Welcome Home Vinny

On April 1, we welcomed Vinny (racing name Vying For A Job) into our family!  Several weeks prior Lauren told me she wanted a black and white greyhound...it turns out he only has a tiny bit of white, but there is some :)  For years I have been saying that our next greyhound would be a black male since they are the ones that wait the longest in the kennel to find a forever home.  A black greyhound would also be best for my youngest with her allergies.  For the first time in a long time, it felt like it was the right time to adopt again!  Our last adoption was Puddin in 2009 so I was very excited and a little nervous all over again!  My discussion with Lauren was on the morning on Feb 23.  I discussed it with Tracy that evening and we began looking at available dogs.  We both agreed we were ready and I sent an email to VAGA at 11 pm that night!  

By early March GPA/GO had identified a black male (Vinny) and a black female (Lily) that would be a match for our family.  After hearing about each, we unanimously agreed that Vinny was our boy!  He just turned 4 on Feb 16 and he is amazing!

This is his kennel picture!  I mean, really, how cute is this boy!?  Most of the kennel pictures for available dogs are not the best, but this is adorable!

Lauren and I went to Fredericksburg to pick him up on the morning of April 1 and we have been head over heels in love with him every since!  He is a super friendly, sweet, tail-wagging, full of kisses ball of joy!  Here's a picture on adoption day and before we even got on the road to come home he was already showering me with kisses!

On his record from the kennel under reason for retirement, it says "he wants to be a pet :)" and they got that right!  He INSTANTLY formed this DEEP bond with me!  All of our greyhounds have formed a strong bond quickly, but this boy was different!  He literally taught himself how to climb stairs because he couldn't stand it when I left the room!  My husband was recovering from surgery and was not able to help me teach him how to do stairs so I slept downstairs on the couch the first two nights so I could be with him.  By day 3, he had apparently had enough of me leaving and just figured out the stairs himself!  He was wobbly at first, but he conquered his fears.  He is also the first dog that has ever learned how to take down a baby gate!  No joke!  We closed the gates when we came upstairs to get the girls in bed and night after night he would literally jump and paw at one of the gates until he knocked it down and would then join us upstairs!  He has become my constant shadow and constant companion on the couch!  Yes, I said the couch!  None of our other greyhounds have ever got on the couch - they never tried it and we never encouraged it and that's just the way it was (we spend plenty of time on the floor with them though).  Vinny once again proved to be very different.  He walked in, stepped right up on the couch (he's very tall), plopped down in my lap and laid his head on my chest like that's just where he was meant to be!  And so that's how it is now :)  I love our snuggle time on the couch!

Here are some pictures from his first day.  He kept trying to get the kids stuffed animals so I went down to the basement and got the bag of dog toys that I had saved from Buford.  Vinny hadn't figured out how to play with toys yet, but he spent his first day hoarding toys on his bed!  It was pretty amusing watching him make countless trip as he collected his treasures for his bed.  And then he took a little nap with them!

It was also fun watching him explore!  Everything was new and interesting and he always wanted to know what I was doing of course!  He loves to look out the window, was amazed by the washer and dryer, and he's always at my footsteps wondering where I'm going!

Terrible picture, but just look at that lean!  He was heating up my legs too, lol!

It's not just me that he adores, but next in line is definitely Lauren!  We say he's really our dog because Taylor isn't overly interested (I think her allergies have convinced her that she doesn't like dogs) and my husband does not ever handle any change well.  He was definitely not as enamored as Lauren and I were at first and Vinny is really just now starting to grow on him (how it took so long I will never understand)!  Lauren and I though couldn't be happier...she doesn't want to go to school and I don't want to go to work because we just want to snuggle with him all day! :) 

I will say we have had one problem with this big love bug though!  He has now been here for 4 weeks and it has only been in the last week or so that he didn't pee in the house :(  That means for about three weeks we cleaned up pee...and lots of it!  The first time we left him, he tore down the gate, ran upstairs and peed in nearly every room!  Strangely enough, he spared my office and Lauren's bedroom!  However, he peed in our bedroom, the guest room, Chi Chi's bedroom, and the hallway!  I'm sure the amount of pee and carpet shampooing Tracy has done explains a little of his unhappiness, lol!  I know a lot of it was just the marking instinct in boys.  He even peed on Puddin a couple times in those first few days though! :(  He has worn a belly band (or 'doggie diaper' as the kids call it) a lot, but it still doesn't hold all the pee!  Things are definitely improving now though.  He no longer wears the belly band at night or any time when we are home.  We still put it on him when everyone leaves the house, but I think we will be able to stop that soon.  I had him at the vet this week and decided to get a urine test because I was worried about his pee having such a strong smell and sure enough he has a bladder infection!  He's on an antibiotic now and he has done really well this week :)

One more thing I should add about this sweet boy...he waited in the kennel for nearly a year and a half for a home!  Poor guy!  He was heartworm positive and had to go through extensive treatment, but finally made it in the clear so he could be adopted!  One of his littermates is also at GPA/GO now and is still undergoing treatment because she had heartworms too.  I researched on the internet and while there are reports from both sides, it seemed that more often than not people said that having heartworms did not have an adverse affect on a dog's lifespan once they were treated.  The future is never certain so we decided to take a chance and I'm so glad we did!!!  Lots more to follow on this new adventure, but that's it for this post!