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George's Tenth Birthday

2nd May 2003

Today was a very special day as I turned 10 years old. To be honest I am not sure exactly what that means, but I really enjoyed all the special things that happened today so I am already looking forward to the next time I am ten.

When Mum first came downstairs this morning she spent ages fussing and patting me and telling me what a special boy I am. Actually I really wanted to go and run in the garden with the other dogs but I was too polite to go rushing off.

I was given my favourite things for breakfast and after we had eaten I got my first present. This turned out to be a large bag of all sorts of dried animal parts (I will spare you the actual graphic details) which were really smelly, and just about the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. Mum insisted we ate them outside but that was OK as the weather was really warm and sunny. She also insisted that I had to share with Jack, Tegan and Buttons, but I think I got the biggest piece so that seemed fair.

A while later Mum and Dad went out and when they came back I had another present. At first when I unwrapped it I wasn't too sure, as it was a flat lump that didn't smell edible at all.

Then we all went into the garden and Mum started to blow it up, and the flat lump changed into a paddling pool, so it ended up turning out much better than I thought it would. Once it was filled with water I had a little lay down to cool off, and then leapt up and raced through the house leaving a trail of water everywhere. Mum still thinks when I do naughty things like this she can catch me if she chases after me, so I enjoyed keeping just out of her reach and getting all the other dogs wound up.

Later on in the day Mum and Dad had a BBQ and some people stuff called champagne, which doesn't look or smell as nice as dried animal parts but they seemed to quite enjoy it. For my tea I was given a whole raw chicken which I was extremely pleased about. All of the other dogs were given chicken pieces, but because today is my special day I was allowed a whole chicken all to myself and I didn't even have to share.

That evening Mum gave me lots of cuddles on the sofa until after a while she got up for a minute and I stretched right out so I could have to whole sofa to myself for a snooze.

It turned out to be a very good day to turn ten.

My Mum also decided that she wanted to write a few of her thoughts about my birthday and these appear below. I don't believe she talks much about raw chickens and dried animal parts, but she loves me a lot and her stuff might be worth a read anyway.

Today George is 10 years old. This is a momentous day for our family, as never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that George would make it to double figures. George has always been rather accident prone, and when he severed the main tendon and artery in his front leg four years ago while out in the middle of the woods, I thought we were going to lose him right there and then. To cut a long story short, someone was watching over us that day, and George did make it.

Since then he has endured the usual range of injuries and complications befitting a dog of his age with such an enthusiasm for life. He would have an easier time if he didn't still try to run like a puppy, but then if he didn't do that he wouldn't be George.

Five years ago when I first decide to adopt, I was told of two large males who were desperate for a home - Jack and George. When we went to the kennels a few days later we were told that George had already found a home, so we took Jack. Jack was aloof and nervous and really not what we were looking for, but we felt sorry for him so took him anyway.

At the back of my mind I always wondered who I would have chosen if George had been there on that day. Seven months later I received a call to say that George had been returned, and the kennels he was in were closing. Some dogs were being moved on, but George was not one of them as he was too big and old, so he was on the list of dogs that were to be put to sleep.

I agreed to foster him, as at the back of my mind I still wondered about this boy. When I went to collect him he came flying out of kennels and immediately put his paws up on my shoulders and started licking my face. As I signed his papers he leant hard against me, and I knew that all those months ago if I had been presented with a choice, I would have chosen him.

Again someone was watching over Jack and George that day and knew that Jack so badly needed this home, and would never have been able to compete with George. Seven months later Jack had blossomed, and George was the perfect addition to our four-legged family.

George loves to run, eat raw things, be fussed, lie on the sofa, smile as only greyhounds know how, lean, wallow in water/mud, skip in long grass, cuddle, boss his brothers and sister around, stalk imaginary objects, and most importantly inhabit his own little place in this world.

While out walking Jack and George one day I met a woman who I think summed George up perfectly without ever really knowing him. At the time it was a warm spring day, and George was rolling on his back in the long, dew-covered grass. She looked at him and said 'now there is a dog who is happy to be alive'.

Thank you for sharing in our boy's 10th birthday memories.

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