4-H Fair Season

This week is the Morris County 4-H Fair.  Last year, it was so hot Luna could only come for one day.  She did really well with the kids, animals, and extreme heat.

Since last year, I have changed jobs and I am now a whole lot more involved in the 4-H Fair than I was before.  For the next few days I will be living and breathing the Fair.  I do have the option to camp out at the fairgrounds, but I think I'll opt out for my own bed and a decent shower.

If you happen to be in Morris County, NJ from July 19-22, be sure to stop by.  If not, you'll just have to wait until next week for updates.  Have a great week and I'll see you when my sanity returns. :-)

2011 4-H Fair - Luna helped out at the Information Booth.

2011 4-H Fair - This is the ONLY time Luna has been in a kiddie pool.  We set the record that year with 110 degrees!

2011 4-H Fair - This was Luna's favorite display.  She barked every time it gobbled.

2011 4-H Fair - Luna's other favorite display was all the small animals.   Lucky for them they were safe in their cages.

Playtime with Cousin Sarah

Luna has a new favorite playmate.  Cousin Sarah is visiting from Colorado and she wanted to meet Luna.  She owns an eight year old Irish Wolfhound named Ian so she (like me) is partial to sight hounds.  It didn't take long before Luna was practically begging Sarah to play with her.  I was not prepared for this unexpected need to play.  Luckily, Mike's family had an old tennis ball.  Luna also ran laps in the backyard.  This was probably the biggest zoomies session she has had since...well...forever!

Sarah asks both dogs to sit for a picture.

Well done!

The following are a bunch of videos of Luna playing with Sarah.  I took so many because I was shocked she was playing so much.  This went on for hours.  Every time we thought she was done she would start barking until we tossed her the ball.  What a nut!

When it was time to go home it was hard to say good-bye to Sarah.  She is only visiting for a short time so we probably won't get a chance to see her again.  I'm glad she and Luna had such a great time together.  I hope she comes back to visit again soon.

Free Ranged

This weekend we officially graduated Luna to a loose-in-the-house dog by taking down her crate.  Luna was not pleased by this changed because she has learned that when the crate comes down it means she is going somewhere.  When we didn't pack up the car she kept looking at us like, "So, what's the deal here?"

For the past few months, Mike and I have been leaving Luna loose in the house while we are out.  She has shown a lot of growth when it comes to being alone.  She still whimpers a bit when I leave, but no more barking.  At first, it seemed like she only stayed on her pillow in the living room.  After a few weeks, I came home to find her upstairs relaxing in the bedroom.  It's nice to know that she understands that she can move around the house.

The next step for Luna is to become comfortable with a canvas crate.  I used one when I was showing Eris and it made traveling so much easier.  The one problem we had was when we left Eris in a hotel.  She was upset in the unfamiliar environment so she tore a hole in the canvas to escape.  This was completely out of character for Eris who normally was more mellow than a goldfish.  To avoid a repeat of that incident, we will be taking things slow with Luna.  I will also make sure we never leave her abruptly in a strange place.

Not only is it nice that we can trust Luna to be good while we are out, but we are rewarded by gaining a huge part of our kitchen.  Yippee!

Lazy 4th, Busy Weekend

Mike and I were busy on the 4th of July so Luna went to spend the day at my parents' house.  Their agenda for the day was to be bums.  Luna enjoyed a marathon of Star Trek and other movies, a couple of walks, and plenty of attention.  Mike and I were able to enjoy the day (and fireworks) knowing Luna was safe and secure.

Tomorrow is my parents' neighborhood 4th of July party.  This is bigger than Christmas to our family.  It is an entire day of swimming in the lake, games, good food, and plenty of drinks.  Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed on the beach which means Luna will have to stay up at the house.  It is really for the best since we are so busy at the party.  When we adopted Luna last year, we made sure we picked her up the day after the party so she would not be stressed by us leaving her all day.  This will be the first year Luna will spend the majority of the day on her own.  To make up for her boring day, I am planning to take her on plenty of outings on Sunday.

Tonight I need to not only prepare food and drink items for the party, but I will freeze some treats for Luna to enjoy during the day.

Gotcha!

Happy Gotcha Day, Luna!

It's hard to believe we've only had Luna for one year.  We've done so much over the year that it feels like she has been a part of our family forever. 

The following is a photo for each month from this past year.  Enjoy!

July - Luna's first day at home.

August - At the 4-H Fair learning how to chase the go-karts.

September - Enjoying new wardrobes.

October - Competing in LGRA competitions.

November - Meeting the family.

December - Recovering from the accident.

January - Getting better with physical therapy.

February - Enjoying walks again.

March - Getting back to "normal".

April - Enjoying family time.

May - Became certified by Therapy Dog International.

June - Making new friends and spreading the word about greyhound adoption.

Greyhounds Follow the Drinking Gourd

Luna was not particularly happy with me this evening.  At about 7:00pm I loaded up all her bedding into my Jeep which clearly signals that we are going somewhere.  When I left without her she was quite upset.  Mike said she spent an hour sighing and whimpering.  When I returned after 11:00pm I smelled of other greyhounds.  I know she was thinking, "You left me to play with other dogs?!"  My punishment was the cold shoulder.

"What do you mean I have to stay here?"

So where did I go?  I had signed up to be a part of the Greyhound Underground Railroad and my leg of the journey was late this evening.  My mom came along for the ride to help keep me focused.  We were transporting two dogs (male and female) with broken legs.  Both were beautiful, but my heart went to the little fawn girl.  She had the same markings as Eris, but the delicate looks of Luna.  What a cutie!

The pick up was at Mary Pat's house.  Since we got there a few minutes early, I introduced my mom to the pack.  The girls were eager to show off their high speeds which made me nervous.  Poor Opal had recently suffered an injury to her leg and was in a cast.  She really wanted to keep up with her sisters as they ran past her.  Since she couldn't play with the girls, she tried to get their attention by throwing a torn up stuffed rabbit in the air.  It was if she was saying, "Look guys! I've got a toy! Please come play with me."  The following is a video of the girls playing.

Emerald needs a cool down after her runs.

We didn't have much time to visit when Mary Pat arrived.  We had to potty the dogs, give them a quick drink, and load them up for the next trip.  They immediately settled down and were quiet the whole way.  Well, we did get a "woof" from the boy who did not appreciate my choice of music.  An hour and a half later we handed the pups off to the next driver.  I didn't like saying good-bye, but I'm glad I was able to help get them a little closer to their forever homes.

Ready to meet the next driver.

Cuties!

For the cost of a tank of gas and a few hours I feel pretty good about the trip.  I look forward to helping out the next dogs travel north to their new homes.