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

[WhenSantaGotStuckUpACunnyFunt]

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
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.

Yes, 20% protein was the max we were told.

£13.99 is good. I pay £27 for 15kg of Skinners. I ought to find something cheaper really but she does seem to like it and she seems really erm....firm, for the first time in ages.

Dee is also allowed on DD's bed, and she does get on there......a lot! She has never got on our bed though, her own bed is next to it so sometimes I wake up in the night and her head is leaning on the covers

That was it 20% we had found a food in a local pet shop that was about £15/17ish have forgot the brand though sure I'll find it again if I look :) would I b unreasonable to have a no dog in the bed rule? It's not that I'm against it our dogs growing up were always aloud on the bed and as a teenager the mutleys often slept in my bed with me as they'd wait up for me to get home from partying then follow me. It's just as the kids r still small I think it'd b sensible not to have a pooch in the bed as when they're poorly we often play musical beds lol

Is it best to invest in a crate for the boot of the car?

Pat that is so sweet :)

It's reassuring to hear they can b happy without a fenced garden as they've been kennelled I'm assuming they're good with routine in respect of toileting during walks/quick trips to green round back at set times?

Thank u so much for ur help :)

We don't have a hound yet but our current dog isn't allowed on the bed. Your house your rules just be consistent.

Our lurcher isn't allowed on the bed - took a little perseverance in terms of removing her on the odd occasion, but she knows now.

Agree, your house your rules. They will do what you let them do.
Dee only gets on my daughters bed as she encouraged it to begin with. I don't let her sleep on there at night though.

We don't have a crate in the car but lots of them are used to travelling this way.

O good was worried I was being cruel lol is only cos I grew up with dogs in beds and this was after my mum being adamant they were not getting upstairs.... The geriatric dog they have sleeps in the middle of my mum and dad's bed cuddled up to my mum lol

R they ok with a big duvet or pillow in the boot? Just aware they're a bit more fragile than ur average mutt.

Any tips for helping the dog and dc get along? The dc r used to dogs but having one actually living with us will be very different is it a good idea for the dc to feed the dog dinner? My older 2 often feed my mums dogs but they r obv familiar with them Am I best to put in my extra door in my hallway before getting one? We currently have a stair gate just before the front door to keep the dc away from shoes and allow me to answer the door without them flying out of it but a grey could clear a stair gate right? We plan on putting a door in anyway just for aesthetics but I'm thinking it might be safer?

Ours sleeps on a double duvet, wrapped in a fleecy cover from LL. or on 1/4 of a duvet in a fleecy cover on the sofa

I would get DCs to feed treats- and potentially food too - ds does treats and can get various commands accorded with - eg sit, down etc.

Mine have a duvet folded as beds but only a towel in the car. We are planning to get a dog guard for the car.

My mums dog doesn't go upstairs at all. And ours only go on our bed during the day, the learned very quickly to stay on theirs next to our bed at nighttime.

With the children, mine know that if the dogs are on their bed or a sofa they have to leave them alone. They can call them off if they want to say hello or play. They play with the dogs and love treating while out but it can be a pain as they're a bit too slow! They love to play with them and ds1 likes to hold the lead when we're out too.

I would say a greyhound may be able to clear a stairgate but is likely not to bother! Mine have both been quite nervous of objects such as stairgates, road signs and even pushchairs to begin with so would just stay away!

We got a special 'dog' gate that is taller than a stair gate - mistlehound went straight over the top.

Lola would be the same mistlethrush! Peanut however is too much of a wussy to even try!

A couple of points, Mummy.

Putting inthe door in the hallway is an excellent idea for safety - you will be creating an "airlock" between the house and the outside world, thus allowing you to safely open the door, receive parcels, chat to neighbours etc. without worrying about a dog slipping past you and on to the street. You should also reinforce with all family members the importance of keeping certain doors shut, for the dog's safety, especially when the dog is new and doesn't yet have solid recall, or know your area.

Many rescues will allow rehomings to people who for example live in a flat and have no garden at all - as you point out, this can still be easily managed for wees etc. but what would be a big red flag is if you had a garden (albeit small) that was unfenced or had low fencing. Any reputable rescue would insist on that being fenced to a reasonable height.

For the car, there are a number of options for safety and this depends a great deal on your vehicle and your preferences. For one dog, it's possible for your dog to wear a neat harness that clips through the seat belt holder thus keeping them safe in the event of a collision. You could also use a dog guard in the boot. Crate in boot is also an option but of course will take up a huge amount of space. You can also get very good boot cages which allow you to open the boot (good for airflow) but have a mesh wall/door between the dog and the outside world. Excellent for days out and making sure your dog doesn't just leap out. We are changing our estate car later this year, and this will be what we'll be putting in our new vehicle. They are called tailgate guards and you can Google to see the wide range available.

We have a duvet and a couple of comfy dog beds in our boot, plus various towels and fleeces, allowing the hounds to be cosy and comfortable. We also make sure we carry water, drinking bowl and a spare collar/lead, plus poo bags, baby wipes, hand sanitiser, and a bag of treats.

Once dog arrives, I'd suggest taking dog to training classes and taking along oldest of your DC - being involved with training will strengthen the bond hugely, and help all of you with interactions. Make sure it's one that uses positive methods, preferably APDT and that they are used to pointies - for instance, most greyhounds can't sit - they find it extremely uncomfortable. Ours have previously done CKC through to Gold and the equivalent APDT but we've done Stand or Wait instead of Sit - quite easy to work around.

Good luck!

Hi everyone, mind if I join in?
We are looking to fill the dog-shaped hole in our lives after losing our beloved JRT X whippet in September. Dog needs to fit into a household with 2, (soon to be 3) kids and a visiting cat.
Trawling the local rescues (mostly virtually on-line) has been a depressing experience, but we're not ready yet to give in. We've been to meet a couple of dogs and they have not been right for us, and not been as advertised. DH has always been a greyhound fan, I'd prefer a smaller dog and have a soft spot for a scruffy terrier, but haven't found any that are ok with kids.
We are going to see this dog at the weekend. I feel safe letting you see how lovely she is as we have been given first refusal! She was rescued after being abandoned on a traveller site.
I'm a vet so have looked after lots of pointies of various descriptions, but never owned one. Are there any questions you would ask about this type specifically? She's now been cat tested and wasn't interested. In your experience will a greyhound rescue have made any assessment of recall/chase instincts? The lady I spoke to reckons maybe she was left because she was rubbish at hare-coursing etc, which from our point of view would be a bonus, we want to be able to let her off lead. Our previous dog was a nightmare for chasing rabbits etc when she was young, so I'm familiar with grinding away at improving recall, but it wasn't much fun.
We are doing a 4 hour round trip to see her, so I really hope she is the dog for us, but it needs to be a head decision.

I give you alfie as the closest to your terrier x that might possibly fill that hole - although Gloria looks lovely. Not come across that rescue before.

BTW, just because mistlehound is absolutely hopeless at catching anything, doesn't mean that she doesn't try. And we can't let her off at dusk as she goes deaf.

Aww Gloria and Alfie both look amazing, although he looks a bit of a handful!

I think it's safe to assume no recall in a rescue hound and then try them out slowly in a safe area, they may surprise you. Travellers would probably not have dumped a lurcher who was a really good courser although you never know.

I presuming at the moment there aren't many rabbits or hares around as I haven't seen any in the fields. When is the most common time for them...spring and summer? Sounds an obvious question but it would be useful to know what times of year to be on high alert. Dee is pretty taken with squirrels so I can imagine rabbits will not be safe.

How exciting! Let us know how you get on!

Bakingtins, GRSB are a well thought of and reputable rescue so you will be in safe hands with them. Sue, who runs Moorland Kennels is very experienced and will talk you through the process/find the right dog for you. If she's ex traveller, she won't have been dumped if she was any good at working - so in a way, that's good for you. Travellers in general are even more hard headed than the racing industry and will hang on to a dog that is either a good worker or has potential to make money - a dog that fails at either will be dumped or worse rapidly.

I'm amazed you are having to travel 4 hrs to get to GRSB (no reflection on them by the way) - there are greyhound rescues all over the UK, and a lot of national ones - if you say roughly where you are, I can point you at a good one more locally. PM me if you don't want to locate yourself.

Sticking with greys for the moment, an ex racer is very much a known quantity and if they ahve successfully raced, it's likely they will have a prey drive. HOwever, many racers are spat out for non chasing, and around 20% overall are cat friendly/trainable. Your rescue will advise on specifics for your particular dog.

In practice, this just means taking a bit more care about things like going off lead - it soon becomes second nature and ours come off lead regularly in places where I think it's safe to do so, like the beach, some local parks etc. We also go to dog training classes and ahve done a lot of work on recall etc.

Hello bakingtins, so sorry for the loss of your Whirrier (Whippet x Terrier).

Gloria looks lovely.

I have just been daft enough to look at their other dogs and fallen for Joseph's terribly sad little face and huge eyes. He wouldn't do for us at all, we are far too noisy and chaotic a houseful, but oh - I just want to give him a cuddle and tell him it's all going to be ok.

I also have a soft spot for scruffy terriers, so went for the best of both worlds and have a 7 month old Lurcher pup who we're fairly sure has a fair amount of Saluki in him, but also has a hefty chunk of terrier thrown in for good measure. Pics on profile if you want to have a peek.

Thanks everyone. There are greyhound rescues closer to home, I've come into contact with them at the annual greyhound gathering, but at the moment they have nothing suitable for us. We've been looking (not specifically for pointies) for months, I'm not very patient! If Gloria is not right then I'll get back in touch with them. Using the sites that allow you to specify good with children narrows the choice considerably, throw in good with cats and it tends to be none. We have rellies in Shrewsbury so we can throw in a visit to them and I'm perfectly prepared to travel up a few times if she's the right dog.
All I want is a beautiful characterful dog, good with kids, well socialised, good with cats, fantastically obedient, young and healthy or preferably my old dog back not too much to ask If the temperament is right I can compromise or work on the rest.
Glad to hear good things about GRSB. It was Sue I've had contact with and she sounded really kind, down to earth and sensible.

I would also recommend a look at EGLR - they have a good search facilityon their website, and again they are an excellent rescue. They specialise in lurchers and really know their stuff. I do a lot of transport runs for them and am friends with their foster co-ordinator - I like the fact they mainly use foster homes - kennels are only used for stop gap accommodation and fostering always takes place before adoption, so they really know their dogs. I've just looked on their website and they have both cat and child friendly dogs on there.

In the middle of the night I woke up and remembered that I had accidentally left a jar of peanut butter on the table in the sitting room rather than putting it back in the cupboard. But it had its lid on - so what could go wrong - so went back to sleep.

This morning I came down and there was no jar. I looked in the kitchen and confirmed that I'd not taken it back in last thing - not on table, not in cupboard. Then the lid turned up, with a few tooth marks in evidence. Then the gar was unearthed from underneath the coffee table where it had been pushed... with the odd bit of peanut stuck to the bottom because it was a big jar and tongues only go so far....

Clever girl Mistlehound!

Glad I'm not in your house - the smells my two made when I used peanut butter in their kongs was truly indescribable.

Moose, I've just had this recommended by a doggy colleague - it unscrews and self-rights and has to be physically knocked over to release a treat - and then it wobbles back up again.

There are a few like that about now. I think I'd prefer it if it was made of rubber like the other kongs though, as we have quarry tiles and it's quite echoey in our kitchen.

The balls I have are rubber coated and not quite so noisy. Although I'm sitting in the living room with the door shut, waiting to see how long it lasts them and it does sound vaguely like there's a demolition squad in my kitchen! Guess the neighbours are going to have to choose between howling and yelling or thumping and banging.

I was thinking of investing in some of the newer, soft, buster cubes. We had one for our Boxer x boy years ago, when they first came out. They were made of a horrible brittle/rigid plastic and boy were they noisy. They're quite a challenge though and Pip is a bright little spark with a very determined nature. I reckon Pip might go for the buster cube and Lurcherboy the ball, as he tends to give up on things that are too complex or difficult.

I've just got back off the school run and found Lurcherboy chasing the treat ball with Pip in his bed scoffing his kong. So much for the food lasting him double the time - and Lurcherboy will get fat, with two school runs a day. If Pip does go for the buster cube, hopefully I can put less in the treat ball for Lurcherboy and limit is intake that way.

This afternoon I left 1 treat ball, a kong each and 2 busy buddy ufo toys with kibble in as well though, so there was plenty for each of them, without the need to fight. Not that I've ever seen any indication that they might fight - but you never know when it comes to resources.

It's been 40 minutes so far and they're still busy extracting kibble from various devices. Wonder how long it's going to last them overall.

By the way - is the LL site down for you? I can't access the main index page. I can get to the front/holding page, but then it comes up with a load of programming language and says there's an error.

Yes, LL site appears to be down.

That's a quandry re the treat toys - although if more food goes in the difficult ones that lurcherboy gives up with, that might sort the problem (unless pip starts opening things up for lurcherboy). Mine can't even be bothered to try to get a biscuit out of a kong! Peanut butter on the other hand, might get her interest ! I think that lurcherboy sounds rather similar to mistlehound...