Born in Ireland, sold to a track in Spain, rescued and adopted by a home in
southern Bavaria and now living in the island paradise of Hawaii.
Nobody can say that Lizzie (formerly known as Glenda) is not a seasoned world traveller.

My wife Margit and I had been discussing getting a dog for quite a while. I wanted to get a purebred and she wanted to go down to the local pound to get whichever dog looked like it needed a home the most. Admittedly,
Margit's motives were much more altruistic than mine, but neither of us would give an inch regarding our desires.

It seemed hopeless that we would come to an agreement.

Then one Sunday afternoon, we were watching an animal adoption show on
German TV (quite popular in Germany as a matter of fact) and a segment
on Greyhounds in Need came on. We were instantly hooked. Getting a dog from Anne just seemed like the right thing to do. We would be getting a
purebred and, most importantly, we would be saving a dog from a life of misery.

We quickly contacted Mrs. Ellen Poppendick, the woman who runs the German chapter of GIN, and started our campaign to get a dog. All we
cared about was that we got a female who had a good temperament.
Looks didn't matter in the least. Ellen was very helpful every step of the way and before we knew it, our new family member was on her way from Spain to us in Bavaria.

Finally, in late October 2001, Margit and I made the three and a half
hour trip to the Ludwigsburg Animal Shelter to meet Lizzie. We could
barely contain our excitement, but the moment finally came.

When we saw her, it was very clear that she had had a rough row to
hoe. Her right back leg was improperly healed from a very bad break and she had scars all over her. But, the most obvious was the huge emotional scar. That took the longest to heal. Lizzie, for the first three months we had her, was always very distant. In many ways, we weren't even there for her. However, slowly but surely, she started to come out of her shell. She has turned into a trusting, quietly affectionate dog who adores being stroked and fussed over. After a few months, she settled into a
charmed life of walks through the Bavarian woods, sniffing for moles and
her arch enemy, cats.

Just when the entire family was really beginning to enjoy Bavaria, my
employer, the US Navy, decided I had had enough German fun and
directed me to move literally to the other side of the world, to our
main base in the Pacific Ocean, Pearl Harbour.

Though moving to Hawaii was a very attractive thought to Margit (no
more drab, rainy European weather!), I continued to be the worrywart.
There was the month long quarantine to prepare for and then the extremely long trip to Honolulu (about 20 flight hours altogether). So, Margit packed her summer clothes and I fretted that I was doing the paperwork properly.

In July of this year, we finally departed for Honolulu and, simply
put, Lizzie (and we) came through like champs. I think the flight and
quarantine was harder on Margit and I than on Lizzie.

Settling into life in Hawaii, we quickly decided that we wanted to get
another greyhound to keep Lizzie (and us) company. After a bit of a
search, we hit upon the idea of getting a dog from Australia (I am
unaware of any Greyhounds here in Hawaii except for one or maybe two).
We went for Australia because the dog we chose wouldn't have to go
through the quarantine.

Once we decided, we ventured out to the Internet to see what we could
find. Quickly, we found a site called
" Greyhound Angels of Western Australia" run by Melita Shonis. I contacted her about getting a
dog from her. We mentioned that we already had a grey and she quickly answered our inquiry that she would be thrilled to have us adopt a dog from her, especially since we had a dog from GIN (Greyhounds In Need). Once we decided
we would adopt from her, we narrowed down our choices to a very sweet looking two year old dog named Harry. He is a brindle like Lizzie and he just seemed like he would be a perfect match for our family.

With an enormous, huge and great amount of help from Melita, we got
Harry on a plane and on his way to Honolulu. To help make her feel
better, I assured Melita that Harry would live a grand life here in Hawaii, sipping Mai Tais on the beach and watching the hula girls on Waikiki beach.

Anyway, about a month ago, Harry arrived in our home. Margit and I
were totally shocked at how absolutely thrilled Lizzie was to see him.
She wouldn't leave his side for at least the first hour. They ran and
ran and ran around the house, the yard, everywhere. We figure she hadn't seen a grey in over a year and was excited to see one of her own.

Now, I do have to say that Lizzie, the pampered queen of the Maguire
clan, did quickly realize that Harry was not just here for a visit and was here to stay. Once she saw that she wasn't going to get ALL the petting and treats, she became a bit stanoffish with Harry, but slowly but surely she is coming around.

One thing that the dogs do that raises our eyebrows a bit. Every day,
Harry has what Margit calls a "Run Crisis". Out of the blue, Harry just starts to run like a madman around our relatively small yard. Like a dog possessed. Back and forth, forth and back...until Lizzie steps in, and with a sharp bark, commands him to STOP. Harry screeches to a halt and calmly, though breathing a bit harder, goes about his business. Ah, the strange ways of these wonderful hounds!

No matter what spats they get into, Margit and I haven't made a better
decision than to rescue these two wonderful animals. Margit (and I) love them, in Margit's German words, to the "deepest bottom of our hearts”.

Robert E Maquire