Shopping Spree

And I thought buying Jacoby's supplies was fun! Kibble and toothbrushes don't compare to today's shopping excursion! I just shopped for a few collars and a coat for my boy. Take a look...

I went to NeedleNoseApparel

and built a blue coat with this fleece as the shell and snood material:

and a winter collar to match:

Then I bought a cute Noel teddy bear collar on eBay:

And I grabbed 2 awesome and lovely collars from 2 Hounds Design, a mistletoe:

and a dragonfly (for all seasons):


Lindsay from WAG once told me she had too many collars, that she just loved buying them. I can't see her point at all. ;-)

Where's your favorite online greyhound-apparel/collar/whatever store? Comment and tell me!

Jacoby's first 2 days

Jacoby the greyhound, unfortunately, is not adjusting very well at all to our house. He's anxious and unsettled and can't find anywhere to relax. You can see what I mean here:


and here:


OMG, seriously... I'm so in love with him!!! Paul came back from a business trip last night and saw him for the first time since Jacoby was at our house a few weeks ago. He loves him already, too. He's just the perfect addition to our home.

The first night (Sunday night) I was going to have Jacoby sleep in a 2nd-floor bedroom with a baby gate to keep him in. Well, I gave him a good 30 minutes to settle down and he just wouldn't. I came down to see that he was trying to chew through the baby gate and there were shards of wood all around. My poor boy!!! So I brought him and his comforter and his blankie and his little squeaky toy and the baby gate upstairs and set him up in the middle room of the master suite on the 3rd floor. He's not yet in the bedroom, but he's okay with being 20 feet away from me.

I'm waiting for Bandit the kitty to get a bit more used to him so as to not feel displaced. She feels our bedroom (specifically our bed) was a sanctuary for her, so I don't want to mess that up for her. And SweetPea the bunny and Jacoby are doing great together. Pea's staying in her condo with the door closed and only gets nervous when Jacoby thinks I'm handing out treats to her -- he comes close to the cage and seems to want whatever I'm handing out. I can't give him the raisins I give her, but I make sure to give him lots of love and I think that's his best treat right now. But other than that, the big boy isn't making her skittish at all and he's only noticing her moving around, etc., peripherally.

He's sure getting his exercise! We're walking him like crazy and he's climbing the 3 flights of stairs in our house like a champ. He's very sensitive to how we walk, and how fast. He's learning "stay" at curbs before crossing streets, he already knows his new name, he's learning "slow" when we come to ice and can't walk fast over it, and he's already got his favorite spots to "go" on our little street (which he's doing with admirable regularity!). I'm trying to teach him what "home" means (and where it is). The first day, we went for a 3-mile walk, and a 1-mile walk. Yesterday, we went for a 2-mile walk. Today we'll walk about 1.5 miles to the vet's office. We're going mainly to get him a heartworm prescription.

Yesterday, I got him a town license and an ID tag at PetSmart. So he's got more jewelry, which jangle together in a happy way from his tag collar.

We got a new washer and dryer yesterday, so he got to supervise that. Even made friend with our plumber, Jeff.

At PetSmart yesterday afternoon, we were going to buy chewies and a few balls (I want to see if I can get him interested in toys), and he was making friends with all the people, but very wary of the dogs. Especially the little dogs! I don't know if he's afraid he'll step on them or if he's just a cream puff (probably the 2nd one!), but it was too funny! We got him weighed on their scale: 74.4 pounds, I think. And I had to measure him for a coat, so he's 28" long (from base of neck to base of tail) and 28" tall from floor to top of shoulder. I wonder if all greys are so symmetrical?

He's a love. We've been having fun together and he's right near me at all times. He cries if he's on a different floor than me. But he settles right down on a couch in the library when I leave the house without him, so that doesn't seem to be a problem. The couch is right by a window that overlooks the driveway, so he can see when I come home and is right by the door to greet me when I open it. He bounces up and down and gets so excited that last night I had to go for a few hours and I had to make sure I didn't speed home because I was so much anticipating his reaction when I got there!

In short, he's our perfect dog. We are so glad we waited nearly 3 months to do the right research and look for just the right dog. He's completely and forever loved by us. And he seems to share the feeling, too.