Meet Grant


This handsome gentleman is Grant, my first glimpse of him and likewise his first glimpse of us. (He's looking at Isaac, whom you can see reflected in the car's window just to the right of his nose.) As you can see he's a dark brindle color. There's a touch of white on his muzzle and he has two white toes, but otherwise is all dark brown. His face is a remarkable dark-brown color that is more intense than the photograph suggests. It makes a handsome effect with his medium-brown eyes.

Grant's track name was "Whiskey Knight" (pedigree). We believe that he raced some–we haven't looked at his records yet–but it can't have been for long. He was born in 2004 and has been living on a dog farm / greyhound training facility for the past 3 years. The extant theory is that he wasn't such a good racer but his trainer liked his personality and kept him around.

Grant came to us through the agency of a volunteer greyhound-adoption group in West Virginia called Grey's Landing. (You might enjoy their "Fun Facts about Greyhounds".*) Volunteer Lisa was delivering another greyhound to folks in Allentown, PA, so we all agreed to meet up in Breezewood, Pennsylvania, which is about a two-hour drive from our house in Bowie.

And so yesterday we wolfed down a bit of lunch, gathered up necessary stuff like water and treats and camera and crochet projects, got Azalea into the car and headed out. This was Azalea's first big trip in a few years but she seems quite fond of riding in the car and she settled right down for a good sightseeing trip.

In fact it was a very pretty day, bright and sunny. The fields in the hills along I-70 in Pennsylvania were beautiful in various tan and sandy shades. There were lots of interesting farm houses that I like seeing but didn't manage to photograph. We made good time with only one stop at the first I-70 rest stop in Pennsylvania. Azalea had a good time walking around and sniffing in the "Designated Pet Area".

Soon after we arrived at the hotel/restaurant parking lot where we saw Lisa's car and Grant waiting for us, just as in the picture. We talked and walked around and let Grant and Azalea get acquainted for awhile. It's too soon to say whether they'll become great friends but they seem easily to tolerate each other, which is always a relief.

After an hour or so we headed back home. Grant and Azalea both quickly settled down for the ride. It soon started getting dark and then as we were near Germantown (north of Rockville) it started snowing. We had no snow difficulties on the way home, but our timing was fortuitous. The snowing kept going and by morning we had some six inches accumulated.

But the snow's another story except to note that Grant and Azalea both thoroughly enjoyed chasing each other in the powdery white stuff. It looked like fun!
———-
* I may disagree a wee bit about how much fun it is to watch newly retired greyhounds tackle stairs for the first time, but that's mostly because Dowland was so very neurotic about stairs. Fortunately Grant seems unperturbed but still far from graceful on the stairs, since–as I write this–he's only been up them twice so far.

Posted on March 2, 2009 at 17.49 by jns · Permalink
In: All

8 Responses

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  1. Written by chris
    on Monday, 2 March 2009 at 21.54
    Permalink

    oh now he's just adorable.

    but at such a young age, the grizzwold-ness about the muzzle is presumably not indicative of age (unlike my own grey hairs in that area), I assume.

    in the "fun facts" section, the author claims, and heaven knows I quote: When a Greyhound is in full stride, all four feet leave the ground twice". Um – how is this special? When I'm walking, let alone "in full stride", both of my feet leave the ground a lot more than twice, and that's before I reach the elevator, just down the corridor from my apartment. Do they mean "all four at once"? That's not all that unusual either – every cat I've ever met does that when in hot pursuit of something, and I daresay it might be true of other quadrupeds at speed.

    anyway, I trust that Grant is settling in well at Bjornslottet. May you all enjoy many years of happiness together.

  2. Written by jns
    on Monday, 2 March 2009 at 23.29
    Permalink

    "At the same time" is apparently the intent. Many quadrupeds do at full speed, as you say. This hearkens back, of course, to that famous wager about whether all four hooves of a horse leave the ground at the same time when they gallop, a wager settled so beautifully and to great technological advance by Eadweard Muybridge in 1877 (the Wikipedia entry has a nice animation). Greyhounds lift off 1) when their feet come together before the power push by the hind legs; and 2) when front and rear legs stretch in opposite directions just before the front legs stabilize the stride by touching the ground. It's quite pretty to see. Their extended, flexible spines play a part in the gait too. I don't know whether the contracted-then-extended lift-off gait is unique.

  3. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Tuesday, 3 March 2009 at 02.21
    Permalink

    Fine looking addition to your family there, Jeff. Congratulations
    to you all.

  4. Written by Beth
    on Tuesday, 3 March 2009 at 18.17
    Permalink

    It is a good thing that Azalea and Grant have chased each other in the snow because we probably won't have another snowstorm this year.

  5. Written by Melanie
    on Tuesday, 3 March 2009 at 19.30
    Permalink

    What a beautiful dog! Welcome to Grant — it's good to hear he and Azalea have hit it off.

  6. Written by Andrew and Ben Skinner
    on Tuesday, 3 March 2009 at 21.27
    Permalink

    Congratulations Jeff, Mr. Isaac, Azalea and Grant! We think Grant is beautiful. Now, Crochet projects? really?

  7. Written by jns
    on Tuesday, 3 March 2009 at 22.03
    Permalink

    Yes, really!

  8. Written by Rachel
    on Saturday, 7 March 2009 at 07.50
    Permalink

    What a handsome snout! Congratulations on your new canine addition to the family. He sounds like a winner no matter what his racing record.

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