Before Jenny....

I have only owned one other dog in my life - Quincy the Dalmatian. We had to keep him as an outdoor dog because of my sister's allergies (I did not know any better as a kid, now I would NEVER leave a dog outdoors to live.) After he died, I always said to myself that I would make it up to him by giving my next dog the best life possible.

Quincy as a puppy

After Quincy, I knew that my next dog would be a greyhound. I have always had an affinity towards greyhounds. I loved how they looked, how they moved, how gentle they seemed, and how they were portrayed in art...

Unicorn Tapestry

I remember being at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in my 20s one day just standing in awe of the Unicorn Tapestries. I was drawn to one of the parts which had greyhounds in it and I distinctly remember admiring this for a very long time and thinking to myself, "One day I will have a greyhound."

I also knew this would be my 'baby."
For as long as I can remember, I have never had any desire to have children. I do have strong motherly instincts, considering I teach first graders for a living, but I never felt a desire to have my own child. I used to joke that my biological clock did not come with batteries, but my dogological clock did.  Since I was a kid I have always felt a very strong connection to animals. As an adult, I found myself getting way more excited to see people's new puppies or cats than people's babies. When I hold babies, I don't feel comfortable. I seriously don't know what to do with them. When I interact with animals, I immediately feel a connection. Animals of any kind - dogs, cats, squirrels, birds, deer, rabbits, horses, turkeys, pigs, monkeys, etc. Might sound weird, but it has just always been that way for me. I even stopped eating animals a few years ago when I finally allowed myself to learn about how they are treated in the food industry.

Anyway, fast forward 20 years. Yes, that is how long it took me. I always happened to find myself living in places that did not allow pets. I think in the back of my mind I also knew, "This is not the RIGHT time."  I moved to California in 2003 from NJ and still found myself in pet-free places. At our favorite apartment, a stray cat found us. She would come up the stairs and sit on my lap for pets every day when I got home. We knew we could not bring her in, but one very rainy night...when I saw her under the stairs....I couldn't resist. We were able to hide her for 5 years at that apartment.   ;)

Béla

Then, new owners took over and decided they were going to allow pets (yay!!!) I started reading greyhound books and message boards. I started buying greyhound things. I was now READY! But, just as we were about 2 months shy of adopting, the new owners decided that they wanted to remodel and raise the rent $1100 more per month (booo!!!) So, off we went to a temporary, crappy apartment so that we would finally be motivated to BUY!

February 2013 we found our dream home! We decided to wait until summer break to adopt since we had trips to Hawaii and the east coast planned in June. The waiting was the hardest part! From the moment we got back from our trips to the day Gracie came home felt like forever (in hindsight it was only 13 days.)

My request on the adoption form was for a brindle, but I was open to any color that was a good match. My "wish list" included: MUST be good with cats (this was non-negotiable,) good with kids, good with small dogs, and good with other breeds.

Our first possible match was a male brindle named Gene. He originally tested cat-safe, but when Tom from Fast Friends brought him over, Gene barked at Béla, wouldn't break gaze, was shaking a bit, and generally made me VERY uncomfortable about trusting them together. Although he was a beautiful, loving boy who let me pet him right away, I had to say no. I was sad, but knew I had to do what was best for Béla.

 Then came the call about Aires, a beautiful fawn. I called her foster only to find out that she was very young and acted like a puppy. The foster also said she would do well with another dog to play with because she had so much energy. I just got a *feeling* that this wasn't the right one so I had to say no again.

Then came the phone call from Joyce at Fast Friends. She had another possibility. Sandal, a very shy dog who was AFRAID of cats! My first reaction was, "Afraid of cats??!!! PERFECT!!!!!"
But then as I thought about it, I was like "Oh shit...this isn't what I wanted. A SHY DOG?? WTF??!! I want a dog that will play with me, let me pet her, greet me at the door, be cool with all my friends, go on walks confidently, go places with me, and be my best buddy! SHY? I'm not sure about this...."
But then I looked at her pictures and thought about it some more....

That FACE! Those SPOTS! But oh, no....a young one....isn't that what I was trying to avoid?
But it always came back to.... That FACE! Those SPOTS!
I got a *feeling* that this was the one.
And as weird as this may sound, I also felt Quincy telling me this is the one...

So I said YES!

We had Grace from July 14, 2013 - August 7, 2013. Sadly she did not work out with Béla. I chronicled her story here Tails of a Shy Greyhound.

I was so incredibly heartbroken after Gracie that I was so afraid to even start LOOKING at other dogs.

Finally after a few months, I started to *look* - thinking I would be able to adopt and try again during my winter break at the end of December. I was looking at large and medium breeds on petfinder.com and at local Rescue Groups - I pictured myself with a lab-type dog or perhaps even a beagle or beagle mix. Never once did a small dog cross my mind. I always saw them as yippy little things. I wanted a bigger dog.

But then we visited Mark and Mona in Grass Valley. I hung out and fell in love with their friend's dog....

In hindsight, I think this dog was the reason I changed my search criteria to include small dogs on petfinder.com.

When I did change that search criteria, I saw this:

...and the adventure began!