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!
:)

Yes! He certainly is! It's OK and now Billy's gotten all protective of the front of the house at night I feel much safer with him here.

I realised about half an hour ago that I couldn't find the half finished dish (about 2 adult size portions left) of macaroni cheese I'd put out for my lonely person's dinner later on. I find the dish in the garden (clean, empty) along with what used to contain a whole pat of butter that had been next to it on the counter.

To add insult to injury, as I was retrieving said dish from the garden I heard a rustle and realised he had both paws up on the worktop and was stealing a pitta bread out of the packet for the DSs dinner.

He will sleep very well tonight and my front room will be lit up with Yankee Candles like a Catholic Church.

I told Andy - he was impressed.

Also at the necessary Yankee Candles....

Naughty Billy :o did he look very guilty or was he pleased with himself?

I've thought of a really good thing to put in a Kong, paste! You know, saImon paste, chicken, beef etc. i reckon it would be good stuff to plug a kong with!

Oh no , did the Yankee candles do the trick?

Got my boy home yesterday, he was drunk as a skunk. Between the anaesthetic and the hot weather finally reaching west Wales he was out of it all day. Managed some cocktail sausages though . Bless him, he's still zonked today so we are chilling out on my bed! (although I'm not sure if he's still drugged or just normal whippet lazyitus)

I got Sprocket a collapsible bowl today £1.49 from B&M, they have them in blue or pink, but they're both a bit girly, there's a hanging loop on each side in the shape of a love heart :o I'm going to keep it in the buggy and just take a bottle of water out of the fridge with us when we go out.

How is he doing now Lost? Has he perked up at all?

Yes, though he wasn't too windy, surprisingly! Unlike the weather here today-so odd, really very windy and very strong sun.

What's B&M? That bowl sounds good. We picnic a lot in the summer and need to get Billy some practical gear.

How's the little chap doing Lost? Have you explained to your bigger boys what's happened to him? I explained to my oldest why Billy looked different to the boy dog in the park angry terrier and he was horrified!

Ime, it's mostly male dog owners who refuse or are very uncomfortable about getting them 'done'!

I haven't popped by for a while, but I thought I'd see how you were all doing. Last week I made the mistake of saying to the RSPCA lady that our Lurcher was a bit lonely, two days later we have another. She's a whippet/jack russell cross believed to be six months old and very very skinny. Apparently she was rescued because she hadn't been fed much, left at home all day and never taken for walks.

She's an absolute poppet, friendly happy little thing. Obviously food is a big deal for her and she tries to get anything the dc's are eating, but I'm slowly feeding her up and I hope she'll realise that her next meal will be coming.

So far our boy who is a grey/whippet cross, but much more grey has been very good with her, trying to get her to play with him by running past her with a tempting plastic empty milk bottle. She's beginning to get the idea and is also not shy of making it clear to him if he's getting a bit rough with her, so I'm not having to intervene too much.

I can't believe that I've got two already, he's only 13 months. I can't wait to take her on walks but we're assuming she hasn't had any vaccinations so I have to wait.

that RSPCA lady didn't waste much time. How lovely for that lucky pup. We're going to need photo's of them together I think .

It's incredibly windy here too MissBetsey and boiling hot, very strange weather, and as whippety pup has appropriated all my doorstops for his bed the doors are banging like mad.

He seems fine, I think it's more heat induced stupor (I am struggling too). He had some fun in the garden earlier subduing some ice cubes. Only caught him trying to lick his stitches once but I have the cone of doom on standby...

I did explain to the boys what was going on, the older two looked a bit bored by it all but DS3 has been having a lovely time trying to say the word testicles, quite a hard one if you are five apparently

B&M, I've had a look but the bowl isn't on the website otherwise I would've linked to it :)

Congratulations on the new arrival Most :o as Lost, said RSPCA lady didn't waste any time at all!

Glad he's perked up a bit Lost, I bet he's feeling a bit sorry for himself though, maybe got that feeling that he's missing something. . . .

Oh yes Betsy, it's always the blokes who are the ones to persuade to get the dogs balls off! It's a man thing. DP has always said when we get a puppy he's not having his balls off! I don't bloody want a puppy tbh. I'd rather have no dog than have a puppy! Worse than toddlers :o

I am currently still shaking after an unpleasant encounter in the park earlier this evening where I almost ended up with an injured dog due to one stupid woman's antisocial behaviour.

Why is it that owners whose dogs are not recall trained think it is OK to abuse the owners of the other (on-lead) dogs when theirs don't come back .

I was walking my two this evening, both on-lead as our local park is not secure, full of squirrels and close to a main road. This hairy lurcher type approached with no apparrent owner and whippetty went ape - he was attacked some time ago and still suffers from some fear aggression when appraoched by off-lead dogs when he is on-lead. Whippetty tied lurcher-girl up with his lead in an attempt to run away from the other dog and in the meantime I managed to locate the owner, who was a good 200 + metres away out of direct sight of the dog. She had another two dogs (border terriers) with her. I shouted her to call her dog back as lurcher girl had been hurt in whippetty's panic to get away from the other dog, which she, predictably did not do and in the meantime, lurcher girl was laid on the floor and did not appear able to stand. One of the border terriers then decided to join in the fun, whilst all the time, the owner did nothing. I called again for her to call her dogs back and was met with a torrent of abuse (apparently telling her that if her dogs have no recall, they should be on a lead means she should tell me to "shut up you stupid bitch", whilst also claiming "her dogs are not hurting anyone", "you don't own the park you know" etc etc etc, I'm sure you know the type).

Why is it always the same? Those whose dogs are not trained and not under control feel the need to become aggressive when their dogs create a problem for others. The whole incident has terrifyed lurcher-girl and will have done whippetty's fear aggression no favours whatsoever.

I am just fuming mad that I will have to yet again find another new place to walk the dogs due to ignorant, antisocial owners who feel that just because they are happy to let their untrained dogs with no recall off lead and out of view, the rest of us should be happy with this too.

That's horrible - what a vile woman. I generally assume when meeting people like that, that they must be like that in all aspects of their life. And if that is the case, life must be pretty nasty for them.

Guaranteed if you know other dog walkers who use that space she'll have been in unpleasant encounters with them too. Have you seen her there before? The heat must do funny things to people's walking routines and she might not be there next time...

I think I may have encountered her dogs before - a few weeks ago (before we got lurcher girl), whippetty had an encounter with an apparently ownerless wiry haired lurcher who decided to do a fly-by on whippetty whilst he was on-lead. The owner was again at the other side of the park well out of view. On that occassion someone did warn me that a woman had entered the park with three dogs and one was nasty.

To be fair, I didn't find the dogs nasty, more that if I am walking minding my own business I don't want random ownerless dogs running up off-lead whilst mine are on-lead. Even more so, if someone else's dogs are harrassing mine I don't expect abuse if I simply ask "can you call your dogs back please?". I think people get embarressed that their dogs have no recall, so prefer to make it someone else's fault.

We had our first training class though with lurcher girl tonight. I think she was somewhat unsettled at the presence of bouncy collies and spaniels. On the plus side she showed just how beautifully she could walk on the lead, on the downside, the only one she managed out of a "sit and stay", "down and stay" or stand and stay, was standing .

Magrat, so sorry to hear that. Unfortunately these numpties spoil it for all of us. What I find/have found surprising too, is that it can be quite upsetting when some random person suddenly gets all abusive and nasty just because you ask them a polite question.

On the bright side, while we were walking this morning, we met a man with SIX pointies!!We had a lovely chat and actually found we know several people in common, including Valhalla! Made me feel quite a lightweight only having three....

Our three are not too keen on this heat. Much less zoomies, and they have even lost their appetite. In stead of the six o'clock stampede to the kitchen for their tea, they all just lie around looking floppy.

Magrat how are the hounds now? That woman sounds horrible. It sounds like your dogs were blatantly upset over the other dogs and common sense should've told her that her dogs were hurting someone and she should get them back! Silly cow.

Scuttle 6 pointies?? Blimey. Were they a mixture of all sorts of pointies? That's amazing that you both know Valhalla though! That womans bloody famous :o
I see this couple sometimes with 7 dogs. They have a white GSD, a tiny cream terrier thingy, and the rest are all white/cream lurchers, some smooth and some wiry. They look quite a sight with 7 white and cream dogs!

Oh forgot to add, it's great that Sprocket can now go upstairs on his own, but now he can he seems to have morphed into a teenager. And by this I mean he spends most of his time up in his bedroom, and lyIng on his bed listening to rock music and playing computer games

Hi, we're on the verge of getting our very first rescue pointy, a beautiful black grund girlie - the homecheck is tomorrow and if all goes well she comes home to us soon after!!!

This has probably been asked before, if so - apologies -, but I need to make a shopping list for my new baby. Apart from the basics (bed, leads, food, toys) can you lot point out (pun not intended!) anything else I should get?

Thanks!

Hello! Excitement building vicariously for you! Squeeeeee!

Do you have something to raise up the bowls?
I'd prepare to buy pajamas/fleecy housecoat soon - you never know, this hot weather might not last and they feel the cold...
Treats?
Something to lay over the car if she doesn't travel well and is sick.
Dog guard for the car?

How lovely.

NCOT, welcome, that's wonderful news

Most important thing for safety is a proper sighthound collar, and a strong lead (NOT one of those extending ones). For the collar, you can either get a traditional leather wide one (widely available in pet shops etc) or you can go for a fabric martingale type. Some people have elegant fabric "tag collars" for lounging at home, and then put on a sturdier weight bearing collar for walks. Although pointies generally walk beautifully on the lead, you need this for the occasional excited lunge after a squirrel, when they go from zero to batshit in 0.3 seconds.

Obviously an ID tag with your details. Depending on your vehicle, you should think about how/where they will be travelling, so you might need a dog guard if they are in the boot, or a doggy seat belt if they travel on the back seat. V important for your safety and theirs in the case of an accident. In the car, again depends on what sort, where dog is, you might need seat covers. Ours travel in the boot and we have additional soft dog beds in there for them to lie on. Also useful to keep in the car - poo bags (lots of these), wet wipes, spare bowl for water after walks, spare treats, in this weather a bottle of iced water for drinks etc. Sticker for your preferred charity also.

Feeding - stick with what they are on for a few days before branching out, will help them settle. Most pointies prefer a raised bowl - we've found an Ikea flower pot is the perfect height and diameter for a stainless steel dog bowl!

Grooming - something like a hound mitt - they often love being brushed.

Bed - they are very boney and need somewhere soft and cosy to lie. Invariably this will include your sofa and your bed (in time), but they will also want their own lounging area. Again, many variations on a theme including memory foam, folded Ikea duvet (that shop is bloody marvellous!) and various special dog beds. Should be washable.

House cleaning - even if they are perfectly housetrained, you can expect a few accidents in the early days, partly as they mark their new territory and partly as they get used to the new environment. In the future, there will also be various "biological" accidents, and their skin is very thin, so you will often find yourself mopping up crime scene like blood spatters (you get used to this very, very quickly). So good cleaning materials, possibly a steam mop and a large box of Yankee Candles for the notorious greyhound bottom of Beelzebub.

Coats - they will need as a minimum a waterproof coat for the winter and many have/need a cosy fleece housecoat/pyjamas for winter nights. Coats are like collars though - you will end up spending a fortune on a variety of coats for different seasons etc and your dog will invariably look much smarter than the accompanying human!!

Lastly, don't forget the importance of investing in obedience classes locally, these are terrific fun and really good for both of you. Also find a good local vet, and keep in touch with your adopting charity - htey usually organise lots of lovely events including greyhound walks, shows, quizzes etc. And be prepared to invest in a second dog - pointies are incredibly addictive!!

Good luck

Welcome Nice how exciting! Basically, everything what Scuttle said. She's our resident Grund Guru :o

Scuttle how's your coat business coming on? How is Booty eating now?

Betsy, is Billy all black or has he got any white bits? I'm just curious, as him, Andy and Sprocket are all family and they're all black, and Andy and Sprocket have white bits, just wondering if Billy does too! I remember seeing his pic when you got him but can't remember what he looks like.

I must be weird though. Scuttle you're always saying how addictive pointies are, yet I have no desire whatsoever to get another dog! I occasionally think Sprocket might like a friend but I don't think "Oh my gosh I need another dog!". We quite often see the woman who lives round the corner from us, she has a grund and a whippy and Sprocket LOVES the whippy girl. He gets soooooo excited when we see them on a walk. The womans grund has just had a toe removed bless her :(

Ncot, that's lovely. We will of course want lots of details and pics. How old is she?

You will of course need a sofa for her if you ever want to stand a chance of sitting down in your own home again.

He's black with little white tips on his front paws and larger white ones on his back paws. He has white darts up the back of his ankles and a white chest - with a little diamond of white on his throat.

He's also beginning to get white speckles down his back. Ahh. Do they sound similar?

We're having a nightmare clipping his claws. He has yelped and backed off every time we've approached him with the clippers since we got him. I managed to get the clippers around a claw the other day but as soon as they started closing he kicked up such a fuss. He lets us grind them but they look to me as though they need a good cut.

He's in kennels from this Friday for a week though so I might ask them if they could do it... Not looking forward to seeing him go but I think camping in a tent might not be his Lordship's style!

Am not a guru, am a very naughty girl

Business will be due to launch in about a fortnight - we are doing the website stuff at the moment.

Booty has regained her appetite but is still struggling (and prob always will) with the actual business of eating. However, we are experimenting with various combos and we seem to be getting there. The mess is amazing, but fortunately the other two see this as a bonus and come along afterwards for a drive-by...

Hmm, it seems to take people in various ways, Cunny. I bet if you tried fostering for a while, you'd soon get used to having another pointy around (and Sprocket would love it too), and before you know it, you end up with six. I think also that if you spend any time looking regularly at greyhound websites, you just know the need, and sort of feel that if there is a space on your sofa, it's a good thing to fill it...

So sorry to hear about your neighbour's dog. Was it an old racing injury, or a corn?