The dogs....

After the addition was done, we took a break for a few years and then I decided that I wanted to get a Masters in Education and become a teacher.  I'd been working as a paraeducator for 13 years and figured it was time to take a step up.  So.. I started by taking one class in the fall of 2006 and half way through realized 'hey I can do this' and went through the graduate school application process.  I initially started in the Elementary Education program, but after I became fully certified as a teacher I switched into the Teacher Leadership program and graduated from there in December 2011.
During the time that I was applying for the Masters program, I felt the need to add a dog to our house.  We attempted a puppy during the Christmas break of 2006 but shortly realized that a puppy was not a good thing with our work schedules.  We returned that puppy who found a great home and kept looking.  Eventually, we decided that an older dog would be the thing for us.
In August of 2007 we visited the Greyhound Placement Service in Goffstown (now in Dover) to look at dogs.  We saw three dogs that were cat friendly, two females and one huge male.  After walking the dogs we went home to think about it and by the end of the weekend decided to go with the pretty black dog with the white feet and tail tip, we thought she had the best personality and would fit into our home well.
We returned to the GPS and picked up Toots along with all of the information about keeping one's former track greyhound on a leash due to the strong prey drive to chase small animals.

When we got her home, we realized that Toots would have to take the whole moving into a house on her own time.  We started with her crate in the basement and took her outside to use the yard.  She had to learn how to go up and down the stairs, so I took her to the back deck and taught her by placing her feet on the steps and lifting her butt up until she figured out how to climb.  Back in the basement she figured out on her own how to master the stairs up to the living room and kitchen.  She still goes up and down like a ballerina touching each step to avoid falling, she probably would use the railing if she could.
Toots needed only one correction not to eat the cats and has pretty much ignored them ever since.  The family cats are not to be chased or eaten, but out on a walk she will get excited and get the look of 'can I mom?' if she sees a cat, squirrels, birds and other small animals get chased no questions asked, except that darn leash keeps them safe.