I can’t explain it. Soon after adopting Captain, I saw him as a character in an animated movie. And one day, I knew the title of the movie: Captain and the Greyhound. I had no idea what the story would be, but I liked how that sounded. The reason I picked a greyhound was because this dog liked to RUN. Boy, did he like to rn.

I will never forget the first time he escaped from our house. I can’t tell you how he got out, but I do know that we watched him do it. He raced out the front door, to our horror, and ran so fast that he was just a white blur.

And it was the strangest thing. We watched him run the long way around the cul-de-sac – why he did not just run out to freedom, who knows? His body was parallel to the ground the entire way around. I wish I could find the words to explain just how fast he was. But I had never seen anything like it. I think we all just laughed out loud, partly in shock and partly in amazement, until he got to the end of the block, turned a corner and was gone. Then we panicked.

James, my son, took off running, and I jumped in the car. I figured there was no way that he would be able to  catch up to him. I was even worried about catching up to him in the car. The only thing I can compare it to was like watching a cheetah sprint. It was crazy.

But it turned out that I had nothing to worry about. I turned the corner with the car, and there was James, petting Captain. Captain was collapsed, on his side, about a block down the street. It would be the first of many times this we raced through the neighborhood after him. But he’s a sprinter. So we got him every time.