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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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
:)

[mistlethrush]

I like the way a martingale sits lower on their neck and a good wide one looks good and doesn't make their necks look quiet so long.

Ours does look best without one though - but this happens rarely and never out of the house.

[Scuttlebutter]

And we haven't talked about tassels yet.....

[CMOTDibbler]

Don't talk to me about tassels - I really like them, but dh doesn't. Cmotdog does have 3 martingale collars though.

Cmotdog is fairly bright for a lurcher, and is now up to the dizzy heights of retrieving a stated object. Ds is still trying to teach him to roll over, which is more tricky!

[gymmummy64]

I hope you don't mind my asking a greyhound-related question on your thread. My rescue dog has been through a period of reactiveness to other dogs that is now much better under control. Before we got to grips with it he was inviting all sorts of unwanted, often aggressive approaches from other dogs. He was attacked several times which all got into a vicious circle. Now he looks at me rather than other dogs, in the main the only ones that come over are those wanting to play rather than those that come over already bristling. I think maybe Gymdog had been using quite provocative body language before, quite possibly unintentionally as he really was very inexperienced with other dogs I think.

However, we do seem still to have a bit of an issue with greyhounds and after an incident today I'm wondering if it's him, or them or we've just been unlucky. I don't want to generalise, but the majority of greyhounds we have met really do seem interested in him in a way other dogs don't seem to be any more and it's not in a friendly way. The one today was typical - I don't think Gymdog had even noticed it at first but it went into a low, very slow approach which really looked quite menacing (to me). It continued to stalk us for quite some time as I put Gymdog on a lead and walked in the opposite direction in this very slow, crouched position. It was so quiet that I thought it had gone, but then suddenly it ran very fast towards us and my dog went ballistic. It's very far from the first time we've been stalked very slowly by a greyhound using this type of body language and I don't like it!

So, is this usual? Do greyhounds often stalk other dogs like this? As I was trying to explain above, I don't think Gymdog is being provocative any more and the grief from other breeds has all but stopped. The greyhounds we meet are often walking with groups of other dogs (the one today was with a labrador) so I know we're not just meeting antisocial ones, but we almost always get the same reaction.

Gymdog is a retriever collie cross (?), maybe around 2yo, neutered, about the size of a labrador and orange. I've had him nearly 6 months now. Thanks in advance for your expertise!

[asleb]

Tassles! Wow, i had to google what they were. Very impressed! I've been looking at lots of the martingale collars and love them, very posh . So these are really really safe and really hard for them to get out of right?? I'm so paranoid about losing him now as I have no idea whether he would come back if he bolted off.

I've emailed a local dog trainer tonight who does 1 to 1 lessons and uses positive training techniques so ill see if she has any experience with greyhounds when she gets back to me.

No accidents in the house today, hooray . He's been great when we have left him too. We built it up really slowly the first few days but we have left him a couple of hours now and he literally whines for about 10 seconds when we walk out the door then goes quiet and when I sneak round the back door and look through the window he's always asleep so I'm assuming he's happy .

[mistlethrush]

If you're concerned at the moment, walk him in a collar and a harness with a lead on both.

Martingales can be got out of - but its more difficult than collars that don't reduce in size.

gymmummy: my lurcher will drop down when she sees a dog that looks as though it might be good to play with - she then watches intently. The run in from there is generally fairly quick and often slightly stooped. But she wants to play.

I understand that Jim Greenwood is starting his classes again - he seems to train a range of breeds, including pointies - but he has dogs that help dogs work out socialisation and appropriate play too.

Collars: we've only sucummed to one so far - it suits her. I wouldn't get away with tassles though.

[Scuttlebutter]

Gymmummy, - we have four greys at the moment and they have nver done this with a non-grey. Usually with greys they know, there will be a play bow and jumping/darting about - the prowling sounds quite odd!

A well fitting martingale is as secure as any collar can be - you need to keep an eye on the fabric and check it occasionally. Funnily enough, our dog trainer is running a Recall Workshop in a few weeks, we are taking one of our greys to it.

Asleb - it sounds as though you are making great progress.

[asleb]

Took slebdog out for a mega long walk this morning and I decided to put his other coat and fishtail collar on him (but I did it up to the last hole, which definitely seemed better) and I couldn't believe it. Totally back to his old self, trotting along all confidently. I think it may be because this coat is tighter and we had been putting this other one on him, thinking the first one was too tight but after you mentioned those confidence type jackets mistle, I'm thinking it could be that? He must have not liked the new coat and harness as well.

Bumped into a friend who has 2 dogs and one is really small and he barely looked at them so that was great. Bumped in to another friend nearer home and a cat was strolling past then it sat there looking at him and whoah, totally different. He was going bananas jumping up and down and whining all excitedly. He really wanted to get it! So it was interested to see his reaction and the muzzle will definitely be staying on. Is there any way of training them to ignore cats a bit more or is it impossible when they have that high prey drive?

Also, just general doggy related question, what do you do when their poos are a bit runny? He's are generally soft (sorry tmi!) and fine to pick up, but some have been runny, I think where he is settling. I've been giving him a bit of live yogurt that someone advised to me and also got these tablet things called stool firm um from the pet shop? I'm feeding him the same food he was eating before at the kennels too. But it's impossible to pick up when I'm out and I feel really bad leaving it there?

Totally knackered him out now bless him!

[mistlethrush]

Stress is bad for stomachs - we found ours can't take turkey either.

What are you feeding him as there are lots of foods that are not great for pointies (although some do fine on them). Some people advocate raw feeding even (ours likes chicken wings and we'll do that occasionally for some meals but not on a permanent basis now she's settled on something that appears to be working).

Cats - I don't think so - even if you could get him to tolerate a big bossy one, he would probably still run after one that's running away.

[asleb]

The place we got him from gave us a huge bag of dry dog food that they normally feed their dogs, called 'odds on' from the local track. She said to soak it in some warm water and mix half a can of wet food in there too and she recommended butchers saying there is more meat. Does that sound okay? Yes I was thinking it was probably still the stress of being in a new home so was hoping it would just settle down itself really?

Looks like we just have a high prey drive dog then! It would be nice if he didn't go so crazy for them, I literally had to hold him back as I started getting all paranoid about the collar again (Even though I'm practically 100% sure he couldn't slip it this time!).

[mistlethrush]

chappie is the normal 'wet food' (in a tin) recommendation for pointies...

Butchers appears to get some bad press in dried form - not sure about the tinned.

Ours will happily chase cats and foxes but misses squirrels and rabbits that I've seen - I can see why she failed at being a worker which is what we think she was in her last life. I wouldn't say that chasing a cat means that he has a high prey drive (our last dog chased cats very enthusiastically and had a low prey drive and was pushed out of the way, aged 4, by my parents' 14yo collie/terrier cross so that she could catch the rabbit that had just run past).

[CMOTDibbler]

Cmotdog has a sensitive tummy, and we feed him dry food (James Wellbeloved), and as long as he doesn't hoover anything like cheese or bread up, his poo is OK now.

With the cats, try distracting him with a treat and 'watch me' when theres something you don't want him thinking about. We have three cats, and though our dog is cat safe, one of them is a runner and he would just run after her at first. I keep a squeaky ball with me to distract from any running around in the house - now he's not doing it nearly as much. Bolshy cat is in charge though!

[asleb]

I tried distracting him with a treat and calling him when he spots a cat and it doesn't matter what I'm holding, he has no interest in it whatsoever! He just stands rock solid staring (can barely budge him!) and when the cat gets closer he starts going bananas to get at it.

That's interesting about the prey drive mistle - so how exactly do they class a dog as having a high prey drive? Is it if they actually want to catch and kill?

Do you soak your dry food CMOT? Maybe I'll try introducing that brand slowly if its good on sensitive tummys.

[mistlethrush]

Mine's on JWB too - but the lamb not the turkey - no, not soaking it.

I think high prey-drive = anything under knee height likely to be viewed as acceptable prey and killed.

Although we had a collie/terrier cross who had a high prey drive - which meant that she spent her time on walks slaughtering the local rabbit population and catching the occasional pheasant.

Ours would like to eat the chinchilla - but its quite understandable really!!! Based on recent evidence its the closest that she'll get to anything like a squirrel or rabbit.

[CMOTDibbler]

You have to work on the 'watch me' when theres nothing exciting around - and use high value treats like sausage rather than kibble, so the value in ignoring is really good. If you know someone with a feisty cat, you could work up to practicing (muzzled) with them. Or if you are near Worcestershire, you'd be most welcome to come visit ginger git cat.

We soak dog food for 5 mins on the advice of the trainer. Dog also gets pilchard or sardines a couple of times a week.

Our failed greyhound adoption turned out to have a high prey drive - he'd see the rabbit in his hutch and go totally nuts trying to get in there. Cmotdog doesn't and just touches noses with the rabbit through the mesh

[NiceCupOfTea]

gymmummy64 - your experience with the greyhound sounds familiar. I have a grey which drops down into a stalking motion when she sees some dogs. Sounds like the grey you met was off-lead? Mine is always on-lead. When she sees a dog she doesn't like the look of, she'll focus on it intently, drop into a slow stalk and lean on my leg. I'm used to the signs now and can distract her with food or turn away/cross the road if possible to increase the distance. In the early days, her stalking was usually followed by a swift lunge with lots of snarling and noise as a way of telling the other dog to back off, sharpish. As a bit of background: she was rescued from a pound in Eire (and was probably used for hunting/coursing for at least 18 months beforehand). We saw a behaviourist last year who said that her form of stalking was not uncommon behaviour for a dog that's been attacked or intimidated by dogs in the past, and that she uses it as a defensive act. Still, the one you met seems like it meant business and I would question whether it should have been off-lead in the first place. Where was its owner? I've worked my arse off rehabilitating my girl (and will continue to do so for a long time to come), but that dog you met does the rest of us no favours at all. You definitely have my sympathy. If you see it again (which I hope you don't), can you distract it by throwing food, yelling, chucking a stuffy at it?

[MagratGarlik]

I don't have anything to add on the stalking. Whippy bows down when he meets other dogs and gets defensive, but when he is off-lead he is good with other dogs.

I cannot believe there are people out there who don't know pointy collar porn though. Ours have: an everyday collar; silk house collars, christmas collars and two other collars each which we just liked. They also have about 8 coats between them...

[CMOTDibbler]

Mine bows too, but its not agressive, just his invitiation to play.

Do other sighthounds scent trail, or is it just that no one has told mine that he shouldn't? He spends most of his time off lead with nose to the ground following smells

[MagratGarlik]

Ours do that too CMOT, esp when the smell is something yummy like rotten fish or something equally lovely.

Jessie has given up running because woody tells her off as she runs faster than him :-)

[mistlethrush]

Mine definitely works from scent most of the time and sight occasionally (she usually misses it because she's too busy tossing a stick around or something)

[Scuttlebutter]

Norty Minx has been having more adventures. She got a little cut on her paw pad yesterday - absolutely nothing serious, thankfully. Anyway, she came home, had breakfast and settled down for essential post-zoomies nap. All good. DH and I were cleaning - DH hoovered downstairs and was wiping the various floors. He had just finished, when Minx decided to wake up, lick her paw for a bit (thus re-opening scab) then wander around the house. Kitchen floor looks like a strange psycho killer Jackson Pollock painting, our freshly changed bed now has blood all over the duvet, and the landing/stair carpet also has that fetching "spatter" finish.

And of course the ILs are arriving on Friday.

[mistlethrush]

We had that a few weeks ago on the beige sitting room carpet - out into the hall, up the (matching) stairs... luckily the throw on the sofa hadn't got dislodged and the bedroom doors were shut. Normally the muddy pawprints are on DH's side though

[mistlethrush]

Wish me luck... DH is working away for the next 3 days - I have taken 1/2 days so that I can cope with both school runs together with the first thing dog walk - but still abandoning mistlehound on her own for some time... I hope all is still well when I return!

[MrSlant]

OOh Scuttle, there's a dispatches programme about breeders, saw the ad and thought of you. I wonder if it will touch on the shame that is Welsh puppy farms. Did you get the floors clean

[MrSlant]

Good luck mistle.