Fair warning, this post has no point, just want to get this out of my mind and into the world.

My mom and I used to breed Brittany Spaniels in Venezuela when I was young, and we were heavily involved in the dog scene in Caracas with many many friends who had dogs and lived a very dog centric life.

Every once in a while we would get the whole pack together and take a trip down to the beach, I'm talking like 40-50 dogs and a couple dozen of their humans. It was such a blast, watching the pack dynamics play out, the pack leader laying down the law with newcomers, everyone having fun.

But what's most memorable about those trips, and it's still burned into my memory, are the greyhounds of the pack. There were 2 greyhounds in all, and they were always laying around lazily, sleeping most of the time, but when they were up and about around the cabin they were always just so regal and looked like royalty.

But when we were by the sea with miles and miles of sandy beach, with all the dogs together, a gigantic pack of all shapes sizes and colors, it was unbelievable how the greyhounds set themselves apart from the rest. One of the guys always brought one of these contraptions to throw a ball extremely far with little effort, and the whole pack would go after it. But the greyhounds invariably took the lead and got the ball most of the time. With so many miles of beach for them to run, they could really go all out for a good while. And boy did they ever.

My god what a masterpiece of biological engineering these dogs are. From the perfect shape of their head and long pointy snout to their lean shoulders and slender front legs down to their incredibly muscular back legs they are so well suited for speed. The distribution of their bodies and the way their torso bends and extends when they're galloping, their movements are absolute perfection, not a single motion is wasteful. And the joy with which they run, you can just feel it in the air.

I remember watching Tito, the bigger greyhound, when he got the ball and all the other dogs would chase him, he would easily outpace them all, and just the way he'd turn his head back and look at them chasing him, almost confused as to why they were all so slow. I felt like I could read his thoughts, something like "why aren't you guys running?" You could tell he was slowing down to make the game more fun but even the fastest of the other dogs couldn't come close. Just putting in 50% effort was enough to outrun everyone else and still have time to jump around a bit and enjoy the ball in his mouth.

Ahh greyhounds, what a Marvel, I can't explain the satisfaction I get from watching them run, it's so cathartic, like they are fulfilling their fundamental purpose with glee, everything about them is majestic to me.

I've wanted one ever since but the winters where I live now are too rough for such a skinny dog with such a short coat, I wouldn't be able to give him the life he deserves.

What about you? What's your favorite breed? What do you like in a dog?