Night Scope paid his dues--won money for his former owner by running around a track at 45 mph. And when he stopped winning, well ... the owners weren't interested any longer. They discarded him and replaced him. But we were quick to pick him up.

We renamed him Mikey, and he's 75 pounds of pure joy. We fell in love immediately. He is the most gentle, affectionate, loving dog in the world. His eyes will make you melt. When we first took him home, he stood in our living room and didn't know what to do--that is the plight of the greyhound.

Racers live their life in a 3'x5' crate at the track for the duration of their racing career. Now he has a bed in every room but the bathroom, he has toys, and we treat him like the king that he is. He follows us around like Velcro and we love it.

It sometimes takes months and months for a greyhound's personality to surface. Greyhounds are not used to being touched--handled, yes, but not lovingly touched. Imagine a life like that!! Now he gets massages on his belly and his hind legs, which he loves. He lets us know it, too--he just turns his head around and looks at us with those eyes. As with all canines, food rules, and believe it or not, our Mikey loves yogurt, and he gets it for dessert a couple of times a week. We were told it's good for his stomach, but he does prefer apple pie with vanilla ice cream!

The life of a racer is not pretty. Their life is from the crate to the track and back again. They're only let out to eat and go to the bathroom. Years ago, if a dog wasn't interested in racing, or was not winning, he was put to sleep. That's not the case today. There are wonderful organizations around the U.S. that take these dogs right from the track and give them the medical attention they need as well as find them homes.

We intend to give our Mikey every bit comfort and love in his retirement because it's returned a hundredfold.