I would like to think that I could have posted daily or even weekly about Ziti’s arrival up to this point, but I was literally exhausted until last night when I finally kept my normal schedule.

We’re two weeks in and here are some highlights:

Ziti didn’t like the first crate we set up for him at all. Every night he would begin to howl and whine at about 3:30 am, defecating and urinating all over it. Greyhounds do not like to have messy crates. This reinforced the anxiety. We ultimately had to change his crate and its location to break the cycle. During that whole first week, I averaged maybe 3 hours of sleep a night and two loads of laundry a day (without ever doing my own it seemed). I still do not have much humor for the “it’s just like a baby” sentiment. It’s not. A dog is not a child and a child is not a dog. A baby cries because she needs something, not because she has developed a fear of her crib. Ziti is also not a puppy. He is a six year old adult dog.

Ziti also continues to recover from a broken toe. During the first week, he developed an infection in the broken toe that was quite painful for him. Thankfully meds are all we needed to alleviate that situation but when we lapsed between his original meds that came with him and the new ones, you could tell that the broken, infected toe is not fun. We have also had to rebandage him several times as he likes to pull it off. Some Bitter Apple spray has helped with that and frequent corrections.

What we love about Ziti …

He really is a puppy at heart. He is always looking for you to play with him whether it is letting him chase after a tennis ball or getting his jaws around a squeaker.

He learns quickly. He already knew a lot of commands when he first arrived at our home. Now we’re teaching him to use it in a variety of locations. We’ve also added stay. And there’s no doubt to him or anyone else in our house who the leader of this family pack is — me. He falls into line and looks to me for leadership in nearly every activity now.

He’s finally comfortable. Jacob and I knew from about the second day that the crate anxiety was not of the usual variety of adjusting to a new home. We had so many things to complicate like that he has lived in many homes since he retired, the broken/infected toe, and learning to let go of leadership. But now, he’s sleeping at night, waiting until we get out of bed to greet us quietly, and following the leadership we provide at every step. A healthy dog is a happy dog. We’re thankful to everyone in the Greyhound Welfare group that helped us get to the bottom of our problem and solve it for Ziti’s peace of mind.

He’s socializing well with other dogs and people. He loves to be out in our neighborhood and new spaces. He is calm and stable when around other dogs. We’re meeting more of our neighbors and already have educated many of them in our short time about greyhounds. He is a dream at the vet and eagerly looks forward to the attention they lavish on him. “A nap on an exam table? Please show me the way!”

He has the cutest quirks. He’ll counter surf but never take anything off of them. He’s found squeakers in toys that I’ve presumed dead. We think he dreams of chasing rabbits whenever he’s twitching while he’s sleeping. He will heave this tremendous sigh after laying down on his side right before he puts his head down. He snores softly at every nap. He is absolutely ecstatic to see his leash come out. He is a treat moocher.

And if you haven’t looked at this prince’s photo gallery, for shame! He is a beautiful red brindle with white ticking on the bridge of his nose, the tip of his tail, and a couple of his toes. Everyone who touches him remarks, “He’s so soft!”. We’re tempted to make that a command for a trick.

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