Daily Dose o' Cute

Hi!
This weekend, Iain and I took Dudley to a fundraising event for the rescue who saved him. It was the first time he'd seen his foster dad, Jeff, who's also the president of the organization, since the adoption. Jeff, who will eternally have my respect and trust because he was totally honest with us about Dudley's "problems" (shyness, anxiety, easily spooked, submissive urination), couldn't even believe that the confident, social, affectionate dog who greeted everyone with a happy grin was the same dog he'd left with us not even two months ago. He, and all the other rescue volunteers there who'd known Dudley, were amazed at his transformation from shy little piddler just off the track to the self-assured and happy boy who came striding in at our sides.

Jeff told us that he never expected Dudz to be such a confident and extroverted dog. "He was so spooky," he marveled, shaking his head. Hearing someone who knows greyhounds so well, who has dedicated his life to them, express such surprise at how thoroughly Dudz has come out of his shell, how well-adjusted he is, made me so happy and so proud of our little doggy guy.

I told Jeff he did do some submissive peeing, but he got over it quickly; I told him how I laid quietly on the floor with Dudz a few times a day when he first arrived, matching my breathing to his, just two strangers who weren't so very different, to let him know he could trust me. Jeff shook his head with wonder and delight.

Already, it's difficult for me to recall that shyness. But it all comes back when I look again at the picture of Dudley that was posted on the rescue's website, the first picture we saw of him, taken just after his rescue from the track:


When I look at that picture now, it makes me cry. Because now I know Dudley; now I know what it would take to make him feel that scared and look that small.

He is big and tall, and his personality is expansive. He is joyful and goofy and (almost) fearless. And I want nothing more than to make sure he always has something to smile about for the rest of his days.

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The rescue is currently in need of both foster and adoptive homes for a large group of greys they're rescuing from a closing track kennel in Florida. If you're in the area (I'm in NW Indiana/South Chicagoland) and would like some information on fostering or adopting, please email me.