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!
:)

Must be a family thing, I knew I wasn't imagining his stumpyness! Sturdy is a good word, I like that. He is sturdier than other grunds. Omg. The othe stumpy/sturdy one I saw, was black! Wonder if it was a relation. . . .?

Yes. Sturdy. That's it!

Aw it was lovely seeing Billy run this morning. We've finally got the whole Marshes back after the big event and he went bonkers. It was as though he were painted onto the landscape, this very fine, dark black figure against all the fluffy green!

Sounds lovely Betsey, bet he loved that! Do you let him off all the time now then?

You know Sprocket has that one weird sticky outy claw that doesn't touch the floor? Well a new dog grooming place has just opened round the corner from me and I just rang them up to see how much they'd charge for clipping 1 claw and the woman sounded a lot like 'wtf? 1 claw??' and she said 'Errr, erm, I'll just do it' so that's good of her. But I was thinking, it'll end up being a regular thing, so I could pay her the full amount for a claw clipping and just take him, like, every other week or something till it's been clipped enough for 4 paws, then pay again. Does that make sense?

Is it his dew claw, Cunny? Both mine still have theirs.

No it's one on his back left paw, it sticks out straight instead of pointing down.

Weird!

Yeah I know, all his others get ground down as he walks except this one. It's really stupid, he could at least have a couple like it so it would actually be slightly worthwhile paying to get them clipped

No - only when there are very few other dogs out there. I'm not worried about him running off particularly as he just chases the crows and then stops and looks for me. It's a huge open space and although it's not secure exactly he'd have to run very, very far to reach a road. I worry a bit about him getting lost in the trees but if I walk right to the middle and let him off there he has to run very far to reach them. There's also not many paths through them and he's such a wuss about going through undergrowth that I think he'd rather stop than leg it through.

My worry about the other dogs is that a couple of times he's been out on the lead he's locked onto another dog in the distance (mainly small ones) and only chilled out when the other dog gets close. If he were running and his chase instinct were all up and he were travelling fast towards it he might not have time to realise it is a dog. Also, he seems to have an irrational, unpredictable dislike of some other dogs and if they even pay him the tiniest bit of attention he gets aggressive. So he's muzzled every time he's off too, just in case someone springs from somewhere.

DH wants to get a trainer in for some proper socialisation classes but I've heard some stories about some of the local trainers being a bit... nutty. He's only been with us since November and we are his first home so baby steps I reckon.

We've got a grinder on our clippers. We actually can't use the clippers as Billy's nails are so large but grinding the longer ones seems to keep them down enough. They still look talon like though!

Betsey, glad his lordship has got his estate back

He feels that one has to give the serfs some small pleasures in life.

I imagine his lordship surveying his rolling acres and looking down his aristocratic nose as he inspects his demesne....

I agree about the very vivid green, by the way. It looks gorgeous, so bright at the moment. And curiously, when it is raining, it is even more beautiful. There is this lovely grey curtain and then this glowing emerald beneath - the grunds look like a medieval millefleur tapestry on it.

So many people getting hurt again Scuttle, it seems like the accidents get worse and worse every year. Very proud of Wiggo at the moment, dislike that young upstart Sagan, I've only got space in my heart for one cocky, talented, young rider and Cav has taken it .

Poor whippety boy had a really bad bug this week throwing up and having a very runny bum, he looked so sorry for himself he's had even more cuddles than usual. I loved it when he got better though, he had a very mad bouncy 5 minutes, almost a celebration dance!

I would never have described Andy as stumpy! He's a beautiful boy, very elegant IMHO. I love pointy hounds so much though, other dogs just look odd to me know.

I'm quite a lot in love with Salukis, their ears are amazing! I'd love one one day, but after Sprocket is gone DP is going to 'pick' our next dog, he wants a puppy over my dead body! he wants silly things like a St Bernard, or a Rough Collie, or an Old English Sheepdog (or in his words, "a beethoven dog, a lassie dog, a dulux dog"). Ridiculously hairy breeds that I'll be ridiculously allergic to I don't know why I'm worrying about it though, hopefully plenty of years left with Sprocket!

Lost that pic of your DS with his monsters is so cute! He is adorable!!!

Glad whippy boy is better though, bless him, D&V is bad enough in humans!

Re the stumpyness, their deep chests make them look stumpy compared to greys with not quite as deep chests. The really deep chest makes the legs look shorter.

Saluki's are really beautiful, I've been keeping my eye out for a Saluki/Whippet cross on the rescue sites don't tell DH

DS3 is a pain in the bum and I love him dearly. All my boys getting lots of extra cuddles today, at one point I said to DS2 'I love you so much' and he gave me the face and said 'Yes I know' I fear the teen attitude is coming early in that one.

We considered a saluki when we were looking for dog no. 2, as I also think they are beautiful. However, we were directed away from one particular saluki that we went to look at because it had already been returned to rescue twice due to the extent of its separation anxiety (which is apparently quite typical of the breed), if I understand correctly they tend to be a bit "precious" and therefore don't always mix so well with children.

Sorry to hear whippy has been poorly, Lost.

Whippy boy is such a fool! DH was loading the dishwasher, whippy went in to try and lick the plates and manages to get the whole bottom tray hooked on his collar, he ended bouncing in a circle with it attached, shedding shattering plates and cutlery as he went. Once we grabbed him and freed him he went and hid under the table with his ears pinned back and tail between his legs. DH were fighting with each other to give him a cuddle he looked so scared.

I wondered why Saluki weren't as popular, that probably explains it.

Oh no is he ok? I hope you didn't lose all your plates!?

Heard the dog bowls rattling earlier, Sprocket was upstairs so I went to investigate, and DD was standing next to them, I picked her up, and her breath smelt of dog food

Blimey Lost, it's all happening at yours, what with missing Moshis and now whippy deciding to re-enact a Greek wedding. And a very eventful Tour!! Phew!

Cunny, that is so funny about DD - I think she has been learning from Sprocket.

Cunny . Bless her, they do eat some amazing things at that age. I can still remember watching my friends daughter swallow a slug right down then reach straight for another one (we caught her hand in time to save the second poor creature).

What a day indeed. Everyone sleeping now thank goodness (including an exhausted whippet )

A slug?? Eurgh!! Someone I went to prinary school with used to eat Woodlice because she thought they were raisins. Easy mistake to make I guess.

DP is a meanie and weird :( He won't get married next year because it's 2013, not because he thinks 13 is unlucky, but because he hates odd numbers we haven't got the money or time to get married this year either. So it'll have to be summer 2014 2 years away!

Whaaa?! Well that's a tad odd but I suppose it'll give you time to save up for a fab honeymoon. I read in the paper the other day a woman had just got married after a 20 year engagement as she didn't want to take her husbands surname. She thought it made her sound like a porn star. She could really have done with a friend that pointed out it's not compulsory to take his name

Disappointing walk this morning, it's all drizzly (kept dry by a fabulous coat though ), had to keep him on the lead at the start as there were two tiny dogs that barked and yapped and snarled at him (doesn't socialise well said the owner, no really?) and then had to keep him on the lead because instead of taking to the water with their ducklings the ducks decided to walk them up the mud flat to the next town by the look of things. I'm getting the big sad eyes treatment at the moment.

Cunny, couldn't you find a long lost Jewish grandmother or something and say it's an even year in the Jewish calendar, or Mayan or something? You can't make Sprocket wait TWO years for his moment of glory!! I have already got a severe case of wedding-itis and have been dreaming of making him various lovely outfits for the big day

Arf at porn star name change.

Andy is also a dishwasher raider, so I told him about whippy's adventure. He was very impressed and sends his fraternal greetings and hopes you got plenty of emergency cuddles/sausages.

We had a nice walk this morning. Only people in the park so Andy came off for mega zoomies. He did a very impressive poo yesterday - it was so big it needed THREE poo bags!!

We found out on Friday that one of the regulars we see (and Boola's special friend) - a whippet we refer to as Mr. Whippy - isn't actually owned by his walker. He's a lovely chap, and lives near the owner and noticed the dog wasn't being exercised so volunteered to do it. Whippy now gets a daily walk plus two walks on Fridays. He is an IT consultant so is flexible with his working hours. Sometimes you just meet such lovely, lovely people. Apparently the owner won't take dog out in the car as "it gets hair on the upholstery"

Just popping in as I've just got home from training class, but we were told that there is currently an organised dog theft ring operating close to me (derby/nottingham area). If anyone would like a more precise postal area and/or details to warn others you may know I will give these via pm.