Dear World

Hello! My name is Rene. I am a retired Greyhound and I have a message I would like to share.

Please don't take it personally if I don't warm up to you. Don't feel as if it is an affront on your character that I choose not to say hello.

You see, I am what some call an introvert, others call shy, and sometimes even skittish, though (unless my mama, Melanie, says it offhandedly) I find that word quite offensive. I don't come from the same lineage as a Labrador Retriever, a Burmese Mountain Dog, a Golden Retriever, or any of those happy-go-lucky sorts. I was brought into this world to chase something for sport and when my time with chasing was done I was taken into a world of being a pet, and this world I know nothing of.

I have never had a Grandma or Grandpa; even a mama…I still wonder if Melanie is my "mama" or just "Melanie." I have always been self-contained so don't do too well when people try to throw themselves at my affection. It takes a lot for me to want to be comfortable with you…I have to trust you won't let anything happen to me and trust takes time, exposure, and experience.

Melanie…"Mama"…is sweet. She wants to acclimate me to everything new. "Something new and different every day," she says. And I oblige. I went to the Farmer's Market the other day…wow! Too many noises and people approaching me all at once…I didn't love it but maybe over time I will. The past two days a noisy man with a noisy machine was in our building cleaning the rugs…he wanted to say hello to me over and over and his loud voice and loud machine was really too much (and would be, for you, too. I promise!).

World, I ask that you give me my space and time to just be me, not force me into anything but let me discover it all for myself. It really isn't about you…it is about me becoming comfortable in this new world. Let's figure…I raced since I was probably one year old…now I am almost three…so maybe it will take a year or more for me to trust my new surroundings. My mama (Melanie) says that I am a sweetie, so I think you can expect that from me at some point. Just on my terms, okay? Once you have my love and affection, I promise, unless you do something...something drastically horrible...you will always have it. I just need time to get there. Please give me that time and space.

Love, yours truly,

Rene (Jax Running Rene, aka Rene McClanahan)