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OH BIG JOSH: Our Gentle Giant

© Judy A Tomlinson

We adopted "Oh Big Josh" March 23 of this year. We knew soon after adopting Whitney that we would someday adopt a 2nd greyhound. We actually were not ready to do this at this particular time. But fate sometimes does not listen to your "well thought plans!" Pete and I , on this particular cool, windy Saturday in March met several of our greyhound friends in a parking lot of a mall close to our house. Cheryl, the President of Greyhound Pets of America, here in Tulsa had called to tell me that if Pete and I wanted to meet one of the many greyhound breeders in Oklahoma, that he was bringing a few greyhounds to our organization on this particular day. We decided to do this since the mall mentioned was very near our house. Well, we met Sam Burdette (author of the on-the-farm stories I have reprinted on this site) and five beautiful greys. One of the male greyhounds was huge--weighing in at 88 pounds--a Brindle big boy! I knelt down to pet him and this giant dog tried to get into my lap! Pete told me later that when he saw the look in my eyes, he knew without a doubt that we had found our second grey. Of course, as usual, he was right! We waited a week, then called Cheryl and told her we wanted Josh. Before that week was out we were the proud owners of this gentle giant! I do not think I have ever seen such a gentle dog!

We have been very fortunate to know Josh's breeders, and they have given us good information on his background and breeding. He comes from excellent bloodlines. Josh ran at Wheeling Downs, Wheeling, West Virginia. He was doing pretty good until he tore his shoulder muscle. How fortunate we are that his racing days are over! Maybe I should not feel that way, but I just cannot imagine our life without him.

After having him two months now, we are learning more about his personality. He is a thief! He is a comedian! He is a lover! He is a "counter-surfer!" He is no doubt a truly phenomenal dog!

We have an attached, enclosed deck at the back of our house. Josh steals things and takes them out to the deck! He does this very carefully - never hurting anything - he just lays the items very gently down on a pillow and then lays down beside them. He has taken a pair of my sweat pants, my brush, my purse, shoes, a heating pad, and various other

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