Josie

Brent and I have often been asked, "why did you choose greyhounds"? We didn't. They chose us. It was late summer in the early 1990's. The Post Falls, ID track had closed and hundreds of racing greyhounds had no place to go. We'd followed the story in the media, but Brent and I had only recently married and were working hard with our blended family - four kids between 4 and 9 y/o. It just wasn't the time to add a dog to the mix.

Late that summer, at the Western Montana State Fair, we happened upon a booth where volunteers with their greyhounds were handing out adoption brochures. As we approached, one of the hounds looked up at me. Her beautiful liquid brown eyes locked onto mine and I felt as if I'd hit a brick wall. To this day I have no idea who that hound was, but she sure did her job! The volunteers gave us a brochure and we gave that greyhound a promise to adopt one of her peers one day.

In the Spring of 1998, the day came. We contacted our local group, filled out the application, passed the home visit, built a fence, bought a dog hauling vehicle and the next thing we knew Josie walked into our lives. We joked later that she was our $7,000 dog. She was worth every penny.

Josie was born "Tibby" on June 17, 1990. For the three years prior to entering our lives she had been living with a family in South Dakota. At 8 years old she needed rehoming because her family was divorcing. We readily agreed to give her a soft bed, lots of love and a new last name.

We had no way of knowing how deeply she was grieving the loss of her family. She was gracious but aloof. When we came home from work she would greet us at the door but then retreat almost immediately back to her bed. We assumed this was normal behavior for the breed. It was four months before she was ready to give her heart away again. I remember the moment so clearly. One evening she came up and laid her head in my lap, did that same visual "lock on" I'd experienced years earlier and the barrier she'd had up to protect herself came crashing down. She finally believed we wanted her to stay.

She was with us until October 2001, when she succumbed to cancer of the liver and pancreas. In the years we shared she was an ambassadress extraordinaire, mind reader, pushy broad, noble queen, gentlest of creatures, and a comfort sponge.

Her legacy in our lives is the seven hounds who have succeeded her.