Are you a Greyhound, Whippet or Lurcher owner? Come and have a seat on yet another pointy hounds cushion!

[TheCunnyFunt]

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 stories, advice and shopping tips!
AK Creations
Dog O Nine Tails
Doggy Bags Bakery
Kitsch Collars
Meggie Moo
[[http://www.milgicoats.co.uk/ Milgi Coats
Silver Peacock

Come The Day
Come the day I take that final bend,
Can I count on you to be my friend?
To see I?m treated just and fair,
It means so much to know you care.

For, what the future holds in store,
Now that I can race no more,
Should be addressed for every hound,
Who parts the punter from his pound.

Tell them I don?t ask for much,
A kindly word, a gentle touch,
Somewhere warm to lay my head,
A meal each day to keep me fed,
Not just life- but quality,
This is how it ought to be.

Do not see me swept away,
I long to live another day,
With peace of mind, tranquillity,
And those who care surrounding me,
So tell them all- you have that choice,
I beg of you to be my voice.

By Denise Dubarbier.

How lovely

I seem to have got myself into a ruck on another doghouse thread (new puppy mummies thread) again.

I just couldn't leave it when someone showed up on the thread the people who were struggling with nipping and jumping up etc in 10.5 week old puppies should assert their dominance, show the pup his place in the pack and if they won't stop, pinch their ears until they do.

I hesitated because I didn't want to upset what is usually a really friendly and helpful thread, but there are lots of first time dog keepers on that thread and I just couldn't let it pass unchallenged. Did I go too far?

Honestly moosemama, I think your last post may have been a bit overkill but you did say you will have to agree to disagree. That's the problem when people have differing opinions, perhaps some more informed than others but they are opinions.

It's one of the reasons I didn't want a puppy is because I don't know enough about the right things to do. With a dog that has been trained well and just needs guidance I felt I could be a good owner but starting from scratch I felt I'd be likely to make a lot of mistakes.

With children I have very strong opinions and don't express them very often. There are times I think I shouldn't have done that but we all do things we know aren't ideal when tired/stressed/busy and generally I'm happy with my parenting. I see lots of things I don't agree with as a childminder but each parent has to do what they feel is right.

I think you started by giving an alternative opinion to those who were interested which is great for new puppy owners. I personally don't agree with hitting/hurting children or animals and totally agree with you in that. People often want quick fixes and your methods probably aren't even if they lead to a much better long term result.

did you see the one on the ill staffie where someone suggested squirting jiff lemon to the back of the dog's throat?

Mistlehound can popover the top of the (fairly hefty) coffee table onto the sofa - about 4' span and about 3' possibly 3'6 upwards... and land lightly.

I think that she's cleverer than she lets on - she's certainly got me trained to scratch her ear for her

Took 686 photos at the rugby match today (might be the only time DS makes the team)

Glad the puppies are all doing well!

I did think that myself Cinnamon. I was going to walk away after the first post, but I couldn't leave it when she came back and said she had no choice but to hurt a less than 18 week old pup because it had pinned her dd.

It was hard enough to agree to disagree to be honest, because I can never agree to hurting dogs for any reason, whether it be in the name of training or otherwise.

I'm not usually drawn, but there are so many newbies on that thread who are struggling to get to grips with how hard it is raising a pup and trying really hard to use positive reinforcement, I just didn't want them to think that it was ok to give up and go for dominance theory and punitive measures instead because someone shows up and tells them it's working for their pup. As you said, we're all drawn to quick fixes sometimes and raising a pup is so exhausting it can be tempting to someone with the patience of a saint sometimes.

That's why I added the links, so they have the choice to read the literature and make an informed decision.

I'm the same about parenting and don't tend to express my opinions, but in this case, it does worry me that punitive measures, used by inexperienced handlers on young dogs, in households with young children could be a recipe for disaster - and it's the dogs that pay the ultimate price, even if no-one gets seriously hurt.

I seem to have killed the thread though.

Just post a cute anecdote about pip and they'll all be back! I have to admit I was a bit confused about who was pinning her 5 year old. I agree with you about the potential for dogs to snap back.

That's impressive mistlethrush!

Lola has bec

Whoops!! Bec......ome an awesome foot warmer today! It's been a chilly autumnal day today and she's been laying next to me on the sofa on my feet tucked up next to me :)

I thought you said she was DH's dog!

Definitely post something about Pip.

That's while he was at work though, once he's home my feet are cold

I can't. I need someone else to and then I'll slip back into the flow of conversation along the way.

Lurcherboy is my foot warmer, but he's blooming heavy and cuts the blood supply off if I'm not careful!

Those poor puppies being "dominated". What a great start in life. NOT. At 18weeks aren't they going to classes? Surely any responsible new owner has access to a rl no violence trainer?

You'd be surprised Peanut. One of the newer people on the thread went to their first puppy class last night to find all the older dogs were on choke chains and the trainer telling them to get a check collar for their puppy .. and this is a KC approved training school that came highly recommended.

Fortunately they were as horrified by it all as we would have been.

FFS. What is the world coming to? Those poor pups.

I haven't seen that thread, but I would be agreeing with you Moosemama - I went down the dominance/pack theory route with Skip when he was getting hard to handle, as had loads of people telling me he was trying to dominate me and he needed me to be a strong pack leader! it didn't work ata all and made him worse and more nervous.

Did my research and now totally disagree with this form of training, and this concept of dog behaviour. Unfortunately it still seems to be the main way new owners bring their puppies up. Pinching ears, how awful!! I am all for positive reinforcement all the way. It worked with Tink, who as i said before is a much more confident and easy dog than Skip.

I think it was good you added links, and also an alternative way to think about things. Maybe some of them will listen, or look into it, you never know

I like the imagery that someone suggested to help with recall (can't remember which site - probably here somewhere though) - that you need to make yourself into a Cbeebies presenter and run away making silly squeaky noises to encourage your young dog to recall to you when there were other 'things' that might be interesting to investigate...

Mistlehound had me up at 4am this morning. I think she predicted the weather and wanted to get out for a wee before the rain.

Good news! The man of the house is now fully onboard with rescuing a whippet. However, he wants us to wait until we've had some work at home competed. It does make sense. I can't wait! Unfortunately the work hasn't even started yet but I'm Ning this gives the right dog the opportunity to appear and our young children to get a teeny but older!

Spotted a lovely black saluki type down the park, wandering around off lead with her owner. Very pretty.

Back again. Rescue have matched us with a dog, basically he is ours if we want him. Five yo male, all black, housetrained, great with kids and other dogs, lovely on his lead, great all rounder and a 'gentleman' apparently. He is HUGE tho. Really big lad. Worried oyr little house isnt going to be big enough for him.

scuttlebutter just seen your earlier post. im with the south lakes branch of retired greyhound rescue. they arent actually our nearest as we are nearer preston, lancs but i loved their personal and info packed website.

Well done to skipntinks girl on her pups, hope all is well.

TooOld, they fold up surprisingly small....

Moose, I ventured over into the puppy thread after your comment here to see what you said - it's somewhere I don't normally go, as I'm very much an oldies gal. Thought your comments were positive, polite and gave plenty of information/references - well done. I find it horrendous that KC trainers are STILL using choke chains etc. - that's just so depressing.

Apart from anything else, I'd previously done training with one of our greys with a good, positive trainer who didn't use clickers a couple of years ago - took our lovely old boy through his Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. Then I started with our current trainer who uses clickers - goodness me, what a revelation! Apart from all the welfare issues, it's just so much easier! We made progress in 6 weeks that had previously taken months. And let's face it, greys are not generally the brightest of dogs, so anything that makes it easy for them has to be good.

Too Old, yes, agree with Magrat. You think they are big to start with, but you very quickly get used to them, and as they tend to be quiet in the house and not too bouncy, they are really no bother. After a while your perspective readjusts and you just think of all the other dogs as being incredibly small.

Totally agree about size, we are always surprised when people think peanut is big as he's tall but not really that much of him an he an squeeze on to one seat of our sofa if he chooses to. He has a single duvet folded in 4 as his bed so doesn't take up masses of room!

A single duvet!!! You meanie! Mistlehound has a double duvet in four and sometimes manages to sprawl off both ends (she's not remotely as tall as Peanut, but she is rather long for her height - unreasonably so actually). BTW, the fleece covers on the LL site in on-line shop fit duvets in and mean they don't get 'made' into a mountain upon which a pointy dog perches very uncomfortably - or sprawled across the floor as they've unwrapped them. I actually got a larger one made so that it fits the double duvet in 4.

After much consideration, we are off to a rescue tomorrow to look at a lurcher, he looks mostly whippet though. About one year old. I work from home so he will have company etc. But can you tell me if whippets shed lots? We picked the breed because they are meant to not smell or shed so much. Is it true? Or does it depend on the actual dog?

Smell - They have short fur - which always helps. Although mistlehound has shaggy bits on top and has had 2 baths in 11 months (and plenty of swimming) and doesn't smell. (Well, doesn't smell too much - probably less than 8yo DS).

Shedding - they have short hair AND fine coats - so it probably won't be too noticeable. Regular grooming sessions with the right rubbery hair removing thing in spring and autumn will probably mean that its not an issue at all.

I hope that you get on and have a picture to share later!!!