High Speed Hounds

Tommy's weight

2012-01-25T10:59:00.000-06:00

Last night we took Tommy to check his weight and discovered that he has remained at 62.2 lbs since his last check in December. He looks so thin we were afraid he was losing more weight. We continue to feed him whatever he will eat and he is still getting his Anipryl and low dose aspirin everyday.

Tommy circles before lying down

2012-01-02T06:37:00.001-06:00

For the past few months Tommy has increased the numbers of times he circles before lying down. He starts to lie down but acts as though his hind legs hurt or are too weak to let him go down then he stands back up.

Bullet still likes to run

2011-12-28T08:07:00.000-06:00

Bullet still likes to run laps in the back yard. Bliss and Bullet will be 10 years old in January 2012. They both still have plenty of energy and are in good health. I was trying to catch him to clean off his feet, but he takes off running everytime I get close to him.

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-28T08:02:00.000-06:00

The weather was great on Chistmas day so we went for a walk. Tommy still manages a short walk. I drop him and Stephanie off at home and then take Bliss and Bullet out for a two mile walk around the park.

Tommy is losing weight

2011-12-14T07:44:00.000-06:00

Tommy weighed 75 lbs when we got him in August 2005. We recently weighed him and he weighs 62.2 lbs. He gets anything he wants to eat, but he just doesn't eat very much.

Squirrel hunting

2011-11-27T09:52:00.000-06:00

Bliss has been watching a squirrel from the front bedroom window and then ran into my office, which is adjacent, to keep tracking the squirrel as it ran down the side yard. I was surprised that she realized the spacial connection between what she saw in the front window and the window in my office. Bullet didn't seem to care.

Tommy is so thin

2011-11-26T10:22:00.000-06:00

Tommy has lost a lot of weight and muscle in his hind legs. We give him anything he wants and he eats, but he doesn't seem to fill himself up and gain any weight. He weighs less than all of the other hounds at 63 lbs and he is the tallest. The Anipryl seems to be helping his CCD and he is acting more or less normal. Sometimes he seems to be a little confused, but it is not as serious as it was.

Skunk problem

2011-11-26T10:16:00.000-06:00

A few days ago Tommy woke me up in the middle of the night to go outside. I let all of the hounds out as usual. I suddenly realized Bliss and Stephanie were chasing something and then I saw the skunk. I quickly called them inside after closing the gates to keep them in the family room. Bliss actually had the skunk in her mouth and got most of the spray. Stephanie got a slight amount. So I had to mix up the cleaning formula of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and soap to clean up Bliss. For the next few days we were checking for skunks after dark to make sure it didn't happen again.

Glow's Angel

2011-10-30T08:20:00.000-05:00

This is a little greyhound angel we got at the last greyhound gathering. It reminds of us of our Glow.

Tommy started his medicine

2011-10-30T08:15:00.000-05:00

Tommy started his Anipryl treatment. He stills acts confused and we have had to give him diazepam in the morning and the evening to settle him down. He will wander around and keep standing while his hind legs shake. Then he starts panting. He has lost a lot of weight. When we got him in Aug 2005, he weighed 75 lbs. Last year at this time he weighed 70 lbs. Now he weighs 63 lbs which is less than any of the other hounds. He looks very thin and you can see he has lost muscle mass. He also seems to get cold easier, so we put his coat on in the house. On Friday he started shaking like he had chills and settled down with his coat and some blankets on him. He still wants to go for short walks. He has slowed down a lot, but he loves it. We have to entice him with things like cheese to get him to start eating. Once he starts, he eats other things. We give him anything he will eat. He still recognizes us and understand commands. We can still get him to roo with "Who are you?". When I am getting dressed to take them for a walk, he will come a snuggle with me like he and Glow always have done. Things like that tell me we still have our old Tommy. I don't know how we will be able to deal with it when he stops doing these simple things. He is such a sweet boy. It hurts to see him slip away little by little.

Tommy is showing signs of confusion

2011-10-26T07:49:00.000-05:00

Tommy has started showing signs of confusion. He will want to go outside, but then stands there like he doesn't know what he wanted to do. He got me up a few times last night wanting to go outside, but then didn't have to do anything. I finally gave him some diazepam and he slept until morning. He has some signs of Canine Cognitive Dysfunction. There is a drug, Anipryl, that is used to treat this. I think this will be our next step with him.

Tommy the leader

2011-09-09T09:14:00.001-05:00

Tommy is still the only one to figure out how to open the screen door. The other hounds wait until he gets it open and then they follow him through.

Bullet

2011-08-30T08:53:00.000-05:00

Bullet has been very healthy like his sister. He has plenty of energy and is very playful. I am sure he misses Glow, because they have been buddies ever since he came into the pack. He will run and chase with Bliss, but it is not the same as it was with Glow. My grass is growing again because he doesn't tear it up so much.

Bliss

2011-08-30T08:49:00.000-05:00

Bliss is the playful one. She has plenty of energy and has been doing very well. She will chase her brother around in the yard and loves to dig in the mulch pile and spin around like a crazy dog.

Stephanie

2011-08-30T08:45:00.000-05:00

Stephanie is still hanging in there in spite of all of her medical problems. She has a few of these fatty tumors like the one you see on her belly. The vet says they are harmless, so we don't want to put her through any kind of surgery to remove them. She has gained weight and always wants to finish up what the other hounds leave behind. She still walks very well. She wears her boot on her bad leg so it helps her a lot. Stephanie recently had a urinary infection and had to take antibiotics. It has cleared up and she is doing much better.

Tommy

2011-08-30T08:37:00.000-05:00

We have been watching Tommy carefully now since Glow left us. Little by little he seems to be more frail. He gets a low dose aspirin every day. He goes on short walks and still gets excited when he knows we are going out. He has less of an appetite and has lost some weight. We give him anything he will eat.

Tommy and a pile of beds

2011-08-02T09:07:00.000-05:00

Tommy likes to dig and make a nice big cushey pile of beds to lay on.

Independence day walk

2011-07-04T13:32:00.000-05:00

I took the hounds for their walk today. They wore their flag bandanas like they do every year. This is the first year without Glow. Stephanie wore Glow's collar and leash so she could be with us in spirit. Today is a month since she left us. We really miss her a lot. People have asked about our missing hound. The neighbors always have seen me with the five of them.

Remembering Glow

2011-06-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was two weeks since she left us. We are still trying to adjust to life without her. The other hounds are rooing more often. They seem to have adjusted. It's still hard to talk about her without getting choked up or crying. I put some collages together to try and capture her essence. I think this one does it best.

Tommy takes a drink

2011-06-12T06:59:00.000-05:00

We have had a lot of rain lately. I keep the pool ready to wash dirty feet. They all seem to think it is a big water dish. They all rooed Saturday morning for the first time since Glow died. Tommy started it as usual. It was good to hear it even if one voice was missing.

Glow's tags

2011-06-09T05:53:00.000-05:00

We have had this bronze of greyhounds before we got the five of them. I thought this would be a good place to put Glow's tags and the tags of the other hounds as they pass on. Her collar and leash is sitting on the shelf near the other leashes. They will just stay there for a while. I can't throw them away. Our feelings are still quite raw. I am barely able to type this as I cry and the tears fill my eyes.

Glow comes home

2011-06-08T12:22:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon 6/7/2011 we brought Glow's remains home. We both miss her so much. I have spent a lot of time looking at her pictures and videos. I am so glad I have those. She was our pack alpha. The other hounds seem to notice she is missing. They usually roo at least once a day, but we haven't heard them do it at all since she passed. She would be the one to get some play going in the yard. We haven't seen any of that yet.

Glow has gone to the Rainbow Bridge this evening

2011-06-04T22:07:00.002-05:00

Our sweet girl Glow has passed on this evening at about 6:45 pm. She had been out playing in her mulch pile like she loves to do. Bullet and Bliss had been outside playing with her. I let them in and looked to see where Glow was. I looked out and saw her laying in the grass near the mulch pile. I called her name but she didn't move. I went out to check on her and she wasn't moving and didn't appear to be breathing. She must have had a heart attack after playing in the mulch. She appeared to have just laid down on her side as if to go to sleep. I carried her inside and we checked her to see if she might have some life in her, but sadly she was gone. She was such a sweet girl and had been acting like a puppy all the way to the end. We went for a walk this morning with all of the hounds and everything was fine. She had a good meal at suppertime and I sat on the floor with her and was petting her. She loved having her neck scratched and lifted her head up as I did it. I gave her a little scratch on her thigh and she stiffened her leg as she always does when she enjoys it. We will miss her so much. She was always the one to put her feet on the door sill to let us know she was ready to come inside. We feel it was a blessing that she went so peacefully. We always feared that it might be a situation where we would have to make that horrible decision. She saved us from that. We love you Glow and will be with you again someday.

Memorial day 2011

2011-05-30T12:26:00.000-05:00

Memorial day afternoon. The hounds take some sun and a dog biscuit.

Racing after the snow melt

2011-02-19T07:47:00.000-06:00

The hounds couldn't resist getting out and running in the mud after the snow melted and we had a little warmup.

Tommy gets a chicken foot

2011-02-11T13:07:00.000-06:00

Tommy got a couple of chicken feet for breakfast the morning after his event. He seems to be just fine now. We are giving him a baby aspirin each day now to help in case this might happen again.

Tommy had what looked like a stroke

2011-02-11T13:04:00.001-06:00

Tommy had a mild stroke yesterday that kept him from using his hind legs very well for a few hours. He panted heavily at times and could not get to his feet without help. In the evening, he was finally able to get up and walk on his own. He made the final turnout with the other hounds and then walked to the bedroom. This morning he seemed perfectly normal.

Tommy gets a special meal

2011-02-11T07:43:00.000-06:00

Tommy got a nice big bowl of cooked shrimp. He loves them.

Playing in the new snow

2011-02-06T07:34:00.000-06:00

Bullet, Bliss and Glow play in the new deep snow that we got on Groundhog day. Glow still has a lot of play in here for an 11 year old girl.

Groundhog Day 2011

2011-02-02T10:24:00.000-06:00

Bliss and Bullet have some fun in the 20" plus snowfall.

Tommy gets busted

2011-01-23T10:39:00.000-06:00

Tommy stays off the furniture usually when we are home, but it seems that when we go away he makes himself comfortable.

2011-01-23T10:34:00.000-06:00

The hounds unloads like a military movement.

2011-01-23T10:32:00.000-06:00

Bullet gets very excited about rides in the van.

Tommy Romano Top Dog 2002

2011-01-12T07:56:00.000-06:00

Tommy was Top Dog tied with Oklahoma Lil in 2002 for winning 25 races. John, Carla and Dallas Sappington 2nd, 3rd and 4th from left in back. Oklahoma Lil never made a Night Of Stars appearance. Tommy ran 72 races in 2002 and had 52 wins out of his 176 races in his career.

Tommy Night Of Stars X champ

2011-01-12T07:45:00.001-06:00

This is Tommy in the winner's circle for the Night Of Stars X race at Dairyland Greyhound Park. Second from the left in back is John Sappington, Tommy's trainer. Tommy Raced in NOS 9 (4th), 10(1st), 11(4th) and 12(6th). He is one of nine dogs that have ever appeared in 4 or more NOS races.

Meet the Cobblepots

2010-12-22T09:55:00.000-06:00

Tommy, Zoe and Glow. I call them the Cobblepots, because their father was Oswald Cobblepot.

Cobblepot reunion

2010-12-22T09:53:00.000-06:00

Tommy and Glow were reunited with their sister Zoe (No Barking Zone) at Lisa Kadow's place. Zoe has had some sort of stroke and seems to be recovering slowly. She really perked up when her brother and sister got there.

2010-12-03T09:48:00.000-06:00

Glow, Bullet and Bliss start racing around in the yard. This is the day after Glow had that strange event.

Glow 2 hrs after her event

2010-12-02T09:36:00.000-06:00

Glow was up and feeling normal after a short time. We aren't sure what caused it.

Glow has some sort of stroke

2010-12-02T09:34:00.000-06:00

Glow had some sort of stroke that made her limp on her right rear leg first and then it went to her front right leg. She was panting and very disoriented. I gave her an aspirin and after about an hour she appeared normal with no side effects.

Bullet gets a Dental

2010-11-24T09:38:00.000-06:00

Bullet looked funny all drugged up after his Dental. His tongue was hanging out.

Rester vs Racer

2010-08-29T09:29:00.000-05:00

Tommy has left his racing career way behind him.

Art imitates Life

2010-08-29T09:27:00.000-05:00

Bullet and Bliss check out the yard for insurgents (squirrels).

Tommy fixes his bed

2010-08-24T19:49:00.001-05:00

Tommy likes to make his bed a special way and will not stop until it is just right.

Tommy discovers the sofa

2010-08-24T09:23:00.000-05:00

After five years of staying off the furniture, Tommy decided it was time to give it a try.

Glow has her turn at the mulch pile

2010-08-24T09:12:00.000-05:00

Glow seems to take this mulch pile seriously. She acts like she has a plan as to how she wants it to look.

Bullet has Mulch Pile Madness

2010-08-24T09:07:00.001-05:00

The hounds love the mulch pile and they are great little farmers keeping it turned over.

Tommy and Glow

2010-08-02T06:44:00.000-05:00

Tommy and Glow catch some sun on the patio. They are starting to show signs of aging. They both seem to have stiff joints. Glow seems worse than Tommy, so we are giving her Tramadol to help relieve the pain.

Another use for the DIY Pill Gun

2010-08-02T06:41:00.000-05:00

Glow needs to take Tramadol for joint pain and I discivered i can use the pill gun as a cheeze cutter. I push the pill gun into the cheeze and cut out a plug. I then push the pills into the hole. Glow gobbles it up fast. I push the cheeze plug out with the plunger to clean it.

Stephanie's tail wound

2010-08-02T06:34:00.000-05:00

This is how the wound looked on 7-26-2010.

Tommy the Jack Rabbit

2010-08-02T06:32:00.000-05:00

Tommy looks so funny from behind with his ears sticking straight up. He looks like a giant rabbit.

DIY Pill Gun

2010-08-02T06:30:00.000-05:00

Stephanie needs to take a bunch of pills every day for her kidney problem. She isn't very good at taking pills either. She already has to take a liquid medice and I noticed that the barrel is about the size of the capsules she needs to take. So I cut of the end of it and discovered that the pills fit perfectly inside. I load it up with two at a time and the job goes fast.

Stephanie's tail wound is healing

2010-07-16T07:38:00.000-05:00

I took these photos today to show the progress of Stephanie's tail wound. We let the air get to it to dry it up and help speed the healing process.

Stephanie's tail wound

2010-07-05T15:44:00.000-05:00

This is what Stephanie's tail looks like after we unwrapped the bandage.

Walking out

2010-07-03T07:30:00.000-05:00

The hounds get ready to walk out of the house on their walk. They are really great about staying calm. They all go out in te same order everyday and they get in this position each time.

Stephanie's mishap

2010-07-02T19:39:00.000-05:00

Stephanie went to the specialist to get her kidney function checked. It has dropped again to 19%. While she was there, her tail got slammed in a door. The tail can be saved, but it has a nasty cut in it.

Glow in the family room

2010-07-02T19:35:00.000-05:00

Glow finds a stack of beds to rest on in the family room.

Walking in the park

2010-06-29T08:23:00.000-05:00

It was a beautiful day for a walk in the park with the hounds. Stephanie gets short walks these days due to her bad leg so she didn't come this far.

Ground Beef Steak

2010-05-24T12:26:00.000-05:00

The hounds got some special treats with ground up steaks.

Grass Reconstruction

2010-05-23T21:53:00.000-05:00

This is a comparison of the yard from March and May. I fenced off the yard to give the new grass and new seed a chance to grow. Once the new grass and the old grass was established, I took the fence down. I used Scott's high traffic seed. So far it looks like it will work. Bullet has already given it some test runs and I don't see large divets and such from his high speed turns. Fingers crossed!

HSH Spa

2010-05-23T21:45:00.000-05:00

Bliss is enjoying her spa.

Bliss is Chillin'

2010-05-23T21:41:00.000-05:00

The temp hit about 93 deg today, so Bliss loved it when I filled her pool up. She is the only one to take advantage of the nice cool water.

Turkey Gizzards and Hearts

2010-01-21T13:28:00.000-06:00

We feed the hounds raw food. This is 40 lbs of turkey hearts and gizzards thawing out in the utility sink.

5 dogs + New Carpet = SpotBot

2010-01-21T13:24:00.000-06:00

With this many hounds, every now and then there is a spot to take care off. Usually it is one of them barfing up some bile and a small piece of bone. This little dude does the job very well.

Westvirginia Bop

2010-01-17T09:03:00.000-06:00

John and Carla brought us this. It is the only greyhound booble head made special for Dairyland. Westvirginia bop was one of John's dogs and he was the top dog in 2006. His call name was Scotty.

John and Tommy

2010-01-17T08:59:00.000-06:00

John and Carla brought us a racing silk. It was number 6, which is so cool, because tommy wore number 6 when he won the Night Of Stars X stakes race in 2002 at Dairyland.

Greyhound Alliance fundraiser

2010-01-09T08:35:00.001-06:00

John , Carla and Rich Ingersoll.

Greyhound Alliance fundraiser

2010-01-09T08:32:00.000-06:00

Kathy and I went to Mi Tierra's for a greyhound fundraiser for the Greyhound Alliance.
That's John and Carla Sappington in the front.

Stephanie warms her buns

2010-01-09T08:29:00.000-06:00

Stephanie picks a nice sunny spot in my office to warm her buns. Of course she is right in the doorway too in case I try to leave.

Winter poop scooping

2010-01-04T08:27:00.000-06:00

Picking up the dog crap in winter isn't easy and it sure is cold.

8th Race results

2009-12-31T08:56:00.000-06:00

Race 8

2009-12-31T08:49:00.000-06:00

John had four dogs in Race 8 because he was working two kennels. All four dogs came in the top four positions. I wish I had bought the superfecta.

Top Dogs at Dairyland

2009-12-31T08:45:00.000-06:00

We were surprised to see the program had all of the top dogs in the tracks history. There is our Tommy Romano in 2002. Go Tommy!

Dairyland Last Night Program

2009-12-31T08:43:00.000-06:00

Dairyland closing night

2009-12-31T08:26:00.000-06:00

Kathy, Carla, Jacque (right), Carla's Dad (left).

Dairyland's last race

2009-12-31T08:22:00.000-06:00

Kathy visits with some of John's friends at the track.

Last night of racing at Dairyland

2009-12-31T08:20:00.000-06:00

We went up to Dairyland Greyhound Park to visit with Carla, Dallas and John on the last night of racing at the track.

Biscuit thief

2009-12-19T08:04:00.000-06:00

Tommy doesn't always eat his biscuit right away, so Stephanie is trying to figure a way to steal it from him.

More snow

2009-12-19T08:02:00.000-06:00

We got more snow. Bullet checks things out. You can see their tracks as they come in and out of the house.

Brownie

2009-12-07T07:54:00.000-06:00

I really like their new puppy. Her coloring looks a lot like Bullet.

Megan and Brownie

2009-12-07T07:52:00.000-06:00

Megan gives Brownie some love.

Kaitlyn and Megan get a new puppy

2009-12-07T07:48:00.000-06:00

Kaitlyn holds her new puppy, Brownie.

The first snow of winter 2009

2009-12-07T07:45:00.000-06:00

Glow sniffs the cold air after our first snow of the winter.

Stephanie

2009-11-30T07:36:00.000-06:00

Stephanie sits in my office and watches out the window while I work.

Van ride

2009-11-07T08:10:00.000-06:00

The hounds like to go for rides in the van. Bullet likes the ride, but pants the whole time.

Chasing geese

2009-11-04T07:42:00.000-06:00

The geese don't stick around when the hounds walk by.

Meeting people in the park

2009-11-04T07:40:00.000-06:00

We met a family in the park that were interested in the hounds. They were all real good while they got some attention.

Squirrel watching

2009-10-03T07:33:00.000-05:00

Bullet and Bliss monitor the yard for squirrel insurgents.

Walking the dogs on a cold fall day

2009-09-22T08:28:00.000-05:00

The weather got real cool so the dogs get to wear there coats for the first time of the cold weather season.

Bedtime for the hounds

2009-07-14T13:40:00.003-05:00

The hounds are great when it comes to going to bed at night. Four of them sleep in the master bedroom and Bliss sleeps in the guest room. It just gets too crowded with four beds in one room.

July 2009

2009-07-04T13:03:00.000-05:00

This is our annual 4th of July photo of the hounds.

Glow hits the mark

2009-06-27T12:59:00.000-05:00

OK...who says that girls don't mark? Glow has a few favorite rocks and manhole covers she likes to mark on. The other two girls don't mark like this. Glow is more accurate than the boys are.

Bunny at 12 o'clock

2009-06-21T12:54:00.000-05:00

Bullet and Bliss lock their attention on a bunny in the middle of the sidewalk. If they were off leash, this would have been a real chase. We are getting more rabbits in the neighborhood lately and we see them almost everyday now.

Tommy goes wading

2009-06-21T12:50:00.000-05:00

We had some heavy rains and the ponds we walk around flooded. Tommy liked walking in the water that flooded over the pond wall.

Using the Predator Call

2009-05-25T06:23:00.003-05:00

If you have a greyhound in the house, you may want to turn the sound down low. This is a video of me testing the recall of the hounds with the predator call. If your dog responds to this, then you know the call may work for you to help recall an escaped hound.

Another Rooing to CSI video

2009-05-13T17:06:00.003-05:00

This is what the hounds do everytime they hear the CSI theme song. Watch Glow, she doesn't even lift her head up.

Why my yard has less grass

2009-05-13T11:04:00.001-05:00

This video explains why I don't have grass on either end of the yard now. Everytime they turn around the trees, more grass gets torn out. This was 2005. Now I have straw on either end to control the mud.

Puppy training dog style

2009-05-13T10:50:00.001-05:00

Glow is our Alpha hound. She is teaching Morgan her place in the pack. You can see that Glow is firm with Morgan, but does not hurt her. Morgan's neck was wet with slobber.

Glow and Morgan Tug O War

2009-05-13T10:25:00.001-05:00

This is Puppy vs Adult Hound in a Tug O War.

Hound play

2009-05-13T10:16:00.001-05:00

This is Glow and Bullet in 2005 playing together. We were also fostering a puppy we named Morgan.