Meet
Skiddy Urban!
Skiddy is a very special 4-year old retired racer in search of his forever home. What makes Skiddy's adventure especially unique is that several
GPA Richmond members (and bloggers!) have the privilege of caring for Skiddy along the way. We hope you'll follow us as we chronicle his journey to his new family. Now let's meet Skiddy!
We've only been able to track Skiddy back to his racing days, which were spent at Wheeling Downs in Wheeling, WV. Skiddy ran 44 races, winning four. His last race was in May, 2008. We're not sure where he went after Wheeling, but in January he was presented as a blood donor candidate to
Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine. And somewhere along the way, either before or after his race career, Skiddy had an accident that left him with a bum nose!
Skiddy's nose injury appears to be related to his muzzle, but we don't know that for sure. When he's wearing a muzzle, part of the muzzle cage fits perfectly in the separation of his nose. Part of Skiddy's tongue is gone too, so we think that happened at the same time. The folks at Auburn assessed the injury, and surmised that it doesn't affect Skiddy's health or attitude. Another win for Skiddy!
Unfortunately, Skiddy was not accepted into Auburn's canine blood donor program. Although Greyhounds make excellent blood donors (due to their high red blood cell count), Skiddy tested positive for exposure to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. And although he doesn't have an active infection, he had to be excluded from the program.
Skiddy's owner left strict instructions that if Skiddy was not accepted into the program that he should be entered into a Greyhound adoption program. So Auburn kept Skiddy until an adoption opportunity became available. Meanwhile, he was cared for by the staff, who presented him with a feather bed. The feather bed had a short life, but they replaced it with a soft-covered "Skiddy safe" sleeping pallet.
In March Skiddy's travels began again when he went to a foster home in Florida and entered a Greyhound adoption program. Luckily, Skiddy was sent to the adoption kennel that partners with GPA Richmond! And luckily for Skiddy, he was taken in by
Lynn, who is a great friend of Greyhounds and has fostered some of our favorite adopted hounds.
Skiddy stayed with Lynn until it was time for his trip to Richmond. Skiddy made such an impression on Lynn that she wrote a beautiful note for Skiddy to carry with him along his journey.
Last week Skiddy made the long trip to Richmond along with
Ma's Brown Betty, Where's Sweetlee, WWW Squak Box, and GLS Maybebaby. Following an afternoon stop, the hounds made their way to
Crittertown BathHouse for baths and to meet their foster families or adopters.
Skiddy was paired with one of our newest GPA Richmond friends, Tamara. And Skiddy spent his first 2 nights in Richmond just across the street from one of our favorite places,
Forest Hill Park!
After some R&R with Tamara, Skiddy came to stay with us for a few days. Harvey, Jackson, and Jello welcomed Skiddy into their pack, and in no time the four became fast friends. Jackson was quick to show Skiddy how much he loves squeaky toys and marshmallows!
While under our care, we took Skiddy to meet
Nerice's Nook, where Skiddy showed us that he gets along just fine with cats and little dogs. And although he met 3 kitties and 2 pocket size hounds, he was more interested in hanging out with the Greyhounds and Whippet in attendance. Go Skiddy!
Back at our house, Skiddy wiggled his way into our human hearts, and we began considering making Skiddy a permanent member of our growing family. But Skiddy has a few more stops to make, so we bundled his things and took him to his
next destination...
We hope you'll travel with us as we follow Skiddy's journey home!
