Pointy hounds thread! For new, old and prospective owners!

[SpaghettiTwirlerAndProud]

Share stories, advice and ask for help if you need it! There are a few resident hound experts (myself not included) in the doghouse, so, feel free to share! :)

Ooooh look at these!

Kate This is a list of all RGT branches, have a look and see which one is nearest to you!

Spag, that is cool, perhaps I was reading too much between the lines... and scuttle has a good point about a greyhound tail and paint!! Helena is gorgeous (but I still prefer Sox )

Those braided collars are fab, but dh will have a coronary if I spend more on Sam (this weeks vet visit was £25 alone)

We did got and visit all the dogs, Jane at CCGT talked to us first and then suggested some suitable houndies, we then took some out in the field for a play. She was very honest about which dogs would not suit us so was able to 'guide' us. When we fell in love with Sam my first words were not "I want him" but "Are we suitable for him?". Luckily we were the exact type of family she had in mind for the Samster (family with children as he is a young and playful dog) so that was that!

Good luck with the decorating and the grund-accessory shopping

Oh Spaghetti don't link to Silver Peacock that's just not fair I really want a silk tiny house collar now (it's green, so Silver's colour) which is just ridiculous and impractical but lovely.

Fretting about my baby at the moment, his poo has been 'mid range' not solid but not liquid either but now one of his crate mates from the breeders has been diagnosed with Campylobactor and is pooing water every 10 minutes and of course today I changed to a better food (which he is eating like he's never had food before!) but of course has unsettled tummy probably due to the change in diet but I can't tell now. Was off to the vets for first jabs tomorrow but it will be for a thorough check over and stool sample check (lovely) instead. Poor puppy.

Sammy has a gorgeous pillar box red velvet house collar. Luckily it is machine washable but it was still an indulgence (for me) It was made by one of the supporters of CCGT and 20% of the purchase price went to the trust so that clinched it for me...

But there is sooo much else I want...

Actually, can I pick your collective brains - we keep the house around 17degrees C during the day but the heating goes off at night. Will Sam need fleecy pyjamas??

Oh lost, please don't fret... Am sure it is just the change of food...
Fingers crossed for the vet check up x

Hope all is ok lost, try not to worry too much! Good luck for tomorrow :)

By the way lock thank you for your concern, I know getting a dog is a huge commitment, and I may only be 20 and DP 22, but we are going into this with our eyes wide open :)

And yes, sam definitely needs pyjamas

Why are there so many amazing hound accessories? I just want to buy everything! Sometimes I think it would be cheaper to go for a spaniel or something, there are no fab things for other dogs!

We have a new build, warm house, and the central heating goes off around 10.30 at night usually. Ours are wearing their housecoats/pyjamas tonight since the heating doesn't come back on in the morning till around 7 and it does get quite chilly at around 3/4 in the morning. Cold doggies tend to be restless doggies!! Warm, cosy houndies are much less likely to wake you up.

I would certainly use one at this time of the year. If your house is v old, draughty or chilly then definitely.

Spaghetti, I know, sorry, I did not mean to infer... I can't wait to see which lovely houndy you end up bringing home

Right, fleecy pyjamas it is then...

Will go and shop - any recommendations?

Bah well, either way I'll sort him out now, he's mine and I'd penciled in at least a month to get him settled and make a good start on training so this is all part of it. When he has had his jabs and is well I will get him a beautiful martingale collar and matching lead for our first trip out.

So anyway, just how gorgeous are the dogs in the gallery on that website. Pointys are definitely the supermodels of the dog world

Pyjamas? Really? Ace

lost, 'AK Creations' do pointy jammies, don't know about anywhere else though. They look fab. I'd love to get some but I don't fancy spending all that money just incase houndy doesn't like being put into them! Our house is freezing at night. It's 11.8C degrees in our bedroom right now. It just doesn't stay warm at all.

This has to be a metaphor for something, dog had escaped crate (will be getting a more sturdy one later) and done a huge poo on the floor. I am overjoyed as the poo is large and firm . Morning everyone!

Well actually he had done 4 poos and then another outside, this will be the downside of finding him a food he loves then. Didn't feed him for four hours before bedtime, do I just need to wait for his tummy to get up to speed? Or do I need to start my own thread entitled 'Oh man puppies are as hard work as I thought, someone move in with me and help!'

My pointy pups have there own way of staying warm at night. Fall asleep on our own beds while mum is watching, make sure you look cute legs in the air and snore. As soon as mum is asleep sneak into her bed, get under the covers and sleep. When mum wakes up in the morning and calls us, emerge from the duvet with the just woke up look tail wagging and give her lots of kisses.

Mums version - oh look at my good boys fast asleep, about 3 in the morning - god this bed is warm, alarm goes off time to get up and walk the pups, where are the bloody pups, why is my duvet moving like it has mosters underneath - ah two puppies full of cuddles and kisses.

I love the image of them sneaking into your bed without you noticing though, what lovely hot water bottles!

Spag, what about Whiley from LGT? Have you seen his video? I know he's at the Boston kennels, but he's looks like he's the sweetest dog EVER!

Bloody HELL!

Just got back from pm walk that I do with DS2 and Billy. Billy nearly had a terrier.

There's a woman who walks two border terriers round that way at about that time. They are always both off the lead and very lively with other dogs. They've also been quite jumpy uppy with my DCs (which is fine because they love dogs and are not scared.)

Billy is on the lead at all times but not muzzled any more as he's been brilliant meeting other dogs who are both on and off the lead. I saw these terriers coming and gave him a loose lead so he felt more confident. One ran up to him and jumped up in his face, barking. So he barked back and sort of pinned her to the ground with his mouth. It took a couple of seconds for all this to happen.

I yanked him back, shouting 'Billy, NO' or something equally useless and the dog ran off- by this time the owner was reasonably close. Both dogs approached him again, barking, then one started to jump up at DS2 (who thought it was very funny.) They kept running up but by this time I was holding Billy by the collar with one hand, with the other around his chest to stop him lunging again. He was shaking.

I apologised to the owner and she seemed OK, as did the terrier. She said her dog should learn not to approach him. We walked fast in opposite directions.

I don't want to muzzle him - he was doing perfectly well without it, even walking and hanging out with a Jack Russell on one walk and the odd Staffy. But maybe I should. I feel terrible, like I am in the wrong because of his reaction and that he should be muzzled on our walks in case of this happening again.

I just don't know what to do for the best.

Betsy, I'm so sorry to hear this. You must so shaken up and upset. Something very similar happened to us shortly after we first adopted our first grey. I was very upset and angry about it, then we made a decision.

Although we can train and control our own dogs, we cannot predict or control the behaviour of the dogs (and other creatures!) that we meet on our walks.

As you've found out, many dogs don't behave well all the time, don't respond when their owner calls, or ignore signals and carry on bouncing all over you. So two of our greys now always wear their muzzles when out. Remember, this isn't a punishment - your grey will be perfectly happy and comfortable wearing it. It also has the benefit of ensuring they can't eat any dodgy food dumped in a park while they're out. It isn't a substitute for training, or responsible ownership. What it does do is provide you with a priceless commodity - peace of mind. When we are walking in very remote areas the muzzles come off, or when we are at the greyhound field but for our normal routine walks muzzles stay on. It's been particularly useful during the school holidays - the parks are full of dogs who are not "regulars" and we've seen some really spectacular examples of poor recall/socialisation. At least I know that our dogs can't hurt or bite anyone else's.

You are right Scuttlebutter, so kind and wise and informative as always. Thank you.

I have a far too anthropomorphic approach to muzzle wearing. It feels like a punishment, or as though his pleasure is compromised when he's having a good old snuffle about or a greet with other dogs when he's wearing it. I also think he was less confident meeting other dogs when wearing it - but again, maybe I'm ascribing my own feelings about the muzzle to his behaviour.

I don't know how I could train him to respond better in a situation like today. We've been meeting as many other dogs as we can - I generally know the ones to swerve (he's been fine with them - just they seem bonkers!) and the ones we'll have a gentle greet with.

Muzzle it has to be. I guess I just have to err on the side of caution and remember that it's no big deal for him.

Aww, Betsy, thank you Not wise at all, just BTDT with our pointies.

Wearing a muzzle doesn't stop sniffing (or if it does, ours didn't get the memo!). We spent about 40 minutes today in a different park from normal, while practically every blade of grass, and every park bench was sniffed very thoroughly It also doesn't stop eating completely and they can still drink and bottom sniff to their heart's content. Our old girl has developed a very effective back of the knee headbutt when she is requiring your attention urgently - works brilliantly!!

One thing to remember - keep the leather straps of the muzzle nice and soft and supple. I use saddle soap regularly.

Glad Scuttle had some good advice there, I read your post Betsey and thought 'well you can't be responsible for how other peoples dog's behave if you've done the best with yours' but as my puppy socialising so far consists of sitting in the vets with him in a canvas bag going 'look, that's another dog Silver' I'm not really experienced yet! It must have been very scary for you though, I've watched a few of the greyhound rescue video's now and they look like horses to me now I'm used to a tiny pup. I think I will invest in a muzzle purely because my boy seems to hoover everything that comes near his nose at the moment.

Well we had our first jabs last night and after he ate his way out of his lovely soft crate I took him in a canvas 'bag for life' from Tesco (lined lovingly in towels and held tightly by DS2) he poked his little nose out of the top and seemed to enjoy the whole trip, totally unfazed by the new experience. We had our first night with no poo in the (new) crate either which was stupidly exciting!

You all have to stop posting Greyhound rescue pics and video's, I'm starting to hanker after larger pointys now.

Don't know if you ever go on Pinterest but there are some lovely pics on there of greyhounds, whippies and Iggies - all looking completely adorable and scrumptious, arranged in size order.

Love the idea of Silver riding regally in a Tesco bag for life!

Nooo, don't give me another reason to go on pinterest

Yikes, just saw that pic of the huge Irish Wolfhound on Pinterest.

< eyes up size of back lounge, wonders if Billy'd mind sharing his bed >

Found out on our afternoon walk today that two of our BFs are splitting up. They have DC. Bad things happen in 3s so I might give him a looooong walk tomorrow morning and skip the afternoon!

Sorry to hear about your friends, Betsy. That's awful.

Did you see the Christmas Country Life? There was an article about Wolfhounds - I was practically dribbling over them. If I ever win the Lottery, then I'll definitely have a couple (along with the assortment of greyhounds and lurchers )... nice to dream....