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!
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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.

Because peanut never pulls on the lead the line took a while to get used to as they run in front and pull but as soon as he felt tension he'd stop and I ended up with me tripping over him or the line going behind his bum and him turning around to see what was touching him! Quite comedy moments really but he soon got the hang of it. He still doesn't pull all of the time but stays enough in front for it to be ok. When off the lead Lola will quite often trot next to me once she's let off steam but if she's on the line she's pulling, it's almost like she has a job to do.

Ok thanks. I might take him later for a test run.

I need to buy a house coat, house collar and a drying off type coat and a lw raincoat.

Poor chap's throat Is bald. It must be from a collar. His elbows are bald too. Wonder if it will grow back?

What should I be doing when strange off lead dogs approach us and it all gets a bit exciting and their owners don't give a damn and I'm left holding onto a spinning ball of crazy?

Sounds like Lola! I usually let her say hello very carefully. Lola also has a bald throat and I don't think that will grow back.

Evening primrose is good for coats.

Re lead spinning - I nearly lost mistlehound in our first week - luckily I had just read the thread about making sure slip leads were adjusted properly - otherwise I'm sure she would have slipped away when another dog came out for a walk and was aggressive because we were approaching their gate...

Lola has no chance of getting out of her martingale collar, the best thing I ever bought! Nice and wide so comfortable, lovely material and no matter how much she jumps, backs, spins she can't get out. My first greyhound got out of her collar the first walk I took her on, it was terrifying but I managed to corner her in someone's front garden and then bought a harness!

mistlehound can get out of her martingale... its why I use a slip lead

Rubbish! At least you've found something that works though :)

The rescue have called to see how Blue is getting on. I mentioned the excitement of high energy off lead dogs approaching. The response "he just loves life". Well ain't that the most useful piece of advice I've ever heard. Not.

So hard to do careful introductions when he is spinning!

Tool him for a run. He was quite keen and then not so keen. Could be a fitness issue? He did have a 90mim walk this morning and then a 15mim potter round the block followed by a lively session in the garden with Pooch and then he found a toy. So perhaps that was why? I made sure he had a few comfort breaks. Will see how he goes. I could hear his nails on the path. Does that mean they are too long?

Harnesses and coats. How? Harness under the coat? Doesn't that mess with the collar/neck bit?

Peanut, could you try a double ended lead with collar and harness combo, so you have more control over a wider area of his body?

It will come in time though, as he gradually starts to realise he needs to listen and pay attention to you. Try working on teaching him 'watch me' at home then gradually build up the distraction level until you can get him to focus on you outside. I find this invaluable with Pip, as he often panics when off lead dogs approach and can also get a bit spinny.

If we're going somewhere that's likely to involve lots of off-lead dogs tend to have him on his perfect fit harness with lead attached to the front and between the shoulders.

Re harness and coat. When he's wearing his coat we attach the lead on the front ring of the harness and feed the lead out of the top/front of the coat, iyswim. If he tries to pull then he just gets turned around to face us each time.

Moose what kind of harness do you use?

I'm already practicing recall and reward at home with the whistle. The little monkey heard the "sweetie" cupboard open and was beside me before I could even blow the whistle. Clever clogs.

I will start on a watch me command. I must dig out my clicker.

DH runs and often takes one of ours. I know a few younger greys and lurchers who run well. On our local Park Run, the Cani X type leads are very popular and are well worth getting if you are going to do it regularly and seriously.

With a greyhound particularly, they aren't known for their stamina so will have to build up distances gradually, and I would if possible try to avoid road/pavement running too much (hard surfaces). No coat. Avoid running in very hot weather and bear in mind that hard surfaces in particular can be very, very hot after the hottest part of the day.

Lurchers, depending on the cross, will be a much better bet for running and really love it. We recently met Max, an EGLR dog who is waiting for a home (he is on their website), and he's a collie/whippet/saluki/poss grey? mix and would be fantastic for running with or Cani X.

Perfect fit front d-ring harness.

Had to laugh at him getting to you before you blew the whistle. Pip can hear me pick up his whistle in the kitchen, from the garden! I've taken to wearing it around my neck, tucked into my top, all day so I can surprise him.

Lurcherboy is supposedly Deerhound/Saluki x Whippet/Collie and he can quite happily spend all day out and about, charging around. The good thing is that he's equally happy snoozing after a good hoon around the park/fields. I think he'd probably be great at Cani X, if he didn't have such an unfit owner.

I love watching the pointer we run with he's not allowed off lead but he pulls his owner round the whole time, he's so keen! Lola never gives up but she does slacken off at times and peanuts line is often slack, this dog is pulling full pelt the whole time! She also rides her mountain bike with him and he's full pelt then too :)
In the summer we always run by water so the dogs can go in the river once or twice during the run and it's always evening time.

My new hound is home

He has been a bit nervous around the house but is doing really well. We had a lovely walk earlier and he's had a snooze.

He has a Cone Of Shame because of having his bits done on Thursday, which has made it a but trickier to get him to go in his crate, but we found ham worked wonders as a bribe :)

My new hound is home

He has been a bit nervous around the house but is doing really well. We had a lovely walk earlier and he's had a snooze.

He has a Cone Of Shame because of having his bits done on Thursday, which has made it a but trickier to get him to go in his crate, but we found ham worked wonders as a bribe :)

Enjoy :)

Great news Meg!

Any pics?

I will work out how to put some pics on my profile :)

We are contemplating not crating him tonight. He is super laid back, seems fully house trained and has shown no interest in chewing/mouthing anything all day. His cone makes it tricky for him to get in the crate and he gets a bit jumpy if he tries to turn round and knocks it against something, so I'm concerned he may find the crate stressful.

Otoh I've no idea what he'll do without supervision! He could sleep in our room but I think that would then be the permanent set up!

Any thoughts?

I will work out how to put some pics on my profile :)

We are contemplating not crating him tonight. He is super laid back, seems fully house trained and has shown no interest in chewing/mouthing anything all day. His cone makes it tricky for him to get in the crate and he gets a bit jumpy if he tries to turn round and knocks it against something, so I'm concerned he may find the crate stressful.

Otoh I've no idea what he'll do without supervision! He could sleep in our room but I think that would then be the permanent set up!

Any thoughts?

No idea why my kindle is posting twice, sorry!

You can only give it a try and remove anything super valuable. Is there any furniture in the room You want him to sleep in that you'd be gutted to have a few teeth marks in? Perhaps you could set an alarm and pop down in the night to have a look or go up to bed a bit before you're planning to go to sleep and check on him an hour later? Does he need to keep the cone on, if that's what you're worried about?

We only have cheap Ikea furniture, he couldn't do any more damage than the kids have already done ;) there are wires and small toys etc so my only real concern would be if he would chew wires or choke on something. But he has shown no signs of interest in anything... except us!

He has to keep the cone on to stop licking his stitches where he had his bits done on Thursday.

Ah if it was only Thursday then I guess it's not a good idea to take it off, poor little guy. Toys can be moved so it's only the wires really I guess, it's horrible having to worry. It's axing really that it was only 6 months that I was doing all the worrying about Lola and now it seems like she's been with us forever!

When cmotdog was castrated and his dew claws removed (due to his previous owners obv having tried to do so with a penkife) he didn't like the cone in his crate, but at night it was fine as he just lies down and snores. I'd leave him in there tbh as it is comforting and secure

Can I please take a moment to say THANK YOU to you all for your advice and support? It's been absolutely invaluable.