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Over Christmas 2000 I began to attempt to locate
Prancer's litter
mates. Prancer had been with us for just over a year and had served
(and still does) as mentor and surrogate "Mom" to our greyhound puppy,
Vixen.
I was interested in finding his litter mates because I wondered
if they were similar to Prancer in temperament, build, etc. The search
began with a call to the NGA (National Greyhound Association) to find
out the names of the other dogs in the litter. Prancer's litter
consisted of a total of 8 dogs: Alan's Checkmate, Charro
Episode, Prancer a.k.a JRP Anniversary,
Katsu Extended, Katsu Burning, Katsu Go Go Go, Katsu Huge Win, and Katsu
Trojan. The litter had been divided between two owners
with Alan's Checkmate, Charro Episode, and JRP Anniversary having one
owner of record while the remaining 5 dogs in the litter had a
different owner of record.
Since I had previously contacted Prancer's owner to have him sign
Prancer's signed blue slip and so that I could obtain Prancer's "Pet
Certificate" from the NGA, I contacted him first. When I spoke with
him on the phone he gave me the email address of the trainer at the
kennel where Prancer and two of his brothers had raced in Seabrook, NH.
I had been unable to find online racing records for Prancer or these
two brothers, but an email to the trainer confirmed that all three of
the brothers had raced at Seabrook, but were no longer racing.I was able to find online racing records for the remaining 5 dogs in the litter. They had all raced at several tracks in Florida, more that a thousand miles south of Seabrook, but I found no racing records dated later than October 2000. These dogs could still be racing at tracks that did not report their results online, or they could be waiting in an adoption group or have been placed by an adoption program. Thus, I decided to focus my search on the assumption that all 7 of the other dogs in Prancer's litter had either passed through an adoption group or awaiting adoption. In my spare time I contacted adoption groups near Seabrook, NH and Florida but none of them had brought me the news I was hoping to hear and my search seemed indefinitely stalled.
Early on February 19, 2001 I was calmly checking my email as I had my
morning coffee and happened upon the website for Greyhound Pets of
America of Greater Orlando. On a whim I decided to peruse their
available dogs. As I scanned the page the name "Katsu Burning" caught
my attention. I followed the link to the page with more detailed
information and the eyes that blazed at me told me that the red fawn in
the picture was related to Prancer -- I would know those eyes anywhere.
Any doubt was soon erased by the fact that they shared the same
whelping date. Indeed, my paperwork confirmed that he was from
Prancer's litter.I immediately placed a call to GPA/GO and spoke with Lisa Nolet. She informed me that Katsu Burning was available for adoption but that he had been placed with a vet office as a blood donor and would be there until mid May. Since GPA/GO only places dogs locally, Lisa had to find an adoption group that could work with us to get him from Florida to my home in New Jersey. Lisa contacted Jen Huff of Hound-Haven in New Jersey and Jen and I coordinated the necessary paperwork.
Late on the evening of May 2, 2001 we met Jen Huff to pick up Katsu
Burning and bring him home to begin the next chapter of his life. In
keeping with the Greytdeer theme, Katsu Burning became "Comet." Comet
has adjusted well to his new name and new surroundings. He gets along
well with Prancer, Vixen, and our 3 cats and small senior Bichon
Frise/Toy Poodle mix. Vixen is delighted to have a new brother and
they are often seen playing together , tossing stuffies, or "nitting"
one another. Prancer and Comet can be seen standing together with each
one having his head over the other's back. Posing together Prancer and
Comet are strikingly similar. Comet is, at 28", just an inch taller
than Prancer and Prancer is a bit more solid but they have very similar
eyes, make many of the same faces, and have similar habits(grumbling in
their sleep, burping after a big drink of water, and groaning
identically as they settle into a bed).or
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