And Then There Were Three...

Hi, my name is Frankie.  I'm the newest athlete to take up residence at La Casa de Coach Liz.  We met back in March or April and I was still pretty sick back then, but I knew that I would be one lucky dog if I got to go home with Coach Liz.  See, Coach Liz is an athlete and her boy, Buddy, he's an athlete, too.  So Coach Liz and Buddy know what athletes need.  We need exercise, a good support system, quality food, and plenty of recovery time.  But there was something special about Coach Liz and Buddy that made me want them to be part of my Forever Home.

I guess that I should tell you a little about my life before coming to live at La Casa.  I was born in January, 2007 and I come from a long line of successful racers.  I was one of six Greys in my litter and my Brood Mom had a total of 35 offspring.  All of my brother's and sister's names begin with Backwood + their name.  My registered name is Brownlee.  I don't know why I did not get the Backwood part added to my name.  I really cannot remember what happened when I was at the farm or at the track, but I did not get to race.  All I do know is that my owner let me go and live with some humans.

I am not sure what happened to the humans, but one day last September, they let me out in the back yard and they never let me back in.  It was so hot outside.  I am sure that I scratched at the door to get the human's attention, but they did not let me in.  It was hot at night too.  We Greyhounds don't normally bark, but I had to find my voice to tell the humans that I needed to come in from the heat.  But the back door never opened.  After many days without food, and just a little water, another human heard me barking and looked over the fence.  They must have seen how hot and hungry I was.  I heard the new human knocking on the door of the house.

Soon, the human found a way into the back yard and put me in their car.  I was scared.  I did not know where this human was taking me, but they had water and the car was cool inside.  The human took me to a place where there were other dogs and some cats and more nice humans that gave me food to eat and some blankets to lay down on.  I think I was told that this place was called the Bay City Animal Shelter.

The humans gave me shots and took some of my blood, which really hurt, and then let me rest for a few days.  On Friday, October 7th, 2011, I had an evaluation done by a doctor who works with dogs.  October 7th is kind of a special day for me.  It was the day that I got a new name, the one I have now.  The new humans named me Frankie because I was rescued from the backyard of my old house on October 4th.  That is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.  October 7th is a special day for Coach Liz as well, because I found out that it is her birthday.  I guess we had a special connection.

Well, I was pretty sick.  Being stuck out in the backyard for many days, I had received many mosquito bites and as a result, I developed heart worms.  Greyhound Pets of America picked me up from the Bay City Animal Shelter and took me to their kennels where I got to meet lots of other Greyhounds!  It was like being back at the track.  But I too tired to play and have fun.  I had to start treatment for the heart worms.  They gave me arsenic which is poison that kills the heart worms, but I had to be careful and rest so that the arsenic would not kill me as well.  Then I had to take Prednisone.  That made me so sick.  I lost over 20 pounds.  My first round of arsenic was in February and the second one was in March.

When Coach Liz first saw me, I probably wasn't much to look at, but I put my best paw forward and offered her and Buddy a kiss and then I had to lay down.  I heard Coach Liz comment on how thin I was and that when I was standing in the sunny doorway, she could see the sunlight shining through my skin around my tummy and my legs.  I hope that I had made a good impression.  I still had to get well and that was going to take some time.

Well, it seems that time was on my side.  My Foster Mom, Aunt Sandy, had been taking care of me and helping me get my weight back up.  She had been to Coach Liz's house with her Greyhound, Roo and she said it was a real nice place.   Mrs. Pat from GPA made sure to bring me back to the kennel because she said Coach Liz was coming to see all the dogs and to see who wanted to go home with her.  Oh, I hoped it would be me.

I got to go in first and I made sure to offer up some kisses to Coach Liz, Buddy, and this big guy who looks like Buddy and has the same name.  I remember that he was nice and gave me cookies and I heard him say that he could not believe that the other humans left me the way they did.  Some of my kennel mates got a chance to go in and see the family, but they are all kind of young and goofy.  I heard that Hummer tried to increase his chances by offering up his belly for a good rub.  I was secretly concerned that Coach Liz might ask to see Starsky again, but I got called back instead!  Oh, I was so happy!  We got to go for a walk and I made sure to use my best leash manners.

Soon, I had a new collar and I was on my way to La Casa.  It was kind of scary at first not knowing where I was and seeing all the new things, but I tried to be very respectful of Coach Liz's stuff because I did not want to be sent back like Paulie who only got to stay his new home for a month before he ate a squirrel and freaked out his new owner with some crazy behavior.  Coach Liz, Buddy, and El Esposo had all sorts of things ready for me and even let me come up and sleep upstairs so I can be close to them and not feel lonely and afraid.  It has been hard when Coach Liz has to go to work but she said that she is going to be able to spend more time with me after this week.   Coach Liz has been taking real good care of me and I am doing my best to be a Greyt dog for her.

I think that I must be the luckiest dog of all!

Frankie