A greyt birthday

It has been a little over two years since we adopted our retired greyhound and brought him into our home and he became part of our family.   Today marks his 4th birthday and for those of you counting in dog years, he's past drinking age and should be getting a place of his own instead of living at home with his parents.   Since he made his resting spot known on two different couches, I have found a large and generous group of people that have become my support group and friends.   The GPA of Wisconsin is a group that tirelessly takes the hounds from their racing days and shelters them, fosters them to be acclimated to "civilian life", and finds adopters who are as much in love with the dogs as the dogs are with them.   I feel lucky to have found them, especially during a sad time of our lives.   

Just over two years ago in March, I came home from work to find that our back gate was open and our beloved pug had escaped.   A roller coaster search over two weeks was both exhausting and very emotional for our family.   When she was found, after a heroic attempt to catch her from a couple of good samaritans, we had to let her go to the "Rainbow Bridge" that all pet owners have to endure at one point.   The grieving took a while and soon we had decided that we wanted a new companion for us and our other dog.   Shortly thereafter, I met our new hound, aptly named Camaro, at the racing kennel where he was kept.   The funny thing about him was that when we first brought him home, he wouldn't leave his cage.   It was obviously a safe place for him to stay in a place of uncertainty.   Several days later, as we all went to bed, he came out of his spot and proceeded to enter our bedroom.   He sniffed me for a long time and then laid down on the floor next to us as if to say that he approved of his surroundings.   Camaro relishes his spot in our family and continues to relish his spot on the couch, no matter who may be sitting there that he decides to kick off.