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!
:)

Oh Betsy :( he'll be ok, he'll miss you BUT just think how much he'll enjoy spending time with other greyhounds! He'll have a whale of a time running around with them all! 3 weeks will fly by. Or more appropriately, sprint by :o

I've been looking through the new argos book, and they have this fab doggy picnic feeder thingy here it is! Good isn't it? Great if you go out for picnics and daytrips with the dog :)

Welcome to the thread Berris! I love blue hounds, I bet they're beautiful aren't they?

Thanks Cunny I feel sad. I know we're doing the right thing but he won't know that...

Hi All,

Sorry I have not been on for a while, will catch up and read all posts later

Quick question - Sam got into some stagnant water on a walk yesterday afternoon and drank some of it before I could stop him. It had algae scum floating on the top.

Early this morning he did the most horrendous fart, it stank out the bedroom. A few hours later, on our morning walk, he had two bouts of what I can only describe as curry sauce poo.
So I mixed a teaspoon of slippery elm in with his breakfast.
But he is fine and happy and bouncy.

He ate his raw chicken wing as per normal this afternoon.

On our afternoon walk he did another curry sauce poo.

He is now in his crate sleeping, he would normally be on the sofa with us but it is warm so am putting his unusual habit down to that.

Do I feed him as per normal this evening? His runny poos have not been more frequent than normal, he always poos twice on the morning walk and once on the afternoon one. So even though it is runny, the timing is normal.
Do I treat as diarrhoea or do I feed as normal with some added live yoghurt and slippery elm?
Am trying to stop myself from going into complete meltdown panic

Oh, Betsey, I know how hard that is. Sending you and Billy a hug.

Is there any way the kennel can send you any updates/emails/pics while he is in?

You are definitely doing the right thing though with all those fireworks - sounds horrendous.

Lock, there's a couple of options. You could feed entirely as normal, especially as the timing is spot on, and you've identified that he drank gunky water yesterday

If he's otherwise well and drinking normally, the other option is to simply not give him a meal, just to rest his tummy and start again tomorrow. It won't do him any harm to miss one meal (though of course he will probably try to convince you otherwise ).

I think if it was me, I'd continue to feed as normal and I wouldn't start to worry until this lasted more than a day, especially if he is drinking normally and you KNOW that water was full of organic natural goodness

But it's completely understandable that you are worrying,considering what you went through last year.

It's totally understandable that you are worried Lock given his history... but it's only been one day. I think if it were Billy I'd feed him as normal too if he were behaving normally, drinking OK and not pooing more often than usual. Bit like one of the kids I guess.

Thanks guys. I don't think giving him tranquillisers on and off for the next fortnight will do him much good so kennels is a much safer bet. I'm surprised more dog owners aren't worrying about it as much as I am - most of them have told me their dogs aren't scared of fireworks!

Thanks you two, you have set my mind at rest. He was a bit subdued this afternoon but it is very hot down here so that could have been to blame too

I fed him raw chicken as per normal (omitted the spoonful of veg and tribe) and added a very generous spoonful of slippery elm.
He was a bit reluctant to start eating but then scoffed the lot and licked the bowl clean. He would not do that if he was unwell would he?? [fret]

Won't worry just yet. I know from previous minor episodes that it can take Sam anything up to two weeks to be fully formed again so as long as it does not get any worse I will presume all is well.

Ruddy dog, he seeks out the most stinky, hidden puddles and will lap it up! Yuk! May have to keep him on a long line in the summer months as no matter how much I shout 'no' and 'leave' he won't come out and stop drinking. (whereas if he picks up something edible and I shout 'leave' he drops it straight away....)

Betsey, I think you have made the right decision regarding Billy. No point living with a stressed dog for those weeks, and if you are going on holiday anyway then a straight, uniterrupted stretch in kennels will be best for him.

Sending you an unmumsnetty hug xx

Right, will now go and read all the other posts, have a lot to catch up on!!

Billy did not leave the freezing cold tiled kitchen floor all afternoon today - it was vv hot. I'm absolutely sure Sam would have left his food if he were feeling peaky.

Boola declined his breakfast this morning because of the heat, and was very picky with his tea. Even Andy was a bit off with his tea I've noticed that on the rare occasions we get hot weather, it does affect their appetite. No such luck with our new norty minx - she ate her tea, then went and polished off Andy's!

I've had the curtains drawn at the front of the house to try to keep rooms cool.

Tee hee @ 'norty minx' !

Loving the 'norty minx' comment, I think every house needs a norty minx doggle of some sort

Pleased to report that Sam was his happy, bouncy, playful self this morning. He farted a few times so guts definately doing something (not normally a farty dog)

Took him for an hours walk along the canal and into the woods this morning at 7.30 (before it gets too hot, forecast 30degC for today!!) and was happy to see him do two soft but formed poos. So definately getting better, not worse. Phew.

Thanks again for the advise last night, was starting to panic... (suffer from health anxiety and it appears to include the dog!!)

Busy day today, dd needs to be taken to the stables for the first day of a three day pony camp, I am having my hair cut and coloured, I need to go to Sainsbury and it is just too hot....

Looks like new girl has definite norty minx tendencies: left a bag of recycling out, returned to find the foil tray (from last night's steak and kidney pie - yum) in chewed-up pieces over the garden. Torn between wondering if I'll get sparkly poos to pick up (or squits more like) and trying vv hard not to think about the effects on her insides of any foil she might have swallowed. Stoopid dog and even more stoopid owner leaving stuff within her reach. Grrr

So glad to hear that Lock you must feel much better. I have suffered from HA in the past and, yes, mine includes the dog too. I noticed soon after we got him that the symptoms of HA were coming out; constant checking, worrying about worst case scenarios all the time, reading the health section of the 'Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies' over and over again, convinced something was wrong. He is arthriticky and my instinct was right about that but not much else wrong!

Scuttle that norty minxy sounds pretty efficient at despatching bags and food so I'm sure she hasn't eaten the foil. She's probably thinking she's arrived in seventh heaven! It's so easily done to leave the recycling in a reachable position I think - it's all cartons etc, not dripping leftovers so easy to put down and forget.

I took the DCs to London Zoo today (we're members, yearly Xmas present for the whole family from ILaws) while DH took Billy to kennels. He leapt out of the car apparently and the chap that runs the kennels day to day got big happy wags, as did the lady who owns them. I think Billy has a long memory of them as he was a long stayer in kennels due to his size and colour. Johanna (the owner) says grunds have memories like elephants. They had a nice long walk on Epping Forest then Billy got settled down for a sleep on his bed and pillow from home. I hope he's alright. I hope if it's cold or damp they put his pyjamas on. I hope he remembers us!

On the upside though I'm convinced that when we pick him up we could walk another little girl pointy. In fact, I might call the kennel in secret and ask them to try him out with a few little ladies to see if they get on. If we go to get him and, lo and behold! He has spent the last few weeks sharing with a lovely little black girl and they've become very very good friends how could DH say no?

Can two greyhounds, one large one small fit in the large boot of an estate car?

It's so easily done NCOT, I left a carrier bag full of used nappies by the back door once and we went out, came back to find shredded wee'y nappies and the gel stuff all over the dining room floor and all in his bed. Thankfully he'd not gone near the ones in nappy sacks (they were all the poo'y ones) but with wet ones I just chuck em straight in poppys bin with no sack and they're the ones he'd shredded. I have never been so thankful for our uber amazing hoover.

Betsey Billy will remember you, he'll be ok, he remembers the people who will be looking after him so that's one good thing! And he'll be pleased to spend time with lots of other grunds. Will you be able to get updates from them on how he is doing to put your mind at rest?

Lock that's great about Sam, you must be so relieved!

I haven't walked Sprocket this afternoon, it's still far too hot out for him, and especially with him being black as he absorbs the heat! I think I'm going to invest in an AK cooling coat for him.

Apologies NCOT I saw 'norty minx and thought Scuttle* !

Betsey, if you have an estate car, you can comfortably fit three grunds in the boot. My much missed late friend had 2 greys in a Ford Ka - I'm still not quite sure how she managed it!

We've got a Mondeo estate, with two comfy dog beds in the back to ensure a comfortable ride. However, what we find is that unless we carefully synchronise the jumping up, the first one gets in and immediately lies in the middle, stretches out every limb as far as it can go and defiantly goes "Ner ner ner" to wheover is next.

This morning, this was Boola so Andy ended up travelling home on the back seat as I couldn't be arsed to rearrange them both.

I think the plan of Billy finding a special friend is excellent.

I am currently feeling as though I am in the early reels of a greyhound porn film. Andy keeps wandering round making the most heartrending yearning whines, looking soppy and lovesick. Then he goes over and sniffs her bottom in a state of great excitement. Depending on her mood, she either growls at him and he hides behind the sofa or she flirts wildly, and we have a great deal of bum sniffing and willy licking going on. And this is only the first week.... Thank God for gin.

That's funny Scuttle. I was LOLing as I read. Poor Andy.

Our boot is blardy mahoosive.

I thought you had a volvo estate Scuttle?
Poor Andy, he must be so confused as to why he's so interested in her! Is Boola not bothered by her then?

Sam is an expert bin-emptier too, especially when he first came to us. Now he is not so bad now (more interested in chewing leather handbags and shoes and the wooden trim / handles on our furniture!!)

Our boot is quite small,just big enough for two small hounds (or one whippety and one hound). When we borrowed the lovely Ellie from the kennels for the great greyhound walk we popped her in the boot with Sam for the short drive from the kennels to Newlands Corner where the walk was held. Ellie hopped in the boot first, Sam followed and then there was frantic scrabbling for space and Ellie ended up on top of Sam. Sam had the last laugh though because as soon as we arrived at Newlands Corner Sam hopped out of the boot from a laying down position the minute we opened the boot, spectacularly pitching Ellie off his back and into the mud as he leapt! Bearing in mind he is smaller than her this was quite a feat - and very very funny!!

Cunny, no, we're not posh enough for a Volvo, and we don't have a Golden Retriever or a Labrador! Actually our Mondeo is great - when I first started driving it, it was like driving a giant tanker, but now I love it. I can even reverse it now

Boola doesn't seem remotely interested - he's had the occasional sniff of her bottom in a polite sort of way, but seems more concerned that she doesn't pinch his special duvet in the office or nick his spot on the sofa. Perhaps he's playing hard to get?

Greyhounds seem to ahve this magical ability to bend space/time to fill any comfortable surface they are on. I swear you could put one on an Emperor sized bed, and they would still mysteriously manage to ensure there was no room for anyone else to get in.

Lock - am loving the idea of Sam tipping up poor Ellie - love it

Grunds do ooze into a space, don't they! Sam hops into our bed as soon as dh leaves for work. He starts off on dh's side, then slowly oozes into the middle, sticking his paws into my back and resting his head on my neck as he goes. So I move slightly, so he oozes into the gap created and does the paw/head thing again. This continues for a while and after approximately 20 minutes I at teethering on the edge of the bed whilst Sam is sprawled in the middle with his head on my pillow!!

Darn dog!

Our two greys fit in the boot of my Honda Civic - they have to negotiate the initial hound arrangement, but seem to work it out with a top 'n tail!

Our two have no hope of fitting into the boot of my car (a classic VW beetle, so the boot is at the front, the engine is at the back). I have to make sure I have access to the other car if I want to take the dogs out, which is an estate, but which I hate driving.

Whippetty will not jump into the boot of any car - he has to be carefully lifted in.

Gasp at classic vw beetle - that is and has always been my dream car!! I so want one...