I'm Teisha Casasanta, the house mom at the Sighthound Hotel. I grew up having a dog named Tootsie. She was golden lab mix and my best friend as I was a very shy little girl. I was very lucky to have had her because I learned if you love an animal, you in turn teach them how to love and I truly believe they are greatest relationship we can have. Our unconditional best friends. 

I first learned about whippets in 2002 but I had never seen one in real life. I went to a dog show and I was immediately drawn to their grace, prancing feet and gentle long neck and sweet face. In that moment I knew that I had to get one. My partner at the time had a rat terrier and I took her to the vet and while I was waiting in the room for the vet, the door flew open and I saw a man being dragged behind 2 whippets and I was so excited. He emphatically apologized for barging in the wrong room and I told him my dream of owning one. We exchanged numbers and about 6 months later in 2003 he told me that he had a litter. We went to his house which had puppies all over the place and it was more than he could handle. I picked one out but my partner saw the chaos and laid his foot down and said no! I left broken hearted and couldn't stop thinking about the puppy. A few weeks went by and the gentleman begged me to take a puppy so I put my foot down and of course I got wish. That day was the happiest day of my life because I officially became a mother. I named him Max and for the next 13 years he was my everything. We went through everything together as a bonded duo. Sadly, he passed away beside me in my arms from congestive heart failure. It shattered me and I lost my most loved being in the world that day. 

In December of 2017 I got Whipper, my second Whippet. Two weeks after having him he started having non stop seizures. He had 26 in 12 hours and I was told he had brain damage and I'd have to euthanize him. They told me that it's inhumane to keep him alive. He was 11 weeks old and I already bonded with him. The vet was just about to give him the first shot and whipper looked up at me and licked my face and I literally grabbed the vets wrist and pulled him tightly to me and insisted that they give him anesthesia so he could rest and I was going to find out how to get him better. Well, Whipper is seven years old now and doing well. He only has about three seizures a year and his medicine is keeping it under control.