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?