30 Comments

Thank you for such a positive way to start your day. Mary Oliver's poem How It is with us and How it is with Them came to mind.

“We meet wonderful people but lose them in our busyness. / We’re, as the saying goes, all over the place. / Steadfastness, it seems, / is more about dogs than about us. / One of the reasons we love them so much.”

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Mary Oliver always has the best words. Thank you for sharing.

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Thank you so much for adopting this sweetheart, teaching us so much about the dog situations and rescues in Spain and Portugal, and for starting my day with a smile on my face looking at your two lucky doggies! I too have rescued a very unlikely pair. Archie is now a happy, goofy, lanky 45lbs poodle, and Héloïse a chunky Lhasa Apso mix that my husband originally called surly Shirley. 😉🐶

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Love this!!!

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Love everything about this article! So glad Vila is so happy with Zambú and so glad you adopted an older gentleman from Cantinho da Milu. I visited there once and there are SO many dogs that need homes! Love all the photos.

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Heartbreaking and touching. I am so happy for you all. That pic of your two though - priceless.

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Wow! Greyhounds are our family dog. My husband and I adopted our sweet Grace on our first date and she was in our wedding. I am so excited for you all and for Zambú!

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for many years, i lived with 2 dogs, a cat and a horse. down to 1 pesky dog now...love that you are growing your family. i experienced a galgo rescue while on a horse vacation in andalusia, spain a few years back. such elegant animals.

question for you...i thought i might have remembered you saying you were a horse person, as well. i'm thinking about wandering into galego during the horse festival. would drive up from setubal. do you know anything about it and is it crazy crowded? are there festivities throughout the town or just ticketed events? any input? thanks!

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Hi Bonnie! I am a former horse person, yes, but I have not been to the horse festival in Golegā. I'd love to hear about it if you go, though!

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Will certainly let you know!

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That must be a mighty big doggie door!

Thank you for offering these keen insights on dogs (and the treatment of them) in Portugal. Given what we had to go through to get our little Sawyer over here, you'd think PT pooches are on royal beds eating (non-chocolate) bon bons. Alas, I wish it were the case.

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The dog door is laughably big!

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Thank you for adopting a dog in a portuguese shelter. Unfortunately there are too many that don't have that luck. I also have a small sort of podengo with a coarse hair that I adopted from the municipal dog shelter in Coimbra. Unfortunately portuguese laws don't protect animals well enough and as there are bad irresponsible people everywhere dogs and cats are very badly treated. Cantinho da Milu must be a wonderful shelter. I wish there were many more like her around the country. Spaying would be a very helpful solution but apparently the government doesn't give enough money for that.

I am glad you are enjoying living in Portugal as much as I enjoy reading your posts

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Thank you for a wonderful tale of happiness and kindness. We have new friends here in PT who have raised greyhound’s. I grew up with a 3 legged boxer and currently have an old Boston Terrier. This story made my day. Thank you.

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Longfellow is a great nickname for that guy! He is so lucky to be adopted by your family, I hope you have many happy years with him.

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This beautifully told story brought me immense joy. Love is love is love. Congratulations!

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Oh my goodness. This post brings me such incredible joy.

I plan on sharing to Instragram SpaceWhippet (you would love their account).

I know where I want to go to bring a four-legged friend home. <3

Thank you for sharing your joy with us.

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Totally following SpaceWhippet now! Vila & Zambú are on insta, too, if you want a steady influx of dog photos: @veelahvee_zambu

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All the happy tears, reading this! 🐾💜🐾

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A wonderful tale! I especially love the last portrait of your two pups together (“that face!”) 💕

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I swear I look at that photo daily and it keeps making me so happy. Her joy is uncontainable.

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Ok, ok.. so the smiling picture of Vila and your handsome new fellow *might* have made me tear up a tad bit. Such wonderful news and I absolutely have had a huge crush on Greyhounds for forever... So glad this Galgo has made his way into your loving home. He and Vila won the lottery. I'd love to see Ophelia play with them both! He's welcome anytime <3

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OMG, I'd love to see Ophelia play with them, too! You'll absolutely have to meet him sometime!

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Definitely 😁

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