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[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 ).

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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.

Thanks moose and peanut, anxiety is a swine but i am on an upward at mo' so staying positive. Hope you're all OK too. Having Bob around has helped a lot; forcing me out of the house when I wanted to stay in and hide is helpful. Usually come back feeling bit more positive. Started to jog with Bob too so am knackered, ever so slightly less fat and have a flaked out hound!

Going to read whole thread and catch up. Seeing as my laptop has carked it i'm on 100 yo 'phone so could take me a while!

Hope Pip is OK.

Thanks TooOld, I'm sure he'll be fine - he seems to make a career out of worrying me.

My first ever dog helped get me over agoraphobia. She was very badly neglected and close to death when we found her and whilst I couldn't leave the house for myself, I knew I had to do it to take her to the vets and eventually, when she was well enough, to walk her. Don't know where I'd be now if we hadn't found each other, but I like to think she rescued me as much as I did her.

Thought I'd add a picture of what position my daft pup thought it would be comfortable to nap in this afternoon. He was exhausted after being chased up and down and round and around the garden by Lurcherboy. Didn't look at all comfy to me, but he slept like that for an hour!

It's lovely to see them enjoying playing in the garden together now the weather's improved. Lurcherboy is such an old grot sometimes, he refused to go outside at the same time as Pip all winter - now I can't keep him in!

I've got a picture of mistlehound in a hard basket like that - but a bit deeper. Somehow she has managed to get her head flat on the floor one end, and legs sticking out in all directions. Quite how the 'neck over the ridge, down the otherside and then flat on the floor' thing can be comfortable I don't know!

We had a great day on Saturday - no wins on the races (but we might have done if the 2nd race hadn't been abandonned as one of the others cut across and it would have been dangerous to continue - it was rerun immediately and she'd run out of steam by then!) (but she enjoyed it which is why we went so we don't care at all). But DS won the child handler on skill rather than lack of competition which was fantastic - and got some hints from the judge too.

Mistle I don't know how that position can be comfy at all either! Giving me neck ache thinking about it

The pics from Saturday look brilliant. Such stunning dogs.

Blue is quite scurfy. Shows when he is stroked. What can I give him to make him shine and improve his skin/coat? It's a bonus if it puts a bit of weight on him too.

Had to keep him on lead yesterday as walked him in the woods but he was happy as Larry trotting alongside us. Probably not a bad thing so he doesn't expect every walk to be off lead.

Can't wait for the warmer weather so he can go without a coat. Tbf yesterday I took it off but what do you do on days where it's sunny but windy or chilly in places and what kind of coat do you use? At the mo we've only got a Blizzard coat, which is probably why I am getting odd looks on bright days as he looks like he is in his winter woollies. Would an Equafleece be better?

Peanuts skin was awful we got him, we got a shampoo from the vets and two washes with it, a week apart, sorted him out. Ours have mackerel in oil twice a week in their kibble and I also add a bit more oil as they share a tin.

I would try some evening primrose oil - I got some for mistlehound when we first got her as her coat wasn't particularly good and she was scurfy - much better now (and she has a much longer coat too in places - doesn't make it any warmer, just gets a better 'windswept' look). But they often look scurfy when they're moulting. I took mistlehound out for a zoomgroom - and discovered that, rather than just using it like a brush, she actually really liked me using it like a scrubber - and when she moved instead of moving off to stop it she was actually just repositioning the zoomgrooming to be in the place that she wanted it done More birds nest lining stuck into the thyme bush. The zoomgroom is even good on the short fur of her legs and she really enjoys a knee rub with it.

Congratulations your ds on winning the child handler comp. Shame about Mistlehound's race, but glad she had fun.

They are strange aren't they, with the positions they choose to sleep in.

Another one of his favourite positions is to drop his head down behind the bed, between the bed and the shelves. He looks like he's got a broken neck when he does that. I think the position in the photograph came about because dh had just mopped the floor and put the bed back, but not quite in it's usual place, so Pip couldn't get his head down the back.

Can't believe how he fills that bed now, it seems only five minutes since he was like this:

I love the one with Lurcherboy looking slightly pained! 'Mum, its in MY basket with ME and its sitting on my FOOT!'

Mine have oily fish a couple of times a week as well, but Pip still managed to develop some dandruff on his thigh's recently.

He has a similar coat to Mistlehound, in that he's a scruffy, but his fur is really fine and he hardly has any covering on his stomach and legs. I've use a zoom groom, followed by a velvet hound glove and after couple of really good sessions close together, rather than just once a week, it had completely cleared up.

Now, if I could just do something to stop him constantly battle scarring his lower legs and feet he might start to look half decent.

Ha, ha! Yes poor old Lurcherboy definitely looked pained frequently, when Pip used to climb into bed with him. He had such a look of desperation on his face sometimes, as if to say "Save me!".

Luckily for him, Pip can't get in with him anymore. Bless him though, he does like to snuggle, so when they're in the living room with us he always has to at least have one paw touching Lurcherboy. Preference is to sleep with his nose jammed right under Lurcherboy's tail though, apparently the stinkier the better!

Lola's favourite bed, dh's pillow!

Pip's done it again.

Somehow managed to remove a big chunk of flesh from his side while he was in the garden, when I took my eyes off him to answer the phone. Cue mad dash to the vets, where it was touch and go whether or not he'd need to go in for an op. Fortunately she managed to staple it. It was through the fat layer, but not down to tendon/ligament level so should heal ok. Looked awful. So that's me almost £100 lighter in the wallet (well actually it was my Christmas money cash) and typically it came in at just under the excess for his insurance.

Great timing. Dh is in London on business, both sets of Grandparents are away on holiday, I don't drive and there was no-one to have the dcs. Fortunately they waited in the waiting room and were all perfectly behaved. (I made the younger two take books and ds1 had his DSi.)

Glad he's been stapled up and you avoided surgery! And good the kids behaved :) dogs hey!

After a frost this morning it's glorious here and the dogs are sunning themselves in the garden :)

My Mum's stock phrase when referring to Pip is "That's dog's a blooming nightmare!"

She's not wrong - he is a nightmare and an expensive one at that!

He is now sporting a rather fetching VW surfy tshirt, as per advice from LL. He's not impressed, but I'm not risking him messing with the staples or catching them on anything.

Beautiful weather here too, but no nice long walk for us this afternoon.

Flipping dogs! Whatever next? Hopefully nothing. He's a beauty tho isn't he?

Wrt racing, I think Blue would love it but I worry that the potential opportunity this weekend is too soon into our off lead training. WWYD?

Well, I think he's rather gorgeous - but I may be a touch biased!

Here he is sporting the latest injured pup designer wear. (Please excuse the school holiday mess in my living room. )

Not sure about the racing. I don't think I'm brave enough to let mine run, but from what I read there were a fair few that decided not to go all the way round and/or returned to their owners halfway and no-one minds, especially with newbies.

I took mistlehound after just 2 weeks with us when she was still just a foster (rather than ours) and so hadn't let her off anywhere. We did look round thoroughly to make sure that there were no obvious escape points - particularly as she was down as a probable escapologist. All the team were warned of this and anyone that could grabbed her - that first time it was the 'bucket' man (who throws a bucket on the lure to stop the dogs ripping it up).

I hope Pip heals very quickly. Did they manage to do it all with him concious? Our first lurcher was desperately good - I held her when I was 8 to have her chest stiched up (because all the dripping blood made my mother faint) and the vet had his face right up in hers that time - and she had a cyst on her back removed under just local too when she was a bit older - mainly due to problems with GA at the time.

Yes, bless him, he just stood there quietly on the end of his lead while the vet cleaned and stapled it. He did do a little squeal when the antibiotic injection went in, but having looked it up last night, apparently it's known for being a particularly painful injection.

The vet says she loves both our two because they are so passive and easy to treat. When Lurcherboy had prostate problems he was so good, even with all the invasive internals he had to have done he just stood and let the vet do what needed to be done.

Makes life easier when they are easy to treat at the vets.

Perhaps we will go to the event at the weekend. Would be fun.

This morning I gave the dogs an antler chew each. Both happily chewing. Twenty mins later full on scrap. Had to intervene. Pooch was whimpering as Blue didn't back down. I think he started it by wanting what she had and so she told him no and he then said actually I will and it escalated.

She was happily chewing and minding her own business. He on the other hand clearly thought she had a better chew. I've taken the chews away. Any advice? Does this mean they can never have chews or is it a case of it's too early in their relationship? She can be a bit territorial over her meals and they are fed separately. Can't see any injuries on either of them. She's feeling sorry for herself in the kitchen and he is sunning himself in the garden.

Oh dear. It might just be too soon for them to have treats/chews in the same room if they're still sorting out their relationship.

I'd only give them chews in separate rooms for a while.

My two will fight over special chews etc, but Lurcherboy actually stands up for himself and means it when it's over something he wants, be it a ball, chew or toy and Pip knows well enough to back down. This morning they've had a ruck over the cardboard tube from the middle of the clingfilm.

for you. It shakes you up when they have a proper fight.

With our collie crosses, they would sometimes get a bonio each. The younger (very bright, collie terrier mix) used to rush of with hers, put it down a long way away, nip back and wait for the older dog to crack the end of her bonio (dropping the larger proportion for later comsumption) and nick the bit on the ground, run off and lie down on her biscuit - so she would end up with 1.75 and older one ended up with only .25 of a bonio! They had to be policed to ensure fairness. Have you tried offering Pooch both chews to choose from and giving Blue the other one? In the meantime I don't think that you should leave them chewing in the room when you're not there - but you might want to try it when you're there to intervene before anything kicks off. Pooch does need to learn that he can't pinch Blue's when she's chewing it - that's too much to expect.

Thanks Moose and Mistle. It has shaken me up and has given me a reality check that we don't know him that well still. Based on this I'm going to keep him muzzled on walks. He's quite growly when playing so I would be foolish to take it off. I feel so sorry for Pooch. Think she was really shocked and has been noticeably keeping her distance from him today. We feed them separately at opposite ends of the kitchen and always supervised. Wondering if I should put one of them in the garden to eat I'm case he is giving off vibes as he nearly always finishes first and starts to hover near her.......

I would also see if you can get to one of Jim Greenwoods sessions - he would look at the two of them interracting and would be able to tell you what his intentions were.

That's a good idea. Thanks MH .