Iggy Overload; Or: My 4-legged shadow

This past Saturday Sophia and I went to the first organized Italian Greyhound playdate of the new year. It was our first playdate, period, and it was held at Great Dog Daycare/Shoppe in Northgate.

Sophia is so much more socialized then when she first came to me - I had visions of her being completely ecstatic at finally being around other dogs with the same play style as her. The little dogs at our school are mostly terriers and she is usually the odd-one out since she likes to chase and is not into using her teeth (like terriers do). In fact, we went once in December and once in January and other than that I am saving myself from paying $10 to have my dog stand there and look at me with woeful eyes and ask why she's there.

Well, 50+ Italian greyhounds (IGs, or iggies) - along with their people - makes for a very crowded place. She seemed happy to be there, and when an iggy went by she would follow, sniffing. But she never got out of sight, not more than 15 feet away or so...and she always returned to me rather quickly, waiting closeby for the next encounter.

So I walked around the room, looking for the few (as in, 2) people I had met before that were going to be there, trying to expose Sophia to different dogs in different parts of the playroom. I had my camera, and tried to get her picture playing with other dogs. But she was usually so close to me - and there were so many human legs in the way - I was unable to get any good pictures. In fact, just when I thought she had gone off to play, I found that she was so closely and directly behind me I didn't know she was there.

The session was for two hours and after awhile I found a chair and sat down, giving her someplace to hide (behind my legs under the chair). I hadn't been sitting for long when a very small iggy (called an itty bitty) almost landed on my head - he had launched for my lap from a distance, trying to get away from all those sniffing dogs. The owner was close by and told me to put him down. I did reluctantly since I knew what he was going thru. Sophia had done the exact same thing the first time I took her to the small dog play area at Magnuson Park. After about 30 seconds on the ground she jumped into the lap of a complete stranger and refused to get down. But I also didn't make him, either. She seemed happier there and I didn't have a chair to sit in. He turned out to be the bf of the girl I was meeting who had brought her iggy, Carmen, to meet Sophia.

It just shows me again how much progress Sophia has made.

Anyway, she did sit in my lap for awhile, and I also carried her around a little bit. She is not nearly as small as many of these dogs are (as a result of what I consider lesser breeding), and is a little unwieldy. But I will practice carrying her more and it will get easier.

We left just a few minutes before the session officially ended - she let me know she was done and just sat there and watched. She was ready to go home.

One good thing about the day was that I got to meet the new volunteer rep for the Northwest and our part of the Italian Greyhound Club of America. I signed up to volunteer my services as a graphic design/writer type person, and also to do Home Visits. I would take Sophia with me to visit the home of someone who wishes to adopt an iggy. Much like being a Matchmaker at the animal shelter, but with the added benefit of being able to see their home, and really tell them specifics about IGs and try to talk them out of one. A successful home will have to be so committed to their little one that they will work through all of the behavior issues and provide the necessary training must dogs lack.

It was fun to see so many dogs that look a bit like Sophia - there are many blue/white iggies out there! And I would say about a third of the dogs there were wearing some sort of clothing for warmth. And I bought Sophia her first necklace as a reward for being such a good sport! I will post a picture soon, it's lovely.