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.

It's really sad when they come back - but hopefully he will get a home that suits him better.

Another grey was returned after 48hrs to another rescue :(

I do think fostering to start with is helpful - it takes the pressure off and makes sure you get the right dog without feeling that its a fait accompli...

Yes fostering definitely seems a better starting point.

But if it doesn't work out it's no different for the dog really is it?

Cinnamon - I don't know - from our perspective, if we hadn't had the option to foster mistlehound first, I'm not absolutely positive that we would have taken her on - because we didn't know whether she would cope with being an only dog (along with the host of other issues which we thought we would probably be able to cope with!). If you give a dog a fair go in a foster situation, but don't have the pressure of almost 'having' to make things work, perhaps it does give the dog a better chance - if mistlehound really couldn't be an only dog, that would have given HQ more information so that her next option would have been as part of a group, not on her own. Surely that would be better than living in a home with SA badly and being miserable for the dog? The interesting thing is that the dogs do get moved round foster homes out of necessity every now and then - and they seem to cope remarkably well with the right allowances given to them. Clearly it would be better if a dog could be placed and be part of their forever family for the rest of their lives, but it doesn't always work out like that.

I see what you mean and what you say makes sense I was just thinking from dogs pov it's going to a new home and then back again either way but you are probably right :)

I can see where you're coming from too - although mistlehound clearly loved (and still enthusiastically greets) her kennel mate - clearly was happy there based upon her overall attitude etc - mind you, I do think that the LL dogs are lucky, even the ones in the barn.

Do any of you have greedy guts who will counter surf, empty bins and basically use any opportunity to help themselves to a tasty treat? If so what measures have you introduced to stop/reduce these incidences?

Hi everyone, hope you are all OK.

I'm afraid i'm looking for a bit more advice about Bob again I apologise in advance for the length but would be very grateful iif anyone can give me their thoughts.

I don't know if anyone remembers that back in December he bit my DD on the face after she went on/near his bed. We haven't had any more incidents similar to that thank god but he did growl at her when she was stood in front of the fireplace brushing her hair, she was a good two feet away from his bed but he still growled.

DD had a friend over tonight for tea and all was fine; they spent most of the evening upstairs in dd's room and were on the sofa with me the rest of the time. Bob came over to me for a stroke so because I am super wary all the time I stood up and called him over to me so I could stroke him standing up. The friend came up and stood with me and said could she stroke him, I said yes, she stroked his head softly and he turned his head and barked twice at her and ran into the kitchen. Poor girl was very frightened and I honestly don't know where to go from now. I think it's pretty clear that Bob doesn't like children. At all. In every other way he is perfect, couldn't be a better dog, but this issue isn't going away and i'm worrying he isn't safe around children. Selfishly I want to try to manage it and not even consider the other option (returning to rescue) but DP has asked me to post here and ask what others what do because in fairness, I don't think I am being objective about the right thing to do

Thanks if you reached the end of this epic waffle

Peanut is very good peanutpatty and doesn't like to be in trouble so although he can reach he rarely takes anything. Lola otoh is a pain in the bum, luckily she's smaller! We tell her no and send her to her bed, distract her, shut doors watch the children like a hawk with food and never leave anything out! Probably not very helpful!

I'm not sure I will give you the right answer TooOldForGlitter as I have a less than ideal dog IMO. He has bitten one of my minded children and me and can be grumbly with others. We can't clip his nails without a muzzle and even then he's very agressively growling and eventually snaps. Dh loves him totally and I do love him too but I wish I didn't have the stress that goes with him. He's muzzled when I work at the request of the mum of the child he bit but he's much more chilled out around the kids now and is fine when its only my kids. We wouldn't consider sending him back unless something worse happened but having him causes me unnecessary stress. I don't feel he's unhappy with us just that our household takes some getting used to and some situations stress him. I am not really afraid of him but am much more weary of him than I am of Lola. If something else happened I'd blame myself and feel
I'd let him down by putting him in the situation more than anything.

Thanks for replying cinnamon. I don't know what I want to be 'told' tbh, just have nobody in RL to sound off to about this and feel so conflicted. Am I risking my own child, isolating her from having her pals around the house by keeping him or am I expecting too much of Bob. God I just don't know .

Your situation must be pretty stressful, I sympathise. Glad to hear the mum of your mindee didn't pull her child out of your care.

Dee did a bit of counter surfing and bin bag raiding when we first got her but it seems to have died down now. She's never Ben interested in the actual kitchen bin, just the bags waiting to go out in the garden. This week I mistakenly left out my lunch on Monday and it was miraculously still there when I got home after work. DH left half a loaf of bread out today and it survived unscathed.
Don't know really, we are really careful as obviously she's tall enough to take what she wants.
She seems to be a pain in the arse for scrounging when we are cooking sausage, chorizo or fish. The other week we had a chippy tea for the first time in ages and she went bananas for the smell!

Glitter- he barked, he gave a warning that he wasn't comfortable and then left the situation. I think if you are always vigilant around children then he sounds like he knows what to do.
However, if he is causing you whole loads of stress all the time then this is less than ideal and maybe you and DH want to consult a behaviourist or something? I'm bit sure but it's clear from your posts that you would be distraught at returning him so this may be a logical step to take to try and ease the stress?

You could muzzle him when dd has friends round.....would he accept that ok?

That should say 'not sure'. This bloody iPad!

Thanks for your reply Pat. I agree that he warned and then left the situation. DP is more in the ''this is the third incident'' camp. Fourth if you include how he reacted when my stepson startled him, but I refuse to see that as anything other than Bob was startled that time. Maybe i'm being totally selfish and putting my wants above safety. I am waffling, I do apologise. Thinking 'out loud' a bit I suppose.

Appreciate ppl taking the time to reply, really do.

I think muzzling is the way to go when friends are round and let them play in dd's room except next time you know to say no to stroking and just explain Bob's a bit worried about new children so better to leave him on his bed.

Yes, defo agree we will be muzzling next time.

It's not typical for a greyhound to dislike kids so much, is it?

I don't know, I think if they've never encountered children they can be unnerving as they are unpredictable. My first greyhound was afraid of everything but never showed any aggression! People always say greyhounds are good with children and I've never questioned it but many will have never seen a child until retired and rehomed so it was make sense they may be nervous.

Yes, you are right, I think everything is still clouded by the fact he bit my daughter and every situation seems potentially to be a repeat.

Taking myself off to bed now for a bit of a think. Thanks

TooOld, we had a collie cross that turned out to be very child aggressive - we think that she had probably been very badly treated in her previous home. She was so bad that she had to be restrained when children were anywhere near because she would attack (without any provocation). If we were going round town we had to walk with her next to the shop window so that we could keep her against the shop if a child passed.

Luckily, we had a nice neighbour next door with a boy who was happy to help her get over it. He started out by throwing a biscuit over the gate. He progressed to dropping it over - then peering over when he dropped it - etc. The dog got to the stage where she decided that we would protect her and would simply stand behind us - this is the behaviour that you want to encourage - and it was just that behaviour that Bob did - he told you he didn't want it then took himself out of trouble, rather than 'confronting' it.

So, I would work on children being the provider of Good Things. Don't ever push Bob to socialise when he's clearly not keen. Make sure that he's always got a 'way out' of the situation. And I would tend to not push it in anyway. You might decide that a muzzle is a good idea when you have young visitors over, just in case - although making sure that he doesn't come across any visitors would be equally fine.

Peanut - we had a dog that wouldn't touch anything unless she had specific permission to do it - and now we have a dog that has to be reminded that she's not meant to be eating anything off the tables in the sitting room (this is great progress btw!!!). She rarely gets anything... although she did take the lid off a jar of peanut butter the other night and manage to take it off and eat the contents.

Thank for all your replies.

TooOld I'm so sorry that this is happening. I would hazard a guess that it's all part of the settling in period still. I would also go with a muzzle. Is it possible to put him in another inaccessible room whilst you have children visiting? Could you contact the rescue for some support/behavioural advice?

Too Old, a couple of points.

Firstly, Bob didn't bite - he barked. That's a very important difference - he's telling you that he didn't like being in that situation. That's actually hugely positive - even though it may not feel like it right now!

Also, many dogs don't like being stroked on the head - this is something our dog trainer constantly reinforces - always better to stroke under the chin or on the neck/shoulder.

If Bob doesn't like people or DC that he doesn't know very well, then I would simply not put him in that situation, and keep him away from DD and her friends when they are visiting. He hasn't been with you all that long and he is still on a steep learning curve. One of our greys is very definitely not child-friendly - he finds the sudden loud noises, arm waving etc very stressful. He is also wary of strangers too, so we simply pop him in his lair upstairs when we have visitors. Fortunately, we rarely have contact with DC, and visiting family ones are given very clear and strict instructions about not running or shouting around him.

There will be time for him to learn more about DC being Good Things, but for the moment, I'd focus on him continuing to settle in.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Must admit I didn’t sleep much last night thinking about doing the ‘right thing’ by Bob and the kids. I’m decided now that I am not prepared to give up on him or bounce him back to rescue so quickly. I know some people will think I am hugely irresponsible but I am prepared to do everything I can to minimise any risks.

The more I thought about last night the more I started to convince myself see it as progress. Not ideal admittedly but from his point of view, he communicated he wasn’t happy and left the situation. I think he has made vast improvements as he is much better with DD now; he listens to her, will 'obey' her when she recalls him (in the garden/house), approaches her for attention etc.

For the future I am going to make sure that he is not around the children when she has friends over. I think he has told me quite firmly that he doesn't like/feel happy near children so I won't put him in the position again. Slow but consistent progress is what I am going to aim for.

I am making him sound like a horrible dog aren't I . Poor bugger. I wish I could describe how perfect and loving and desperate to please he is with me and DP (mainly me ).

Thanks again for everyone who posted. Really appreciate your advice.

TooOld - no, you're not making him sound horrible - he just doesn't like children - and he now knows how to deal with that situation (remove himself) and you now have such a clear idea that he doesn't like it you're doing the right thing and not going to put him in that position again. Our collie cross was a lovely dog but she did come with so much baggage - some of which she brought with her for the rest of her life, even if she managed to reduce the weight of it along the way.