Today, Saturday May 16

The sun will come out today and so will our 5 senior ladies. They are ready to meet you, charm you and steal your heart.

See you at Petopia Natural Pet Supplies
16101 SE Mcloughlin Blvd, Milwaukie, OR 97267
503.607.0111

Breaking News • Part deux!

Holey Schmoley Portland! Looks like our third senior lady has a home. The news doesn't get much better than this. Corvallis (I did a little 'net search, her name is a Latin phrase meaning "Heart of the Valley") just stuck her little paws into the hearts of a potential adopter and it worked.

Way to go Corvallis. You be rockin' girlie.

Breaking News

Looks like this little heart breaker just might have a home! You go girlfriend!



That would be two beautiful ladies into a home for adopt a senior month.

Only six seniors left to find homes. Better hurry, they're going fast!

See you tomorrow from 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

Petopia Natural Pet Supplies
16101 SE Mcloughlin Blvd
Milwaukie, OR 97267
503.607.0111

Pasha hits the jackpot... twice

OK, I'd like to see a show of paws, how many of you from Internet-land are coming to meet one of my lovely lady friends on Saturday? You know, we have seven lovely ladies looking for their forever home.

Trust me, this will be one of those decisions that you look back on and two things will happen:
1.) you'll wonder why you waited so cotton-pickin' long to adopt a greyhound and
2.) you'll know in your heart of hearts that adopting a senior greyhound was the best decision you have ever made.

So keep those paws in the air and we'll see you on Saturday.

What's that? You want to know my story, gosh, I thought you would never ask.

When I was just a young pup, I knew I wanted to be a writer. All of my littermates were running and playing tug-o'-war and I was devouring every book I could get a hold of.

When it was time to go to the track, I didn't want to run, I wanted to write. I wanted to tell the stories of the greyhounds winning their races, I wanted to talk about the dogs going into adoption groups...

Oh, that isn't the story you want to hear, you want to hear about my adoption story.

I was originally adopted as a two year old racetrack drop-out. I was adopted in Las Vegas. I hit the jackpot. My family loved me very, very much. They took me everywhere, family reunions, vacations, long walks and even to work. We moved around and I ended up in Portland for my golden years.

Last fall the announcement was made that another move was coming up and we were going to California. Sadly for me, at 12 1/2 years old, my body was not keeping up with my mind. I was getting weak in the hind end, stairs were not negotiable anymore and long walks, even around the block were difficult.

My family had to make some decisions.

That's where my new moms come in. Their lifestyle has completely gone to the dogs, so to speak. I could either move to California, where my walks might be painful and on concrete or I could go to the gardens, where I have a fenced acre of nothing but lush green grass to squish between my toes. I have a ramp that makes it easy for me to go in and out, and I have a million brothers and sisters to boss around.

My family loved me so much, that they knew I would be much better off if I stayed with my new moms. And I hit the jackpot for a second time.

Now, I don't run as fast as some of the youngsters, but I can still work up a head of steam.


I love nothing more than to lay in the grass and wander around the acre taking in all of the smells.


And when the evening comes, we all pile into the living room and I turn my tootsies to the air and relax.


I might mention that this is one of the big positives of greyhound adoption. We hope that every greyhound that is adopted goes to their forever home, but sometimes life happens. It only takes one phone call to an adoption group and you will have all of the support you need. And in my case, I had a new home to go to.

Pasha's 13 Reasons to Adopt a Senior Greyhound

Skinny-dipping is an option at any age.

Roxy, now almost 13 loves a cool dip in the pool on warm summer days.



Saturday's our big day.

Now it's up to you to find MI-A TADDY bit o' LOVE, enjoy a SASSY DREAM and WHISTLE all the way to CORVALLIS

A 10 1/2 year old super hound

I'm hoping you remember that Saturday is our big day, our parade of available seniors. Seven seniors to be exact.

If you have read all of the stories so far, you're probably convinced that yes, there is room in your heart and your home for one of our best kept secrets.

But if you haven't, let me recap: they're loving and snuggly, wild and crazy, and they will adapt so fast, you'll never know they just arrived.

See you Saturday!


MEET MR. YAZ, almost 10 yrs.

My name is Silent Power, but you can call me Mr. Yaz.

I retired from the race track at 51/2 yrs. of age. My last race was The Night of Stars at Hollywood Race track. I was a very lucky guy, I got to fly home in a jet!


Once home I started learning all about being a lazy, loved house dog. I got to go on long walks and spend lots of time relaxing. I am now nearing the age of 10 yrs. and I am still a very handsome studley greyhound!

I have three girly roomies who spend lots of time being "cute" girls! But I just a need a good ear scritch, a nice walk and my couch to be happy. I am very attentive to my humans and love to lay on my couch with my head in their laps. And I, of course, have the most beautiful tenor voice you can imagine! I lead the girls in song when it is cookie time.


My only problem is that I am so afraid of flys - my humans have to be very careful about letting one of those nasty bugs in the house. If I see one, I will go to the bedroom closet and hide!


I only go outside when necessary, and when it's raining I can wait a very long time. The girls will go out and run around like silly girls do, I must stand on the deck and supervise their activities.

I am so athletic that I can still leap all 10 deck stairs in a single bound - I am SUPERHOUND!

See what a gorgeous senior boy I am.

Megan • Still a spunky hunter

"Megan’s presence in my life has changed my thoughts 180°
about adopting a senior. They adapt so quickly
to home life and their youthfulness is unbelievable."

Phebe Johnson aka Megan

Phebe Johnson, affectionately known as Megan, Megs, Meggies, Nutmegan, Megan Louise, and Little Megs was my introduction to the best kept secret in the world of greyhounds – adopting the retired senior brood. Megan came to live with Thaw, Time and me at 3 months short of 8 years young. She had been a good racer and was a mom to three litters of pups resulting in 18 puppies.


Megan was nothing like what I expected from an 8 year old. This girl was full of herself and a bundle of energy. Megs and Time took to each other as if they had been best friends for years. They played and played and played together. Thaw thought that Megan, a petite, svelte-figured dark brindle, might want to date but she quickly told him where to go. Megan added a whole new dimension to the pack of three and they got along famously. Megan could clear the four foot walls in the backyard with a foot to spare. There were always critters to try and hunt down. Megan got Thaw, Time and several other cat zapper greyhounds to become card carrying members of the United Federation of Cat Zappers.


One day Megan graphically demonstrated her hunting skills. The four of us were on the back patio and all of sudden Megan took off, flew up to the second level of the yard and quickly returned to the patio with a mouse in her mouth. Its feet and tail were wiggling about – the mouse was alive. She was so proud of herself. I gently asked Megan to please drop the mouse. She paused for a moment and dropped the mouse but when Time tried to get the mouse, Megan quickly picked it up and would not drop it. After being told several times to “drop it,” Megan, with mouse in mouth, looked me in the eye and made one big swallow. No one was going to have her mouse.


Megan’s mothering skills were put to good use when Dusty, a young whippersnapper, came to live with the pack. He just wasn’t getting the fact that you need to go outside to go potty and you couldn’t go around acting like an unmannered puppy. Megan quickly took him under her wing and whipped him into shape. Megan, now 12, still keeps Dusty in line and he continues to adore her.


Living now with a pack of seven, Megan remains the alpha of the pack. When she speaks the other hounds listen. Megan is my bed buddy and the other hounds know that my bed is Megan’s throne. None of them would ever consider getting on the bed with Megan there. Megan continues to set the pace when walking with the other senior hounds – she is always in the lead. If you met Megan outside of her environment you would never know that Megs rules and the rest of the pack drools.


Megan continues to amaze me with her level of activity at the sweet age of 12. One thing that has changed is when the pack runs out to the backyard, she lets the younger ones lead and she now prefers to bring up the rear with Thaw and Time (now 11). She continues to remain the mom figure – if anyone lags behind she goes back in the house looking for them.

When three of Megan’s puppies came to live with us this year she gave me a look that said: “I told them to write when they got work, not to come home when they were unemployed.”


Megan’s presence in my life has changed my thoughts 180° about adopting a senior. They adapt so quickly to home life and their youthfulness is unbelievable. The love and adoration they bestow on you cannot be expressed in words. They have no idea of their years. We should all think like senior dogs – age is not a disease! Long live Megan!


Adopt a Senior – They Are The Very Best!

Pearl • A perfect gem

Her name was Pearl…actually it was Rosie (Nan de Rosie), but I changed it. Pearl let me know in no uncertain terms that she was not happy about the name change, even though I thought ‘Pearl’ perfectly suited her silver-gray brindle coat, and the fact that she was a perfect gem. Regardless, in her lifetime we compromised on Rosie-Pearl.

Pearl came home with me when she was almost nine years old, and left this world seven weeks short of her fourteenth birthday. She was able to die peacefully at home after a too short five years of retirement. I have to say that Pearl was the perfect dog…the essence of the regal, dignified greyhound image. She had huge, soft and soulful brown eyes and stilt-like legs that didn’t quit. She was sweet, gentle and all innocence in her demeanor.

Her perfection wasn’t evident as a ‘youthful’ nine year old. That first six months after adoption she could hardly contain her enthusiasm for chasing things. She would jump straight up onto retaining walls in pursuit of cats. Unfortunately for her, she would land on the top of the wall with her front and back foot FROM THE SAME SIDE atop the wall! Splat onto the sidewalk! I’m surprised she didn’t break legs and ribs in those first few formative months. Once, going after a squirrel while on leash, she managed to jump  six feet off the ground into the fork of a tree! Not to mention the time, very soon after arriving home with me, she accidentally snapped open the clip of her leash and went running down the sidewalk into the darkness of the night. Lost! (I thought). But no, as I made my way home to get the car and go searching for her I found that she had circled around and found her way back to her new home all by herself. She was standing on the porch barking at the front door to be let in.

All her wild ways eventually became tempered with time and she became the proud, serene lady of her platinum years. The sparkle was replaced with a very special glow. Rosie, Pearl, Rosie-Pearl still shines.

Heather • First senior adoptee reports in

Rover Reporter Pasha: I'm here today in Beaverton Oregon with our first senior greyhound adoptee for Adopt-A-Senior month, Heather. So, Heather, news traveled fast when we heard that you had gone to your forever home - congratulations to you. What are your first impressions?

Heather: Thanks Pasha, it's great to be here. I gotta be honest - it's a weird place - for example, they have these things called mirrors - apparently they help you look at yourself, but it took me a little while to figure out that there wasn't another grey that just wouldn't get out of my way when I tried to walk past her --we kept bumping heads. It's also a lot more roomy and comfy - I pretty much have the run of the place, along with the 5 humans I live with and my nephew.


Pasha: Your nephew lives with you?

Heather: Yes, that was a pleasant surprise. When I first came here, one of the human girls took me around to the big run they call the back yard and there he was - Comet - and boy were we excited to see each other. I couldn't get quite as excited as he did because I still have the stitches from getting spayed in my belly.


Pasha: So, what do you think about being the first senior adopted for the month? What do you think your new family's perspective is on your age?

Heather: I think it's great, but I really would like to see the rest of the seniors find their forever home like me. We have a lot to offer, and we're still very young at heart. I met my new family at an adoption event, and I really charmed them there because I am such a lover dog. Age wasn't really a factor at all for them, it was all about my personality - in fact, they really weren't planning on having two greys at all - but I really won them over at that adoption event. They were more curious at how it was going to be to have a girl greyhound - obviously Comet is a boy, and they had another greyt hound that was a boy named Chuck before Comet came to live with them.

Pasha: How do you think you are fitting in with your new family?

Heather: Pretty well, I think. They have three human pups that love to pet and play with me, and are good about how they treat me, and the older humans also seem to enjoy my company. Apparently, I'm their first greyhound that has gotten up on the sofa - I think they'd seen pictures of greys on sofas, but for some reason neither Chuck nor Comet ever made use of their sofa. I can't understand why - it's really comfy, and you can put your head in the human's lap and they pet you for what seems like forever. It's greyt, and the humans seem to enjoy it too. I enjoy playing with Comet too - he has lots of toys (he's always loved squeekers), and he is totally open to sharing with me, which is fantastic. As we're getting more used to each other, we're playing more and more, both in the house and in the back yard. We did get up and play at 3:30 in the morning once in the house - I got the impression the humans weren't really pleased with that, but they were too groggy to do much about it...so we've only done that once.


Pasha: You were in the kennel for a long time, what has that done for your outlook on life?

Heather: Well, after I stopped working (racing and having pups), I did spend quite a bit of time in the adoption kennel - it's not unusual for seniors, you know. I think that time has really made me appreciate my forever home and family - and I think they can tell that. As I said, I am a bit of a lover dog - so I nuzzle them, lay my head on their lap, come over and see them often, lick their face when I get a chance, and I also make a lot of eye contact with them. I love the walks we go on all together, we meet lots of dogs in the neighborhood, see some cats (I really want to meet the cats, but the family won't let me get that close, and those darn cats just sit right where they are and stare at you), and a few horses and humans too. I guess what I'm saying is that my outlook is to get the maximum out of my new life - and I think I'm doing that. Now, don't get me wrong, getting the max still means a whole lot of couch time, but boy is that a greyt way to pass the time.


Pasha: Any last thoughts?

Heather: Well, as I mentioned, us seniors are a hidden treasure in the adoption pool - people do get too caught up on age. I'd like you to tell the humans to get to know a senior - with a minimal time investment, our personalities will win almost anyone over. I'm pretty confident my new family has totally fallen in love with me. I heard that the adoption event on May 16th will have a lot of seniors there, ready to meet the humans - they should all come and spend some time and get to know us. I'm trying to convince my family to drop by too, so I can see my old pals!

Pasha: Thanks Heather. This is Rover Reporter Pasha, signing out from Beaverton.