She is not lucky enough to be in dog shows. I am disabled. She has a yard to run in with her pal JD. It has taken a whole year to get JD to play tug of toy with her but Pearl finally taught him. Even though JD and Pearl don't get to run in the highlands or go to shows, they exercise each other and have a great life. Greyhounds will exercise themselves in whatever space they have - they will run a track of their own making in a small or large yard. Of course the track always varies and is a lot more fun when there are two or more greyhounds chasing each other
Poppy has been a long time friend and owns Pearl(Aragon Mystic Pearl). She has known me through my original greyhounds and all subsequent generations. When I first met Poppy she owned Weimaraners and Beagles. Owning a greyhound wasn't something she had considered. Through our friendship she learned about the breed. She has helped raise and socialize litters, helped through their illnesses and puppy placements. In fact when I think back through my years with the dogs, Poppy frequently comes to mind. Many years ago she moved across the country to be nearer to her family. When she lost her last greyhound Angel(Aragon Shimmering Mist) she was on the list for another puppy from Lyric. Below is her story of her involvement and thoughts on greyhounds.
Greyhounds are wonderful dogs. A lot of people think that greyhounds need a lot of space to run all of the time but that is not always the case. Some get to run in the great outdoors, up hill and down dale. Lyric(mom),Whisper(cousin)and Dede(friend).
Jesse(aunt) and Merlin(father)
Some have their own sand pit to play in at home - Lyric, Whisper and Apollo.
Beautiful and lucky greyhounds have families that work a lot with them and take them to dog shows and show them off and get their championships with them. - Lyric, Darby Crash, Echo, Tanner, and Becca.
Some are lucky enough to sleep on the furniture. - Tanner and Ember.
Three cats that is. Nutmeg aka Sassy joined my other two cats in the greyhound household. I feel so sorry for all the adult shelter cats that don't have a chance to be adopted simply because they are adults. Nutmeg was at the same shelter as Bacchus for years-no one wanted her because she was a slightly overweight sedate girl. Her owner went into a retirement home and hoped Town Cats would be able to find a home for her. Well after two years she finally found her home. Now she has to learn to live with greyhounds. Because she is so mellow she should fit right in. Greyhounds are more likely to accept a cat if they don't run or dart away. One nice thing about adopting cats from a noncage shelter is that they usually tolerate other cats quite readily.
She has already met and accepted the other cats Bacchus and Cleo and they her.
The past year I switched my adult dogs to a raw food diet. After hearing and reading other people's experiences with raw foods I thought I would give it a one month trial. One month extended to two and then three months. One year later I am still feeding a raw diet. As the food trial continued I have been looking into sources to get less expensive cuts of meat than the grocery store. The small tidy cellophane wrapped packages of meat have given way to buying bulk and distibuting into smaller portions.
With bulk buying though you never know quite what you will get. This time I ordered 40# of young turkey legs. DeDe's head is a model of the size of the legs. If these are young turkey legs I can't imagine a full grown turkey.
Since the leg is as a big as a greyhound head maybe the turkey is a big as the dog?
My dad used to tell a story about a boy who was given a baby calf to raise. The short version of the story is that every day the boy picked up the calf. The calf grew quickly and before long the boy was picking up a 500lb steer every day. The change was gradual enough that he never really noticed.
I can tell you a similar story about Tanner. And, No, I have not been picking him up every day! When we moved into this house, there was already a dog door in the laundry room. The folks who owned the house before us had Min Pins. I thought it would be great door for the cat, Ember. The door is a little bit bigger than she needs but she never complains.
I keep Tanner and Shine separated during the day and I thought it might be nice to give Shine access to a part of the yard during the day. This door is just right!
This door gives us quicker access to the back yard and as a puppy, Tanner used it often. However, I had hoped that he would outgrow it so the cat and Shine could have an escape route from Tanner. Alas, like the boy and the calf, Tanner grew slowly enough that he does not seem deterred despite the fact that he is way too big for this door!
Please don't feel sorry for Tanner, he has his own Tanner-sized door in his room. For him, that door is just right!
