Hi, Pet Buddies! After a really busy week (the new Dog Park opening and all), I was just hanging out, in a sort of reflective mood (OK, lazy) and thinking of all the ways dogs and humans find each other. And, just my opinion, one of the neatest ways is getting rescued. I’ve met lots of rescued pets who’ve been found in shelters, or wandering around, lost and alone or, sometimes, like a little tortoise shell cat I interviewed a while back, they literally fall out of trees.
Anyway, all these lucky pets seem to have a special something about them – I think they’re just so happy to find humans who love them. I know there’s nothing I love more than being in my comfy home, with my human mom, and grandma and grandpa, you know?
Okay, anyhoo – THIS week I got to yap with a rescue, Chase Lorino, a handsome pooch, with really short hair, fawn and white, with FRECKLES on his skin (not his hair.) Chase is a Whippet, and I’m glad my Assistant gave me an ears-up on that, or I would have said something doofy like, “Golly, you’re kinda small for a greyhound, aren’t you? “ Man, I’m glad THAT didn’t happen. Whippets do totally look like little greyhounds, though.
Chase is friendly and outgoing and came right to the door for a Wag-and-Sniff. “Hi, Bonzo! I always read your column and I’m so-o psyched to meet you. C’mon in. This is my human Mom, Mallory and my human Grandma, Jackie.”
He jumped up on the living room couch, settling in with his head on a fringy pillow. A charcoal and white cat leaped onto the coffee table. “And this is my older sister, Tinker Bell. She’s a rescue, too.” Behind his paw, he whispered, “She THINKS she’s the boss, and I go along with it.” He winked.
I nodded. Cats are complicated. “Tell me about yourself.”
“Well, when I was 3, my mom found me at a Whippet and Greyhound Rescue place in Fort Pierce. When I first came here to my Forever Home, I had terrible separation anxiety. I’d eat the window blinds and knock over the trash cans whenever Mom had to go out. But I got over that. Now I know she’ll never leave me.
“My grandfather was a champion, and I’m purebred, but not a show dog. I have a tear duct deficiency, whatever that is. I have to take DROPS. Heck, I wouldn’t want to do that anyway. I mean, the silly stuff they have to go through. Totally not for me.”
“I hear ya,” I agreed. “I know you’re not a greyhound, buy you do look pretty speedy.” He was slender, not an ounce of fat anywhere, with very long legs.
“Better believe it! I love to run and leap. I may look delicate, but I’m not! Mom calls me her 35 mph Couch Potato. We play catch in the backyard. C’mon, I’ll show you.” We went out to the backyard. His Mom tossed a yellow, squeaky ball and Chase grabbed it instantly, then proceeded to run and leap, with the ball clenched in his mouth, squeaking the whole time. It was hilarious. “I love to chase squirrels and possums,” he said, skidding to a halt. “So far it’s Me – 4, Squirrels – minus-3, Possums – minus-1.”
I laughed and asked about his diet and whether he did tricks.
“Mom mixes dry and wet food for me. I get a weekly hard-boiled egg and sometimes (don’t tell Mom) I help Grandma eat her sandwiches. It’s hers and my little secret. I know how to go to the pantry and request my favorite Greenies. I get regular treats, too. I especially like pumpkin and I LOVE peanut butter. I know I look funny eating it but I DON’T CARE! Mom makes sure I’m always well groomed, it’s so important. You never know who you might run into. I saw some really cute poodles over at the dog park, giving me the eye.”
I didn’t doubt it. He was a sleek pooch. Kinda reminded me of those Egyptian dogs that sat beside Pharaohs’ thrones.
“I can shake paws, and sit, and we’re working on rolling over.” He demonstrated how he could do figure eights in and out of his Mom’s legs. Whippets can curl their bodies around stuff like you wouldn’t believe.
“I also (accidently) learned how to open doors, but Mom doesn’t want me to do that, and I am very obedient. I even went to obedience school, see?” He showed me a picture of himself in a black mortarboard. “This is my graduation picture. Mom is so proud.
“Tinker Bell and I each have a toy basket, and I have my own bed, but I usually switch over to Mom’s. Sometimes she makes me go back to mine, though, because she says I’m like her personal heating pad, since us dogs’ normal temperatures are, like, 101. And I’ve got lots of dog buddies, specially my cousins Lucy, a Treeing Walker Coonhound, and Speedy, a Chihuahua/Mini-Pinscher. Which reminds me, my 9th birthday is coming up next month and you’re invited to my party!”
“Thanks! Love to!” I headed for the door.
“Pawsome!” he said. “See you there!”
