About three days into Harmony’s hospitalization, I came across a thread on GreyTalk about a 6 year old retired blood donor in Nebraska that needed a home. Not only did he need a home, but if he didn’t find one quickly, he was most likely going to be euthanized. He apparently had behavior issues crop up in his foster home of two years that made placing him difficult. The details were sparse, but they were all we needed to know. Before even talking to Ken, I posted that we would take him. That if I had to, I’d drive all the way out to Nebraska to get him.

And as soon as I posted that, I burst into tears. I was so overwhelmed having one dog in the hospital fighting for her life…a life that was already saved once by a dog who’d donated blood so she could have a tranfusion. Of course, Elvis and Casino are never far from my mind. Two blood donors we adopted as seniors who gave up their youth so that pets could be saved. At this point I had my laptop in my lap with tears streaming down my face, and Ken is wondering what the heck is going on. I blurted out, “I think I just adopted another dog. He’s a blood donor and he’s going to die if someone doesn’t take him.” And Ken, being my hero, says “Of course, we’ll adopt him. That’s what we do. Now, tell me about our new boy.”

I’ve often said that the stars had to line up just right for this dog or that dog to find their way into our lives. And Lucas is no different. One of the vets at the clinic in Nebraska had

 spoken to a vet friend in Seattle about Lucas. She was very upset that his prospects seemed so dim. She did not want to see him put down, but there just didn’t seem to be any alternatives. Enter Mary. Mary lives in Seattle and owns greyhounds…those greyhounds led her to visit her vet  just a handful of days before Dr. C in Nebraska was leaving town…and leaving Lucas to a grim fate. Mary’s vet just so happened to be the vet that Dr. C had talked to about Lucas. They mentioned Lucas’ story to Mary. Mary, unable to adopt Lucas herself, turned to Greytalk for help.

So, I pm’d Mary to get the ball rolling. I talked to Dr. C about our family and our pack. She shared more details of Lucas’ story. He had lived in a “foster home” for two years and the family turned him back in. They had a baby and another dog and, well, Lucas just wasn’t what they wanted anymore. Oh, and he started pooping “on purpose” in the house. Dr. C tried to incorporate him to her pack, but that just didn’t work out either. At the vet clinic, Lucas was  not very happy. He started pooping in his crate, which created a mess for the staff to clean up. So, long story short – Lucas was a middle aged greyhound who’d been labelled a house pooper with possible separation anxiety. Not exactly the kind of dog adoption groups or adopters line up to take in.

Except for us. There is a reason we call ourselves the GreyhoundFreaks! Last weekend volunteers drove him from Nebraska to Kansas City to St. Louis and finally to Tennessee. Friends of ours, Mike and Judy (who have quite a greyhound pack of their own!) kept Lucas over night and I picked our  new boy up the next day. Prajna and Stella rode with me on the 16 hour round trip drive to get their new packmate, Lucas.

We decided to rename him Lucky Louie which has several special meanings to us. First, Harmony’s primary nickname was Lucky Charms and I can’t help but feel she helped send him here. As sick as she was, she helped us find him.   Second, stand up comedy is one of our favorite things (life can’t be only about greyhounds) and it’s sort of an homage to one of our favorites: Loius C.K. Third, he is pretty lucky that all the stars aligned juuuuuuuuuust right for him to find a Forever Home instead of…well, the very unlucky alternative he was facing. Fourth, Loiue should be an easy transition to Lucas (though I’m sure he will still be Lucas from time to time too).

Butt sniffs all around as he meets his new pack…

It only took a couple hours for Lucas to find a soft spot on the sofa with Wuzho the Staghound. He’s found his FOREVER HOME and we love him to pieces.

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