We are here!

Well we did arrive on Friday and made our way to the shelter. The first thing we did was check on the dogs returning to the states with us. They are all loving and adorable and said they were looking forward to their new homes.

We had dinner at my favorite pizza shop "Pizza Roma" and had a few cervezas and some wine.

Saturday was quite a busy day at the shelter with cleaning paddocks and working in the clinic. We went out to dinner with the Fermin, the Dutch and English volunteers to a new resturant called "Bar Gloria". It was a wonderful time and they put all 14 of us in a separate room. The food and drinks flowed for a few hours and we enjoyed everyone's company.

Sunday was another busy day, cleaning, feeding and visiting the farm animals. While out visiting the farm animals, the sky opened up and we were soaked and frozen. We took shelter with the horse and donkeys. When it lightned up we started back to the main campus and got caught a second time, this time taking cover with a goose who was laying in her nest. She was not happy with us sharing her space. Finally it stopped raining and we headed home.

We finally came back to our room and are now settled in for the next 3 hours until we head back out to "Pizza Roma" with the Brits.

I will try to post pictures tomorrow of our dogs coming home but for now here is one one of the outdoor kitties.

Don't forget to visit "Lydia's journal" at http://www.everythingandthedog.com/eatd-journal and Daisy and Bob's Blog at http://blog.everythingandthedog.com,

We will try this again!

Once more we will head to the airport with all the luggage and 4 crates. We are scheduled to leave Virginia at 12:30 today. Let's hope and pray we make it out to Atlanta. We are scheduled to fly out of Atlanta at 5:00 PM and arrive in Madrid at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

Keep paws crossed that all works out in our favor today.

Hopefully, my next note will be written from Spain.

Flight cancelled

Well we arrived at the airport today at 1:30, checked our luggage and 4 crates and went to our gate. Our flight was due to leave at 3:55 and we never boarded until 4:45. We sat on the plane for 1 hour before they cancelled our flight to JFK, which caused us to miss our flight to Madrid. So home we went and hopefuly will fly out tomorrow.

Our flight is scheduled to leave at noon tomorrow and we will go through Atlanta. Let's hope the weather is good. We will arrive in Madrid at 7:30 on Friday morning. We are disappointed that we will be losing one day at the shelter.

Off on another trip to Scooby

I can't believe that I will be leaving for Scooby in less than 10 hours today-April 27. This year I will be going with 2 new volunteers. One is a board member of Scooby North America and the other is a volunteer who is also adopting a galgo.

We will be bringing home 4 galgos all adopted through Scooby North America. We can't wait for them to go to their forever homes. Their new homes are located in San Jose, CA; El Paso, TX; Ellicott City, MD; and Quakertown, PA.

Besides this blog, you can read an additional blog by subscribing to "Daisy and Bob's Blog" http://blog.everythingandthedog.com/. This is a wonderful blog even if they aren't writing about Scooby. Bob is so full of wonderful information I know you will enjoy reading his stories and advice.

See you soon from Spain!

A young girl saves a galgo from death

Virginia R. of Spain was in her house when she heard the squealing of a young dog. She quickly ran outside and saw her neighber getting ready to hang a young galgo puppy. He had killed one of the man´s chickens. Virginia ran over and grabbed the young pup out of his arms to save him from his certain death.

She brought the young pup to Scooby on Friday, September 17. He was dirty and most of all scared. If anyone tried to touch him he screamed at the top of his lungs. Anytime you tried to touch his neck he hollered savagely. We left him alone for 24 hours to allow him to calm now and become acclimated to his surroundings. On Saturday we gave him a bath and he felt so much better although you could not touch his neck. We taught him how to walk in a harnass and named him Popcorn.

We moved him inside the Scooby store so he could spend time with us. Paula from Forever Home Greyhounds decided she wanted to bring him back to the USA. We asked Fermin on Sunday evening and he said "Yes".

On Monday, he was checked out by the vet and received some antibiotics, vitamins and his first vaccine. The vet estimates he is about 6-7 months old. On Thursday he received the remainder of his shots. He is also now walking on a leash, instead of a harnass, without any problem.

Below are some pictures of Popcorn, Virginia and her parents...
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Another day in Spain - Sunday, August 19, 2010

Saturday and Sunday were Open Door days here at the shelter. Many people come to receive a personal tour of the 20+ acres of the shelter. At the end of their tour they get to shop and have a bite to eat and drink. On Saturday, 2 mastin puppies were adopted.

Everyday at Scooby is a different day. You don't know what your day will be like. To volunteer here you need to be able to go with the flow. There are six volunteers here (2 - Germany and 4 - USA) along with the shelter staff of 5. We all get along very well with minor communication issues.

Today, we received 3 dogs that were found on the streets of Medina and another that was hit by a car. The dog hit by the car is doing very well. He has a few small wounds and many abrasions. He is alert and resting comfortably.

We made it!

Well, we made it safe and sound. We arrived yesterday, in Madrid, at 7:00 AM. Our flight was uneventful. The weather is beautiful over her. The first thing we did was go and see the dogs that would be coming home with us. They are all beautiful. We even picked our the last dog that will be coming home to Virginia to be adopted in Pennsylvania. Her name is Carmela and she is a black galga with some white on her face. She is 3 years old and a sweetheart.

I haven't been able to get out to take pictures because I have been sick since we arrived. I have very bad head and chest congestion. All I've been doing is sleeping. I finally went to the Pharmacy today to get some medication so I am hoping that helps.

Christiane arrived today from Germany and it is wonderful to see her. She will spend the next 4 days with us. Tonight we are going out to our usual pizza shop for dinner.

I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Love,
Diane