In 2008, my husband Dave and I decided we wanted to adopt a dog. We'd both had cats all our lives, and had dogs when we were kids. But neither of us had dogs in our adult lives. It was time.
But we were fussy. We didn't want a dog that barked a lot. Or one that drooled a lot. We both preferred big dogs, and loved shepherds but didn't want to groom a lot and shepherds tend to blow out their coats every spring. Also, we weren't super active so although we were both willing to walk the dog every day we didn't have time for a dog with a high energy level that needed hours of exercise every day. Lastly, we didn't want to buy from a breeder when there were so many dogs in shelters, so our new baby had to come from a rescue. This was a tricky combination of requirements. Until Dave suggested we take a look at the local greyhound rescues.
I was like, "whaaaa?" how can racing dogs not need to run every day but we took a look, were convinced and signed adoption papers. The group we adopted from (Blue Ridge Greyhound Adoption) didn't have kennels or fosters (at that time) so they chose our dog for us. It was risky to adopt a dog sight-unseen, but we went with it. We didn't even get pictures! She arrived one Saturday and was presented to us: a gorgeous chocolate-brown brindle with a black muzzle and smoky black ears.
I knew I would like any dog we adopted but what I didn't expect was that I would fall so head over heels in love with her. She quickly bonded to me because I was working from home at the time. And I hopelessly bonded to her. I looked up her track record online and was impressed: a picture perfect bell curve! She showed steady improvement through the track grades to the best there is (AA) and when she started sliding back down the grades, they retired her. Into our loving arms.
She quickly showed that she was a confident, easy going girl who loved people. She was nice to other dogs, polite to the cat, nice to children. She did have sleep startle that we slowly trained out of her over a few years. But aside from that she was a perfect love. She became our "meet and greet dog" and any time we took her out in public, people would come over to pet her and ask questions. She's the kind of dog you can take literally anywhere because she has perfect manners.
Over the years, I've developed many affectionate nicknames for her. Most recently I've been calling her Beloved. Because she is. She's 13 years old now and starting to show it. It's not fun watching my beloved baby girl turn into an old lady. But I can't love her any less or be less devoted to her. Of all the dogs that I've known and loved, Capri is the pinnacle of the perfection.
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