Are you a Greyhound, Whippet or Lurcher owner? Come and have a seat on the newest Pointy Hounds cushion!

[TheCunnyFuntIsAGrittersWife]

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).

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Jake
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!
By Denise Dubarbier
:)

I'm in shock. Sprockets just killed the rabbit. Her hutch fell to bits, the back came loose and the floor fell out. I secured it round the bottom so she couldn't get out again (or so I thought) bit later i cgecked she was still secure and let Sprocket out a couple of minutes later and there was all this squealing. I don't think I've ever yelled so loud.

Oh, Cunny. A big hug. Do you know if the rabbit had got outside its hutch or had Sprocket managed to get at it? So sorry to hear this, and hope DD is OK.

Sorry to hear that Cunny. We have been very careful reintroducing the chinchilla cage into the sitting room but its very solid - and mistlehound does seem to have worked out that she's not a valid target.

She got back out :( I've realised it's all my fault too. I put bricks around the bottom to keep her in, and then thought 'Ooh I need to prop something against the back to make sure she doesn't just hop out the gap it made.' So I turned one of the bricks on it's end, propping the back panel closed. she squeezed out of the gap it left.

I just can't believe it, for a year and a half nearly he's been fine, completely ignoring her and not even acknowledging her existence. He even ignored a cat in the garden this morning!!

Oh no.

It's no one's fault, you couldn't have avoided this. Cup of tea, sit down then deal with the situation.

Our dogs got a cat last night. It must have been sitting right outside the back door and I didn't see it in the dark. As soon as I let them out for their wee at 10.30 there was an almighty rumpus and they were both on it. I managed to pull them off and the cat escaped, running through the garden, leaping the fence and running off on the other side, so couldn't have been too much wrong. I checked their mouths for blood and fur but nothing.

It's such a shock to be reminded that your gentle, loving, funny family member has that side to them. I'm so, so sorry this has happened but you mustn't blame yourself.

Sorry to hear it Cunny. Hope you are OK.

My last dog chased the rabbit out of the garden, but didn't catch it. Must have been a shock for you

I've been looking for a new dog since my rescue collie died recently. I have done lots of research on lurchers, know acouple of friends who have them, read the House Lurcher from cover to cover and fallen in love with a 7 month old greyhound/deerhound/whippet x!
BUT now it's decision time a nagging voice is telling me that asking him to live with my cats and horses in a difficult to fence small holding is asking for trouble. Even worse my neighbour keeps his sheep the other side of a (sheep) wire fence.
I took him for a walk (on lead) when I went to view him and we met a cat who just sat and looked at him and he didn't seem particularly interested but I guess he's going to be a whole lot more interested when a cat/rabbit/horse/sheep runs. Obviously he will have to spend time on the lead for mnay months if I got him BUT I would like to think we could potter round the smallholding together eventually.

Would really like to hear others experience.............

Clare - we rescued a lurcher who was expected to be an escapologist - bedlington cross which had been in the pound 3x and the last time went to the rescue as her owners didn't come for her. She isn't, and wants to stay with us, and is very happy - we've not had to extend the gate higher although she could clear it easily.

However, I have also heard of a lurcher that managed to catch a lamb recently, having never shown any high prey drive.

I would be unhappy rehoming a lurcher unless I could make at least some outside space 'safe'.

However, when out there is less of a problem - whilst some lurchers never get let off (unless on beaches or similar), others can be - although some of them might be walked in muzzles just in case. If you start mixing with lurchery people you realise that muzzles are a precaution for the prey-drive issue, or sometimes because of play fighting whilst running, and are rarely indications of the dog being unfriendly.

I think a lot depends on lurchers with the mix and their background (whether they've previously been worked). I have a friend who lives on a farm with two adorable lurchers who co-exist with horses and cattle quite amicably though they are lethal around rabbits. If this lurcher is young, you may be able to do a lot of work on training depending on what his prey drive is like. With his combo, though, there is always going to be a high risk that he is going to see something half a mile away and suddenly disappear over the horizon - really think it's down to the prey drive on this particular dog.

My friend has cats on her farm - they live in the barn with the horses but the lurchers do chase them. If you have cats who are elderly or vulnerable then they will be at risk from a young, quick sighthound.

Cunny, what a horrible shock for you. Hope you are yours are ok.

I have started a thread here about Lurcherboy's stiffness after walks and what to supplement with, if anyone has any advice?

Clare, it's a toughie if you've already fallen in love with a pup, but in your circumstances I would probably recommend getting a young pup and going all out for socialisation and training according to your needs. Either that or registering with a rescue that fosters and waiting for a dog to come in that fits your circumstances and has been properly/fully assessed.

It is possible that this dog could be trained, as he's still young, but you'd have to be super careful while you were training him up. Is there any possibility of a trial run/foster stay to see how you get on - or would that be too hard given that you've already fallen in love?

I do agree with mistlethrush though, that creating a securely fenced area would be a priority for me, if I was in your situation. It doesn't have to be a whole field, just something the size of a domestic back-garden, where the dog can play and sunbathe etc safely without needing to be constantly watched.

So sorry TheCunnyFunt :( :( hope you're feeling better now.

My friends lucher has killed a sheep, was a few years ago when he was younger Clare1965 but she has never tried to get him to live with other animals. I recently lost my greyhound who I'd had for 8 1/2 years and she learned to live with my cats very happily but did chase others outside and squirrels etc. Other than that I don't really have advice, I think if I'd set my mind on a particular dog it would be hard for me to say no! My lovely new doggy lunged at one of my cats last night and got a claw in his nose but haven't seen any since, I'm sure we can work towards him living happily with them but need them to be a bit braver first!

moosemama We put Nelly on food with added Glucosamine and Chondrontin after the vet wanting to put her on anti inflammatories for the rest of her life with no suggestion of supplements for a limp in her back leg and within a month of eating it she was totally limp free! We tried a few and her favourite was this

PMSL @ 'cat thinks she's Rambo'.

re: muzzles: do they stay on when necessary, can anyone recommend one?

Ok so how secure is secure?

My garden runs into my field which has a hedge (do lurchers jump/go through hedges?
Another part has 3-4' high wire "sheep" fencing presumably a lurcher would soon clear that? And a 5" high garden gate> I had two collies previously one would jump without thinking about it but the other never did.

Love 'couch potato pillock' miaowthecat!!

Billy has settled in so well, all my minded kids love humans he's laying in his bed a lot more now and not jumping up every time we move! Last night was better but cats are still staying away so no chance to start working on them living harmoniously together. He got up Sunday evening and took dh's beer bottle back to his bed and started licking it! He then started chewing it so we took it away but was very strange.

The dog I'm looking at is a grey/deerhound x grey/whippet. I was very careful to not get terrier or collie in the mix!

Have just asked to have him for a few days trial which I know will not be enough to let him settle in properly but will give some indication of his prey drive (from the safety of a double/ lead/ collar/harness combo!

Muzzles: if you're looking for one for regular use, I know lots of people use the Don Pare ones - we have a muzzle for racing and just use one of the lightweight racing ones. Both types are ideal as they allow a dog to pant properly , and they can even drink with them on.

link

Hi all - sorry to change the subject, our dogs have been getting rather more vocal with each other of late. Previously I've always used the rule that if blood isn't being drawn I leave them to it, but actually how do I really tell the difference between very vigorous playing and a real 'handbags at dawn' moment? They nibble on each other, but never actually bite and their tails are wagging, but as I say, they are getting much more vocal than they used to...

Our two collie crosses used to sound awful when they were playing - lots of very vocal growling, teeth bared, mouthing, biting etc - and would both stand on their back legs and wrestle with each other. But this was play fighting - they never did anything that would hurt each other (much!). If tails are wagging it sounds as though they're just getting even more 'in' to their game... worth watching though as you don't want it to get beyond that.

Thanks, mistle. I usually take the view (as with the children fighting/playing) that if no-one is hurt, I won't intervene, but obviously don't want to escalate if they do decide to really go for it. They seem very bonded to each other, but well, we'll see, I'll keep an eye on it, as you say.

They nip and bare teeth at each other, but they don't actually bite or hurt each other (yet).

Sounds like typical play fighting then - it can sound as though they are really going for it - complete with the teeth - but they just don't make contact properly and pull their bites....

How to read your dogs tail. This is a handy thing to know wrt tail wagging.