Greyhounds are addictive

There's been another rash of rehomings at the local retired greyhound rehoming kennels with Greg, an eight-year old black and white boy, going on home-trial and two black and white girls - Pretty and Poppy - being signed for today.

It's the two girls that have made me absolutely certain of one thing. Greyhounds ARE addictive. Both are going to homes that have at least one other hound in residence.

And hey presto, after a quick search on the internet, I've found that there's even a term to describe it: chipping. As with potato chips - the US name for crisps - when you've got a greyhound it's almost impossible to stop at one.

I'd long since suspected this was the case, having met many people at the kennels who have 2,3, 4 or even more dogs. They're often nosing around to find another hound to add to their happy gang.

The most embarrassing discussion with a multi-dog owner was when I was discussing the best way to handle two dogs. I'd recently discovered that in most cases it was easiest to hold both leads on the same hand and walk the dogs on the same side as each other.

The kennel hand I was talking with agreed and said that she always walked her dogs like this. She said it meant that she could put one onto the other side of her if one of the dogs was misbehaving. I commented that I'd found this useful as well.

Only later did I discover that she has SIX dogs. Oh dear, I am such an amateur.