I think I have mentioned many times that I have been a volunteer for greyhound adoption for many years in one way or the other.
When I adopted my first greyhound, he rocked my world and changed my life forever, for the better.
Traditionally, when you adopt a greyhound, they are between 18 months to a senior dog (our oldest dog at the time of adoption was 12.5 years old).
We wanted a puppy and just happened to mention in passing at the kennel one day that we thought a puppy would be so cool to have.
Ta da! A few weeks later we got the call. A 5 month old pup with a crippled paw was looking for a couch.
I'm not going to tell you how surprised we were when our puppy was nearly full-grown. My daughter wanted to name him Skirvee, after a Paul Frank character.
About 18 months passed and a beautiful fawn boy named Buddy was returned to the adoption group. He looked remarkably like Skirvee and was so sweet and gentle. I refused to believe that a bite was his return ticket. He and I instantly bonded and he came home with me. Later on we connected the dots and realized that Buddy's mom was also Skirvee's grandmom.
Duh, no wonder they looked so much alike.
We fostered a lot of greyhounds, probably somewhere between 60 and 70 hounds. Sometimes they only stayed a few days, sometimes they stayed a few months... and yes, a couple of them are still here.
Out of all of those hounds, I never met a greyhound that I didn't fall head over heals in love with. They were all wonderful.
We decided we wanted to see what the racing side was like. If all of these dogs were this wonderful, racing couldn't be that bad.
We met a kennel owner and once again, our lives were changed forever. It has been one of the best experiences.
Do you recognize the cute little white and blue girl that Skirvee is talking too? That's Minnie, only three months old.
At the farm, we met Cinnamon, Buddy's mom and Skirvee's grandmom. She lived to be over 16 years old and was true testament to the grace and dignity of greyhounds.
We also met Jill. She is a Cinnamon baby, but not the same litter as Buddy.
Jill is Skirvee, Jillian and Slinky's momma.
Jillian and Slinky had gone off to race so we didn't get to meet them at that time.
The kennel owners love their dogs and Jillian and Slinky wrapped their paws so tight around the kennel owners, that even after retirement, they remained pets of the kennel owners.
When Minnie retired, I flew down to Florida to bring her back to Oregon. At that time I met Jillian and Slinky, the identical twins. When Flocko retired, I flew down to Florida to bring him home and I knew the twins were mine.
Last year the twins came home. The girls are totally devoted to each other and are inseparable. Sometimes I think they know Skirvee is their brother. Sometimes not.
And that is the story of the twin-triplets.
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