Since a dachshund and a border collie weren’t enough, we got a greyhound. Yes, a long-legged, skinny bellied 11-month old greyhound. I would like to say that we rescued this dog as a retired racer to give her a good life after being used at the tracks. However, we had ulterior motives in mind. We got this dog thinking she would chase the coyotes that have been showing up at our back door.  We didn’t even know we had coyotes until Romeo the Wiener Dog got attacked one night. (That’s funny… He survived his attack by some slobbery animal the same night I did in Norman.) Romeo’s attack made us nervous since we have two young kids who like to play outside and venture through the property.  We had heard and read in several places that greyhounds will chase and hunt coyotes.  I’m not sure why they do this, but it probably has something to do with greyhounds being a class of dog called a sight-hound. Sight-hounds see something flash by, they chase it. Well, that’s the idea anyway.  

We’ve only had this dog two weeks and I’m not sure Riley (that’s her name) is up to the coyote challenge. This may be the nicest, most attention starved dog ever.  As Jerry Seinfeld would say, she is a “close-talker” – she definitely gets in your personal space.  If you sit on the floor, she will trot up to you and put her head into your chest. If you go to the restroom, she’ll follow you.  In the short time we’ve had her, she has come out of her shell little-by-little. Hopefully in another few weeks her true personality will eventually appear and she will be a little more outgoing. However, I have a feeling that Riley may be just another family member and not the coyote chaser we had hoped. She’s even scared of the cat. 

She is a very good dog. She lets the boys pull and tug on her. She barks (sometimes) when it’s time “to go.” She sleeps in her crate all night without making a peep. She loves to run! Here is a video of her running “zoomies” the first day at our house. (BTW, we’re not white-trash, those dilapidated barns in the video were on our property when we bought it.)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVi3cuQFtyg[/youtube]     

We named her Riley after Andrea Riley the sophomore point guard for Oklahoma State University’s women’s basketball team. Both Rileys are a little undersized, but lightening quick.  Our Riley’s full name is Riley McRib (because we ate at McDonald’s on the night we picked her up), but we also considered Riley Coyote and Riley Cyrus.  If she was a male, we would have named her Bullet — you OSU fans know why.

Here are some photos of Riley