Hi, Y'all! Gracie here. You probably remember me as Leyna, the Pretty Woman from Tennessee. I live in hurricane alley (Orlando, Florida) now. Actually, the hurricanes haven't affected me too much - I have discovered that I love to play in the rain and I love to gather twigs and sticks around the yard and make my dad chase me. And the best part is that mom and dad have had some extra days home from work just to play with me in the yard - they like to pick up sticks, too.

I have an older sister (Maggie) at home, but she's a tad smaller than I am. One of our favorite things to do is to go to the nearby park and run side-by-side as fast as we can.sometimes I even let her win the race. I'm still not very interested in retrieving anything yet, although I did find a great toy in the yard that dad throws and I chase sometimes. When I found it, it had black stuff in it with some kind of plant or something inside - not anymore. Now it's my very own toy! I think they call it a flower pot. My sister likes to swim in the pool, but I prefer lounging poolside (as you can see by my picture) while she's swimming.

I still like to nibble on mom and dad's hands and fingers instead of giving kisses.I don't know what the big deal is about kissing.I love to nibble! But, mom and dad are trying to teach me how to kiss anyway. Oh well, at least I get peanut butter out of it. I have learned how to do "down" and I do it very well! They want me to do something called "stay", but that's not very much fun - maybe someday it will be.

My Aunt Sherry brought something in a big cage to our house to stay for a few days. They call it an African Grey parrot. Whatever! I just know that it talks and I would love to play with it! I love to bark at it and wag my tail. I even put my nose up to its nose and it poked at me.

Mom and dad are very happy that I'm beginning to get more vocal. Instead of just barking, I'm talking a little. They told me that I'm developing a very pleasant personality.

So, I'm settling in quite well to my new home. I've been here almost 6 weeks and I finally feel comfortable and safe. I even LIKE to go in the car now, because we always go somewhere fun!

Thanks to everyone at ESRA and especially my foster mom, Debbie. Tell Wallace I still miss playing tug with him. :-)

From Craig & Mel -

Thanks everyone at ESRA! And special thanks to Debbie for going the extra mile for us. We just love Gracie. She is absolutely the sweetest dog we have ever had.