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.

DS is looking forward to taking mistlehound into the young handlers class on Sat - he did well at that one last year - then he was awful at Peterborough when he forgot everything and tried to get her to stop sitting by pulling her head (from ears) forward . I was on the other ring collecting entrance money and sorting the prizes out etc so I couldn't do anything about it - DH should have reminded him how to get her to do things. It did show they had a good bond though as she steadfastly ignored it and then complied when he asked more reasonably

Just got a groupon for a family ticket to all About dogs for £13.99 or two people for £7.99.

Isn't there a greyhound type show in Newmarket in may too?

What's All About Dogs?

I don't think we will make Askern. Such a shame.

I let Blue have a wander with his lead draped over his back this morning on our walk and he was cute. Followed my hand with the treats me sweetly. Did a bit of sit, wait and whistle and he responded well. So will build it up slowly. Won't be letting him have any wanderings in the woods anytime soon.

I've also signed up for the local GBGW too

This is the groupon and it should link to the website too.

Yay for blue, what a good boy :)

Thanks Cinnamon!

I've pencilled in the Evesham show on the 25th, will check with dh nearer the time.

Our GBGW is in July I think in Gloucester and there is also a paws on patrol type thing, anyone np been to one of those?

All sounds very encouraging with Blue Peanutpatty

The Newmarket event is the same weekend as Evesham, which is why we're not going to it (Evesham booked us first). If you're over that side of the country it's great, and there's also the big Greyhound Walks show at Braintree in Essex in August.

GBGB is in June - Sunday 22nd. We are putting cards about it in with all our orders at the moment. There's a website where you can look up the nearest walk, and buy funky merchandise. I'm wearing my wristband as I type this.

There's a couple of very useful pages on FB which list things like Sighthound events, walks, shows etc. There are masses in the summer.

Please to share those group names Scuttle? Might already be a member! Would like to meet some local hounds and their owners. There is a man with three who walks near me but he has been keeping a distance while give had Blue. In a respectful way as his scruffy hound likes to go zoomie zoom so he's kindly giving us some settling in space I think.

Let's hope it continues Pat!

On FB, there's Sighthound Meets, Walks, Shows & Events.

It's worth keeping an eye on local sighthound rescue FB pages, and more local sighthound groups e.g. I'm in South Wales Sighthound Walks.

For fun dog shows there is also UK Dog Show & Events Calendar - this also has things like seminars, training events etc.

There's a workshop by Jim Greenwood at Pear Tree Farm over the easter weekend I think - details are on the LL site. He's also running something down in the SW by the look of it - anyone with a pointy dog with any issues would get a lot out of attending one of his workshops - and they're not expensive either.

You guys are a wealth of knowledge :)

We met a man with 2 black greys and a poodle/collie/grey cross who was lovely this morning.

Off lead sessions are going well. He has learnt that the whistle after Sit, Wait and "toot toot" means treats. He's gone from trotting politely back to me to full on pelt! It's good. If a little unnerving .

Whilst off lead today we saw Lurcher man again and I left Blue off to see how he was and they had polite introductions and then they decided a game of chase was in order. Blue caught up his new scruffy pal and they ran round us in a huge circle at terrifying speed but it was amazing to watch. I was simply speechless and could have watched him run all day. Sorry that MrPP missed it. He did come back to me which was the best bit of all. As he was racing round I did keep thinking "should have kept him on lead, should have kept him on lead, what have I done, what have I done, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, thank goodness here he comes! Phew" and reeeeeeeeeeelax.

I still feel like that every time I let mine off Pat - in fact I have exactly the same commentary going on in my head.

Sounds like it's going really well with Blue.

It's one of the great joys in owning a speedy hound,I never tire of watching my boy let rip,puts a big smile on my face

Hee hee Moose! Is it bad that glad it's not just me who has these moments? I'm praying that the recall carries on once he's unpacked his bags.

When he is off lead he lags back a bit behind me and as soon as I turn to see where he is and I catch his eye he catches me up. He has gone from sticking close to me to now taking himself off for a wee then catching me up again so he is relaxing a bit more which is nice.

I'm making sure I do lots of collar touching when he recalls and also lots of on/off so we hopefully don't have a situation where he won't come back to me because he thinks I always mean game over. Well that's the theory! Practice might be a whole different ball game.

Gooner its an absolute joy to watch isn't it? I've been smiling all day when I think back to it.

Hi everyone!

Haven't read everything just dropping in to say hello. Bob is beautiful and getting better each day. Six months to the day tomorrow since we adopted him! Where has that time gone. Been quite poorly with my long-standing anxiety lately so just been dipping in and out of MN. Hope all are OK, just wanted to say hello

and to share this boooootiful photo

Hello TooOld! Can't see pic as on app. Is it Bob?

I think MrPP is going to need to do a bit of training with Blue. We were playing up the park and MrPP was calling him and he soon figured out MrPP didn't have any treats and so stopped recalling and made a beeline for me. He then stayed with me! I know he only loves me for my treats. Shallow hound.

It is indeed Bob, displaying his lovely gormless 'im asleep here are my teeth' face

Aw TooOld, I have similar ishoos, so do understand. Hope you're OK?

Lovely picture of Bob. Pip sleeps like that too. Sometimes when he's asleep on his side he looks for all the world like a dead dog - especially when he first arrived and was really emaciated. It's just the way he has his mouth slightly ajar and all his teeth and gums on display - never seen another dog do anything quite like it.

Yesterday dh and I spent the whole day (9 Godforsaken hours) emptying the boys' bedroom, reorganising the furniture and sorting stuff for charity and Pip didn't yell when we left him downstairs!

This is massive progress. A few months ago I couldn't even go upstairs for a few minutes without him yelling the place down and now he just sleeps in his bed.

Moose that is outstanding! You must be overjoyed!

Pat I completely didn't register about the anxiety. Understanding from me too. Makes life proper shite at times doesn't it? The dogs have made a big difference here. A hound cuddle can really work it's magic.

That's really good news moosemama!

Sorry to hear several of you are struggling with anxiety. A very close friend of mine took drugs to stop her wanting to smoke and one of the side effects was panic attacks, she'd never suffered before and it's taken her years to get it under control. She's mostly ok now but it was so hard for her for a long time.

Thank you.

I should add that we didn't leave him on his own downstairs for 9 hours. That's just how long it took overall and whilst dh was up and down, I spent most of the time upstairs, so it's a massive breakthrough for him.

Hoping the improvement continues, as we have to start gradually introducing him to kennels this month. Planning to do it very slowly - just a walk around first, then leaving him for an hour while we go to lunch, then for an afternoon and finally an overnight where we drop him at closing time and pick him up as soon as they open. I'm dreading it, but it has to be done, as there's no-one else to have the dogs for us and I'm always conscious of what might happen if there's an emergency hospital admission or something for us to deal with.

Bit worried about Pip tonight actually. He's been shivering a little this evening, but it's not cold at all. No other symptoms, he doesn't seem like he's hot or has a temperature and he's been full of beans all day, having a blast with Lurcherboy chasing him round and round the garden. He did have a bit of an upset stomach earlier in the week though, so I think I will keep a close eye on him and book him into the vets if I see him shivering again.