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!
:)

Awww, Cunny, it's not just the thighs, you know. Me and Lost also enjoy the strategy, downhill descents, and so on. But yes, the thighs are lovely..... swoons over the thought of mighty Norwegian Thor Hushovd...

Andy waves his paw at Sprocket, and says to tell his brother that he is exhausted. It is not easy being a sex god, and he feels sorry for Austin Powers. He has actuallly lost weight over the past three days He is currently lying on his bed looking feeble, and worn out, and has had a few soothing emergency cuddles.

Norty Minx, on the other hand, while also resting, is full of beans, has a sparkle in her eye and a spring in her step.

You haven't got any copies of 50 Shades lying around have you Scuttle? Methinks they could've taken a sneaky peek while you've not been looking!

Sprocket waves back at Andy, he says he hopes Andy regains some weight and strength back soon. It doen't sound easy being so in demand! He has a small cut on his paw, I noticed it when out walking earlier, it's on the side of one if his toes. He is making the most of it and flopping down and sighing dramatically everytime he moves to a different spot.

Oh, the dog humping is making me chuckle .

We'll head to Halfords tomorrow NCOT - I'm thinking a nice mesh one. We had one of the tubular ones when we had our last dog and it was always chaos (although she was a bit lunatic).

Cunny, can you imagine greyhound bondage?!!

Hope Sprocket is getting lots of extra attention/tickles/treats as befits a wounded warrior.

Blue, it's the first time we've had a greyhound bitch in season here - it's been an interesting experience!! The young nephews arrive on the weekend - will be interesting to see their reaction.

Well I stop looking for, like, a day and all this activity!

Cheeky looks lovely. I love love love her white chest.

Yikes, had a brief glance through this thread as there is so much to catch up on and caught sight of the words 'greyhound bondage'

What on earth have you lot been up to whilst I have been absent???

Here all is well. Well, I say well, Sam's dodgy poo never quite cleared itself up and today he was showing all the signs of colitis, so back to the vets for advice and he is back on the prednisolone. Tricky because tomorrow I drop him off at his holiday care and whilst my friend is very dog savvy (she owns Sam's 'brother' plus a pure whippet and a jackapoo, runs a small home- based dog boarding business) and is very knowledgeable and knowing, I am worried.

All the old health anxieties have resurfaced and I keep thinking 'what if the steroids don't do their job, what if he needs to go on a drip again (it did not work last time, we cannot afford it, we won't be there) and my head is spinning
Sam is happy in himself. A bit itchy. The suspected histiocytoma on his tummy has quadrupled in size and gone a bit scabby and yucky looking. And it is itching him but he can't reach (does not stop him from trying though)

Sigh, this dog is such a worry!

Poor darling Sam. Sending him gentle hugs, and best wishes to you too. You must be so worried about him.

He's going to be fine with your friend. You've gone down the worst case scenario route but he could still respond to the steroids orally, else the vet wouldn't have given them to him, surely?

In anxious situations, the thing I am most afraid of is not coping - you coped before with this and it was much more trying because of all the other stuff going on and not knowing what it was. Things are much steadier now and you know what you're dealing with.

Give him a cuddle from us. He's a very lucky dog to have found you.

Thank you both. I am a champion in panicking, it it were an Olympic sport I would be a gold medallist

Sam will be fine, that sounds like the ideal place to leave him. I am trying not to think about leaving Whippety pup next week, every time I think about it my heart gives a hitch. We are hopeless about our dogs aren't we?

Well the road cycling is over, what am I going to do with my life now?

I know he will be fine, she loves him like her own, and her dogs love him as one of the pack, he will have a whale of a time and hopefully the steroids will kick in and do their thing.
I guess it has brought home to me how sensitive and unstable his digestion is and the underlying worry is that he ends up as ill as he was in November. Because of course insurance won't touch anything gastro as it is pre-existing and we cannot borrow another £5,000 + to treat him. We have not yet paid off the previous amount and won't do for a while
So if he got really ill it would have to be the end and the thought of that scares me so much and makes me feel terrible because if only I had insured him in the first place and if only... aaaargh.

If you'd insured him before it all happened you'd have to renew after a year (unless you got one of those super expensive rolling lifetime premiums) so you'd be facing it anyway. Don't beat yourself up realised I'd forgotten to renew contents and buildings insurance on our crumbly terrace today.

How is he right now? Is he getting worse or staying the same?

Thank you Betsey, I know you are right...

We currently do have one of those expensive-rolling-for-life insurances (knee-jerk wanting the best policy possible after he had been ill to 'make up' for not doing it sooner even though it would make no difference really...) but I think this way madness lies. Because the final 'diagnosis' was one of Autoimmune - induced - heamorraghic gastroenteritis I think any future ilness could be blamed on the auto-immune 'thing' and insurance companies could welch out of paying for this reason (always the sceptic, me)
So perhaps we would be better of going for a high-value per condition policy and putting the money saved into a savings account... That way, if he (god forbid) broke a leg or something clear cut then the insurance would pay out and if they blamed it onto anything auto-immune then we would have a teeny bit of money in the pot to at least try a few things...
Have just been reading some scary things about Argos (who we are with) welching out on paying out for many things since they have been taken over / are underwritten by RSA.

Sam was a bit better this morning but this evening's poo was cow pat. And that is after a day and a half on steroids

Take it gently and a step at a time. Any upset tummy takes a little while to get back on track.

Hopeful

What news Lock?

She's here! We picked her up late afternoon and she did well on the journey home (with new dog guard ) although we did have to drive with the windows open. Pong!

She was definitely more excitable than she had been on the home visit and had a small wrestle with her charity shop kangaroo. And had a large, stinky accident in the living room while we were putting the DC to bed (despite having already pooed in the garden).

She has investigated the kitchen benches, the beeping, flashing children's toys and the television. Drank alot. And eaten a pig's ear and a small cup of food. Stole my slipper. And is currently chewing a rawhide bone.

So far the poor thing has only had a 5 minute shut-eye, but then DH got up to get the so she was disturbed. Poor thing.

And we have finally cleared up her heritage, scuttle. The RGT lady gave us the wrong name (she also rehomed her sister who was a Foxy). She is actually Fleeced Chaquita (Brett Lee is her paternal grandad). But we are calling her Sadie.

Lock, sorry to hear about Sam's health issues. It must be such a worry for you and I know how these things can play on your mind. My eldest DD has some health issues, and I can competely understand the anxiety, lying awake in the wee, small hours etc. Look after yourself.

OOh, that's so exciting and welcome to the family, literally.

Our Andy (avago andy) and Cunny's Sprocket are your girl's uncles as they are both by Brett Lee. See you've also got Head Honcho lines, which relates yours at some level to all three of ours, I think. Our foster girl has Head Honcho as a great grandfather. Blissful sigh - I can spend hours on the data site....

Hope she enjoys settling in. We will want pics!!

Sadie's a great name for a greyhound. Sophisticated.

Pics?

Well, our night passed uneventfully. Last night, she had a mad 5 minutes running to the hall and back into the living room over and over again. I was crying with laughter Then she panted with mad staring eyes for a good ten minutes, before flaking for a while.

Then at bedtime, we locked her into the dining room. She scratched the door a few times, but then that was it for the rest of the night. I was up at 6:00 expecting devastation, but she was a complete angel and hadn't put a paw wrong.

She is very interested in our food, but wanders off if we ignore her while we're eating, which is good. Although I did shut her out of the dining room when the DDs were eating because they would most definitely feed her.

She is having the muzzle on in the garden for the first week or so, as we have quite a large overgrown garden and have spotted a rabbit once or twice. Sadie did manage to get the muzzle off this morning though, so I have been making sure it is properly tight with an extra knot.

The RGT lady gave us a collar and lead (leather). You know, one of those wide leather greyhound collars? It just fastens like a normal collar, so obviously isn't a martingale. But it is nice and tight right behind her ears, is that right? Presumably I need to flex the credit card and buy a pretty martingale. Shame

You'll have to hang on a bit longer for photographs, can't get the little blighter to stay still! Apart from the sleeping, of course. But everytime I get up to sneak a pic, she gets up to see me. Poor thing must be knackered with all this activity. However, we did go out for an hour and a half this morning so she managed some snooze time.

Andy sends warm family greetings to his niece... Glad she is settling in so nicely.

The leather hound collars are fine. Top tip, if you do decide to go down the martingale route (who are we kidding, right?) I would recommend getting one of the velvet leashes. Before you think I'm insanely decadent (well, yes, I am, but bear with me) they have a strong inner core of webbing, but the lovely velvet on the top means that they are delightfully soft and comfortable for the person walking the hound. They also look incredibly smart and luxurious. We've had some of ours for a good five or six years now (quite a collection building up in the utility room), and they wash beautifully in the machine and all are looking as good as new. The quality of the metal work is excellent too. It's been particularly useful to have the two lengths - we have the very short 3' which is perfect for trips to vet, dog shows or anywhere where hound needs to be under very close supervision, and the 6' ones which are what we use for everyday mooching round the park.

But I do think it's very unfair there are no pics

And for the leather - collar, lead, straps on muzzle, I recommend using saddle soap regularly. Keeps it lovely and soft.

Years of cleaning tack as a horse mad teenager came in useful after all.

Lurchergirl has just had an accident . Our inside doors in the house are all fire doors because our house is very tall, but these doors are very heavy and close on their own. Lurchergirl caught her tail in the hinges of one and has decapitated the end of her tail . Cue lots of blood everywhere and dp has rushed her to the emergency vet . Whippetty is sat at home looking very, very forlorn. I foubd the last vertebre (sp?) of her tail still caught in the door. I hope she is OK.

Oh Lock you must be so worried, how is he doing, do you know?

Scuttle I am at all your talk of leather! What were you saying about greyhounds and bondage??? :o speaking of which, how are the lovebirds?

Blue Sadie is a lovely name! So far all the relatives I've seen of Brett Lee all bare some resemblance, i.e, black with a white tux :o
How is she settling in? Have you had a look at Andy on GH Data yet? Sprocket is Recovery Lad, as you'll see, they all look very similar!

Oh no Magrat! Bloody hell! I hope she is ok!

Oh, scuttle, I have been perusing the Kitschcollars collar porn website! DH is currently putting his foot down re. the velvet lead, but I am working on that

One question though: do I need a Martingale and a house collar, or could she wear (a 1.5") Martingale all the time?

Obviously, the house collar presents a whole new shopping opportunity (!) but we also need a coat and costs are mounting up especially if I sneak in a velvet lead

We took her for a walk earlier and she encountered lots of new things (kids on bikes, kids playing football, a pressure washer, a hammer drill, a dual carriageway) and coped admirably. We kept it short so she didn't get over-awed but she was great, We saw a small dog over the road, and her ears pricked up. She most definitely noticed it, and looked interested, but that was it. Not sure how she'd react to a close encounter...

She is now lounging, legs akimbo following a mammoth trek short stroll to the post box!