Don’t Call Me Fat! Call Me Chubby! No, Really….That’s My Name!

Someone Forgot To Tell Chubby It Was Bathing Suit Season

The first time we met Chubby was at Mary and Jeff’s house.  Chubby was sniffing around in the backyard and when he heard his name called, came running straight at us like a canine cannonball.  The talkative, lovable, smiling brindle took his place right next to Erin and proceeded to shed so much of his coat, her once black leggings now resembled that of a tiger. Nonetheless, we continued to pet Chubby as we asked Mary the normal succession of new foster questions.  Unfortunately, not much was known about Chubby’s background.  Other then the fact that he appeared a little overweight, his nails needed a trim, and his teeth were in poor shape, Chubby was a bit of a mystery.  But not having had a longer term foster dog in quite some time, we jumped at the chance to take him home and try to solve the Chubby mystery.

Six Pack And Callie Approved

Most often the fosters that end up in our home have been ruled either not cat or small dog friendly.  This isn’t an issue for us considering we have neither.  However, we do have a Callie with space issues and an attention hog Six Pack.  And although we were a little concerned with Chubby’s size being an issue with Callie’s “safe space,” the three got along extremely well.  It probably helps that Chubby has been in previous homes and is eight years old!  Its comical to see how quickly Chubby caught on to the Jesswein household routine.  For example, when Erin is giving them a treat in the kitchen, all three will run up to her, tails wagging and slobber dripping from their mouths, and patiently wait for her to address them one at a time.  As each one received a treat, they would run into the living room and lay in the respective spaces, that were obviously at least ten feet from one another, and enjoy their reward.

Take It From Chubby, Looks Can Be Deceiving

As soon as it was announced that Chubby had been returned to Prison Greyhounds, several people inquired about adopting him.  But before a forever home could be determined for him, Chubby would have to have a medical evaluation and dental completed. And going into Chubby’s first visit Dr. Carter’s office, Erin and I expected the worst. Having not known when his last vet visit was, we anticipated him having to go on a diet as well as having to treat a range of possible illnesses.  As nervous as we were, Chubby didn’t appear scared at all.  He was so excited, he jumped out of the back of the car before I had a chance to scoop him.  You see, we were also wary of Chubby having a repaired fractured leg, so going in and out of the car, we made sure to pick him up and put him in or take him out of the car. Once inside Dr. Carter’s, “Charming Chubby” made sure to introduce himself to all of the vet techs in the lobby. From there, he made himself at home on the floor in the examination room while waiting for Dr. Carter by laying on the cool floor. During the examination Chubby was a champ, no crying or wincing during the exam or blood draw. And then, the best news of all, Chubby weighed in at the same weight he had been at the track! We would have to wait a couple days on the blood work results and the dental had to be rescheduled for later in the month, but all in all, Chubby had a pretty memorable vet visit.

“I Just Want Someone To Talk To”

We’ve experienced a lot with the 35 greyhounds that we’ve fostered. And truth be told, we’ve had “talkers”, “chatterers”, and “droolers”.  But when you don’t have a foster for awhile that exhibits a unique trait, its especially fun when you finally do.  That was the case with Chubby.  Case in point, you’d think that a greyhound that wears his weight a little thicker in the torso (if you know what I mean) would want to avoid being in 85 degree heat.

Not Chubby! He loves laying outside in the grass. As a matter of fact, when he runs out the back door he does a lap around the pool making pig like “snorting” noises to clear out any unwanted varmints before getting his tan on.  Then there’s Chubby’s communication skills.  I would compare it to Erin opening her Barbie house on Christmas when she was six.  She couldn’t really come up with the words, so she just made a bunch of off key noises and waived her arms around in excitement. Chubby does the same thing when he wants to play.  He can’t quite come up with the words and he’ll slap the ground with his front paws almost as if demanding you listen to him and do as he says!

Chubby Says “Cheese”

Not currently having a foster child does allow us to give more attention to our foster pups.  And Chubby has definitely been one of the more photogenic ones! Some of our favorites are of him in front of the AC vent in the living room.  We think it’s because he has a thicker coat and loves the feel of the cold air blowing on his butt, but it always results in a pretty funny expression on his face.  Chubby seemed almost elated that he got to take a bath! See the comparison of when Chubby had a bath versus Callie (Note: both are 8 years old and have had baths before)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I don’t know about other greyhound adopters, but Callie and Six Pack absolutely hate nail trimmings! To be fair, I haven’t tried to trim Callie’s or Six Pack’s nails in quite awhile, because the last I tried to trim Callie’s with a Dremel, she head butted me with her muzzle on! So keep that image in mind when you see this:

“Lesson Learned, Don’t Get In The Car With Dad Alone!”

With all of the different personalities that we’ve encountered during our tenure as greyhound foster parents there is one constant. If a foster has to be taken to the vet, it’s naturally going to be Ryan that takes him or her. This shouldn’t be a big deal, however, most of the time its for a procedure like a dental or stitches and the foster dog will forever link Ryan as the chauffer to pain and discomfort! This unfortunately happened to Chubby the next to last day he was to be staying with us before going to his forever home. It’s safe to say as happy as he was to see me when I picked him up from the vet, he was even happier to see Erin.

What’s even funnier is that I think he had picked up on the fact that something bad was about to happen. He was a little ticked that I didn’t let him go back to bed the morning of the appointment nor would I let him have any food or water (veterinary conditions for the procedure). He had probably had enough of me screwing up his routine when I proceeded to follow him around for 20 minutes waiting for him to poop because Dr. Carter still needed a fecal sample.

Hopefully he gets into a routine quickly with his forever family. By the time most of you read this, Chubby will be home! His forever home! We’ve been fortunate enough to have fostered some great dogs so far this summer. I wish the weather would’ve cooperated recently with Chubby because he really loves being outside but Erin and I cherished the time we had with him nonetheless. On to the next foster, greyhound or child!