More Pet Therapy

It doesn't seem fair to introduce one of our live-in pet therapy specialists without introducing the other.

Ernie is an 11 1/2-year-old retired racing greyhound. His registered name is MBJ's Profit, and in his youth he raced (briefly) in Colorado and Arizona. As near as I can tell he never finished better than a distant third, so perhaps "MBJ's Not For Profit" would have been a better fit.

We got Ernie when he was about three, from Greyhound Pets, Inc. We adopted our first Greyhound from this group in 1999 and have volunteered with them ever since. We've had four other greyhounds, and one long-term foster. Why yes, greyhounds do indeed make great pets, thanks for asking. GAS (Greyhound Accumulation Syndrome) can be a real problem when you're working with retired racers.

I'm trying to think of something to say about Ernie. Just saying he's perfect doesn't make him sound very interesting. He's just such an easy-going, ho-dee-do guy. He even puts up with Bareit, and that's asking a lot. (Really, aside from Bareit's fondness for sharing a dog bed, they're pretty good buddies. We call them the dog unit.)

He does have one characteristic I suppose you could consider a shortcoming. As smart as he is (and he is very smart indeed), he doesn't seem to have the neurological wiring to learn not to eat food that's left within his reach when nobody is looking. You can always tell. A greyhound that has just consumed an entire loaf of bread looks something like an anaconda that has just swallowed a goat. He can't help it. He's a fat dog stuck in a skinny dog's body.

I can relate.