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.

[cinnamongreyhound]

Sounds lovely scuttlebutter! It is getting cold very quickly in the evenings.

[moosemama]

Cinnamon, sorry to hear how tough things are and how low you're feeling. Keeping everything crossed something will turn up soon to lift your spirits. That is very odd about Darwin, unless they have someone connected to the rescue that's interested I suppose?

Scuttle, I'm not sure what to do about Pip's housecoat. He's growing so fast now, I'm pretty sure he'd bankrupt us needing a new one every couple of weeks or so. The thing is, last night he we tucked his lovely, soft fleece blanket over him while he slept and he actually slept through from 10.30 pm until 6.30 am, whereas the two previous nights he'd had us up at 4.00 am. So, I'm starting to think he must be getting cold in the middle of the night, despite having a high sided lamby puppy bed and no fewer than 3 fleece blankets to snuggle in alongside his squidgy soft goose toy.

I have considered putting the hot water bottle back in under his blankets, like we did the first week we had him. We stopped because the weather warmed up and he was overheating and hanging out of his bed, panting to cool down!

[Scuttlebutter]

Hi Moose, yes, it's very typical for them to get restless in the night if they are too cold.

How big is he now, and how much more (roughly) do you think he will grow?

Sometimes when they are pups, they put on the length first and just add to the legs IYSWIM, in which case it might be worth getting an adult size coat for him, and letting him grow into it. Just realise I sound like my mum with my school uniform aged 11 as I went off to secondary school in a duffel coat round my ankles.

[cinnamongreyhound]

Sounds like a baby, waking because they're cold :)

[mistlethrush]

Moose - I have just cut up a not that old, thick fleece because the zip had gone and it was going to be too much nuisance to replace it. I can send you an arm if you think it would have the width for his chest - might do a few weeks?

I'm going to make mistlehound a fleece of most of the remainder of it when I get round to it.

[there was a 'thunk' sound in the middle of that... I asked DH what it was and he said 'I don't know' and carried on tweeting. I went out of the back door via the kitchen and called the dog - she was in the garden - on the otherside of the side gate. I think we're going to have to extend that upwards [roll]That's the first time she's done that.

[PeanutPatty]

Cinnamon - 5 month old pup Doogle on Evesham Greyhound and Lurcher Rescue. Check out their FB page. Sounds like they have someone in mind for Darwin.

Ive been freezing here today. Couldn't get warm despite three layers.

[mistlethrush]

Mistlehound is starving - and telling us all about it (quietly)(but nonetheless, persistently). I have cooked her some carrots and she's just eaten some, very happily and settled down a bit. She's about the right weight at the moment so we don't want her putting any more on - but need to fill her up a bit more without adding too much in the way of calories!

[moosemama]

I need to measure him again. He's definitely grown since I ordered his raincoat. He was just short of 16" from withers to base of tail and almost the same measurement around his chest (16th August) and I took the seller's advice then and ordered a 17", as she said some pups get funny/panicky about having a coat that's too long if they need to squat to toilet.

I've been told by everyone, that he's going to be huge as although he's slightly built and very ribby/hippy he has chunky knuckles. I have no idea what that translates to in terms of long-term size though.

He seems to be shooting up in both height and length since his weight has stabilised. Mum swears he's grown a foot every time she sees him.

He woke at flipping 2.30 am last night and dh ended up sleeping on the sofa, because he wouldn't settle. Then dh was woken several times by what sounded like an animal outside. He thinks it must have been a fox.

Mistle, thanks for the offer, but I don't think it would last him long, as his chest was 16" a few weeks ago.

at naughty Mistlehound leaping the gate. I wonder what made her suddenly decide to do it last night?

[mistlethrush]

Goodness knows why she did it - but I'm going to rig something up so that its much more difficult (it will stop the neighbour's twins climbing over too!) to deter her. She didn't get very far, and was wagging at me from the otherside in a 'please let me in, I seem to be on the wrong side and I really don't know how I got here' kind of way .

Feet / knuckles... It's very interesting. Mistledog had remarkably small paws for her size - they didn't look untoward, but you really noticed when she trod on you. Mistlehound is a tiny bit taller than mistledog was - although significantly longer and about 4kg heavier - but has MUCH larger paws. As a consequence, she can walk silently (and does stalk at times) - when you're walking with her you hear the occasional click of a nail, but you certainly don't hear her feet going onto the ground like you could with mistledog. Luckily it doesn't hurt as much when she treads on you either. But her feet don't look out of scale either. But she does have remarkably sturdy legs for a lurcher (as you'll have seen from the LL photos)

In terms of coats and possible housecoats for pip, I would be minded to go and buy some cheap fleece and do some home-made versions of the one you already have just whilst he's growing - then when he's fully grown, kit him out with something that perhaps is a bit less homespun?

[YourHandInMyHand]

I think I'll be getting a housecoat for ShyDog as even when we got her in spring she would like to have a fleece cover over her at bed time.

Shydog has rolled in something stinky Fox poo? She often has a good rub and roll but this time she proper pongs! Really can't face trying to manhandle her into the bath, never done it before. Might see if there is a mobile dogwash service I could use!

I walked her this morning and settled her in her crate and went off into town, only to come home and be hit by a wall of stink. Bleurgh!

at getting over the gate.

[YourHandInMyHand]

I think I'll be getting a housecoat for ShyDog as even when we got her in spring she would like to have a fleece cover over her at bed time.

Shydog has rolled in something stinky Fox poo? She often has a good rub and roll but this time she proper pongs! Really can't face trying to manhandle her into the bath, never done it before. Might see if there is a mobile dogwash service I could use!

I walked her this morning and settled her in her crate and went off into town, only to come home and be hit by a wall of stink. Bleurgh!

at getting over the gate.

[mistlethrush]

Yourhand - mistlehound is remarkably good at baths - she just stands there and gets showered with the shower thing over the bath on a warm temp, then shampoo, then rinse...

Tomato is a really good remover of smells.

[YourHandInMyHand]

Do you lift her in mistlethrush? It's the getting her in I am hesitant about I think. :-/

[moosemama]

I wasn't expecting Pip to be a big/tall boy as he seemed so little, delicate and vulnerable and to be honest, I don't think his feet are that big. In actual fact I think they're quite neat, but I'm always a hopeless judge of these things and loads of people we've met out and about, on LL and even the Vet have insisted he's going to be huge, so who knows.

I think I'm probably comparing him to my boxer cx GSD who had great big paws as a pup and ended up enormous - both tall and solid.

Whereas Oldgirl had massive feet as a pup ... and massive feet as an adult! Everyone assumed she was a pup until she was about 8/9 because she was so full of life and they assumed she had yet to grow into her feet.

I'll have a think about doing something home-spun for a few weeks, but not sure I'd be happy with the end results. Might go and Google to see what others have done in the same situation.

YourHand, urgh - fox poo! Some people swear by dousing them in tomato ketchup - never tried it myself though.

I'm mean and we have an enormous, plastic tree-planter in the garden that we use to bathe the dogs. No so mean that I use cold water though - I do stick the hosepipe on the mixer tap.

[mistlethrush]

Yes. She's 28kg. Its one arm to the front of her chest and other arm either under her tummy or scooping her legs up from the back (the latter is difficult with mistlehound as she's so long, but that's the scoop I've used on all other dogs). She's not worried about being touched mind you. We had to give her a bath on day 2 of having her as she smelt of kennels. Leave collar on, head towards taps....

[mistlethrush]

Actually, the worst bit is getting her downstairs, through the hall and kitchen and out into the garden without allowing any shaking - I could carry mistledog but haven't even attempted it with mistlehound - and I walked her down with a dog towel looped under her and held up....

[moosemama]

Just realised YourHand - you left her in her crate and went out. Yay! Must have felt good coming home knowing nothing would have been chewed - shame she spoiled it by stinking the house out!

I used to train all my dogs to jump in the bath, but that was before we had our new bathroom suite.

My first ever lurcher - not that I knew she was a lurcher at the time (Whippet x Sheltie) - used to run and jump into the bath to try and persuade me to give her a treat. We had to leave a non-slip mat in there all the time it wasn't in use to stop her scratching it. She was brilliant at jumping in, but if you switched on the shower or taps she was off at a speed only Whippets can manage. I used to have to put on a pair of old leggings and hold her between my knees while dh shampooed her. It was like trying to bathe the wriggliest eel ever.

My Wheaten girl used to be really good when we gave her a bath and she needed more than the others, as she had hair not fur and needed regular grooming and trimming. When we got her out she used to like to be wrapped in two enormous old bath sheets, then she'd race through the house all wrapped up, until she got to the living room, where she'd have a major case of the zoomies and rub her ears and beard on the towels in hilarious fashion. She was generally a very dignified dog, so it was always lovely to see her let rip at bathtime.

[cinnamongreyhound]

That is quite funny mistlethrush, sounds like peanut would be not quite knowing how he got there or how to get back!

You are probably all fed up of my dog search now but Kaye has suggested a puppy! I really feel totally unprepared to have a puppy, no idea what they need or if I'd have the time one would need. Plus surely a puppy would soon be big enough to knock over children and very lively while still young so has the potential to do all the things that the adult dogs who are unsuitable would do?

I can just lift Peanut if I need to and he's 33Kg but it's not easy and thankfully he loves going in the car now so just jumps in and don't really have any other reason to lift him :)

[moosemama]

I found many rescue centres recommended puppies with dd only being 4. I think it's because you can teach them to live within your rules and boundaries and even though they do nip, they don't do as much damage as an adult dog would if it bit, iyswim. Adult dogs that bounce may need a lot of retraining to get them out of the habit, but you can start as you mean to go on with a pup and teach them that they only get rewarded if all four paws are on the floor.

Puppies are hard work, no doubt about it. I'd forgotten just how much, although to be fair, it's the first couple of weeks that are the hardest. It's a lot like having a newborn baby again, with night waking, frequent feeds and lots of cleaning up after them. Sleep deprivation was definitely a factor for quite a few of us on the new puppy thread. After that you start to get to know each other and get into a bit of a routine though - then you get a run of days like ours since last Friday, where he's only slept through till 6.30 am once.

Not sure if it's typical of Lurcher pups in general, but neither Lurcherboy or Pip have been particularly nippy, although not totally nip free either. The bigger problem we have is keeping dd's toys away from him, both to stop him wrecking them, but also for fear of him swallowing something he shouldn't.

Lurcherboy never jumped up on us - but was a terrible counter surfer and food thief. Pip was a bit of a jumper, as he was allowed to at his foster home, but has now got the message that it's fruitless because any nice stuff isn't forthcoming unless he stops bouncing. He did scratch dd's face a couple of weeks back when he got over-exicited to see her in the morning, but that's about it.

All of my dcs were drilled for weeks about how to behave around the pup before we'd even reserved him. So no squealing, flapping, teasing, no faces near his face, no leaving toys on the floor (now upgraded to none on the sofa either, since he grew big enough to get up there when we're not looking). We also taught all of them to yelp loudly, turn their backs and shove one of his toys in his mouth if he tried to nip, but they only needed to employ that tactic for the first couple of weeks before he got the message. Oh and my two older dcs read Life Skills for Puppies, so they understood why we were doing the things we were with him.

You wouldn't be able to go running with a pup for a while either, until their bones had fully developed.

[cinnamongreyhound]

That's just one of the many factors that's making me think no! For now I can combine a run with peanuts walk in the morning if I have hectic evenings but to have time to run and walk the dogs I'd have to get up 5.15-5.30 at the latest!

It's hard to stop the kids being squealy when there's 8 of them. Not sure about managing the children and a puppy.
I would have to tidy up all toys before going on the school run.
Not sure I'd be happy being tied to the house. No idea about how long I can leave a puppy, would we be able to go to toddler groups and if not how long would we need to be in.
Don't know anything about training a puppy.
Don't really want a crate in my house.
Not sure I'd have enough time to train it.
Surely they will be running around like a loon even if you can train the bouncing out of them.
Another lot of food to stop wrong animals from eating.
Don't know anything about when I can take them out, how to socialise or even when they can do what!
The sleepless nights do worry me and the mess that there will be and keeping the kids away from the mess.

[mistlethrush]

Yes - a puppy would be the obvious way because you could immediately get your set of rules established and avoid the potential minefield of older dogs not knowing how to behave in certain situations.

The good news is that Kaye clearly thinks that you are a good home for a lurcher - otherwise she wouldn't be suggesting it so take that as a big vote of confidence!!!

I would think that mindees parents might be slightly less potentially worried if you can say 'yes, we've had lurcher from a pup' as they can be slightly less laid back in nature compared to most greys...

[cinnamongreyhound]

I did think it was safer for now but its the future and I am genuinely terrified about the idea of having a puppy!! Can you recommend me a book or 20? Dh seems fine with the idea if I am needs a lot more thought!

[cinnamongreyhound]

That's a long wait! :)

[YourHandInMyHand]

Well shydog has had her bath. Thanks for the tips, I read them and thought, lets give it a go! I have a pets at home a 5min walk away so got some doggy shampoo aptly named "fox poo" and went for it. She is 24kg so not as heavy as some of the others on here and I manage to scoop her in (twice, as the first time she just boinged straight back out).

I did as much drying as I could in the bathroom before releasing her, at least with greyhounds having so little fur they soon dry. She's now sulking on the landing with a blanket on smelling much fresher.

Moosemama it was her first longish spell in it as I popped out for two hours, before now it's just been school runs. She was laid nicely in it when I got back. It's daft but I still worried constantly while I was out!

MrsWolowitz how exiting! Love the name BTW. Will it be a pup or older?

cinnamon I can't imagine going through the puppy stage either [shudder]. I used to be a child minder so completely understand your situation. I'd have a good think about it. How much help would you have? What are the longest spells you are usually out of the house for?