. They didn’t buy me an SUV for no reason! Finally, I resolve to go for more walks. It is important that I get exercise, so I need more walks and I resolve to make that happen. Mom and Dad can’t resist my handsome face when I ask for a walk!

So that’s it, pretty easy huh? My roo year resolutions! I hope 2014 is "Five Roos" year for you!

Roo years get 4 roos!

King Sky!

Greyhounds get cold and need to dress warm so that they don’t catch the flu. I like running around in the snow. It’s fun, and Dad says I make a blizzard because I kick up lots of snow when I run fast.

I have a nice purple coat that my Mom bought me. How do you like my purple coat? My Dad says it makes me look like a king! I am not a king, I am Sky!

But what if I were the king? What kind of laws would I make? I think I would make a law that people have to be nice to each other! That’s a good law. And, that all dogs should have a family that loves them. Another law is that every dog should get 24 walks per day—that’s one walk per hour! Let’s see, what else? Oh, yeah, people have to use their turn signals—wait, that might already be a law. My Dad gets mad when people don’t say where they’re going—he says it’s common “courtesy.”

Courtesy, uh oh? Have to go visit The Google on that one. Be right back. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

I’m back, The Google says courtesy is a “gentle politeness to each other.” Good, I like it, though it sounds a bit like my first law. Another law would be that Moms and Dads can stay home from work whenever they want and still get money. They would be allowed to stay home and play with us dogs! Dad said that is a very good law.

What law would you make if you were king? Wait, I got one more . . . dogs named Sky are allowed to have pizza for breakfast if they want it. I think that is a very important law.

Pretending to be the king is fun, I give it 3.5 roos.

Can we get an SUV?

As all my friends know, I really want Mom and Dad to buy an SUV. I’m a big boy and it’s a tough fit in Dad’s car. I started selling t-shirts to raise money to buy my own SUV, but I’ve only made $36.00 so far. Dad says that’s not enough to buy an SUV.

Every day I ask Dad if he is going to buy me an SUV. I usually wake Dad up and our morning goes something like this:

Dad: Good morning Sky, are you hungry?
Me: Good morning Dad. I am hungry! Can we have pizza for breakfast?
Dad: No Sky, no pizza for breakfast.
Me: Can I go for a walk today?
Dad: Maybe Sky, we’ll see how the day goes.
Me: Can I go for a ride today?
Dad: Maybe Sky, we’ll see how the day goes.
Me: Can we buy an SUV today.
Dad: No Sky!

Dad says “no” every day, but I keep asking so he doesn’t forget that I want one.

Well, on Saturday I ask Dad if we can buy an SUV, and he said, “Maybe”!

Maybe? That’s almost a yes and I was so excited that I nearly fell down the stairs! I couldn’t believe my ears. I was so excited. Mom and Dad were talking about it all morning, so I knew it was a good chance! After they left, I waited by the window all day Saturday afternoon to see if Dad brought home an SUV.

Finally, after waiting for what felt like forever, in pulls Dad . . . in an SUV! Yes, finally! I am so excited.

I rushed to meet Dad at the door and asked Dad if I could go for a ride, but he said I have to wait a few days till they spray it or something. I can’t wait!!

An SUV for me to ride in is very cool. I give it 5.0 roos.