We are having a great time with Mitch!

We have local dog parks nearby that have several acres completely fenced in. You have to buy an annual permit to use the parks, and we are not sure how Mitch would be off the leash, so we thought early Saturday morning we could go to the park which would be completely deserted and no rangers around because it was cold and covered with snow. We could see if he would come back to us or if we would spend two hours trying to chase him down and get him back on the leash. Depending on how he did would determine if we bought a permit or not.

We pulled into the parking lot early Saturday morning and the park was packed! They had Santa Claus passing out goody bags. A couple pet store chains had booths set up and were passing out sample packs of Greenies, doggy sausages, tennis balls, etc. They also had a dog sled group there with a team of huskies and a sled. They were mushing around the park every now and then but not while we were there.

We decided just to leave him on the leash and see how he reacted to other dogs. Would he be skittish and cling to our legs? Would he be aggressive and lunge at every dog we passed?

It turned out he was mostly indifferent. One of the first dogs we passed lunged at him with barred teeth and loud fast barks. (The other dog was on a leash.) Mitch looked at him for a second and then kept walking. Not spooked. Not agitated. Not impressed. We passed several more, nicer, dogs and he pretty much had the same reaction; indifference.
What did catch his eye were dogs in the distance running and chasing balls and Frisbees.

After a few minutes of seeing how he reacted to other dogs we decided to risk it and let him off the leash. He was at the other side of the field which was probably about a quarter mile away in a flash of the eye. It was awesome to see his legs pumping. He would see a dog running and go after him. Once he caught up to the other dog he would just look for another dog a distance away and go chasing after him. No interaction with the dogs he "caught". He just likes chasing things.

Every now and then he would need a break and would go to the closest person and press up against their leg and let them pet him. We thought that was hilarious. After he caught his breath he would dart off again.

After about 15 minutes of him chasing things he stopped and looked around for us. We called his name, he heard us, and he came at us at full speed. Very cool. We gave him some praise and head rubs and then he was off again for another 15 minutes.

At one point we saw a dog running towards him in an aggressive manner. Mitch didn't change course at all. He leaped over him almost like a gazelle! Beautiful.

Soon after that he stopped and looked around for us. Heard us. Charged towards us. The wind chill made it very cold and we were ready to leave. We put the leash on him and walked back to the car. He was exhausted and walked with a slow heavy stride. Once in the car he laid down and closed his eyes almost immediately.

Since it went so well and we had so much fun we will definitely be buying and annual dog park permit.

We wanted to take some video of him at full speed but he was away from us so fast that by the time we got the camera out he was just a speck.

I love having a shadow around the house again. He thinks everything we do is the most fascinating thing in the world. Wherever I go he is usually just a step behind.

He is pretty good about responding to a simple "No."

He picked up that he is not allowed to beg at the table the first or second day. When we sit down at the kitchen table to eat he barely tries to see if he is getting any treats and then just walks to his pillow and goes to sleep while we eat. He seems to be a very quick learner.

We took him back to the Rescue on Sunday to buy some coats for him. When we got there they had three other greyhounds in the front lobby and two or three other people. He made the rounds and greeted everyone, but after 5 - 10 minutes he came back to Sheri for a few minutes of head scratching and then over to me for some head scratching. I think he is bonding really well with us.

He has not snapped even once at us when touching his feet, food, picking him up, moving him around, putting clothes on him, touching boo-boos, etc. While Sheri was going through a stack of coats at the Rescue he just stood there while she slipped one on, took it off and tried the next one. I don't know if I've ever seen a more easier-going dog.

We took him to a little expensive dog boutique on Saturday after the dog park and just about every other person wanted to stop and fawn over him.

I took him for a walk last night before bed and he is perfect on a leash on a sidewalk. He didn't stop every 20 feet to smell something and make me tug him, and he wasn't pulling so hard that he was walking on only his back two legs and gagging himself like Goliath would do. He walked straight ahead and kept just the slightest amount of slack in the leash.

Every day we see changes in his personality. His tail wags more. He gets more playful. He just generally seems more at east and comfortable.

Mitch riding shotgun on Sunday.


Mitch at the dog boutique.