At the end of 2006, Team Greyhound Racing was closing their kennel in Mobile. I often helped transport hounds from their  Birmingham racing kennel to the SC/NC area, so I offered to help out in any way I could with the Mobile closing. Heather took me up on my offer and I drove the 8 or so hours to Mobile to pick up some very special hounds destined for a group in North Carolina (. Aside from that, this was my first chance to meet Heather face to face. She met me for lunch and then we headed to the track to load the pups into my van.

Most of the hounds in the kennel had already been petted out or sent to other tracks to race, but there was one very special girl Heather said I just had to meet. She opened the top crate about four down from the front door and I peer in to see this beautiful black face peering back out at me. This timid little girl was crouched down in her crate and not quite sure why we were so interested in her. Well, aside from a shiny black coat, this girl had the most adorable roman nose. You don’t see roman noses every day in greyhounds and it seems even less common to see them on a girl.

I was immediatly smitten, but Heather assured me that she had a promising career ahead of her. And she did! In fact, she went on to race in Birmingham for a couple years before closing out her career at Gulf Greyhound Park just a few weeks ago. Over the two years she was racing for Fishdog Kennel in Birmingham, I would always stop by and say hello to her. And every time she’d cower to the back or crate and avoid eye contact. And every time I’d think the same thing: Awwww…sweet little girl. She seemed SO unsure of things, it made you just want to scoop her up in your arms and give her a big ol’ hug.

Heather had always told me her racing owner had an interest in bringing her home when she retired, if she didn’t go to be a brood. And aside from that, with her roman nose I figured there’d be folks lined up to adopt her. So, when Heather told me she was being hauled back to Birmingham and she wasn’t spoken for…..and that if I really wanted her, I could have her…well…that just set my mind to spinning.

Bringing her home meant going back up to our limit of 15. Did I want that? Was I ready for it? I struggled and contemplated for days. And I found my answer in the turn out pen of the overflow kennel at Birmingham. When I looked into Lightning Lee’s eyes, I saw my dog. Not a racing greyhound. Not a pet. Not a foster. I simply saw my girl. And I had no more doubt about whether bringing her home was the right thing to do. It was the only thing to do.

So thank you thank you thank you to Heather,  Team Greyhound, Toomanyhounds kennel, her racing owner and all the folks who helped Lee race straight into my heart and home.

Waiting to come inside for the first time…

Oh, did I forget to mention that this shy, timid girl in the racing kennel was pulling a fast one? Oh yea…turns out, she’s not shy at all! In fact, she’s proving to be quite a mischevious little thing! Stay tuned for all of Lee’s adventures and misadventures!

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