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Marcus` "Gotcha" Story
Note: this is a copy of the web page that Brian originally wrote soon after we got Marcus, our fourth greyhound:
After we got Carrie, we decided that our fourth greyhound (whenever we got him) would be a "special boy." In the meantime, the plan was to foster a greyhound or two as a way of helping out and a way to repay the kindness and care that was given to Tyler during his time with a foster family.
We ended up fostering a brindle greyhound named Harry during the summer of 2004. He was only with us a few weeks before being adopted by another couple involved with GPA-MD. Soon afterwards, we took our hounds on a camping trip throughout the Northeastern United States (opens in a new window).
Sometime during the end of August, Deanna was looking at the list of adoptable dogs on the GPA-MD site and read about Marcus. The entry about Marcus described him in glowing terms: "friendly," "quiet," "calm," "well-behaved," "lovable," "very sweet," and "happy." It also mentioned that he had recently had a cancerous tumor removed.
Deanna decided to learn more about him. She called the woman who was fostering Marcus, Sarah, and asked her about Marcus' cancer. Sarah told her that Marcus had a hemangiopericytoma (spindle cell cancer) tumor removed from his chest recently. She also gave Deanna a more detailed description of Marcus' personality. He sounded like a wonderful dog who would get along with our hounds, so Deanna and I discussed the idea of adopting him.
As we thought it over, Deanna posted a topic on the Greytalk message board, asking if anyone was familiar with the kind of cancer Marcus had. She was advised to contact a group called the Circle of Grey, a group dedicated to providing "solace and support" to owners of ill greyhounds. She learned from them that Marcus' cancer rarely metastasizes, which meant that there was only a small chance that the cancer would spread to vital areas of the body, but that unless the surgery miraculously removed all of the cancerous cells from Marcus' chest area, the tumor would probably grow back over time.
Deanna and I talked it over some more and decided to "foster with intent," which meant that if Marcus fit in with our current pack, we would adopt him. She called Sarah and we arranged to pick up Marcus on Sunday, September 12.
We took Tyler with us on the trip so that Marcus would have some company in the back of the van on the ride home. It took us a little over an hour to make the trip to Sarah's house in Felton, Pennsylvania, just north of the Maryland border off of I-83. When we arrived, Deanna went up to the front door alone while I hung out with Tyler in the van: Sarah had 7 other greyhounds in her house besides Marcus, and we didn't want utter chaos to erupt by bringing Tyler into the house without warning. After a few minutes, Deanna came back and we took Tyler into Sarah's fenced backyard. Soon afterwards, Sarah let the hounds out one-by-one, starting with Marcus, to meet us.
We could tell right away that Marcus loves people: he practically ignored Tyler and focused his attention on getting love from us. He was as handsome and fit as his pictures on the GPA-MD adoption page had implied. He was quietly chattering his teeth as we petted him, apparently excited about meeting us.
Most of the other 7 hounds (whose names I forget) ignored us or quickly turned their attention to Tyler. Four of them belonged to Sarah, two were staying with her while their owners were out-of-town, and one was another foster. All of them were older dogs like Marcus.
After hanging out in the backyard for a few minutes, we all went inside the house. Sarah segregated the other 7 greyhounds in another room while we sat down and talked about Marcus' mannerisms and history. She gave us all of the stuff that Marcus had come with: a dog bed, several stuffie toys, and a feeding/watering bowl set. We also got all of his medical records and the GPA-MD adoption form we would sign once we were certain we were keeping him.
Sarah wanted to take a few pictures of us and Marcus before we went, so we posed outside her front yard before loading Marcus and Tyler back in the van. Deanna drove over the winding, hilly roads between Sarah's house and I-83 slowly because Sarah had warned us that sometimes Marcus got car sick, but he did just fine.
When we got home, I took both Marcus and Tyler out of the van and around the side of the house into the backyard while Deanna went in the house to bring the girls out to meet Marcus. While we waited, Marcus explored the backyard and made himself at home by marking a few times. Then Carrie and Wren came out and sniffed Marcus inquisitively. They seemed to accept him immediately, which wasn't really a surprise.
Once we all went into the house, Marcus explored the entire house, usually followed by one or more other greyhounds. He spent most of the rest of the day shadowing either Deanna or I, just as other hounds had done during their first few days with us.
So that was how Marcus came into our lives. Since that day, he has proven to be every bit of the "friendly," "sweet," and "loveable" greyhound he was described as being. He will come up to us to be petted, and when the opportunity presents itself, he will lay down on the couch and put his head in your lap. Once, when I was lying on the floor, he lay down on top of my legs and proceeded to chew on one of the stuffed toys. He also loves to play tug-of-war with us: when we let go, he'll quickly bring the toy back to us so we can play again.
After a week and a half, we felt that Marcus had been accepted by our pack, so we signed the adoption papers and officially added Marcus to our family.
For a dog who's almost 11 years old, he's pretty active. Hopefully the raw diet we're feeding him will keep him cancer-free and allow him to spend several more happy years with us.