Doggie Doo Two

Doggie Doo was so fun! I didn’t want to leave. I hardly took any breaks—I was meeting and greeting people all afternoon. It was raining all morning but the sun came out after we got there.

Mom and Dad went to meet Daniel, the miracle dog. They call him a miracle dog because he didn’t die in the gas chamber. Nobody knows how he survived. I could see him but he had too many fans for me to visit him. He looked so sweet and had a big special chair just for him. His Dad was signing his books. Daniel and his Dad tell people that they should pass laws that make it not okay to use gas chambers. My Dad told him that I write a blog and he seemed impressed.

Later I saw Fog—it was like a canine writer’s convention! We all like saying what we think. Fog has a new Mom and Dad and they seem very nice. He seems very happy.

While I was there, I met Ally and Sidney. They wanted a picture together because they said that out of all the dogs at Doggie Doo, and there were a lot of dogs, that I was their favorite. How cool was that? I almost started rooing right there—but I didn’t want to brag and make the other dogs feel bad.

Mom and Dad said that they are going to the Woolybear Festival on October 6 and because I was so good, I get to go to that too! I can’t wait! Maybe I’ll get to meet and greet Dick Goddard. Maybe he’ll say I’m a good boy and want to read Five Roos.

Doggie Doo gets 4.0 roos!

Daniel and Doggie Doo

I’m so excited, I just found out I am going to Doggie Doo in Oberlin on Saturday. I told Dad I wanted to go and he said I am allowed!

At Doggie Doo, I’ll see some of my old friends and my foster mom and dad. I can’t wait, there will be lots of other dogs there. And a parade! Poor Petey can’t go because Dad said he is too rambunctious. He don’t behave in crowds and wants to go where he is not allowed to go.

One dog that will be at Doggie Doo is Daniel “the miracle dog.” I hope I get to meet him; he is a special little dog. He was supposed to be dead—people tried to kill him by putting him in a gas chamber because he didn’t have a home or a family to love him. But he didn’t die and now he tells people his story. He’s from Alabama just like me and now has a happy home. He even has a book!

Doggie Doo will be a fun day! Come say hi to me and the other dogs! Lots of good dogs need a home.

Gas chambers get no roos; Daniel gets five.

Dad's shoes

I keep a close eye on Dad’s shoes cause when he puts them on, it means I might be going for a walk. Sometimes I get to go, sometimes he is going to work or someplace I can’t go. But whenever he grabs his shoes, I give him my hopeful face.

When I don’t get to go, Dad says, “No, sorry Sky,” and then he tells me where he is going. But when it is time for a walk, Dad says, “Okay, let’s go Sky!”

When I hear that I go nuts. I lose my mind. I am so excited. I can’t wait to go. When I see my leash, I know it’s official, I am going—and then I jump around like crazy and start barking and rooing. I knock over things and run into Petey. I go by the door and start jumping on it . . . I can’t wait. I get going so fast that it is really just a blur. At that point, I am not responsible for my actions.

Mom’s worried that I am addicted to walks and said I might have to join DWA (Dog Walks Anonymous). Dad knows stuff about addiction and said his shoes are my trigger. I don’t know what that means, plus I don’t have a problem. I just love walks and want as many as possible.

Sometimes when Dad is going somewhere and I am not allowed to go, he tries to put his shoes on quietly—so I don’t know. But I can hear him. He’s not fooling me. I come running and give him my face (see photo, by Chris Paulus)

Going for walks is the most fun thing I do. It gets 5.0 roos.

I am an entrepreneur!

Dad says entrepreneurs are people who do a business in hopes of living the “American Dream.” Right then and there, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur—I want an American Dream!

But what can a silly-eared greyhound make a business be about? I pondered and contacted business advisors to see what they thought. I tried calling a man named Warren Buffett to see what he said, but he wasn't home. After much debate, and practice spelling the word ‘entrepreneur,’ I narrowed it down to two ideas—lemonade or t-shirts. The advisors said that many people start out by selling lemonade, but I decided on t-shirts. I am a risk-taker and I think out of the box—so I am going to break all the rules and sell t-shirts.

I told Dad my idea and he said I could. I told Mom and she wanted to help me! So, the three of us sat around last week to make up some t-shirt ideas. But what do we put on the t-shirts? The advisors said to make a business about something you know. What do I know—I know me, and people like me, and my blog—so that’s what my t-shirts will be about. Me, my blog and what greyhounds like.

So here I go. I have two Five Roos t-shirts that I will be selling. When I sell one, I will give half the profit to the Erie Shores Greyhound group so they can rescue more greyhounds (Dad says that’s smart because it is tax-deductible) and I will save the other half for my American Dream.

I’ve already sold two t-shirts and the calculator said I only need to sell 45,251 more in order to get my dream—an SUV! Dad says we can deduct that from the taxes too. I don’t know what taxes are, but seems like nobody likes paying them. I have to look ‘taxes’ up on The Google later.

Being an entrepreneur is very exciting, I give it 4.5 roos.

Vacation is Over!

Well my Mom and Dad’s vacation is over and it is back to normal. I am so sad. I like when Mom and Dad are on vacation. They are home most of the day, and we get to play outside and get to eat lots of vacation food. We make sure we get our walks and lots of times we get a ride too—on the same day! One day we got a ride to the fast food place and I got a hamburger. I love hamburgers, Petey too!

Me and Petey got a new toy—a big squeaky ball. It’s fun. Dad throws it and I go get it as fast as I can. Sometimes I give it back to Dad to throw again; sometimes I take it in the house for safe keeping. Dad laughs when I do that.

When I get tired of playing, I lie down in the grass. I often fall asleep. It's very relaxing.

My Mom and Dad were gone for two days to watch tennis balls go back and forth in Cincinnati and my Uncle Dave came over to take care of me and Petey. Petey loves Uncle Dave; they go way back a lot of years. I like Uncle Dave too; he’s easy going just like me. He likes to get us to play. Petey likes roughhousing with Uncle Dave—to see who is tougher. Sometimes they wrestle like MMA. I just watch; wrestling is Petey’s thing.

I can’t wait until the next vacation! I give it 4 roos.

Doing an "S"

The other day Dad was cutting the grass and I was outside spotting for him. I look for things in the yard that he shouldn’t run over—like my toys! While I was on the lookout I saw a baby snake. I was so shocked; I never saw such a thing! I had to let Dad know this right away!

I probably would have been scared, but this was a small snake and he was anxious to get out of the yard. I watched him as he slithered away, doing his “S” to move real fast. He was scared of me, Dad and the lawn mower!

Snakes don’t have any legs like me, so I had to get on the computer and look up how they move on The Google. It’s pretty amazing they can move without legs by doing an “S.”

Dad told me that last year when he was jogging around the neighborhood he saw a baby snake in the road. It was trying to get out of the road, but no matter how hard he tried to do his “S” he couldn’t make it up the curb. Dad said he tried doing a fast “S” and a big “S” but neither worked. He was too small to get over the curb. Dad said he got a stick and helped the snake get out of the road.

Seeing a baby snake was pretty cool. I don’t know if I want to see a big snake; Dad says they can get pretty big! I give it 3.5 roos.

The Greyt Race

Last Sunday, me and Dad went to the Greyt Race in Rocky River to do a mile walk (I love walks!) and tell people what great pets us greyhounds make. We left early and I was a bit sluggish because I was out late partying the night before. I went to the South’s house and I saw all my old friends. We ran around and watched fireworks. I had so much fun.

At the race, me and Dad walked a mile in 9:43—and that included a poop break. I don’t care about my times anymore, and I don’t think that was really a mile, but we had fun and I got a medal. I also got to see a lot more greyhounds and other dogs—even two that looked like Petey! I told those dogs about Petey and that they looked just like him. They seemed excited that I told them that.

Before the race there was a very scary moment. Me and Dad pull up in our car and the guy in front of us stops his car and gets out to talk to the race people. While he is talking, his greyhound jumped out the window! I thought, “Oh my gosh,” what is this dog doing? The guy didn’t know or nothing. My Dad beeped, but the guy thought my Dad was telling him to get out of the road. My Dad wasn’t saying that at all, he was trying to tell the guy that his greyhound jumped out the window. The guy got in his car and then realized his greyhound was gone. Luckily, people caught the greyhound pretty quick and nobody got hurt!

It was a fun morning and I was worn out. I give it 4.0 roos!

Sharing the attention

I like attention, I admit it. I like meeting and greeting people, having my picture taken and being petted. Often, when Mom and Dad are paying attention to Petey, I get jealous and shove my way right in. I get in between them so that I can get the attention.

But Petey has been hurting lately. His little legs are bothering him and he gets medicine from the vet. Dad even has to give Petey a shot every Tuesday—something that neither Dad nor Petey looks much forward to. Because Petey is hurting, Mom and Dad are giving him lots of attention, and lots of love.

I think Petey needs lots of love right now, so I am trying to share the attention with him. I am being a nice boy and not shoving my way in.

I hope Petey gets better and the medicine works. He’s a bit of a blockhead, but he’s my friend. And, if he gets better, then I can go back to seeking all the attention.

Petey’s legs hurting are 0 roos, but the sharing the attention with my friend is worth 4 roos.

Lecture time

So yesterday I am there just lying on the deck when Dad says “Come here Sky, we need to talk.” I am enjoying the sun and thought we could talk later when Dad gets a little stern with me and says, “Now, Sky!”

“Uh oh?” I think I best go see what this is about. My Dad said he checked my blog and noticed that I have not been writing very much lately. I told my Dad that I have just been lazy, not doing much—taking it easy. Dad said that writing a blog is a serious responsibility and that I have to make a commitment to writing on a regular basis. He said my fans look forward to what I have to say—that I can’t just take the summer off!

Fans? I got fans! Well that’s some roos worth writing about. I told my Dad, okay, I’ll tell my fans that I am sorry for not writing for a couple of weeks. I hope they’ll still be my fans. I love having fans; they get lots of roos and kisses!

I promise that I will try to keep up with my blog, even in the summer when it’s fun just lying around. Thanks for being my fans!

Getting lectures are no fun, but I learned a good lesson about responsibility. I give it 2 roos!

Back to the scene of the crime!

Recently, my Mom asked me if I wanted to go for a ride. Without taking destination into consideration, I gave her a resounding, “Roo!” I waited for her to get my leash and off we went. The trip started great, as we passed Mr. Jim from ESGAO. I always like seeing him, he’s a nice human! But then, after a few minutes, I realized where we are going. Yikes! I need to remember to start asking more questions.

We’re off to the vet and, considering my last experience, I am a little nervous. Almost dying is no roos, and we’re heading back to the scene of the crime.

Once in the vet’s office, I am doing my best to be a good boy and not act scared. I am a brave boy. My Mom wouldn’t take me there if she thought something bad would happen.

I hesitated at first, but then agreed to get my shots. This time I knew they weren’t trying to kill me, cause they took real good care of me. They talked nice to me, gently gave me my shots to keep me healthy and then gave me a cool bandana. They even took me in the back to meet their staff because I was so good. I got VIP treatment. The vet said she wishes all of her patients were as good as me!

I told them about my blog and I hope they will read what I have to say.

This time going to the vet was fun, I give it 3.5 roos.