Terrible News

In what can only be described as terrible, sad and horrific news, it looks like two greyhounds attacked a small dog in my home town. The small dog died from a heart attack later that day.

Having owned a small dog that was attacked by a bigger dog, I can only imagine how utterly devastated the dog owners must be.

The news must also come as a blow to Greyhounds as Pets who re-home ex racing greyhounds in New Zealand. They have worked tirelessly for years to generate positive public awareness on the plight of Greyhounds. Having just started to gain some serious traction with the public, an event like this can undo so much hard work.

It also seems like such a complete contrast with what I've come to know of Greyhounds. Lottie, AKA the brindle rocket is so laid back that she'd fall over if you patted her the wrong way. She tends to spend most of her free time on the sofa and when she is out and about she's too busy charging about at Mach 4 to even consider another dog (unless its trying to chase after her). getting her to fetch a ball - forget it, small round things are boring when there's some serious running to do.

What Went Wrong? 

There were two Greyhounds being walked and both wore muzzles. Sadly both Greyhounds appear to have been off the leash and running free. This isn't a bad thing normally, but they were being exercised in a Golf course. Being able to run at between 45 and 60Mph, should either Greyhound decide to bolt, there would have been little the owners could do about it.

Even two Greyhounds can develop a pack mentality and after years of being trained to chase small furry objects around a track, it wasn't terribly surprising that they went after a small fluffy puppy. One Greyhound managed to get its muzzle off (Greyhounds can be particularly ingenious at this as we've seen with Lottie's hilarious attempts to get her muzzle off).

According to the story the small dog had also previously been attacked whilst out walking at the same golf course, and this makes me wonder why its owners decided to walk it in the same place knowing full well that this could potentially happen again (when we owned a Dachshund, we made a conscious effort to walk it where were knew there was no potential trouble for it to get into with other larger dogs after it was attacked).

Based on the information in the story, there appears to be several compounding factors that contributed to today's sad events. These are:

1) The greyhound owners should never have let their dogs off the leash in such a large area where they were not able to keep the dogs in sight

2) Having already had their small dog attacked at the golf course, the owners should have chosen another venue to exercise their dog.

There are a lot of good dog exercise venues in my home town which has at least one dog park. Sadly what is clearly needed is separate dog parks - One for big dogs and one for smaller dogs.

The Moral of the Story

Unfortunately dogs will be dogs and there is always a possibility that this sort of thing will happen. Owner awareness is perhaps the best method of avoiding future attacks. So the moral of the story is probably best described as dont target the dogs, educate their owners.

 

The Lean

Its funny the little things that make such big a difference. Getting back into the swing of living with a dog, I'd long forgotten about all the things that make canines so utterly rewarding.

Helicopter Bum

Random tail wags are probably the best endorsement I can relate to from any dog. Its the canine equivalent of "yes! I'm so happy to see you!!!" or "oh boy am I excited!". I call Lottie "helicopter bum" because her tail wags so fast that I swear she's going to get airborne.

The Smooch Pooch

Another is the unsolicited smooch. Lottie will sometimes randomly walk over to me and gently touch her nose to mine (I don't know much about other Greyhounds, but Lottie isn't a licky dog, which suits us just fine), its unsolicited, honest and affectionate. I love it

The Lean

My all time favourite is commonly known amongst Greyhound owners as "the lean". Lottie will amble over and lean into me, putting enough weight against me so that I know she's there whilst trusting me enough not to move away (she'd fall over if I did). You know your Greyhound trusts you when you are the recipient of the lean.

Dog training books talk about owners bonding with their dogs, but I reckon there's also a hell of a lot to be said for dogs bonding with their owners (in fact Lottie pretty much owns our hearts lock stock and barrel).

Why Greyhounds

If you've been reading my ramblings you'll probably have worked out I am besotted with Lottie and Greyhounds.

They're a great breed, even if you're not used to owning a bigger dog. Don't take my word for it though, check out what these other greyhound owners have to say

So does your pet have any endearing habits that make it special? Do share we'd love to hear!

Theft, Drama and a Greyhound

Yesterday night was shaping up to be pretty much like most other nights this year. The TV was on, dinner had been consumed and I was settled in for a nights study whilst Angela was curled up to watch something trashy on the box.

By now you'd think we'd have learned - it was suspiciously quiet. Too quiet. The silence was then punctuated with the sound of plastic creaking and being torn in the kitchen. Ange raced out and told Lottie off. By the time I got out there, Ange was trying to fish something out of Lotties snout. It turned out that the two pieces of fillet steak I'd put on the bench to defrost weren't out of Greyhound reach after all.

One piece of fillet was gone and the other was already covered in dog slobber.

Making matters worse, each fillet had cling film wrapped around its edges and as far as we could tell that cling film was now sitting somewhere in Lotties gut.

Houston we have a problem

Having cleaned up the destroyed meat packaging and told Lottie off, I realised that having clingfilm in ones gut could actually be quite dangerous, and told Ange.

After spending 5 minutes on Google Ange was worried - Dogs had died from similar causes. Panicked, I phoned up our trusted vet and he confirmed that although the likelihood was low that the cling film was going to pose a danger, we should play it safe and get Lottie to the emergency vet where they'd administer a drug to make her vomit up the steak and the cling film. but time was of the essence.

Racing to the car I phoned the emergency vet, explaining what had happened and that we were on our way.

What goes down must come up

Arriving at the emergency vet they produced a small pill called apomorphine that was placed under Lottie's eyelid (there's a heap of blood vessels on the underside of the eyelid so apomorphine can be speedily absorbed as it dissolves). In true greyhound fashion Lottie was completely calm during the entire process, even when the strange man placed a little white round thing under her eyelid. If only us, her owners were so calm.

Within minutes Lottie wasn't so happy, but we were spreading newspaper on the floor which had the added benefit of distracting her from how increasingly miserable she was feeling and made the invetible clean-up seem like a far less messy experience.

Mere minutes later Lottie was both completely stoned (apomorphine as it name suggests is also an opiate), shivering and feeling incredibly nauseous. We were just praying that there'd be cling film once she did throw up.

Then like clockwork Lottie threw up. Sure enough there was the piece of fillet, barely chewed and now perfectly defrosted, but there was no sign of the cling film.  Lottie was pretty miserable and was now doing farts that'd make workers in a stink bomb manufacturing facility eye's water.

I took her outside the clinic for a quick stroll so she didn't kill the poor emergency vet clinic staff with terminal flatulence.

Heading back inside the clinic the vet concluded that the cling film was not probably in Lotties small intestine which was why it was not upchucked after an apoorphone dose. Now that the cling film was unlikely to be wrapped around anything resembling a piece of steak it was unlikely to do any harm and would probably be passed in 2-3 days.

D'oh!

We headed home worried that our dog still had somewhere in her gut clingfilm. Lottie was in the back of the car now in lala-land as the apomorphine began to wear off (greyhound metabolisms are so fast that this isn't unusual).

After we got home I headed to our neighbours to provide a bit of neighbourly tech support. Ange texted to say that she'd found the glad wrap amongst the wrecked meat packaging we'd thrown out in our panicked rush to the emergency vet.

We'd subjected poor Lottie to the joys of apomorphine for nothing, parted with a sizeable pile of cash to do so worst of all, we both felt incredibly guilty. Lottie however just wanted to sleep. Poor dog

Learnings

If there's important lessons to be learned, they're these:

1) Greyhounds are incredibly sneaky, especially when it comes to food. Even when you think you've placed food out of reach, don't under estimate  a greyhounds giraffe like neck, dexterity with their paws and sheer cunning. If possible put food that you're defrosting in a closed cupboard to avoid stealthy counter surfing.

2) If it is too quiet, check - chances are that your greyhound is either asleep or up to something sneaky

3) If in doubt call the vet - they're the pro's and will always have your pet's interests at heart

4)  Have the number for the emergency after hours vet stored on your phone - you never know when you're going to need it

5) Don't panic - We did and because of it, missed that Lottie hadn't gobbled the cling film, but had instead delicately unwrapped the steak before snarfling it almost whole.

Random Ears

They say greyhounds are sight hounds and that they can see for half a mile. Lottie certainly knows how to spot a cat several blocks away, so I guess it must be true. What I wasn't aware of, however, was just how amazing a greyhound's ears are.

You see, watching a greyhound's ears while out walking them is like having your very own Punch and Judy show unfold before your eyes.

The normal position for a greyhound's ears tends to be down and tucked against their head for maximum aerodynamic efficiency for a moving greyhound. But in a noisy environment like a city street, Lottie's ears seem to take on a life of their own. One ear can spring into life, swiveling like a radio telescope to zero in on any sound, as it may be food, another dog or best of all - a cat.

Having confirmed a potential sighting of food/a dog/a cat, the other ear will usually spring to life so as not to miss out on any of the action. Both ears standing to full alert can look quite comical, almost lending our dog a cartoonish look.

Lottie's ears are also a good barometer of what she's got on her mind. If she's on the mooch for food or cuddles she'll fly both ears half flopped, lending her a beseeching puppy-like look that's all but guaranteed to defrost any heart of ice.

Thinking of what her ears remind me of took me back to my childhood when Morris Minors were a common car on New Zealand streets. For some bizarre reason their turn indicator was built into the side of the door pillar and would pop horizontally out as you indicated to turn.

Lottie hasn't quite got the hang of using her ears to indicate a preference in turning directions but her ears seem to be learning fast.

Last but by no means least, the other amazing thing about a greyhound's ears is just how soft they are. Coated in a silky fine fur, it is easy to sit for ages and stroking her ears. Lottie will of course usually sit for hours on end happily soaking up the attention.

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?