Their mama was a Galga, who had been abandoned to give birth on the streets of Spain. Their papa was a mystery but we suspect he may have been a yellow lab. Galgos del Sol took in the beautiful Galga and her nearly identical 11 -- yes, 11! — cream-colored puppies despite their overflowing shelter.
Four of the litter came to SHUG in November – Boo, Beth, Beauty and Bobby. Bobby was adopted on the spot by a SHUG volunteer and became Lucero. Boo had been previously reserved and, renamed Romeo; he went to his new home right away. Both became Virginia residents. Romeo’s parents then fell in love with Beauty and ended up adopting her as well. Little Beth traveled to Illinois to her forever home and became Pepita.
So, five months later, how are the Fantastic Four doing? We checked in with the littermates:
According to Rebecca Wilkerson: Lucero (or Luke as we call him) is our first Galgo. The moment I saw him I knew that he was our dog. And what a great dog he is! He was (and is) such a calm puppy. The best description of his color that I have heard is "toasted marshmallow," which sums not only his color but also his personality. He is the true definition of a snuggler, he must be touching you at all times (especially while sleeping) or he is not happy. He is a very intelligent boy, he gets things very quickly. We enrolled him in beginning training classes and he has caught on quickly to everything we asked him to do. He is very food motivated, which helps the training process a lot. Luke loves squeaky toys and especially his squeaky tennis balls. He also loves chasing the squeaky balls around the yard. He is a stuffie killer, but thankfully there have been no problems between the cats and him. He absolutely loves his two greyhound sisters! One enjoys chasing him around in the yard and the other is his snuggle companion. Right now he is 45 pounds and has more growing to do. We are looking forward to having him be a wonderful meet and greet dog at the SHUG events.
From Rebecca Kaselow: Beauty and Romeo are quite a handful! When they are together, they play fight until it escalates and we need to separate them. Our other five get involved - bark, growl, snap to show their disapproval and it just makes our heads spin. Romeo loves to chew -- he has chewed off two of Beauty's collars, including her black ID collar (which has been replaced.) The pups are growing and healthy, and absolutely beautiful. Romeo is very strong and is now 45 pounds. Beauty is 36 pounds and we think (hope) she will be a tiny girl - she looks more like a greyhound and Romeo looks more like a lab.
According to Bonnie Mayo: Pepita weighs about 49 pounds and stands 24" tall (and long). She is going through a phase where she looks quite graceful, at times, and you can see how she will look as an adult. She still has a lot of "baby" fat, but is losing some of that as she matures. She’s definitely a tomboy, very active. She plays with the greyhounds a lot, specially our 85-pound male, with a
preference for “bitey-face.” At the same time, she is very gentle so she does not hurt them and they don't hurt her. Pepita is very loving and cuddly, especially at night. She wants to get as close as possible. She is very smart and quickly learned to ring the bell to signal she needs to go outside. Pepita is a clown, always getting into trouble, but because she is so cute, trouble is quickly forgotten. She is sensitive, so when she does get in trouble, she will lie down, watch, and wait until I am over being angry, then come running for more fun! If she is not exercised daily, she tends to get into more trouble. Pepita is the darling of the household, loved by all.
If you're interested in a Galgo puppy, please let us know! Although no dog belongs in a shelter, we feel puppies and seniors in particular do not do well in a shelter environment and we're always very happy to help them find their way to forever homes.
If you're interested in adopting, fostering, or sponsoring a dog in a shelter in Spain, please fill out our application or send us an email to info@sighthoundunderground.com.
