The Brindle Rocket

Nothing ever quite prepares you for just how blisteringly fast a greyhound actually is. A few weeks after Lottie arrived we took her down to the local dog park which is fully fenced and ideal for a greyhound to be let off the lead.

Unclipping the lead saw Lottie taking a quick around her and then bolting with a massive grin on her snout. Running makes her very happy indeed.

One of the things that makes owning a greyhound really great is standing at the opposite end of the dog park and calling Lottie.

Once she realises that one of her humans is calling her, there's no stopping her as she instantly accelerates from a standing start to a blazing 45 mph gallop.

Seeing this from the other side of the dog park is nothing short of amazing.

Resembling a bullet out of the barrel of a gun, Lottie usually has a huge grin on her face as she hurtles towards me with the unbridled joy that comes from being a greyhound living in the moment, running towards its human.

So impressive are Lottie's running skills that we've nicknamed her the "brindle rocket".

Since getting Lottie, we've befriended other greyhound owners who live nearby, and regularly meet up so our dogs can socialise and run.

Lottie loves this with a passion, and meeting up with her doggy pals is a real high point for her.

Ironically she may be blazing fast, but after about 5 minutes of sprinting she's tuckered out and that is that.

All The Things I Love About Owing a Dog

It's awesome owning a dog. After 11 years without one, I'd forgotten all the amazing little things that make having a dog about the house so worthwhile.

The Lean

Number one on my list would be what we've come to know as the greyhound lean. Lottie (AKA the brindle rocket) has the really charming habit of wandering up to either of her favourite humans and leaning against them as she gets her ears or tummy rubbed.

Move away too fast and she'll topple, such is her trust in us humans.

Zooming

A close second would be when she runs towards me in the park. Being a greyhound, nothing makes her happier than having a good zoom (that's greyhound owner slang for a running greyhound) around the dog park, especially if the weather hasn't been great and she needs to work off some cabin fever.

Walking to the opposite side of the park and calling her to me sees her charging towards, instantly going from a complete standstill into  top gear at 45 mph. The really cool thing is the huge grin on her face as she runs towards me. She loves a good run.

Home-time

Another thing I'd forgotten how much I miss is coming home to a tail wagging, four legged brindle bundle of happiness who is clearly delighted that I'm home. Say what you will, but nothing will ever replace how I feel at seeing the sheer happiness of my dog when I walk through the door.

Company

Then there's the quiet companionship she provides. Sitting and studying often sees Lottie taking a sofa across from me and having a quiet snooze while keeping one eye open in case there's a hint of food anywhere. Her company is just awesome.

How about you? If you own a dog, what things do you like best? If you don't own a dog - what would you most like to experience if you did own one?

Toys r dogs

A quick trip to the vet last week saw us bundling Lottie into the car (something else she's adapted to amazingly quickly) so we could weigh her using the vet clinic's scales which are designed for large dogs.

Wandering around the vets while we waited for the scales, we were shocked to discover that Lottie had stealthily picked up a vivid green stuffed dinosaur from the shop shelves and was carrying it in her mouth.

Relieving her of the soft toy, we soon realised we'd already bought it, as it was covered in dog saliva. Lottie was also besotted with it.

$30 and a week later, it turns out that besotted doesn't even come close to covering it. Lottie is plain bonkers about her toy dinosaur and spends hours tossing it in the air, chasing it to grab it as it hits the floor.

Greyhound ballet

This form of greyhound ballet is hilarious. I do however feel sorry for the stuffed dinosaur. It originally had 5 squeakers and would squeak furiously when in Lottie's mouth, sending her into further raptures of unbridled doggy joy.

Who knew that a small bundle of vivid green fur could transport a mature, stately 4 year old adult greyhound back to puppyhood so fast?

Dog goober and squeakers

It turns out that even though most greyhounds are too smart to play fetch and quickly get bored with retrieving balls and sticks (you can almost see Lottie thinking "why should I bring it back - you're just going to throw it again!"), she'll spend hour after hour playing with her stuffed green dinosaur.

The stuffed green toy is now not so vivid thanks to Lottie's careful ministrations, and is now without 4 of its 5 original squeakers. Its bright green fur has been thoroughly slobbered over. This hasn't deterred Lottie one bit, she'll still spend ages throwing the poor green dinosaur into the air or chewing it in a bid to kill its last remaining squeaker.

Is it just us? (or is our greyhound nuts??)

I remember reading somewhere that Greyhounds like soft toys, but nothing prepared me for just how bonkers Lottie is about her stuffed squeaky green dinosaur. How about you? Does your dog (cat or other pet) go nuts over a particular toy?

Going up in the world

Its been a month and a bit since  Lottie, our new greyhound, arrived -  what a difference time makes! In just 6 weeks she's really settled in and started to come out of her shell.  

Her personality is really beginning to shine through as she becomes less reserved and increasingly confident with all the alien things that make up our home.

Strangest of all for Lottie has been the staircase. As an ex-racing greyhound, she'd never seen one before and as far as she was concerned, they were a strange scary thing that humans used. We'd go upstairs and Lottie would wait below pitifully whining until we came back down.

Dealing with a sad greyhound is never fun. Looking into her big dark eyes as we went upstairs was almost unbearable. 

That said, coming back downstairs we were usually greeted with frantic tail wags as she nearly exploded with happiness that her humans had not abandoned her after all.

Such was Lottie’s distress that we finally decided to educate her on our stairs. Anything was better than seeing her in such a pitiful state.

Learning the stairs

Things got off to a bad start. We decided to put the lead on Lottie so we could lead her up the stairs, unfortunately her tail started wagging furiously and she thought we were taking her for a walk. 

Funnily enough It stopped pretty quickly once we made it to the foot of the stairs and she realised what was afoot (she was a-pawled).

Several hours later, lots of praise and a pocket full of treats (regardless of what the books say - the way to a greyhound's heart and brain is through its stomach) something finally clicked.

Smartie dog

Just when we'd given up trying to teach her the way of the stair, she decided to wander up by herself.

We're both flabbergasted and pleasantly surprised. Now the lady Lottie of the manor acts as if she invented stairs, and regularly bolts up and down them just to show us how clever she is.

How about you?

Our experiences with Lottie and stairs are just one example of the ways in which the world can seem pretty alien to an ex racing greyhound. How did your pets cope with new experiences in their new home?

Getting a Greyhound

2002 Losing a dog 

Monty, part whirlwind, mostly miniature dachshund had been with us for 11 and a half years. Although he was tiny, he was larger than life and an even bigger part of our lives. 

We still have our favorite Monty stories and were utterly devastated when in 2002, his heart finally gave out and he passed away. 

It is kind of funny, but after 10 years without a dog we were finally beginning to toy with the idea of getting another dog.  

Life without a dog 

Thinking about it, our need for another dog wasn't all that surprising. Our much loved elderly cat had just died, leaving us without any animals and our home was feeling pretty empty. 

No dog also meant coming home just wasn't the same. 

Not being mugged by a furry tornado hysterically wagging its tail to tell you it really REALLY missed you had taken quite a lot of getting used to. 

A big part of our lives had been gone and we felt it keenly. 

Let the debate begin

The trouble was we couldn't agree on what sort of dog to get.

My only experience of owning a dog was Monty, our dachshund. I was keen to stick with a smaller, more manageable breed, but my wife didn't want another dachshund clouding her memories of Monty. 

Although I understood her sentiments, we simply couldn't agree on what sort of dog we wanted until a chance encounter along Oriental Bay.

A meeting at Oriental Bay

One evening we were wandering to a bus stop and bumped into a lady walking a greyhound. I can’t remember its name, but its gentle manner and silky short fur was amazing. We were both smitten. 

Looking back now, I'm pretty sure that was when we were both caught the greyhound bug. We never looked back.

Hanging with the hounds

Not long afterwards we began to sneak looks at the Greyhounds As Pets website. Soon MySky was being left on the TAB channel so we could watch greyhounds racing. 

Things finally came to a head at Christmas. Stuck for a Christmas present for my wife, I printed out the Greyhounds As Pets adoption form, and bought her a dog bowl. 

It was about as different as a Christmas present could be, and I got more than a few odd looks from workmates when I told them I'd bought my wife a dog bowl for Christmas. 

Regardless, we’d finally made that first critical step towards getting our next dog and it was going to be a greyhound.

The adoption process

Having downloaded, filled out and returned the adoption form, Leigh, a volunteer with Greyhounds As Pets, and Mr Darcy (her rather dashing black greyhound) came to inspect our property, making sure it was suitably greyhound-proof. 

On the plus side, we’d just finished fencing and hit it off instantly with Mr Darcy. Leigh (Mr Darcy's pet human) asked us a series of questions to help match us up with the greyhound of our dreams, also giving us some great tips on life with greyhounds. 

Much to our relief it looked like we’d made the grade as potential greyhound owners.

We also learned that there was a big waiting list for cat friendly greyhounds (cat friendliness was a priority - even if it did mean a wait of up to four months). 

We’d already waited 10 years for another dog, and decided that a a few more months wouldn't hurt.

A pleasant surprise

Several days later our phone rang. It was Danielle from Greyhounds As Pets and she’d found a greyhound that might be a good match. 

Her racing name was Lotto Profit and she was a brindle greyhound of a slightly nervous disposition who needed to be around quiet owners without kids who could spend as much time as possible with her. 

About the only real gotcha was that she was what GAP called a cat question mark, which meant Greyhounds As Pets weren't sure if she was cat friendly (turns out that cats make her anxious so the neighborhood cats were safe).

With no kids, a fenced section and my wife working from home, it turned out that we were the perfect potential Lotto Profit owners. 

Danielle wanted to know if we’d drive up to Shannon to check Lotto Profit out while we were in turn checked out. We jumped at the chance.

Arriving in Shannon, we were introduced to Lotto Profit who walked straight up to where I was sitting, rested her head in my lap and gazed straight up at me with her big soft brown eyes. I was instantly hooked. 

Thankfully so was Lotto Profit. We agreed to pick her up next week, once we’d ordered some essentials (such as a soft dog bed, a warm coat and food).

On the way home we agreed that Lotto Profit was not a great pet name and that we'd call her Lottie (it'd also be easier for her to learn).

2 weeks in

Lottie has been with us for 2 weeks and turned 4 the day we picked her up. She’s settled in amazingly well and it feels like she’s been with us forever. 

We’re still at the stage of everything being a first. 

Watching Lottie run at the dog park is nothing short of incredible. She goes from 0 to 45MPH almost instantly. In fact, she's so fast, we've nicknamed her the “brindle rocket”. 

The house feels full again. Coming home is a real occasion, and most important of all, Lottie is a happy girl. As for us, we're both over the moon.

Getting a new dog

Deciding to get a new dog is a big step for anyone. Thanks to a carefully thought out adoption process things went swimmingly. How did your pet adoption go? What led to your decision to bringing a new pet into your house?