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).

Share advice, stories and shopping tips!
AK Creations
GRWE shop
Our very own Scuttle's Milgi coats
Silver Peacock

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
:)

[MrSlant]

Hey come back everyone I'm in a better mood today .

Was it training last night Scuttle? Was the box chewed or left (and which is best, I was a bit confused last week.

[CMOTDibbler]

Sounds a bit odd MrSlant. But the right dog will come along for you - we'd phoned up about another dog who wasn't suitable and were offered ours who hadn't even come in at that point

[mistlethrush]

That's the sort of thing I was talking about CMot.

If you were a dog rescue, if there was a dog that lots of people expressed interest in, would you send it to the first one - which perhaps wasn't ideal but 'might do' or pick the one that you thought would meet the dogs requirements best? I'm sure that there's a dog out there that would meet most requirements - its just a case of matching up the dog's needs and the potential owner's needs best so that both dog and owner get a good deal.

We were introduced to two dogs when we visited. DS wanted the first one - she was nice, had lovely fluffy ears, was living inside, housetrained, crate trained... The second one was living in the barn with another dog, probably not housetrained, bit bigger (not a positive) - but there was just a sort of connection there. We took the second one - we thought that she would be a little sturdier for playing with DS and there was that connection there - and we also thought that the first dog would find a home pretty easily (very overtly pretty)(she did) whereas this one, with its potential housetraining and escapology, might not. She is an absolutely lovely dog and perfect for us (now that the housetraining is sorted!!!).

There does appear to be a lot of empty space between her ears though!!!

[MrSlant]

I know, I totally believe that the right thing always comes along at the right time, I really don't think anyone should phone rescues if they are already grumpy. maybe I'll leave looking for today...

[mistlethrush]

The other thing to realise is that, sometimes the people in the rescues might come across as abrupt or grumpy themselves. But don't let this put you off. They're probably dealing with significant numbers of time wasters, people wanting to dump dogs on them, unsuitable people demanding dogs etc etc etc - when they work out that you don't fall into any of those categories they'll probably have a bit more time for you!

[MagratGarlik]

Took our dogs to the beach today. We don't go often as we live a long way from the closest. Well worth it though. They had a whale of a time running and sniffing and playing with other dogs.

So lovely and so relaxing.

[SorryMyLollipop]

Hi all. I am new here.

I am homing a greyhound next week and I am very excited

Can anyone tell me what size dog bed would suit an average sized greyhound? Large? Extra large? Measurements?

Thanks

Looking forward to getting to know you all

[mistlethrush]

We got one of these fleece covers made for us in a 1.15x 1.15m size because that takes a double duvet folded into 4 which is a really convenient size.... Our dog finds that perfect size wise - and she's medium greyhound length even if they have an extra 3" on their leg length. I like that option as we get cheap duvets from a supermarket - and have several spares - so they're easily swapable to wash, the cover itself dries really quickly. She also folds herself up into a smallish dog bed in the kitchen (with another bit of duvet in, covered) - but sometimes makes it look as though a second dog would fit in there with her. The nice memory foam bed (from our old dog) which I thought she would like doesn't get used at all.

However, your greyhound might actually prefer sharing the sofa - we also have picked up a number of fleece throws which again dry quickly - to make it easy to keep the sofa OK

[CMOTDibbler]

Greyhounds do like to spread out - our dog bed is an xxl, and we have lots of fleece throws for over the dog bed, on the sofa, in the car etc

[MrSlant]

Probably your king size double bed would do, if you and your other half are happy to cling to the outer edges and give the dog all the duvet ;-) Might be easier to just shortcut the whole procedure and get yourselves comfy dog beds and leave the main bed for the hound! Sorry, I do second getting lots of fleecy throws though, easy to clean and dry and you can put them wherever the dog decides it wants to sleep. Folded over cheap duvets are great too. I'd wait until you see if you have a dog bed destroyer until you buy anything too nice. Whippety seemed to consider 'lifetime' beds a particular challenge.

Today I have been mostly studying so I brought whippety boys bean bag and fleeces round to where I work and he has slept peacefully at my feet ever since his morning run. I am most jealous.

[mistlethrush]

I gave mistlehound a really good walk this morning- we were out for at least 2 hrs, she had a lovely run with a collie, met lots of other dogs, had a play with DS, chased lots of sticks, looked for squirrels - I thought she would manage without a 2nd walk - but no, teeth snapping started at 5pm and I thought we would have a completely disturbed evening so gave in and took her out again. (Not feeling well, have crampy stomach, but the dog hasn't worked that one out, and DH has had gastric flu over the weekend so down to me...)

[MrSlant]

Goodness, whippety had a good run this morning and has been asleep ever since. He did learn how to play fetch though so he is probably mentally exhausted! Is mistlehound a greyhound or lurcher? I really need to start a spreadsheet People keep offering me collie/whippet crosses but I am far too lazy to cope with an intelligent whippet that needs lots of stimulation and exercise!

[mistlethrush]

She's a lurcher... we've been told she's got some Bedlington in there - but beyond that, who knows! Apart from the fact that there's a lot of empty space between her ears (so probably some greyhound?) (and deliciously scrummy, lovely, licky and currently upside down with her paws in the air next to me!!!!)

[MrSlant]

Is that her in your photo's? She is so pretty. Empty space between ears is indicative of whippet too I think. He's pretty much mensa level for his breed now he can chase a ball and actually bring it back for me to throw again. I love the upside down with paws in the air thing, I swear my boy is posing like a super model when he does it. Pointy hounds really are lovely

[mistlethrush]

Yes, that's her - she is very pretty... she could show many a posh hairdressing salon how you should do red hair with blond highlights with a somewhat windswept style....

I'm not worried at the lack of matter between the ears - she's got sufficient to have worked out that she needs to keep an eye on where we are on a walk (which given her origins is a major plus) and listen to the instructions given (I rarely have to use 'the voice' on her - but if I do she does obey).

The main thing is that she's really good with DS - she's very positive towards people in general (even though she's clearly been kicked in the past) and she's clearly developed a really good bond with us.

[asleb]

Hi, I'm new to this thread but I've been lurking on it for a while now

We adopted a retired greyhound a week ago, beautiful boy, 2 and a half years old. All going pretty good at the moment apart from a few wees in the house, but we are working on that and he does mostly go outside!

I was just wondering if I could ask all you more experienced owners a question about muzzles? At the moment we always put his one on to go out for a walk. He's doesn't second glance at dogs or people etc but when he sees a cat he just stands and stares (literally rock solid, can't move him for ages!).

We had a slight incident on Saturday and he managed to slip his collar. DH was walking him and dog saw a cat, backed out of his collar and DH said he didn't go mad chasing for he but more so trotted over to it. Anyway, the cat scratched his face and then DH said he did want to chase it and bolted after him! Total nightmare! Cat got away thank god, but poor dog fell over and had cuts all over him so I took him to the vet.

It was totally our fault, when dh showed me how tight the collar was it definitely wasn't tight enough (dh thought it would hurt his neck being tighter!). So anyway, shook up dh a bit so we brought him a harness, more so that dh feels better about walking him!

Anyway, my question is do you muzzle your greyhound on a lead? Most greyhounds round here I've noticed don't have them (only seen one that did). How do you know when it's safe not to?? Because you don't want to wait until they grab a cat so how would you know that they wouldn't do that if given the opportunity? I would rather walk him without the muzzle as although he doesn't mind it going on but does rub his head a lot on the ground to try and get it off after. Is this okay if he is on a lead?? (without a loose collar of course!). And what about in the garden? I'm a bit paranoid in case a neighbours cat was out there and I can't see it!

He's now scared of walking out now too ever since this happened and just stands there and we have to coax him down the road . Sometimes I literally have to start dragging him a bit or we would never move at all! I'm hoping he will get his confidence back soon? Thanks for any advice and its nice to be able to join you all!

[mistlethrush]

Have a read of this about collars. I found it very useful, and without having read it and taken head of it, mine would have escaped from me about 3 days in when out in the evening.

I have a friend with 2 greys (I have a lurcher) - they are now about 9. When walking them he always has their muzzles with him, and if he sees sheep in the direction they are walking (they are only walked on the lead) they have their muzzles put on, just in case. They don't like other dogs either so have them on if they're going anywhere near places where other dogs are likely.

With the nervous behaviour I have seen a number of pointy (and other) owners talk about the thundershirts very positively - you might find whether this is likely to help by putting him into a Tshirt and tying it close around his waist - for some dogs this really seems to help with nerves. You could try a DAP collar or a bandana with DAP spray on too just to help with nerves.

[mistlethrush]

(My lurcher has a muzzle but only for racing. Other lurcher owners have to muzzle their lurchers on walks because of rough playing and the danger of tears to sensitive skin)

[asleb]

Thanks for the quick reply thistle. I noticed that thundershirt in the pet shop the other day and was wondering if they worked so ill definitely try that t shirt idea and see if it helps (also I'd quite like to see him dressed in a human's t-shirt anyway ). I'll also look in to the DAP products.

So maybe I should stick with the muzzle for a while to gauge his reactions a bit more? I keep worrying if a friendly cat walked up to him what would happen. It's quite possible he would just sniff it or something but its hard to tell and I don't really want to test the theory! It's a shame I've already noticed the bad responses to muzzles though . I can see some people give him a bit of a funny look and practically back away like they are assuming he would bite them! I'll always keep it on him if necessary though of course. Almost feel like explaining to everyone why he wears it as he's such a gentle soul!

[mistlethrush]

Its early days - I think its really sensible to use a muzzle and wait and see whether you're confident to take it off in time - or not.

Muzzle fear: 'he's been trained and bred to chase, and I don't want anything unfortunate happening just in case he manages to get away from me - he's not at all aggressive and loves people... ' perhaps would be something good to practise?

I usually walk mistlehound on a slip lead - I'm sure that I would have lost her if I had had her just on her (rescue supplied and fitted) collar - but because she was on the slip lead and I had just adjusted it properly before leaving the house, she just flew about and twisted on the end. It was really scary. She now has her tags on a martingale - but we rarely use that with a lead.

[Scuttlebutter]

Welcome Asleb, and congratulations on your lovely new pointy friend.

We muzzle some of our greyhounds routinely. A couple of good reasons:- firstly, he is a gannet and will find dumped/abandoned foodstuff if it's there to find, and can eat it faster than I can stop him. Especially in the summer, our local parks seem to be awash with half eaten burgers, chicken bits etc. Apart from the danger of eating cooked chicken bones, I really don't want him eating anything unknown. Muzzle is a handy way to sidestep this. You will know your own dog and your regular walks better so this may or may not be relevant.

Secondly, this particular dog has a high prey drive and will chase anything that is small, furry and running. Also obsessed with cats. I see the muzzle as a sort of insurance policy. It's my job as his owner to walk him nicely on the lead and only let him off where and when it is absolutely safe to do so. The muzzle gives me the extra layer of reassurance so that if I am bending down to pick up poo, or accidentally trip over and fall, or need to tie my shoelace, and accidentally drop the lead then the muzzle is there to help us. Even if the local Yorkshire Terrier convention came round a tree the muzzle will give us extra time and also says to other people that we are being responsible dog owners who take safety seriously.

I'd also think about what collars and leads you use for walking. The rescue should have advised that you should use either a traditional fish tail collar in leather or a martingale collar, with a lead that is NOT an extending one. They can break a sighthound's neck and are the devil's work. We have martingale collars - you can get some lovely ones, they are very comfy for the dog, and are secure too.

And can we see some pics please?

[Scuttlebutter]

With regard to the nervousness on walks, remember if he is straight from racing, there will be much in your everyday life that is still very new for him and strange, and he is still adjusting. (And greys are not noted for their brains, bless them ).

Have you thought about using a clicker and treats? Lots of fun, easy to use and will really strengthen the bond between you and be an enormous help for any future training you do.

[asleb]

I'm definitely going to memorise that muzzle fear line there mistle!

Thanks for all the extra tips there scuttle. I actually noticed you on lots of the older greyhound threads when I was searching through them and was thinking how helpful you were to everyone .

Yes I think we will definitely stick with the muzzle for a while yet as I would much rather do that then have to see any small furries, especially people's pets, get killed. I couldn't think of anything worse, I'd feel awful

The place we got him from are affiliated with the retired greyhound trust so we did get a fish tail collar and lead but it was just our fault for not putting it on tight enough. The martingale collars look good, so they are very secure and definitely won't slip off? (I am so paranoid now!)

I have thought about clicker training. I read the whole of greyhounds for dummies in the week before we got him and read a lot about it in that and it looks good although I know I would be a bit confused doing it as me and dh are both new to owning a dog (as adults anyway) and we are a bit dim about all of it at the moment! I wondered about going to dog training classes or getting a trainer to come round and help teach me how to do it properly?

Can't believe, I thought we had cracked the weeing in the house as he hadn't done it a couple of days then today he did it twice. I know he's still confused with the size of the house and realising he can't go everywhere so I follow him round like a hawk when he sniffs and he lifted his leg up upstairs this morning so I just said a firm no which stopped it and lead him straight outside where he did more wee then I praised him loads. Then about an hour ago dh gave him a little bit of left over fish cake (which he loved!) and then he just stood there as he finished and did a massive wee which went all over the plate and his bed in the kitchen?! He had been out a couple of hours before for a wee, maybe he just really needed to go and didn't know how to tell us? This is all very new for us but I expected things like this so I'm not too shocked (especially after reading that book!) but I am surprised he went right where he sleeps and eats in the kitchen? (He in there at night too, he seems really happy in there, just sleeps all night)

I've put a pic on too

[Scuttlebutter]

Oh, he is so gorgeous! Really handsome. That red fawn colour is very striking.

Don't worry about the weeing too much. It's still early days and he's getting the hang of it. For a lot of them, eating is a trigger, and in fact we religiously send all ours out after meals and snacks, to avoid that happening. Keep reminding yourself that he is a very loveable bear of little brain, and you need to do the thinking for him. They thrive on routine, and will get better at "telling" you they need to go out as well - again, remember they haven't had to do that before.

I'd definitely recommend doing classes - we do them and they are so much fun, and also v practical. You will massively improve and strengthen the bond between you too (which is lovely). Quite a few rescues actually run regular workshops or training sessions on things like recall etc. Alternatively look on the APDT website. Always make sure you use a trainer who uses positive methods and it's worth asking if they've had sighthounds in their classes before. One thing to bear in mind is that many greys can't sit - your trainer may not know this if not experienced with pointies. So for exercises using sit, we do a nice stand stay instead.

[Scuttlebutter]

Oh, and collar porn is one of the chief pleasures of pointy ownership!