I was a track dog.........................

This is my tribute to ex-track dogs everywhere.

I was a track dog. I am eight years old. I am white with brown spots. I was a brood bitch. That means for eight years, I was forced to mate and give birth to puppies for the track. I was a good momma, I loved my puppies. I nursed them and licked them and took good care of them. And they always took them away from me. I was never allowed to keep even one of my babies. My babies either became racers, breeders, or were put to sleep for not being fast enough or not being able to put off enough pupppies of their own. I am old now and I am tired. The hair is worn from my backside and I have various old wounds. A wonderful lady named Kay came and rescued me from that terrible place so I wouldn't have to live there anymore. I am a good listener and I come when I am called. I am a lady and I don't pee in the house. My new mom gives me baths and tells me that I am important and that she knows I loved my puppies and that she is really sad that they were all taken from me. I know she means it. I live with other old track dogs and I am frightened during thunder storms. Mom holds me and tells me that it can't hurt me and I try to believe her. She tells me that I will never have to worry or hurt or be scared again. I will live with her until I die. Soon I will be happy, but right now I am still sad and a bit confused. Soon I will learn how to play with the other dogs. I will be all the things my mommy says I am already. My name is Trego.

I was a track dog. I am thirteen years old. I am a dark brown brindle. I raced for six years. I was fast. I don't have any front teeth because I hated being crated all the time and I tried to chew my way out of the crates. I just have gums in the front but I can chew in the back. Then my hip started to hurt and I was adopted to a good family. They kept me for a while and then they gave me to another family. Then they gave me to another family. Then that family moved and I was put on Craigslist. Mom saw me on there and knew that not many people would want an old greyhound- we don't live much past 16. I came and I was thin and covered with fleas- Mom gave me a long bath and told me how beautiful I was. I slept for two days and didn't get up except to eat and pee. Then on the third day, I felt so much better that I got up and I RAN- I haven't run in a long time- I was in a small back yard in my old home. My hip hurt after that and Mom gave me some special medicine that helps her arthritis and she and I have both hurt on rainy or cold days and she gives me my medicine then. I am such a soul, Mom says. She cries sometimes because she wishes she had gotten me when I was much younger and says that she loves me so so much. I love her too. I sleep most of the day, I go out to go potty, I love the other dogs and I am a very gentle soul. I know I have a home here until I go to the Rainbow Bridge. My name is Samson.

I was a track dog. I am five years old. I am a very pretty and flashy black and white dog. I was in some races and then one of my front toe shattered and they said something was wrong with my front legs. Noone ever took care of my toe and it really hurt. I was taken in by a rescue group in Daytona where a lady named Debbie and Ronnie took very good care of me and loved me very much and then Mom got me. I had sores in between my feet (Ronnie didn't know or she would have taken me to the vet) and when Mom tried to look, I growled VERY VERY LOUDLY and it scared her. I was so sorry to do that, but she didn't know about my toe. Afterwards, I licked her face to tell her I was sorry. She said, " Quinn, I am not mad, I know your foot must hurt very badly, baby." A good vet took me to the x-ray room and called Mom- "The toe was shattered a long time ago- it's arthritic and calcified- the toe has to come off." So they took off my toe and I am so relieved- I don't hurt when I walk anymore. I love my new mommy and daddy and I like to climb on the couch and I love visitors. I even try to get in people's laps, but most of them say, "Get off!" Mommy and Daddy love it and let me. I love my children, Emily and Julianna, and I wag my tail so hard when they come home from school. I am so happy here and Mommy says I have a home here forever. I am so glad I don't have to run anymore unless I want to- I had to run on my broken toe and I didn't do well in my races and people were mad at me. I know what real love is now. Real love is being worthy no matter how fast I run or how many toes I have. My name is Quinn.

Poop, poop, and alot of work!!!!

Well, up until now, I have made this a very Godly and upbeat place to come. But today, I just have to tell you that it's not all flowers and roses around here. It's a lot of work! I know, you figured that- DUH, right? Well, I just thought I would give you a close up view of what our day looks like at Pharaoh's Haven. The above picture is a "morning poop". Every morning, birds deposit all the contents of their gut at one time- not unlike most humans. Well, most of our birds are trained. We say, " Do your poop!" when we get them out of their cage and they hesitate, back up and do their business on the table, we wipe it up with bleach or whatever and that's that. Sometimes, however, we miss the big event and it winds up on the floor- 99% of the time, the wood floor, thank goodness. So we are all well versed with finding a baby wipe, cleaning up the mess and moving on. We used to have an issue with the kids- we'd say, " So and so pooped." (Meaning, "your bird pooped, clean it up.") The kids began to actually examine the deposit and then claim that it "WASNT MY BIRD!!!" So we decided that the new house rule is "you see poop, you clean it up, regardless of who did it." We actually cheer for the girls when they say, ' I just cleaned up some one's poop." We feel it shows a huge sense of family togetherness. Thank goodness, although bird feces LOOK HORRID, they don't smell bad and are easy to clean up. Much easier than dog poop.



Now, I know I am pushing the envelope here, but for you fellow dog owners, you will SO COMMISERATE. We have four full sized greyhounds in the house right now. (Don't ask, I won't tell you the truth anyway.) One of them is leaving in three days. Anyway- someone has an "upset stomach". That is as big a clue as I will give, for the respect for my in laws who may read this. :) Well, it could be Trego, who is new and is adjusting to the new diet here, or it could be Quinn who is on antibiotics for the missing toe, or it could be Prime, who is very upset during thunderstorms and fireworks- of which we have had a lot of lately. We have eliminated Samson from the lineup, because he has NEVER had bowel issues. After waking up to a disaster of greyhound proportion, we decided that every suspect should be put in a crate of their own and everyone should get Immodium. (Yes, it's safe for dogs.) So, I gave everyone 1/2 of an Immodium and thought, " Well, that's over with." I went to Costco to buy 80 lbs of dog food and came home to a disaster of greyhound proportion in the MIDDLE OF MY BEDROOM FLOOR. On my carpet, specifically, NOT on the tile in the bathroom, of course. Can I just tell you, I can DO ANYTHING regarding dog poop, but I almost cried at the impossibility of this sight. Remember how when you were in school and someone vomited, the janitor had the magic powder that absorbed the worst of it? WHERE IS THAT MAGIC POWDER?????????????????? WHERE IS IT SOLD???? I managed to get it up, use the little green machine and pray that the residual stain would come up with our next rental of the Rug Doctor. (We should own one.) My husband was at the beach with the girls and I am so glad- he would have passed out at the sight. So, when I left the NEXT time, all full sized dogs WENT OUTSIDE AND STAYED THERE. Of course, I am sure they didn't DO anything in the GRASS. They were empty. So, I gave all suspect a WHOLE Immodium and prayed that I wouldn't give the innocent dog a bad case of constipation. Are you laughing yet? I was. So today, no one is very hungry and all look a bit tired and run down- I am frantic- is it the Immodium or are they just tired from one late night of fireworks and then another late night of UFC with Jon and his buddies from church? Who knows. If I knew WHO it was, I would surely have the vet take a look under the microscope and tell me EXACTLY WHAT IT WRONG. But I am not in luck. No one is talking.

The Princess is home!

Anne drove happily to Gainesville to get Pica today and Mark, our wonderful student who has kept us apprised of her progress had wrapped her in hot pink just for pictures! :) She is doing very well- she doesn't seem to be in alot of pain but does get worn out after a short walk and wants to go in her crate- very unlike her to CRAVE HER CRATE. She has eaten since she's been home and peed- still waiting for the other. (In case Mark is reading this.) I never thought working with the people about her surgery would be a pleasure, but it WAS. They explained the whole surgery again today, showed me the x-rays of before and after and were just PHENOMENAL. Thank you again, Dr. Apelt, Mark and anyone else involved in her care. As you can tell from the photos, we were thrilled to have her home and she was thrilled to see us!!!!

Quinn and the missing toe- graphic- sorry!

I wanted everyone to know how brave Quinn has been for his missing toe operation. Here are some photos of him, his missing toe, and him licking his missing toe. :( He's such a good boy- he's in much less pain now than he was before the surgery- for those of you who didn't know the story- Quinn was a rescue from the track- five years old with a shattered front toe that was swollen and making him very uncomfortable. The toe was broken years ago but noone at the track did any vetting on it, so it just got bigger, arthritic and calcified- thus pressing that toe against the next, the next, and the next- dominoe effect. He would never hurt a fly but when we first tried to look at the toe before we knew what was wrong with it, he sounded like a LION, and I am surprised I still have my nose- no joking. We thought it was an abrasion, but I took him to the vet to be muzzled and sedated- ( I am not a fool). When they did his neuter, they took the toe too. Poor dude. My thanks to Debi and Ronnie of Second Chance Rescue for this beautiful and sweet baby. He is 85 pounds of pure love and affection. He actually tries to climb in your lap. (Not now, but before the surgery he did.). Once his foot heals, he will walk and run normally and be in LESS pain than he was before. I know that is hard to imagine looking at it now. He loves kids- but is afraid (terrified) of wood floors so we had to get berber runners from our living room to the bedroom- when someone comes in the front door, he stands in the living room and whines for them to COME SEE ME, I CAN"T COME THERE!!!- It's kind of sad in a funny way. He's on pain meds and antibiotics for a while. WE LOVE OUR QUINNY BOY!!!!

Jules surgery consultation is July 11

UPDATE- We think we are going to cancel our week at the beach, and push surgery to be sooner, as her foot becomes more painful each day- she is far more important than our week of vacation. I'll keep everyone posted. I am going to call for a sooner date of evaluation today while I drive to Gainesville.

Julianna, our youngest daughter goes for her surgery consultation on July 11. She has a soft tissue growth on the bottom of her foot and it needs to be removed. We are hoping for surgery in August. I'll keep you posted- pray that she is not still in pain by the time school starts. Thank you. Here is a picture of our brave little soldier. For those of you who don't know, she suffered a 12 week long stomach virus this spring, to be followed by a diagnosis of Sever's Syndrome of the foot- temporary but painful- here's a link to it-http://www.eorthopod.com/public/patient_education/6619/severs_syndrome.html

She's been in a walking boot for 3 weeks and will probably be in it for another few months to protect the new surgery site. She's been through the ringer, but she has been a brave little soldier. If any of you would like to send her good wishes, her email address is BrassyHamster@aol.com. This is a favorite picture of hers- it's her with Dudley- a severe macaw we rescued last weekend. She got her ears pierced and she's really thrilled!Love, Anne