friends of the hound is a greyhound adoption group committed to the rehabilitation& rescue of Greyhounds in NSW

ANGEL

An interview with Annie:

It was love at first sight when I first saw Angel walking with her foster carer in October 2006. 

Shortly after I first saw Angel, I started walking both her and India (her foster carer’s own Greyhound) while Liz, her foster carer, was at work. Pretty soon, Liz and I became friends, and Angel and India were spending time at my place during the day – walking, playing, snoozing.  

The first time Angel came home for a visit, she placed her paws on my knees, gazed into my eyes, and lay her head on my shoulder. That was the moment when I knew Angel was the one for me.

A very short time later, I adopted Angel. She arrived with her toys and her blanket, came into the house, gave a very contented sigh, laid down on her new bed and went straight to sleep. She knew she was home.

Shortly before I adopted Angel, one of my closest friends, a lovely kind lady, and fellow dog lover, passed on. When I met Angel, a thought flashed through my mind that my dear friend had sent Angel to me. Three months later, I was diagnosed with cancer.  My Angel was there watching over me, giving me love, joy and hope.

Angel’s presence has helped me enormously. She sits or lays with me after my daily treatments, and is a tranquil, calming presence.

I truly believe Angel is heaven sent. I feel strength, hope and support coming from Angel, and I believe she is an integral part of my recovery program.

An interview with Angel:

I have the best home in the world.

What I really like best about my new home is my Mum, Annie. She loves me very much, and plays with me, and cuddles me, and talks to me. I’m much more confident now because I know Mum won’t be mad at me if I make a mistake.

She lets me play with all my soft toys…and sometimes if I’m lucky I manage to borrow a lovely doll that her friends gave her when she was in hospital. She doesn’t want me to borrow it, but sometimes its irresistible!

Sometimes, Mum isn’t very well so I sit with her or rest with her on the bed until she feels better. When she’s not well, I check out people who come to the gate but I pretend no-one’s home so they don’t disturb us. Mum likes that.

I have a really soft fleecy bed right in the lounge room so I can be close to Mum. When its cold, I have a warm coat that I wear at night, and sometimes during the day when its really cold. I like to keep my favourite toy tucked into my coat so its with me all the time.

I get lots of lovely food and have filled out a bit which is good because I was really skinny when I first went into foster care. I especially love beef jerky but I’m not allowed eat too much of it.

AN UPDATE FROM ANGEL....

In January 2010, my Mum made the difficult decision to return to her home in England, after receiving a not too favourable report from her Doctor in December.  Luckily for me, not too long after she was first diagnosed, Mum met another Greyhound lady called Alexis, and they became good friends.  Anyway, a long time ago Mum asked Alexis if she’d look after me when the time came, and Alexis said yes ( – this wasn’t a surprise to me – after all, who could possibly resist my sweet face?)

So, in January I came to live with Alexis. It was a big change for me as I was used to being the centre of attention, and now there’s more than just me in the house!  I settled in straight away, which was easy because I knew Heli really well as she used to visit me at Mum’s, and I’d met Kane before too. 

Kane and Heli are accredited Pets as Therapy dogs, and in June I’m going for my accreditation too. It sounds like fun – I didn’t know much about it, but Kane tells me that it means you go to a place like a hospital or nursing home (whatever they are) and when you get there everyone loves you, and pats you, and makes a big fuss of you…and you get treats! How good is that!!! I can’t wait!

I miss my Mum sometimes, but I also know I’m so lucky that she had a great home lined up for me and I send her regular emails, so she knows how I’m going. I really like it here – I have a big yard to play in, four beds to choose from, hounds to play with…heaven!