Greyhounds - What's good about them?

Adopting or sharing your home with a beautiful new Greyhound companion is a pleasure and a joy, as all Greyhound adopters will know. But what do we know about these dogs prior to sharing our lives with them. 

I came across a website the other day which I'd like to share. I think it sums up precisely the 'way' of these wonderful animals. Here's excerpt...

"With his quiet dignity and independence, the Greyhound is often likened to a cat.

Once past the puppy stage, he is calm and quiet indoors, moving lightly and gracefully, not toppling your lamps and fulfilling his role as couch potato quite admirably.

Though he needs a safe, enclosed area in which to sprint all-out a couple of times a week, he is built for sheer speed rather than endurance and doesn't require hours of exercise.

The fastest of all breeds (he can outrun a horse in a sprint), once he has exploded into his powerful driving gallop for a short time, he is content to sleep for the rest of the day.

This sensitive breed prefers peace and quiet and soft-spoken people. He does not do well in an environment with frequent tension or loud voices.

Most Greyhounds are politely reserved with strangers, and prefer to lean against their owner's leg rather than approaching people they don't know.

Greyhounds are peaceful with other dogs who are medium to large in size, but because of their heritage, they can be a serious chaser of cats and tiny dogs. However, many individuals can learn to coexist with these smaller pets. If you acquire your Greyhound from a Rescue League (who specialize in adoptions of ex-racing dogs), your dog will have been carefully screened for "cat compatibility."

Greyhounds are non aggressive (they tend to freeze when challenged or attacked) and they can be touch-sensitive (startling when touched unexpectedly). Because they are so docile, they must be trained with a very light hand and much more praise than correction"

Here's the rest of the article here.

A little bit of history and 'Shoebox'

A few months ago we opted in to a piece of software for saving images. It's called Shoebox, they're based in Canada, a bit like Dropbox, (which most people will be familiar with). One distinct difference about Shoebox is that they automatically send (as often, or as infrequently as you choose), an image from the past - it's pretty random - in email format. When you open the email, you never know what you're going to get (as Forrest Gump would say) and you're presented with the image they've chosen from no particular time in the past.

Today's image was from 2010, which was a bit surprising, as we'd forgotten how long it was that we'd started the Lily Peeps idea. It started from a desire to find a coat for one beautiful Greyhound. Ellie. (seen here), who was adopted from Daybreaks Kennels (Perry Barr RGT) in 2007. Her kennel name is Tully Mully Chloe from Ireland. She's as beautiful now as she was then, if not more so. An angel hound, like no other.

The first prototype coat worn by the perfect model - she'd look good in an old bath towel. :)

Understanding Greyhounds Part Two

I'd like to introduce Mary Jane Fox who contacted us recently. 

She is an American lady who has lived in Ireland for the past 14 years. For 10 of those years she ran a Greyhound rescue called Orchard Greyhound Sanctuary. Here is a glimpse of her life with Greyhounds, and her work subsequent to the sanctuary years. 

..." I ran it like no other rescues at that time. The dogs lived in small groups and each group had their own living space. All the groups took turns having the run of 2+ grassy acres and had loads of personal attentions. I specialized in bad cases.....and there were plenty.

...."I had to stop running the sanctuary for my own health reasons, and now I am helping Greyhounds in other ways...Last year I published a book on pet greyhounds that was unlike most other Greyhound books out there. It is called Understanding Greyhounds. Our Companions through the Ages (available on Amazon) 

...." In recent months as I see more and more Greyhounds getting adopted, living in towns and cities, I have seen that many do not have sufficient support from the rescue centres they come from. So, I decided to work on a second book on Greyhounds as Pets, specifically for people living in urban areas. I have written a whole chapter on weather and coating and wanted to add some information about weather and coating and House Coats & Pyjamas. " I still do some rescue work with Greyhounds by finding special homes for those difficult backgrounds. I take in one very poor case at a time"

Here is an excerpt from Mary Jane's book Understanding Greyhounds, Our Companions Through the Ages.

Nowadays, more and more people living in urban environments are increasingly adopting greyhounds and other sight hounds as pets. Although all kinds of dogs live successfully in urban areas, there are some important behavioural and physiological differences that new greyhound owners should be aware of. This book offers a wide range of practical tips and advice to help pave the way towards a more enjoyable and fulfilling human-canine relationship, and it follows on from a previous book, Understanding Greyhounds: Our Companions Through the Ages. Both are available through Amazon. 

To find out more about Mary Jane, visit her Facebook page here 

Here is the cover from each book. 
Could this be the ideal Christmas present for a new adopter? You decide. 

PS: We are NOT affiliated to the books and derive no income from their promotion 
We are merely spreading the word of a fellow hero for Greyhounds, & devoted lover of our wonderful greyhound friends. Take a look at Mary Jane's Facebook page, and drop her message, she would love to hear from you!