Allie continues to be cute as a button! She is crating well while we go out and often goes in it to have peace and quiet during the day. For a dog that probably did not have a lot of treats before coming to live with us, she sure has decided which ones she likes and which ones she will walk away from....don't worry though, my children are happy to have whatever she leaves behind!

We had a big weekend as yesterday Yumiko stopped by with Kei. She was fresh from the vet to have her staples removed. Allie and all the other children were very excited to have both Yumiko and Kei come by.  Kei came in with many new smells about her and one less leg - something the other dogs were very interested in.  Everyone said hello and found a bed to settle in on.

Today was another big day for Miss Allie. She joined me and my Buttercup to go for an early morning long walk in the suburbs with our friends Michael and Joyce Altman along with their 3 greyhound children. We took an hour long walk through the arboretum where Allie was able to practice her leash skills while seeing, smelling and hearing many new things.  She did great! Afterwards we went back to Michael and Joyce's for a human breakfast and treats and naps for the children.

A planned little vacation to Puerto Rico allowed me a breather while my husband, Steve took care of all of the children. I returned home to lots of tail wagging from all of the kids. Allie learned some manners while I was gone. She is no longer counter surfing, which is a plus! She has moved on to her collecting and chewing of things phase. Hopefully this  will not last long. Before I left I had made the appointment at the eye vet. It was yesterday......

Allie has very dry eyes. As a matter of fact, her eyes are making little to no tears at all. The eye specialist has changed her medications to something a little stronger. It is likely she will always require this medicine however the cost is not out of the question - under $50.00 a month. With this medicine she is like night and day. Today we have seen her eyes open  almost the entire day as opposed to the squinting she has been doing since we met her. There is no damage to her corona's or retina. The vet felt this is totally controllable.

All and all this is wonderful news!

Eye doctor photos

Here Allie is being looked at by the tech and eye doctor...she is loving the attention!

eye doctor photos

I am holding Allie while the tech is looking in Allie's eyes.

eye doctor photos

Not a very attractive photo of me,I am afraid. The strips in Allie's eyes are checking for tears. They only had to be in for 1 minute but it gave me the willy's...Allie on the other hand could have cared less. Her tail never stopped wagging and I believe she was smiling the entire time!

eye doctor photos

Here is Allie, looking and acting cute as a button - even at the eye doctor!

It has been a whirlwind of a week and continues to be spinning but I wanted to try and do a review of my trip while I could still get it out.

The amount of people that came together to make this trip work continues to amaze me.   The reason for the trip initially was brought to me by clients, Dan and Margaret who so graciously volunteered their vehicle to have a greyhound in it. The very generous donation by Amber Bug and Cleo's mom and dad allowed for a dog to come back that just might need a little extra medical attention.

To be able to have met Marilyn, who oversees the kennel for Greyhound Adoptions of Florida was fabulous. A truly amazing woman who has given her life to greyhounds and their well being. The group and Marilyn bring in the dogs, care for their physical and mental needs and works to find good homes for them. Living right there on the property Marilyn  is able to see and take care of these dogs and their daily needs. The kennel is the cleanest I have ever seen. Like most greyhound adoption group kennels, they use some of their kennel space for boarding which brings in some extra funds. They also have their own version of a "Rainbow Bridge" where greyhound guardians are able to bury their greyhound who has passed on. It is a beautiful area, surrounded by a white picket fence. Inside is a stone walkway with statues, plaques, etc which people have added. It is absolutely amazing! Due to the timing of our visit, Marilyn was the only person that we were able to meet from this organization -what a representation of this group she is!

Kate with GPA WI has been incredibly supportive of this event. Her quick responses and willingness to be part of this are greatly appreciated.

As you all can see by the photos, Miss Allie is doing well in the current pack. She will hopefully be seeing an eye vet in the next week or so and will be hitting the Meet and Greet circuit soon.

Thanks to all for your interest and support. Stay tuned for more updates, photos, etc.

Allie Relaxing

Allie seems to be settling in just fine. Although I continue to be at OSU, this photo was sent to me today by my husband.

Home and settling in..

After a long trip, we made it home safe and sound. Our friends Michael and Joyce were there to greet us after taking care of our children for the afternoon. Our kids were happy to see us and welcomed the new temporary addition. Our Bloomberg and Buttercup's birthday was Sunday and Michael and Joyce had brought them wonderful treats - they even brought us some things to eat knowing we would be getting in late.
This trip was not without sadness...our friend Yumiko found out after a trip to the ER  that afternoon that her beloved Kei is fighting cancer. This is incredibly sad news for us. With difficult times ahead please keep Yumiko and Kei in your thoughts and prayers.
We were so lucky to have so many wonderful people help us bring Allie here. Her adventure is far from over  - more like just beginning. We will keep you updated.
In the mean time I will leaving Allie with my husband and my other children as I head to OSU to be with Yumiko and Kei.

in the car

It didn't take Allie long to get settled in ....she was asleep in no time - a wonderful car traveler! She slept the entire way to Chicago with only a couple of times out for a potty break. She was not so thrilled with the colder weather as we got closer to home.

Car traverler

Comfy in the back seat!

Saying goodbye

Meet Helen and Joe with Allie! 

Helen is the current president of Leaving Tracks. Helen and Joe were so kind to allow us to spend the night at their home in Atlanta.  Their home was about 5 1/2 hours from where we picked up Allie, so we arrived there about 1:30 am.  Not many people would let you show up at 1:30 in the morning to spend the night with a new dog who had not been in a house before!  We gave Allie as much time as we could to wander around and get used to things before trying to get some sleep. It took Allie awhile to get the hang of this part but she finally did and we all managed an hour or two before it was time to get up again. After a wonderful breakfast we were on the road again. Note Allie's beautiful winter coat....it was 81 in Florida and in the 40's in Atlanta. My little girl was shivering!

Marilyn and Allie

Marilyn is giving our angel a last hug and kiss before sending us on our way!

Allie's eyes

This is the Marilyn whom without her we would not have met this perfect child! Here Marilyn is showing us her eye condition and what we need to continue doing until we get to the eye vet for further instructions. Other than being a wiggle worm, Allie does not mind this.

Meeting Alllie

After chatting with Marilyn, going over paperwork and other necessities, it was time to meet the reason for coming. When Marilyn let Allie out she ran like a wild child to come see us and get hugs - and yes she is a kisser!

She is exactly as Marilyn had described her!

Arriving at Marilyns house

As my husband, Steve and I got out of the car, this was the sight that met us.....it was wonderful! A combination of 2 whippets, another kind of dog (I wouldn't know the breed, but cute as a button!) and greyhounds! 3 legged ones are not uncommon here.......These are Marilyn's own. They all have a story that makes me sad but have all found a wonderful home now.

Arrived at Grey Haven

Sorry for the not so great photo....We finally arrived at Marilyn's place to pick up Allie about 6:30 pm and it was getting dark.  This is the sign when you get to their gate.  It was truly a welcome sight!

It is the night before our flight out and the lists I have been putting together for weeks are helping ...We are checking no bags so only the important things are coming along. After checking the weather report, Florida has 82 degrees, Atlanta in the 60's and it is snowing in Chicago....hmmmmm. The very important Allie bag has a water bowl, harness, lead, collar, dog food, a medium heart fleece and a heavy winter coat. The GPS has been packed to help us all find our way! My Penelope and Princess Buttercup watched as their coats were packed without them wearing them - I don't think they are thrilled with this plan.... greyhound Kei and her mom Yumiko will be staying at our house in our absence. She will cover Saturday day and night and Sunday morning only to have relief covered by more greyhound friends Sophie, Leila and Radames and their parents, Michael and Joyce. Just another example of how many people will come together to make this work - not to mention how many it will take to keep the peace with Bloomberg, Buttercup, Breeze and Penelope as well as numerous felines - in our absence. Yes.. there are more animals than people!

Hi everyone, this is Allie! 

Marilyn has been sending little tidbits on Allie as her personality comes out more and more....She loves the human touch and is very interested in everything around her. Here she is at the vet waiting to get her eyes looked at. Marilyn said she is a charmer and has folks wrapped around her little paws!

On Tuesday, February 28th - 5 days before we will be in Florida to pick up Allie and bring her north, Marilyn emails to say that Allie's eyes didn't seem to be doing as well as they should be. She had gone back to the vet that morning and they had tested her corneas to make sure there were no ulcers - which there were not. She felt very strongly that Allie needed to be seen by an ophthalmology vet and wanted to make sure we were aware of the development. Calls and emails began buzzing about to make sure everyone knew the recent situation.

The folks at Leaving Tracks were on board to give the entire donation made by Amber Bug and Cleo's mom and dad for Allie's cause.

The next call went to Kate at GPA Wisconsin, the greyhound rescue group in the midwest that was ultimately taking responsibility for Allie. Originally this was to be an easy greyhound transfer with a dog coming from Florida to Wisconsin, with most, if not all costs covered. Now the possibility of a very large expense was hanging over our heads. Kate did not even hesitate.....she said to move forward to get Allie here and then get her into the eye specialist and she would make sure all was taken care of! Could that be any more amazing? 

The last person I needed to check in with was my husband so he was aware that some extra traveling might be in our near future as well as medications and special handling as Allie is scheduled to live at our house until we find a good permanent home for her.   He was on board as well.

With this latest possible problem put to rest, an email was sent to Marilyn to give her the good news.... we were ready for Allie - eye problem or not !  Marilyn was thrilled to know that the right thing would be done for Allie ..... She thanked the people at Leaving Tracks and GPA WI for being there for Allie and said she was off to help Allie pack, as she was going north!  :)

Something to note here is that once this problem was discovered by Marilyn, she said she had another dog that was not presenting any health issues and had already been spayed. This dog would be able to come with us if everyone was not on board to help Allie. One of the main things discussed by Leaving Tracks was that many groups are not willing to take on the time/money/energy costs that are involved with bringing in a dog that is not 100% healthy. We all felt that we could do more good by taking in this one dog as we had so many people coming together to help. 

A couple of weeks go by and an email came through from a woman named Marilyn who is with Greyhound Adoptions of Florida.  She had just picked up a greyhound named Allie the night before. Allie is a 3 1/2 year old brindle who was to be used for breeding but at the least minute they decided to not go down that route, so the dog needed to get to an adoption group quickly. Marilyn had gone and scooped up the little girl and now she just needed a new home.

Marilyn advised me that the dog had a nasty eye infection going on and she was bringing her into the vet that morning for her eyes and checking of her blood to prepare for spaying.

I received an email the following Monday from Marilyn who advised that the spaying went smoothly and her eyes were healing well on the medication....Ya!  It looks like things are coming together!

In the mean time, while I am at the vet with my own greyhound, Penelope for her annual check up, our vet, Kathi Berman with Family Pet in Chicago and I start talking about my plans for heading to Florida to pick up Allie. Kathi, who has 2 greyhounds of her own has been a huge supporter of local rescue groups - not just greyhounds for years.  She told me she had 2 cases of flea medication that was a style that was better suited for greyhounds in the Florida area.  She said she was happy to donate them to Marilyn to be used for the greyhounds we would be seeing soon. What a huge donation this was!  I went back to Family Pet later in the week to pick up the medication.  This was just one more example of  the many people that came forward to do incrediable things for Allie and those that surround her!