Homeward Bound - Skiddy Urban's Story

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!

Bends in the Road

It's funny how things work out sometimes, and that it's true that you just never know what awaits you around the bend.

In May 2008 Trina asked me to tag along on a home visit for a potential Greyhound adopter. The applicant lived nearby, and since I needed experience doing home visits, Jackson and I obliged. A short time later that applicant adopted Jello Shot Dot. And on 6/18/08 Harvey, Jackson and I met Jello and her new daddy for a Greyhound play date. We had no idea that after that day everything would change.

Jello's Gotcha Day

Play date, 6/18/08

Let's fast forward... this month I found and bought my dream home, a large 1920's Arts and Crafts bungalow. Seems that over the past year my doll house sized bungalow just wasn't big enough anymore. And as luck would have it, Jello's daddy has always wanted an Arts and Crafts house too.

Next month our merged pack will take another bend in the road as we move into our new home. And in a strange turn of events, we close on 6/18/09, exactly one year after that first play date.

My doll house bungalow

Our new home

It has a lovely front porch

The view from the porch

Rooms big enough for Greyhounds

Harvey and Jackson, thank you for guiding me and for helping me open my eyes to what was right in front of me. You are my best boys. And to Jello's daddy, I love you.

Easter

The boys celebrated Easter 2009 with a return visit to "Easter on Parade", an annual Richmond tradition. The weather was beautiful and there were thousands of parade goers, including every kind of hound imaginable, large and small!

GPA Richmond was on hand with volunteers and hounds, and again hosted the ever-popular Pet Bonnet Contest. Harvey and Jackson would like to send a special thank you to our friend Karen, who generously donated one of the Pet Bonnet Contest prizes.

Harvey and Jackson survey the scene.

Contestants line up for the Pet Bonnet Contest.











The view from GPA Richmond's booth.

Harvey.

Jackson.

And just for fun, here's a photo sequence of Harvey as he gets his very first taste of a Peep!




He likes it!

Rainy Day Fun

Everyone who knows Harvey knows that he's toy challenged, but he does enjoy shredding paper! Our neighbor made Harvey the ultimate paper shredding toy, a newspaper tree, which came in handy on this rainy day!

Want to make your own newspaper tree? Here's how. And Harvey? Well, here he is demonstrating that there's more to life than silly squeaky toys.

She's A Big Girl Now

Jackson's pretty girlfriend Jello celebrated her 4th birthday yesterday. Jello is a sweet little cuddle bug, and is the apple of her daddy's eye!

Jello's Gotcha Day.

Just one month later, and she's already a celebrity!

Having fun with a new friend.

Jello's pack.

And she's off!

Hangin' with the boys.

Happy Birthday Jello, we love you!

Jasmine

Hi Everyone, you may have heard that we had snow here... unfortunately, the snow storm brought a bit of trouble to our home, but we're OK now!

Our dear sweet neighbor emailed this story, so we thought we'd share. And at the end of the post, some pictures from our beloved Forest Hill Park.

Jasmine's Story

In 2003, police in Warwickshire, England, opened a garden shed and found a whimpering, cowering dog. It had been locked in the shed and abandoned. It was dirty and malnourished, and had clearly been abused.

In an act of kindness, the police took the dog, which was a greyhound female, to the nearby Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary, run by a man named Geoff Grewcock and known as a willing haven for animals abandoned, orphaned or otherwise in need.

Geoff Grewcock and the other sanctuary staff went to work with two aims: to restore the dog to full health, and to win her trust. It took several weeks, but eventually both goals were achieved. They named her Jasmine, and they started to think about finding her an adoptive home.

The dog had other ideas. No-one remembers now how it began, but Jasmine started welcoming all animal arrivals at the sanctuary. It wouldn't matter if it was a puppy, a fox cub, a rabbit or, probably, a rhinoceros, Jasmine would peer into the box or cage and, where possible, deliver a welcoming lick.

Geoff Grewcock relates one of the early incidents. "We had two puppies that had been abandoned by a nearby railway line. One was a Lakeland terrier cross and another was a Jack Russell Doberman cross. They were tiny when they arrived at the centre and Jasmine approached them and grabbed one by the scruff of the neck in her mouth and put him on the settee. Then she fetched the other one and sat down with them, cuddling them."

"But she is like that with all of our animals, even the rabbits. She takes all the stress out of them and it helps them to not only feel close to her but to settle into their new surroundings.

"She has done the same with the fox and badger cubs. She licks the rabbits and guinea pigs and even lets the birds perch on the bridge of her nose." Jasmine, the timid, abused, deserted waif, became the animal sanctuary's resident surrogate mother, a role for which she might have been born. The list of orphaned and abandoned youngsters she has cared for comprises five fox cubs, four badger cubs, 15 chicks, eight guinea pigs, two stray puppies and 15 rabbits.

And one roe deer fawn. Tiny Bramble, 11 weeks old, was found semi-conscious in a field. Upon arrival at the sanctuary, Jasmine cuddled up to her to keep her warm, and then went into the full foster mum role. Jasmine the greyhound showers Bramble the roe deer with affection and makes sure nothing is matted in her fur.

"They are inseparable," says Geoff Grewcock. "Bramble walks between her legs and they keep kissing each other. They walk together round the sanctuary. It's a real treat to see them."

Jasmine will continue to care for Bramble until she is old enough to be returned to woodland life. When that happens, Jasmine will not be lonely. She will be too busy showering love and affection on the next orphan or victim of abuse.

And finally, some of our snow photos from Forest Hill Park.