Part 2, Fall/Winter 2014 - Volunteer Visit to Scooby

Cute Overload! Who Could Resist this Scooby Galgo/Podenco Mix Puppy?

Adventure Part 2:  Dusseldorf to Madrid to Scooby
After my wonderful visit with Marie in Germany, flew from Dusseldorf to Madrid to meet up with Mora. She is the great friend that I met because of our galga Sara. Mora fell in love with Sara and went to the ends of the Earth to get her to California for adoption. She is officially her Godmother, and often comes to visit and spoil with lovely gifts for all of our dogs. Mora is a treasure, and we have become perfect traveling companions, as we both have the BIG hearts for animals. Our next trip is already planned for late May, and we hope to bring back four Scooby dogs for adoption by Greyhound Friends for Life and other rescue organizations.

Mora was a Fantastic Travel Companion and a Perfect Scooby Volunteer

On with the Story
We met at the Madrid airport, picked up our rental car and headed out for Scooby. It's a bit confusing to drive in Madrid, but very easy to get to Scooby, once you get out of the City. The weather was very good, not too cold at that time. Beautiful drive up to Medina del Campo. Stopped at the friendly truck stop/restaurant near the Town for a bite to eat and a few supplies, then on to the Hotel Reina Isabel. Wow! What a great hotel. Very unexpected and lovely.  Sweet family runs the hotel, recently upgraded, good price, very clean, quiet, and nice breakfast.  Easy to walk to great restaurants with delicious food, private parking. Could not be better!  We are staying there again in May.

Hotel Reina Isabel in Medina del Campo - Wonderful!

After dropping off our bags, went to Scooby. This was Mora's first time, so I got to show her around. Since we arrived on a Sunday, things were pretty quiet and we had a chance to tour the sanctuary and meet some of the lovely workers and of course, the most precious animals.  We were both jet-lagged, so we ended our visit in the late afternoon, freshened up, ate an early dinner and got some rest in our comfy digs.

In the subsequent days, our routine was to rise and shine early, eat our breakfast at the hotel, stop at the grocery store for doggie treats and snacks for us, and then on to Scooby to work and socialize with the dogs.  There are several nice markets in Medina del Campo. We frequented Aldi's because the selection and prices were good, staff was very nice, and it was right on our way to Scooby. A funny little thing we were annoyed by was that the main road to Scooby, which goes over the highway, was under construction, so we had to take different exits and turn around to get to our destination. It made us discover a few new things, which we enjoyed along the way. Every night, we ate at a different restaurant down town and found some gems, particularly on the main square. We even visited the castle and went inside this time. Very cool!

Castillo de la Mota
One of the Coolest Castles I've Ever Visited

Inside the Castillo de la Mota

Chapel Inside the Castle

It's all about the animals...  

Lovely Galgo Relaxing in our Company

Smart Puppy Knows how to Help Herself to Treats!

We were in absolute heaven. There were many galgos, podencos, mix breed dogs, puppies, cats, kittens, and other animals including ferrets.

Galgo Heaven!

Mora is Walking in Galgo Heaven

Mora is Experiencing Galgo Love :-)

What a Gorgeous Galgo!

Words cannot possibly explain how wonderful it is to be in a sea of galgos.  There were so many dogs to love and cuddle, and the great news is that we got to bring four back to California. We also had quality time with my loves, Cuco and Calisto, and got to spoil them in advance of their trip to the USA.

Calisto (left) and Cuco (right) at Scooby
Calisto is in the best ever Foster Home in California and Cuco was just Adopted into a Perfect Home in San Francisco

Podencos are SO Great! Who knew?

This is a Gorgeous Podenco
They are such Lovely Dogs!

Our big "Aha!" on this visit was that we had the chance to visit the paddock that had around 30 podencos. I had spent some time with a few individual podencos in the past, but never an entire paddock.  In a word, "Wow!"  Mora and I fell head over heels for this breed. There were small, medium and large pods, and almost every one of them came up to get their pets, hugs and love. There were a couple of shy ones that we couldn't coax, but overall they were all over us for attention. I am loving the pods and hope that we can help place them in loving homes as well. The good news is that since we were there, almost all of them have gone to foster or adoption homes, which makes me very happy!

Podenco Love! Mora in a Sea of Pods

Me and the Loving Podencos

Ferrets?
The galgueros use the ferrets to drive the hares out of their holes/nests so that the galgos can chase them during the hunt. :-(  Scooby had recently rescued a gaggle of ferrets. I had never been around them. They are very silly and curious creatures that try to climb up your boots and slacks to get to you.  Some of them bite and it is very tricky getting in and out of the closure to clean and feed.

Scooby Volunteers and Staff
The Scooby grounds look fabulous!  There were a few new buildings added since my last visit. The wonderful staff was in full gear working so hard on all things, as they always do. There were a few new volunteers to meet, and we all had wonderful lunches and conversations in the Scooby kitchen during breaks, as well as dinner with friends. The Scooby people are so very special and become such an integral part of your network and life once you catch "Scooby fever".

Never Adios, But Rather Huesta Luego Dear Scooby

Retiring Another Pair of Work Boots
Ready for the Next Volunteer Who Needs Them

Mora and I spent our last day at Scooby giving out treats, hugs and kisses to each and every dog at Scooby.  We had loads of sausages and other treats to spoil them with, and even left some for super volunteer, Ana, to give out.  It is so difficult and emotional to leave this place and these animals.  The only consolation is knowing that I will return once again. So elated to know that I will be there again at  the end of May!  I am looking forward to it every day, and dreaming about it every night. 

There are two more parts to this story, which I will share in my upcoming postings prior to my next trip.  Please stay tuned! 

Hasta Luego! Thank you for reading my blog. Bless sends her blessings! Sara sends smiles! Wilma sends kisses and hugs!



Our gorgeous Galga, Bless!

Our gorgeous Galga, Sara!

Our gorgeous Greyhound, Wilma!

Please support Scooby and Greyhound Friends for Life!
Know an organization that will donate dog food? Please let me know.