Double trouble??

Well here we are 8 months after adopting Lottie, AKA the brindle rocket, our 4 year old greyhound and its gone by incredibly fast. After a recent 3rd degree current affairs show detailed the brutal and horrific nature of what happens to slower, older greyhounds (http://www.3news.co.nz/Shocking-new-greyhound-revelations/tabid/1771/articleID/321231/Default.aspx) we were gobsmacked and horrified in equal measures.

Lottie has been a dream dog, and even though she's had small bursts of finkiness (usually involving counter surfing and food theft), we remain adamant that ex racing greyhounds make amazing pets.

In fact we're so smitten that we've decided to adopt another greyhound. Our motives are admittedly selfish (they are such gorgeous dogs), but the fact remains that we'd be saving another dog from a senseless death and giving it a good environment to live out its post racing years. If more of us did this it'd make a huge difference.

Interestingly adopting raises a few interesting questions and a few minor logistical hurdles.

If we adopt another greyhound, should it be a boy or a girl?

Then there's the not so small matter of transportation.

While we have plenty of room and a large section that is fully fenced, our car is barely practical for transporting one greyhound let alone two. So now we're looking for a greyhound friendly vehicle before we can adopt another gorgeous grey.

Proud Parents (Ermm dog owners)

Proud Parents (Ermm dog owners)

Who'd have ever thought that Lottie, also known as the brindle rocket, destroyer of paper towels, counter surfing ninja extraordinaire was so smart?

She'd been with us since march, and we decided that the time had come for her to go to school. Her first day didn't involve any teary eyed goodbyes at the school gate as we had to take part too. Turns out it was a pretty rewarding process and I'd recommend it to any dog owner.

Thankfully the trainer at central all breeds, shelly wasn't only incredibly personable, but she was also a remarkable teacher and as good at teaching us dumb humans as she was working with our dog (who I suspect is considerably smarter than us sometimes). Prior to obedience classes Lottie wouldn't sit, couldn't be arsed staying and laying down on command? Forget it.

What a difference a few months make. Classes took place on Saturday mornings (which meant dragging our sorry carcasses and a very excited greyhound to the training ground in Aro Valley).

After a few weeks Lottie surprised both of us by demonstrating just how trainable she was. This was due to several factors. First and foremost she is a total slapper when it comes to food and will do almost anything for a treat.

The other (and perhaps most influentual) factor was Shelly who  had  training down to such a fine art that even the most ill behaved (grey) hound couldn't help but eventually work out what was being demanded.

We we gobsmacked when Lottie first sat for us... Greyhounds don't tend to like sitting of the bat, so we had our doubts about Lottie planting her bum on demand.

As it turned out, getting Lottie  to sit was pretty simple. She loved sitting on our sofas, and with the addition of treats we eventually habituated her into associating the sit command with being comfy and getting fed if she planted her butt on the ground.

Before long she was sitting, laying down and staying on command. It turned out she was a pretty fast learner.

Before long the last class was looming large and involved Lottie passing tests to show she knew her stuff. On the day I'd be lying if I said that we weren't nervous, but Lottie did us both proud and passed with flying colours.

Getting lottie trained with basic obedience turned out to be one of the smartest moves we'd made. Not only did we learn a heap more about canines, but we also learned a lot about our dog and she learned a few things about us too. Our already good bond is now even stronger.

Graduation Day