Exams

I have exams from late-May to mid-June, so will be having a break from the blog until they are over.

I may do some brief updates - if I get a chance to go down and see the dogs. (May be necessary for my sanity).

In the meantime if you want to pen a blog entry please email me at retiredhound@yahoo.co.uk

Greyhound evangelists

It's funny, but it seems once people have greyhounds, they won't have another type of dog. (Of course there's always the problem of the one just not being enough).

There are also a lot of quiet greyhound evagelists around and in fact - as my husband has found - once you start talking about greyhounds, lots of people either own them, or have a yearning to.

We'll often stop and happily talk to complete strangers just because they have a hound or two in tow!

And the owners are a fount of knowledge - we'll have detailed chats about how far they like to walk, whether the dogs get on with cats, where they were rehomed from, and how they are just the right size and shape for a dog.

We've also become compulsive greyhound spotters... it's amazing how you usually see at least the one on every long ramble.

Ava at home

I've heard news of my lovely big white-and-blue lass Ava.

The folks that she's on trial with contacted me through this blog and the wonderful news is that she's settling in well. They've already got one retired hound - a black boy called Mick.

Now as I've mentioned before the black dogs hang around longer in kennels than their more striking counterparts. However, here's what Mick's owners say about him:

"We re-homed Mick from Hersham and though he was a bit tatty when we first got him, he's scrubbed up very well indeed! Through a good diet, lots of grooming and a soft bed (well, usually the sofa!), the quality of his coat has improved no end. People now regularly comment on what a striking dog he is and '...Oh, isn't his glossy black coat beautiful!?!'"

So, for those of you who are tempted to go for a "prettier" coat colour than black . Don't!

Back to Ava. The little tinker is up to mischief as usual and, amongst other things, has been chewing homework... great excuse that.

And - I have a picture. Here are Ava and Mick together:

Nicky in love

As suspected Nicky's latest kennel mate was rehomed last week, leaving him on his own once again.

The dogs at the local retired greyhound rehoming kennels are generally kennelled in boy and girl pairs, so it wasn't too much of a surprise to find that Nicky had a new kennel mate when I visited last week - a lovely little black bitch, with a white tip to her tail, called Holly.

She had only come into the kennels the previous day, having just finished racing - she had been disqualified for distracting the other dogs while on the track. What a little tinker.

Now, the big surprise was how smitten Nicky was with her. Honestly he was acting like a teenager in love. I've never seen ANYTHING like it.

The normally quiet lad came bounding out of the kennels with a big grin on his face, and proceeded to SHOW OFF all the way round our walk - whether it was rolling on his back with all four paws in the air, crouching down in front of her and wagging his tail, or pressing his head against her head, it was clear he was besotted. (Perhaps she had the same effect on the other greyhounds while racing?)

Anyhow, I wondered whether she was coming into season. Apparently not. Must be puppy love?

Let's see whether they are still in the same kennels when I visit next week, too much attention can get a bit much for a girl, and we really don't want any more biting!

Dog tails

Hoorah! I've worked out how to create links to each of the dogs that I've written about.

I've moved the Dog tails posting right to the end of the blog list, so that it's not the first thing you see when you click on a dog's name. Click here to read it.

First dog Bo

The Obama's dog has arrived at the White House, and he has a blog.

First dog Bo is a Portugese water hound, and was chosen because one of the Obama daughters has an allergy to dogs.

The Obamas wanted a rescue hound, and they were pretty lucky to find a water hound in a pound - there aren't that many "hypoallergenic" dogs to be found in rescue homes. (And those that are are snapped up pretty quickly).

If you suffer from dog allegies, don't despair, there is a breed of dog that might suit you - and there are plenty waiting for a new home. The breed's a greyhound - they tend to be better for people with allergies because they have just one coat.

To find a rescue kennels near you start here or here.

Limp mystery

Well Missy's limp is still a bit of a mystery. Her visit to the vets last Friday threw no light on the matter, so she's in for an x-ray today.

I'm hoping to find out more tomorrow - weather permitting we're taking my favourite boy, Nicky, out for the day - so I'll get an update on Missy then.

I do hope it's nothing more than a stubborn muscle strain. I took her for a walk earlier in the week, and, to be honest, the limp was barely in evidence. Apparently it gets worse towards the end of the day.

And she does love having the offending limb massaged. I've found that if I rub her leg muscles with the heel of my hand, she sinks into me in delight. (If she were a cat I think she'd be purring). It may not actually help her leg, but Missy ADORES the attention.

Help please!

I've decided to reorganise the blog slightly, and have changed some of the labels (part way down the right hand side of the web-page) so that they should be more useful if you're coming here to search for certain topics.

Can you let me know if the reorganisation makes subjects easier to find? And is there anything that's missing that you'd like to see?

Finally if anyone knows how to split the "Labels" I'd love to also put each of the dogs' names on the blog entries... but I think it would be confusing to mix dog names with specific greyhound related entires.

Drop me an email (retiredhound at yahoo.co.uk) if you know how, or if you have any other comments. Thanks in advance!

Long term residents

Why some dogs stay in kennels for just a few days, while others stick around for months is sometimes a bit of a mystery. It could be just that some are much better at doing the "I must behave" than others.

Nicky and Shawn have seen several of their girls rehomed, while they've remained in the kennels for many months. In fact I can't even remember the name of Nicky's latest kennel mate - she's already got a reservation on her and may not even be there when I walk him this week.

You do get to know the longer-term residents well though - and you get a real buzz when you find out that one has either been reserved or rehomed. The latest to have a reservation on her is Spark and she's been in the kennels for as long as I can remember.

Spark's a lovely little girl, with a brilliant personality, but she can be a bit of a handful at times. (Especially when she sees something like a fox). However, in the right home she'll do brilliantly. I really hope she has a good home trial.

Hop-along gal

I'm thinking of that cheeky chimp Missy today.

She had a dreadful limp last week, and could barely walk on one of her front legs. She seemed to have difficulty lifting one of her paws off the ground, and had to drop her shoulder really low to get her toes up and through the air.

Poor girl. She was a lot better this week - and I had to look very carefully to work out which leg was slightly lame - but she's had the limp in one form or another for a while, so the guys at the kennels have decided that it's time Missy saw the vet again.

I do hope all goes well. Missy is a very lively girl - in fact I was quite worried this week when I arrived at the kennels and she didn't have nose and front paws PRESSED to the kennel window BEGGING for a walk - however, I think she was just having a little rest after breakfast. Five minutes later there she was, grinning at me.

I am really hoping that the vet finds there's not a lot wrong with her, and half suspect that she just keeps on re-pulling a muscle with all her jumping. I'll keep you updated.

More walkies...

Last post I forgot to mention the naughty dogs like Flo, who are always quite keen to get one over you when you take them for a walk.

Flo's a crafty, but lovable, black girl, and I've often seen her flying around the paddocks, with a poor walker holding on for dear life. (In fact I think I've been one of them).

She can be a little minx and loves nothing more than pulling... however she's also very smart, so the trick with Flo is to let her know that she's not going to get away with any pulling WHATSOEVER.

And, after a few minutes tug-of-war between Flo and walker, settles down onto the lead nicely and shows that she is, in fact, a delightful little girl.

Beware though if at any point she thinks she's got the upper hand - off she'll go, puffing and straining ahead of you!