Our son (and also our youngest child) turned sixteen recently. Someone will have to help me figure out where the time went someday. He prefers to celebrate birthdays with a bunch of pals who come over for pizza, cake, pop, and all-night gaming.
I’m not the only member of the household who enjoys this plan. Our son has amazing friends and it’s fun to catch up with them (and catch the most intriguing bits of information). But Bandit, our youngest greyhound LOVES to hang out with boys. Especially if they’re willing to play tug or throw a toy.
As part of an oops litter (meaning the litter wasn’t sanctioned and the puppies cannot be trained to race) Bandit wasn’t raised like most greyhounds. His first foster family had two young boys and it’s obvious the three of them had a blast through Bandit’s first year. When he came to us (on his first birthday) he immediately bonded with my husband and our son, and while he thought us girls were okay, he made his preference known.
He’s the biggest greyhound we’ve ever seen, but he’s typical of the breed in that he is smart as a whip and has TONS of energy. So whenever our son has his friends over, Bandit is in the mix, welcoming everyone with his friendly enthusiasm. Now that he’s three, the enthusiasm is a bit more manageable – at least he calms down a bit faster – which makes all of us happy.
This past sleepover, all of the guys learned to give Bandit an ice cube (his favorite treat) whenever they opened the cooler. And he did put that long nose to good use and taste some Fanta orange this time. LOL
And when it was time for us to head up to bed Boo and Brody happily went upstairs for bedtime cookies, but I found Bandit lying on the floor, his head next to one boy’s hip. I told him it was bed time and he gave me the most pleading look: “Can I please stay with the boys?”
He was so sad when I insisted, but Bandit has a tendency to “check on” people while they’re sleeping. It involves snuffling or licking noses and ears, just to make sure the person’s all right. I figured the little sleep the boys were going to get didn’t need to be interrupted by a greyhound who is still mostly puppy.
Bandit didn’t like being parted from our son’s pals, but he made up for it in the morning, taking a head count and checking on all of them in turn. My son has such great friends, none of them complained, they just patted Bandit’s head and nudged him toward the next guy. When Bandit was satisfied (and after his gulping his breakfast in record time) he went in and flopped down in the middle of all of them, happy as ever!
Live the greyhound adventure!
