With the horrible awful year we've had, Mason is down to two furry siblings - a 13 year old cat named Katze and a 9 year old retired greyhound named Joe. Joe is one of his favorite things and he starts calling "Joe! Joe" on the way home from school, says "Oh nooooo, Joe!" when Joe barks unhappily when we're leaving, and he calls every animal he sees Joe - including elephants. LOL

Joe struck a good deal at our house. His breeder's farm shut down before he ever went to racing school, so he retired from farm life right into a home. He waltzed into our home in 2004 and has ran the place ever since.

Here is Joe's typical day:

SuperDad gets home from work at 6:45 am. Joe gets up and goes outside for a quick wee. He comes back inside, curls up on his bed, and goes back to sleep. If he's really lucky, SuperDad will share the human bed. He makes sure to lock eyes with me in the morning and groan in pleasure to point out that he's still on his nice warm bed with a day of sleeping ahead of him while I trudge my way through my morning routine to get ready for work.

At about 3:00, he pokes SuperDad with his long nose to tell him it's time to go to the bathroom again. This time, he runs a few laps around the yard, at approximiately 35 miles an hour. Greyhounds can get to 45 mph in three strides, but he's still nursing a sprained toe from September.

Typical greyhound, he's not a distance runner, and after a few laps, he's ready to come in and chow down his breakfast and go back to sleep. He sleeps till Mason and I get home at 5, where he then greets us excitedly by running around squeaking toys. The second worse thing to happen all day is if the toy he grabs no longer squeaks because evil Mommy put it through the wash machine.

The next three hours are spent avoiding Mason's slappy hands which are a bit too interested in Joe's ears and privates. (We're working on this!!!) Fortunately for Joe, Mason makes up for his toddler antics by sharing food. Lots and lots of food. Yesterday? Mason threw him two giant banana chunks. Our previously "scared to death of the kitchen floor" dog now stands in the middle of the kitchen with his nose against Mason's high chair tray.  Usually, this effort pays off, as Mason is good about "One for you, one for me..." and Joe knows it!

If Joe is super lucky, after supper we will all go for a ride. He lives for car rides and would much rather take a spin around the block than go for a walk. His car routine looks like this - circle circle circle lay down with his long neck against the door, allowing him to relax yet still watch out the window.

After Mason goes to bed, Joe enjoys another bowl of premium dog food, then chills out on the couch with SuperDad and I as we watch TV or he lays on one of his 5 dog beds in the computer room as we internet. Around 11, I brush his teeth and head to bed and they snuggled on the couch (or Joe sleeps on a nearby dog bed) until they head to bed around 3 am.

So, Joe's day can be summed up like this - Sleep, potty, scritches, sleep, sleep, sleep, 3 laps around the yard, scritches, sleep, Mason avoiding, scraps, sleep, ride, sleep, scritches, bedtime. And, this is pretty much typical greyhound - they're not called 45 mph couch potatoes for nothing!

Linking up today with Mama Kat's Writing Workshop

This time last year - Cow Costume / Puppy Costume