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.

I've never used the bio stuff myself, but I believe you use a strong solution in very hot water - so assume either powder or liquid will do. Definitely get some Simple Solution if you can though, I've been using it since the early 90's and it's never let me down yet.

Lovely to see all the dogs

Mine is passed out, after 2 hours on the hills this afternoon. He was an absolute star, recalled correctly when whistled, and is now orbiting us much better than in the past so doesn't need calling back from playing. He looked beautiful sprinting up the slopes.

Any long line supplier recommendations?

We got a 10m lunge rein (horse) to use in our garden to start with - but we didn't take her out on it on walks, she just had a 2m lead on her harness (and scampered around in circles enough to tie us up in knots on that without any extra length being involved)

Thanks Mistle. MrPP can't reach my lunge rein as it's in the garage and it's full of his junk useful treasures.

Ooh, a lunge rein, what a great idea, I'll get hold of one for mutton dog training purposes (although she's currently training us )

I bought 3 in different lengths from these people. They're lovely and soft, not like some of the harsh nylon ones and they're very quick to deliver.

I also have traffic leads and police leads made by them, but need another police lead now, as dh let Pip chew through his while he was chatting to his mate at the pub on Saturday.

Pip is much better today. Was a bit worried about him last night as he didn't seem to be improving, so was planning a vet appointment today, but he's so much better I think the LL advice was spot on and he just needs some rest and to be restricted to lead walks for a while. He's only got a slight limp now and is back up to full on norty-puppy strength!

Dee looks very similar to peanut PatTheHammer!

I did wonder about that with peanut peanutpatty, he was so good at times and would then wee in front of is without seeming to think it was a problem at all. He's perfect now but it did take a few months to stop the accidents. Just keep looking for ques, put him straight outside if he does wee and always make a fuss when he goes in the right place. Mine wee on the grass so don't need to clean it off the patio.

Muttonhound is gorgeous what mix is she?

Glad to hear pip is on the mend.

Lola ate my shoe today, I actually cried! I got really cross at her and she cowered on her bed :( her chewing seems to be worse, she destroyed a full box of tissues in our bedroom yesterday too.

Thank you Cinnamon, but she isn't a mix, she a pure greyhound (unless your asking me a question that I don't understand ).

She's Irish racing stock, but only managed half a dozen races before they decided it was for her.

Sorry about your shoes by the way. Muttonhound seems to be content with DHs slippers for the moment, shoes would be a nightmare!

Cinnamon, sorry to hear about your shoe. We haven't had any chewing with Pip but have been through it many a time with previous pups and feel your pain. It could be a variety of things.

Maybe the 'honeymoon period' is over and she's unpacking her baggage (as they say on LL) - which is actually a good thing because it means she's relaxed and trusts that you are her forever home

Possibly 'spring fever'. Lots of dogs seem to go a bit loopy and get up to all manner of naughtiness at the first sign of spring.

Could also be a bit of both I suppose.

Cinnamon - what does she have available that she knows she is allowed to chew? I've always gone rather OTT about the number of chew toys I have available when a dog comes to start with - probably because we had a collie cross who was a terrible chewer - and carried on having 'naughty' chews until she was at least 3 (sorry!). So mistledog (who had a 'thing' about chewing sticks) had a chewing stick in the house and another in the garden (both chosen carefully for their anti-splinter and non-throwing opportunities), often a bone in the garden, a chew every night, and a kong stuffed with things very regularly. Then she had soft toys too. Mistlehound isn't a chewer - she's a 'play with'er - so when we first got her our shoes and boots turned up in the hall and had been thrown around on the way... She still gets a chew a night.

Thank you, she has a ropey toy, 3 soft toys one of which she regularly just sits and chews on its tail and a few balls. She has started chewing on sticks when out too and chews on fingers which she's never done before! I was thinking of getting her one of those fake stick things. She only seems to do it when we're in the house but in a different room, today I was ironing in our bedroom and she was downstairs. With the tissues we were out but when she's eaten the kids toys we've always been nearby but not close enough to see. She also has chews and pigs ears regularly. I might also try a nylabone.

Yes that is what I meant MuttonCadet, in that photo her face looked wide for a greyhound and those ears are awesome!

Do you think she'd like a split antler cinnamon? My two love them and spend hours gnawing away on them.

Mine have these and they last for ages. Bought the last lot before Christmas and they're still on the go now.

Pip also loves the cardboard inner rolls from foil/cling. I put a handful of kibble pieces in them, fold the ends in, then he spends ages stripping the cardboard off to reach the treats.

Yes moose, she's a sort of grey brindle with blonde bits....not too dissimilar to Cinnamon's Peanut!

Dee loves all chews, rawhide stuff, antlers, hooves, pig skin.....all sorts of rank stuff. Luckily no shoes or any of our stuff has been chewed except my dog walking hat, it had a fur trim that I think she took a fancy to.
Her furry squeakies get lavished with attention, lots of loving cuddles and then when they least expect it they get ruthlessly slaughtered and end up in bits all over the room

Does anyone get the Hounds First Facebook page? They have a beautiful rough coated lurcher called Mia on there, she looks adorable. I must stop looking at these things!

Just in case anyone knows anyone that might be able to help... LL need some short-term fosterers desperately as the main person has to travel to Vietnam as an emergency as her son (travelling there) is quite ill... Anticipated 2 - 4 wks. Please pm me if you think you might know of anyone that might be able to help.

Cinnamon - I would be getting some antlers, and I would be contemplating using some of her food in a kong toy - sticking it in with yoghurt and or peanut butter and freezing it and letting her have those too... When the weather's a bit better I would be getting her raw bones to eat in the garden too...

As I post this photo i'm reminded of the dim and distant days of last October just before we got Bob where I smugly declared no dog of mine would be on my sofa....see how well that went?

I knew you lot would have some great suggestions! I wondered if she's bored, she's been playing loads more in the day the last couple of weeks. Been thinking I might try and take them for a third walk during the day but it's hard with 3 under 4's and school pick ups and drop offs. I will definitely try the antlers and kongs, we haven't used our kong since we got Lola as we only got it to keep peanut occupied when he was on his own. Will have to keep the next tube from foil too :)

Peanut is blue brindle PatTheHammer, Lola is supposed to be too but she's a bit darker than him and not as fluffy.

Cinnamon, what about having a go at some clicker training sessions with her? I find getting them to use their brains wears them out far more than more exercise does and you can fit in short sessions around whatever else you have on in the day.

The more exercise you give them, the fitter they get, the more exercise they need. As long as they're getting a couple of good runs a day, I'd tackle the boredom with making them think.

Any old box will do for sealing treats into. I use toothpaste boxes, cereal boxes and Amazon boxes, as they're really thick and take ages to get into. You can even seal boxes within boxes to make the game last even longer.

When the weather's better, a handful of kibble thrown onto the lawn for them to hunt for works well to keep them busy.

Pip has an XL, frozen kong for each school run and Lurcherboy just gets a handful of kibble in a treatball because he's a tubby porker at the moment. I've just sent for a kong wobbler and soft buster cube as well to try and keep them interested and thinking.

Another idea is soaking those rope/knotty toys in broth or stock then freezing them (particularly useful when it's hot).

Will have to get a clicker, any tips on where to get activities? I did wonder if it was spring as she's mad outside with all the squirrels or perhaps that she is fitter so walks and runs wear her out less. They had 3 walks a day during half term and running 2-3 times a week. Also makes sense about settling in but we have had her 6 months now. I've ordered an antler and frozen a kong this morning for this afternoon.

Cinnamon, there's a YouTube channel by a dog trainer called KikoPup, she also has her own website called Dogmantics. There are loads of short clicker training exercises, both for training and for fun on both.

About the chewing, I give my 7 month old lurcher girl a bone to chew on (uncooked beef marrow bone), which she really goes to town on.

The breeder recommended those to me, reading on-line I was dubious about them (lots of people say DON'T), but she loves them and they seem to fill a need in her to really chew and use those fabulous shark teeth

I also have an antler chew, and a kong which i put little smears of pate/cream cheese in.

Do any of you give bones?

We do bones - but only in the summer when she can chew them on the lawn. Mind you, she spent more time chasing the flies that dared to land on it compared to eating the bone itself last year (she will chase a fly up and down the hall and quite often catch them in the house)

I've measured Blue for a housecoat. However, I've no idea what size I'm to select. From the base of his neck to the top of his tale is 30in. Stupid eBay won't let me message the seller as I can't find a message option. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

I tried filling in the jumper size guide on a dog jumper page and broke that similarly. I think finding someone that you can ring up and speak to is a good idea (or ask Scuttle!)