A Belated Birthday Wish

When I was still fostering greyhounds, there were some that came as fosters and stayed (BoBo, Lizzard, and Profile) as well as some that I couldn’t wait to get out of the house for one reason or another. But there were some that I desperately wanted to keep and didn’t, for whatever reason, but I still think of them as my babies. This past Saturday was the birthday of one of those precious babies, and I can’t believe I forgot!!

Lucky Alexandria came to us as a foster under some odd circumstances. She first went to a foster home in Spartanburg, but then came to us when it was discovered that a family that had adopted two of her puppies lived in a town nearby us. She stayed with us and met them and they loved her, so they eventually adopted her. Unfortunately there was an incident where the two puppies and Alex got into a fight, so Alex came back to us as a foster looking like a frankenpuppy…150 staples in all holding that beautiful dark brindle girl together.

I don’t think she ever knew she had staple one, let alone the other one hundred fourty nine. Alex is the most happy-go-lucky, silly, playful, ridiculous greyhound I’ve ever had the pure joy of fostering. She was a momma dog before she retired, and so she mothered all the dogs in the house except Liz. Alex worshipped Liz, following her around, submitting to having her ears cleaned by Liz, etc etc. Alex has no sense of personal space, and was prone to butting in between me and whatever hound I was loving on so that she could get in on the ear scritches. Profile yelled at her for it once and all she did was look at him and then look back at me like “what?”

As you can see in that picture, Alex had the longest tongue I have ever seen on a greyhound, and I think that’s why she thinks her personal mission is to give kissies to everyone she meets, regardless of species. She tried to groom my cats a few times when we let her loose upstairs…they were not impressed.

My favorite Alex memory was of the time I caught her in the yard digging a hole…she was up to her ribcage underground and still throwing dirt everywhere! I walked up to her and told her to stop, so she pulled herself out of the hole, blew about a pound of dirt out of her nose, and then grinned that long-tongued Alex grin. I almost hugged her, dirt or no!

We could not keep Alex, and while that broke my heart I knew that my friends Amy and Charles were interested in her. They had met her at our house I think, and as does everyone who meets Alex, they were quite taken by her. I took her to them on Christmas Eve almost three years ago and cried all the way to my inlaws’ Christmas Party at having to give her up. She’s a furry wildebeast of a greyhound. She’s in your face to lick it and occasionally wants to jump up on you and give you a hug (though I think Amy and Charles have taught her NOT to do that).

Happy 12th Birthday, Alex…my Alekazam, Alekazoo…now called Alex-NO! by her family…I’m honored to have not only known you but had you in my house for a few months…and gotten more than a few Alex-Hugs.