The Adventures of Mila Grey: School Days

Mila loves her adventures in the car!

On Monday, Mila and I jumped in the car and took a two-hour drive down the road to Foxton where we went to visit our new friends in Room 10. I had arranged with their teacher, Miss Gorrie, to go out and visit the class after the kids wrote us such nice comments here on our blog. Many of the kids had never met a greyhound before and were interested to know all about Mila's racing life and to see the star of the blog in the flesh.

It was raining and very windy in Wellington when we left but by the time we reached Foxton at 11.30 am, the weather had started to clear and we were even getting some good patches of sunshine. When we arrived at school we made our way through the Office, where we met the Office ladies and the Principal and then headed out through the playground and over to Room 10. The kids gathered round us to give Mila a pat and I could see from her furiously wagging tail and the dopey looking grin on her face that she was in heaven with all of this attention. Mila was wearing her GAP Ambassador vest and also modelled her paw print pyjamas and racing muzzle for the class, before we watched a DVD of the race in which she came third (a result that she is obviously very proud of). The kids asked us some great questions about Mila - and Chris, who they had also read about on the blog. The class also told me about how they were interested in finding out more about what they could to help organisations like Greyhounds As Pets, through donations or volunteer projects. We then sat down to listen to the kids' stories about their own pets. There were some very well written and funny stories - and many of them reminded me of my own adventures with owning dogs, cats and a rabbit. Mila even lay down on the mat so she could be comfortable as she listened to what everyone had written!!

Mila, back home, checking out her goodies!

After the stories, we gave Room 10 a book that had been recommended to us, 'Born To Run' by Michael Morpurgo (the man who wrote Warhorse). 'Born To Run' is a story about the adventures of a greyhound named "Best Mate" and the friendships he makes throughout his life. The class gave us a huge basket of goodies (both human and dog related) to say thank you for our visit. We were very, very spoilt and Mila was immediately interested in the toys and treats inside.

After all that, it was time for our shared lunch - and man, did Room 10 put on a spread! There were chippies, sausage rolls, hot chips, fresh baking - the Works!! I had to do my best to make sure that Mila didn't beat us to the food and ruin it all but she was very good and quickly understood that the human food on the table was not for her but that she was allowed to enjoy her own little snack if she sat down nicely.

Let's hope this backwards sleeping craze doesn't catch on.

Eventually, it was time for us to head home. Miss Gorrie helped us to pack up our gears and take it all out to the car and away we went. After about an hours' drive south, we stopped to stretch our legs and the Titahi Bay Dog Obedience park, which is a little fenced off area in Mana where you can go to let your dog have a bit of a run around and to practice training. The sun had come out and it had turned into a beautiful spring day - perfect for running around in the grass! When we got inside, Mila raced around for about 2 minutes to brush out the cobwebs, decided that after her big adventure she was too shattered to do anything more and promptly lay down in the shade. We jumped back in the car and sat in the sunshine watching some other dogs racing around the rugby grounds nearby and then set off to pick up Emily from work and head back into town. On the way home, Mila was so tired that she slept the wrong way on the back seat - with her back to the front of the car - so I had to drive especially carefully to make sure she didn't roll off the seat and hurt herself.

So, a highly successful day! Dog behaved, the kids were great, and we even managed to get in a visit to the park. No wonder Mila slept very soundly that night. Thanks to Room 10 for having us to visit, for putting on such an amazing lunch and for our awesome gift basket. I have hidden the treats and toys away in the cupboard so that Mila doesn't try to eat them all at once and I have made her promise to share her goodies with Chris. I'm sure he is wondering where all of these wonderful presents have come from!!