Long time, no see!

Rocket and Cassie (and honorary greyhound Stella) are enjoying the good life. Since our last visit we purchased a new house, and the dogs are LOVING the big, wide-open yard and all the neighborhood critters that aren't sighthound-savvy yet. Midnight coursing of feral kitties and squirrels is pretty common, though thankfully they have yet to bring home a 'kill' other than the stuffies we toss out into the yard.

Rocket's health has been declining over the past few years, and after many tests and many visits to vets we came to the conclusion that his problems are not related to his kidneys or liver, or cancer, but neurological in origin. He has several areas along his spinal cord that are constricted, which on bad days cause him pain, impaired motor function and incontinence. We have found a blend of natural supplements (and rimadyl when he's really hurting) that seem to be supporting him for now, but there are days when I wonder how long we can put him through this. Thankfully, when he is having GOOD days he is the same sweet, doofy guy that we adopted four years ago, and that's what keeps us all going. We can deal with the bad as long as he still has days where he can run around the yard with a big greyhoundy smile on his face.

Cassie is almost seven now, and you'd never know it by looking at her - she is fit as a fiddle (except for those stupid toes of hers, which she keeps dislocating, dangit!!) and at 49lbs she's still as trim and toned as ever. I never used to think much of the whole idea of 'heart dogs' but watching Cassie and my husband Casey together made a believer out of me. They share a special bond the likes of which I have never witnessed, and it is truly a once in a lifetime partnership.

Well, the long-anticipated day finally arrived... Rocket had his 'wonky' toe amputated. He's doing fine now, and we are happy to have it done and over with, since the toe was popping in and out of joint multiple times a day. While it was not causing obvious pain, we were hesitant to let him run all-out since there was a risk that he could dislocate it badly enough to tear through his paper-thin skin, so now that he's healing up I am daydreaming about lure coursing this coming season!

I finished a new coat for Cass tonight - genuine suede and rabbit fur, with a lovely warm black quilted lining. I added a photo showing her overwhelming gratitude for the many hours I spent designing and constructing it. As you can plainly see, she is beyond thrilled. Ha!

Hooray for Secret Santa presents! We participated in two SS exchanges, one here and one somewhere else, and the dogs got some rockin' stuff! Awesome stuffies, tons of delicious treats, really nice Lupine Leads collar & leash sets, and I got presents too - bath stuff, and pretty hawaiian jewelry!

GPA-SL adopted out their 100th dog this month! For a small group that only has 5-8 adoptables at any given time (and for much of the year we don't even have that many) that's a pretty respectable figure. It's a lot of work, and a lot of stress, but it's all worth it to see these dogs get their perfect home and I wouldn't trade it for all the free time in the world!

Sooo busy with dogstuff! GPA-SL has adopted out almost ten dogs in the past two months, with a few more set to be adopted before September!!! Our new foster Noodle (a 6 year old return) should be placed relatively soon, and we'll be getting a foster that needs some medical attention before she can be advertised as adoptable. We've got a ton of Meet&Greets scheduled for September and we'll be getting new dogs in soon too... so much to do, so many fun dogs to meet and homes to find!