A new Cushion for Pointies!

[SpaghettiTwirlerAndProud]

Pointy hounds include-
Greyhounds (Grunds)
Whippets (Whippys)
Lurchers
Italian Greyhounds (Iggys)
Salukis
Afghans
And any others I have forgotten. If you are a new pointy hound owner, an old and experienced owner or looking into getting one of these fabulous creatures, come and have a seat (that's not taken up with a hound).

Share advice, stories and shopping tips!

I didn?t really want you,
I wasn?t really sure,
And I?ll admit I had my doubts,
When you first came through that door.

Not small, or cute, or fluffy,
With big, soft puppy eyes,
But tall, and thin, and bony,
With bald, pink, bulging thighs.

You weren?t the kind I had in mind,
Not in any way,
?Perhaps it would be better if I took you back today,
Before we know each other,
It really won?t be kind,
To keep you here for one more day,
And then to change my mind.?

But against my better judgement, I decided you could stay,
And quickly I discovered you were kind in every way,
Your gentleness and patience, they really stole the show,
?Why these dogs are wonderful, I must let others know!?

For you?re my gentle giant,
Who just needed the chance,
To show us all what you could be,
To wipe away that history,
And dispel our preconceptions, which put us all to shame,
And so we come to know and love,
What lies beneath that frame.

And now I?ve come to understand,
What I missed right at the start,
That greyhounds need that great deep chest,
To house their great big hearts!
:)

Awwww

Lovely isn't it? That's exactly the kind of thoughts I want when people read it :) Just an "Awww, are greyhounds really that nice?"

The line "bald, pink, bulging thighs" makes me laugh everytime I read it :o

We just had lurcher girl making a bound up the stairs. She was so excited once she reached the top that she ran through the upstairs causing havoc and mayhem everywhere . I think she's starting to feel at home.

Just thought I'd say hello, as I just popped up at the end of the old thread. We have a 3 year old rescue rough lurcher who is staring at me right now from the sofa (yes she got that for herself pretty quickly) with huge brown eyes.

She loves people, but is quite wary about other dogs particularly if they are very bouncy. I've spent over two months working on the problem of her reacting to other dogs coming towards her even when they are on a lead, with distraction and treats and getting her to look at me etc. I really thought we were making headway, then yesterday this teenage couple just let their huge boxer charge up to her, wouldn't call the dog off when I asked, just stood and laughed as my dog barked and lunged, they thought it was all hilarious, then the boxer got aggressive and I had to scare the dog off myself by shouting, thought I was going to get bitten. Then ten minutes later just when we had all calmed down (I was with my two children) the boxer was back and I had to scare it away again. Now this morning my dog is back to how she was two months ago, barking at dogs across the road, barking at dogs she normally ignores. :(

Anyway, just needed to rant for a short while, better go and do some tummy tickling of the lolloping lurcher, guaranteed to calm me down. Am I really back to how it was two months ago, or is this just a blip and she'll bounce back in a few days - anybody got any experience of this?

Here's a link to a lurcher/pointy hound specific advice forum:- www.lurcherlink.org/llink/forum/viewforum.php?f=47
A great place to go to as a first step in resolving behavioral issues etc.

Summer 1st aid kit?

Can we have a discussion on a "summer 1st aid kit" as the sort haired pointy hounds are so prone to getting wee cuts etc from brambles (blame those squirrels). I'd like to reiview mine just to ensure it's as good as it can be iykwim.. The aim is to have a wee kit, small enough to pop in your pocket to take on walks just in case iykwim.

I currently use a wee pouch from the 1 pound shop with a couple of surgical pads, microtape + a ladies sanitary towel (just in case of a proper dog bit from the horrible "status dogs" you typically see in the inner city). I also have some diluted hibiscub decanted into a travel size bottle to hand at all times, as it seems to really help healing if a scratch is lightly washed in a hibiscrub solution 2x daily to prevent infection.

I also carry one of these water bottles at all times www.petsathome.com/shop/pets-at-home-dog-water-bottle-with-dispenser-43751 access to clean water on a run is critica in summer methinks. (you can pick em up in the £shop). These are ideal for my whippet but perhaps a larger dog might do better with a collapsible bowl?

As I write, the rain is pouring down in sheets, the heating is on and I'm wearing a cosy woolly jumper, so I feel like the TS Eliot poem where he talks about the "unimaginable zero summer"

But you're right. Once the weather gets a little warmer, we always keep a bottle of water (with a few ice cubes in the bottom) in the car and a water bowl for the hounds which they enjoy when we get back to the car. We also move the time of the walk back by a few hours if it's very hot - so we get the benefit of the cool early mornings. Much nicer for all of us.

Our vet advises strongly against using any chemicals - they suggest simply using warm, salted water, so we do this when we've got home.

What else do other people keep in the car? We have lots of poo bags, water bowl and bottled water, muzzles, towels and fleece blanket, spare slip lead (in case we meet a stray), tissues, wet wipes, emergency dog treats, sunglasses, sun cream, spare inhaler for DH, umbrella. And plenty of spare shopping bags. Plus an assortment of gloves, hats, fleeces (wolefs optional).

We've now decided that lurcher-girl needs a new "designer breed" name. As she's a cross between a greyhound and a whippet, we're calling her a "Grippet".

Well, if it's good enough for all the doodly types and boradors etc, I think she should also be able to have her very own breed name .

:o Grippet! I love it! :o

So Scuttle, with half the contents of your house in your car, where do you and the grunds sit? :o

Loving the new cushion!! Will read properly in a mo (have to go and stir the soup and get some winter woolies as it is freezing atm)

I added another couple of pictures of our whippet/grippet couple.

Walking in the park with the pair earlier and we were getting some suspisiously interested looks from a particularly unpleasant looking character.

Oh they look so cute together! How do her, whippy and the DC get along now?

We have a traveller camp in our town so quite often see them driving round scrap stealing collecting, they always stare at Sprocket, I think he mainly attracts their attention because of his muzzle :( I just hope he doesn't get stolen from me.

Someone stole a greyhound off a lady with crutches a few weeks ago in a town not far from us, he bent to "fuss" the dog and unclipped his lead and ran off dragging the dog over 3 fields, luckily a lad not far away noticed and chased him and got him back. If people like this would stoop so low as to steal someones dog while the owners on crutches, what's to say they wouldn't take a dog from a young woman with a baby in a buggy?

having been educated in the greyhound "lean" on a previous thread, do greyhounds have a thing for cuddly toys? seems that whenever I see a picture of them on greyhound rescue sites etc. a lot of them have a toy with them - is this another greyhound quirk ?

Yes, they love cuddelies! And blankets and cushions to snuggle up with... (they are big babies really)

My friend and I were out walking a few weeks ago, I had whippety lurcher, she has a whippety lurcher and a pure whippet, and we got some looks from a rather shifty looking pair who were not walking any dogs of their own.. In the middle of the woods, in a known dog walking area...
Another friend of ours has a retired greyhound and a saluki/greyhound cross and she was followed through the woods for quite a while, again, by a slightly dodgy looking pair of men who were also in the middle of a known dog walking wood without a dog of their own...

Makes me cross. All our lurchers are traveller-camp rejects, so why steal them back??? If they were no good first time round they are not going to be any good now... So leave them be

Lovely new thread. Whippet boy is confined to the kitchen though as he is having a mad half hour and nipping (not biting more mouthing) DS3 and bouncing off the walls and DS is too tired to find it amusing.

I can't speak for greys but I don't know how my boy sleeps he has so many soft toys/socks in his crate. He has appropriated everything in the house.

He had a mad lunchtime walk today managed to find not only a dead frog but half a crow both of which he rolled in liberally

Normally we don't have problems with dodgy looking men - whippetty just gets lots of misty eyed looks and comments from old men who like to tell about the whippets they owned (and raced) in days of old. I think with two of them we are obviously just that bit more noticeable - especially when walking with two pointys and two young boys.

Spagetti, surprisingly the whippet/grippet couple are getting on better than I would have imagined. He has grumbled at her a couple of times but nothing more. At the moment she seems quite happy to accept him as boss, though I don't know how long that will remain once we're over the honeymoon period. They are quite funny on walks though now because they go and sniff things together and when they are walking on the lead they periodically come together and touch noses or sniff each others ears. they look like they are giving each other a quick kiss! She doesn't seem too phased by the boys so far, but we are keeping a very close eye on interactions at the moment at least until we know her better.

Duffymoon, whippetty likes stuffed toys, especially toy dogs, which he constantly tries to steal. I must admit though he is very gentle with them. They sleep in his bed with him and he hasn't destroyed one yet!

Awww Margrat, your two sound lovely :-)

I too find that whippety boy (who is not pure whippet but looks very much like one) gets lots of attention from older men. Very sweet :-)

Ooh! Hello all on the NEW THREAD! Started with aplomb Spag , nice one.

Magrat I love the updates on the unfurling whippet/grippet relationship. They have a lot of personality, that's clear! And I love the thought of the old chaps giving your fella alot of love Lock .

Re the cuddly toys - we are at present having an ongoing battle between DS2 and Billy over DS2's Tintin 'Snowy' dog. It's very white and very fluffy and Billy loves it almost as much as DS2. As Bill never goes upstairs (except for when we carry him for his bath) Snowy never goes downstairs and it's not too much of a problem except for when we have small guests who don't know the rule. I had to rescue Snowy from a disgruntled Billy and smuggle him into the washing machine for a wash and patch up before DS2 noticed. He also took a shine to DS2's talking Macca Pacca as it sang as he mauled it but since he took it into the garden and it got horridly muddy he's not interested. DS2 is at the start of a persecution complex, especially as we had a big regression in his behaviour (toilet, tantrums etc) when Billy arrived, new baby style.

And being a VERY novice grund owner all advice on first aid kits, icy bottles etc will be much appreciated.

Oh my not a good day for whippety pup. He ate something on our evening walk last night before I could get to him and I joked 'no doubt if it's bad I'll find out soon enough'. Woke up this morning to a stinky house, poo at one end of his crate, sick with bits of snail shell at the other. Gross but nothing I've not done before. He was fine all day but then proceeded to have a very runny poo whilst still walking down the tarmac path leading to school at 3.30 , I cleaned that up (my precious hairband, I won't be using that again) took him home and DS1 came in from school and left the front door open . He ran straight past him, over the path and straight into the road and pelted up the hill in the middle of traffic , DS1 ran after him screaming (he is ASD and not the safest on the road either). They both came home fine thank goodness. A lesson in door closing that should sink in. To add insult to injury the little bugger darling then proceeded to eat DS3's after school toast and nick a tub of lurpack from the side. We must be heading into the teenage years . Phew, long post, needed to have a mini rant.

Oh, Lost, that sounds like a really bad day. I hope your whippety pup is better now. If so, sit back, have some and breathe a sigh of relief! (If not, have more anyway).

Yes, had a rather large once I had everyone settled for the evening and a lovely cwtch with my chastened baby, better now .

The vet advised me to put a VERY visble tag on our whippet's collar that says "Chipped & neutered" as a deterrent to thieves. He advised those bright coloured metal tags. Add your phone no but NOT the animal's name.

To the new grund owner re training - these dogs respond best to praise & affection, many are not terribly food orientated but adore being petted. Never shout or use a harsh tone of voice in iinitial training. As recall can be an issue you'll need to find a safe fenced in areas to really bust a gut working on getting the dog to come when called. I did 15 min sessions 3x a day when we first got our dog just working on getting her to come when called for a solid 6 months. As we live in the city it was critical for her own saftey. Learn to spot the ear cocking as your dog gets ready to chase and call the dog at this point, once they are mid chase after that squirrel

a sight hound is unlikely to listen. They were bred to hunt more independently of man than some breeds so recall can be tricky for them to learn. NEVER let a pointy hound off the leash near traffic under any circumstances.

I use a leather martingale collar for safety as the school run is across several main roads. I started with a harness but these are tricky with the obligitory coat in the cooler months.

We recently purchased a waterproof fleece lined coat from this ebay seller www.ebay.co.uk/sch/jane4348/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686
Very well made and very reasonable prices - I thought others might like to know about her as we were so pleased. Sadly the weather is still grotty enough to need a nice coat. Our purchase was intended to be a cheap spare for when her existing one was in the wash, but it's nice enough for "best".

There may be someone out there who makes more lovely collars than these - but I haven't found them. I'm lucky this shop is shut for a while as they move house or I'd spend money we haven't got. www.celtichound.co.uk/ The craftmanship is stunning & I'm saving hard while I try to decide if the dog rose or the dragon fly is my favourite design.

Oh blimey Lost what a shit day! I bet you were so relieved when they got back safely! I was like reading it!

Well, Sprockets memory foam off cut has arrived this morning, i had to trim it down with Stanley to make it fit in his bed though. I think he likes it, he's lying on it anyway :o

Crikey Lost, what a shitty day, you definately deserved that !!

WhippetyLurch is getting braver. For the first few months he spent all his time off -lead close to us watching our every move and keeping us within sight at all times.

Now he has discovered the delight that is Squirrels!! and I suddenly find myself having to keep a very close eye on him.

Will have to resort to liver cake I think - anything to make me more attractive than squirrels...

Memory foam bed sounds fab - may look into that for our crate.