GGG and more:-)

Well, it's been a month since the inaugural Greyt Greyhound Gathering so I guess it's well past time I did a blog post about it!  I took 260 photos but don't worry, I'm not going to put them all up:-)  Just some of my favourites.

I had 2 wonderful travelling companions, Anthony (who is Jade's Dad ... and also Jazz and Leo's but they didn't come with us) and Claire (who is Indie's Mum).  Anthony did a magnificent job driving as he was towing an amazing 6 berth greyhound trailer.  Very luxurious mode of transport for the 6 girls who were in there.  We took up 8 female greyhounds in all, 4 were being picked up by new parents or foster parents.

We had a lunch stop at Taumaranui on the way up, where we literally stopped traffic while we gave the girls a walk around under the lovely shady trees. Cars were slowing down and one car full of nice ladies turned around and got out to enjoy their first pat of Greyhounds:-)

Anthony and Claire with Jade, Bess, Sasha, Flash, Candy (?), Indie, Beryl and Molly

We stayed Friday and Saturday night in a Greyhound friendly motel and while we were only supposed to have our own personal girls in there somehow we ended up with 7 (Flash having gone to her new home shortly after we arrived) hunkering down for the night:-)  Floor space was at a premium!

Anthony with the girls.  7 Greyhounds don't take up that much room really:-)

Late Saturday morning we headed out to Victoria's lovely gardens and quickly found a shady tree to call our own.  It was HOT!  There were about 52 hounds and 3 non-greyhounds there and most were wandering around off leash just visiting or chilling and trying not to get too hot!

Beryl in the coolest spot she could find!

Part of the crowd, with Arrow Wium sauntering past:-)

And here is Helen, of Aroundahound martingale collar fame, with Arrow and his little sister, Snoopy.

Snoopy, Arrow and Noel-John Wium winning best Irish Brace:-)

Bess and Beryl minding our spot

Bess with her new parents who are totally in love with her!

Even non-black Greyhounds were feeling the heat!

The very handsome Brodie:-)

Claire's Indie looking after someone else's blanket!

Helen with her stunning matching boys, Enzo and Cruzer

A couple of our local 'lads', Bryce and Fish:-)

Prettiest bitch line-up.  Jill and her Mum, Lynda, in the middle taking it out.  Our hostess, Victoria with Gillie on the right getting 2nd place and Gabby on the left was 3rd

Jill again, with her Dad, Lincoln and Elizabeth.

Me and Bess saying goodbye

Stanley the lion!

There was a fancy dress competition and I might do another blog with photos from that as there were some wonderful costumes.  Stanley didn't win but I thought he looked gorgeous:-)

Later in the afternoon some of us took our dogs for a run in the neighbours big paddock.  It was still hot and Sasha decided the best way to cool off was to lie in a trough.  Jade thought splashing Sasha and Beryl would help them.  I don't think Beryl was that impressed though, lol!

That evening a scrumptious BBQ was served and it was a feast!  Spit roasted lamb, BBQ king fish, salads, spuds etc with the biggest strawberries I've ever seen for dessert if you still had room!

Me and Claire ... we BOTH look awful Claire, lol!!  Great sunnies though:-)

Indie at the BBQ; again taking over someone else's blanket!  Enzo and Cruzer's I suspect.

Hmmm, that's not my bed Beryl!

Beryl decided to really make herself at home in the motel on Sunday morning!  Molly soon joined her on Anthony's bed.  Beryl does like her home comforts!

We had a fairly leisurely trip home, stopping at Taupo for an icecream for us and the 4 girls.  And while we didn't stop traffic this time we did get plenty of looks and also some video taken of us walking through town.

Stunning scenery, Lake Taupo with Mt Ruapehu still with some snow on at the end of November!

Me and Beryl at the lake.

We all had a wonderful weekend away.  It was great to put faces to names we see on the internet and meet so many lovely hounds.  None of whom put a foot out of place the whole weekend:-)  An amazing advertisement for the awesome nature of Greyhounds.

Our hosts, Victoria, Sam, Lily and Dougal the resident Airedale, did a splendid job organising everything and the whole weekend ran smoothly.

If you're still here you're possibly wondering where Frankie was for the weekend?  I would have loved to have taken him too but there wasn't room and being obsessed over by 50 or so Greyhounds might have been a bit much for him:-)  So he had a blast staying at Creature Comforts Pet Lodge running around for 3 days with other dogs.  I don't know who was the most tired, him, me or Beryl!

I hope everyone has had the best Christmas.  Personally I've really enjoyed blobbing out with the kids and recharging the mental and physical batteries.

Here's something I haven't done for a while, joined in on the Saturday Pet Bloggers Hop.  Details can be found at Life with Dogs. Enjoy:-)

Today is special:-)

It's 2 years today since Frankie came into my life!  So Happy Gotcha Day to my best mate:-)  I can't imagine what life would be like without him now, nor do I want to think about it.  He's a contrary, quirky dude but never boring.

Frankie and 2 of his biggest fans, Bess and Cilla

Very clever, enthusiastic and curious but easy going and nicely laid back now that he's a bit older and has his bossy sister, Beryl, to keep him in line, lol!  I'm so lucky to have 2 wonderful dogs to share my life with.

And guess what ....  Bess and Cilla have got families to love them now and both of them have a 'Frankie type' dog to live with. Their families are totally besotted with both girls, yay:-)

I hope to write a decent post over Christmas when I've got a whole 2 days off work and also catch up on what everyone has been up to over the past month when I've been away from the blogging world.  But I'll wish you all the very best for the Christmas Season now in case I get sidetracked then.  Take care everyone and hug your kids for me:-)

Me and Beryl

Hearts

You know the saying about how some people wear their hearts on their sleeves?  Well, guess where Beryl wears hers?

on her bum!!

I just noticed it a couple of days ago, lol.

We've got a GAP Greyhound walk tomorrow, I've even taken the day off so we can go!  But I figured 12 days work in a row was enough:-)  The forecast is bad so we will have our fingers and paws crossed that it doesn't rain in the afternoon.  We had a walk in the misty rain this evening and it was relatively pleasant, not cold at all.  Beryl still looked at me like I was crazy when I opened the car door for her to get out at the park though:-)

We have some exciting news about next weekend ... Beryl and I are going to the inaugural Greyt Greyhound Gathering which is being held in Hamilton, a city about 6 hours north of where we live.   There are lots of things organised for us to do and it will be wonderful to meet up with other Greyhounds and their people.  Poor Frankie has to go to kennels for the weekend, which reminds me, I haven't booked him in yet!  He spent a week there this time last year and didn't want to come home, lol!  He had an awesome time, but that was before he had his big sister for company here. He'll be fine though and will be too tired to miss us! 

So I hope to have lots of videos and photos to show off next week  .... if I get time to do any blogging!

And it's time for another Saturday Blog Hop.  Head on over to Life With Dogs who co-host the Hop and check out the guidelines.  Have a great weekend:-)

Wordless Wednesday

Frankie and his harem at the river tonight:-)

A Funny Thing Happened at the Velodrome Tonight

About 5-30 I took the kids for a walk down the park.  It was a gorgeous Spring evening, slight breeze, blue sky, not too warm and virtually no-one at the park.  It was a different story when we left the park and it seemed like every man/woman and his/her dog had decided to venture out.  I thought we'd wander along the top of the bank surrounding the cycling velodrome to avoid a sullen looking woman with a black lab on leash who was meandering slowly on the road ahead of us going in the same direction.  As we got closer to the velodrome I could see people on the viewing platform, hmm, strange.  Then I saw bikes and more people and there were actually about 15-20 cyclists riding in OUR velodrome!!!  Beryl and I mooched along the top of the bank while Frankie did his own thing hunting for rats in the long grass.  We stopped and watched and Beryl got VERY interested in these weird objects tearing around her velodrome.  She had her ears pricked right on top of her head, big grin on her face and was on her tip toes.  Then she took off racing them, I just cracked up.  Luckily she ran along the bank, I didn't think she'd be silly enough to go down the bank and try and jump the fence that surrounds the velodrome.  She was passing all the cyclists and I heard one of them say "Wow, look at that!!"  She was only going about 3/4 pace too.  I have to say the cyclists weren't flat out though:-)  I tried calling her a couple of times but the breeze was blowing the wrong way and she wouldn't have heard me.  She got down to the gate where we usually go in and some man shooed her away so she ran along to the other gate, which was luckily closed.  She really wanted to go in there and show them how to run around the velodrome!!

By this time the cyclists had formed a pack, for protection maybe??  And Beryl decided they weren't much fun after all and came trotting back to me, very pleased with herself.   I thought we'd best make a graceful exit in case we'd upset someone, lol.  So that was our entertainment for the evening.

Here's a short video clip which I've posted before, but it shows the bank that I'm talking about (and was taken right where we were standing tonight) for my new followers ... and I do apologise for not posting much at present.  Time when I'm not working or asleep is pretty scarce right now.

Beryl's Brains

I'm not sure of the difference between cleverness and intelligence or if they're one and the same.  I'm too lazy to look them up in the dictionary!  Beryl did a couple of things last week that were quite clever and/or intelligent:-)

We were walking the dogs in our usual place.  There is a small paddock along the way that someone has put a couple of sheep in to chew the grass down.  This is very enticing for the likes of Frankie!  On our way back the sheep decided to run around and that was enough for Frankie to race off to hurry them up.  While the fencing looked pretty good I would imagine Frankie could find a way through if he was determined enough.  I was yelling at him to come back but he kept on running along the fenceline so I scrambled down the bank in hot pursuit while Fatima waited with Louie, Bess on leash and Beryl.  Fatima went to grab Beryl's collar to stop her following me and Beryl gave her a very haughty, distainful look something like this

as she moved out of Fatima's reach.  She was saying that she knew Frankie was in trouble with Mum and she wasn't going to interfere unless she was needed.  Fatima said she stayed up on the bank with her ears pricked poised to spring into action if necessary while I went and collected my naughty Frankie (who did come running back to me when he realised he was in deep shit if he didn't!)  I thought that was clever of Beryl:-)

On Sunday we were walking again (we managed to get past the sheep without incident this time!) and at the river Fatima was throwing a tennis ball into it for Frankie to fetch while Bess and Cilla clung to him like limpets where ever he went.  When he got sick of this he just dropped the ball in the shallows and wandered off taking Bess and Cilla with him.  I had shoes and socks on and didn't feel like taking them off to get the ball so I casually asked Beryl to get it for me just waving my arm in the general direction of where it was.  She looked at me, looked at the ball and decided, yes, she would do that for me:-)  So she made her way down the little, stony bank and paddled out and picked up the tennis ball and meandered back and dropped it at my feet:-)  I thought that was clever too:-) 

But now we get to her sitting for her supper!  For a couple of months now we've been working on Beryl sitting and waiting before eating her tea.  She doesn't enjoy sitting unless I happen to be eating something extra yummy and she knows a sit is likely to get her a taste of it.  So the routine with sitting for her supper goes something like this ....
Me - Sit Bery
Beryl - won't a bow do?  (Beryl bows, she likes bowing!)
Me - no, if you want your tea you have to sit.
Beryl - I'll have to think about that, and she wanders away a few paces and comes back
Beryl - I've thought about it and I think a bow should be adequate, she bows again.
Me - nope, sit please Beryl
Beryl - big sigh, oh OK, if you insist, but I really don't think a Princess should have to do anything just for her tea.

This goes on virtually every night so I thought I would change tactics and get her to down instead of sit, as she prefers to down.  So a couple of nights ago I told her to 'down', she looked at me like I was crazy, bowed, then sat!!  Then, the next night, after thinking about it overnight, when I told her to sit she straight away went down.  OK, I thought, she's decided that she will do a down for her tea and I thought I'd cracked it:-)  Tonight I told her to down, she bowed then sat!   Is this clever, intelligent or just plain dumb, lol?  She's a very subtle character with a mind of her own and she does use it:-)

One photo isn't enough for a blog post so here a couple of action shots of Beryl running after birds

Fully extended

Unextended!

The past couple of weeks have been relatively busy for me and I haven't been able to get around my favourite blogs as often as I'd like or comment as much as I'd like or post on my blog!  But I'm still here and usually manage to read most posts.  Sometimes real life (work in my case!) interferes with the things you'd much rather be doing.  Just thought I'd mention what's happening in case I've been missed;-)

Happy blogging!

The Revelation!

I'd like to introduce you all to Frankie and Beryl's new .......... foster cousin;-)  Her name is Bess (Cawbourne Bess) and for a change she isn't black and she sure is purty!

Smiling Bess

Like Beryl, Bess is Australian born.  She had 63 races before retiring in April to have a litter and is now really looking forward to becoming someone's much loved family member.  I don't think it will be long before she is snapped up:-)

Fatima picked her up yesterday from the GAP kennels and we met up at the park a few hours later.  She got introduced to our little friend, Ted

With Louie supervising.

She thought he was very cute but not as much fun as Frankie who she thinks is the best thing since sliced bread ... but all the Greyhounds think that, lol.

Sharing Frankie with Lucy

Where Frankie goes Bess follows

Louie is making sure the girls don't have too much fun!

Bess is so ripped!  She will be 5 early next year and she looks like she's been doing weight pulling training since she was a baby!  She's got massive shoulders and haunches. 

She had a run around in the velodrome, which is fully fenced, and had a great time playing and racing!

Look out Lucy!

That was so much fun:-)

Bess went back on the lead when we left the velodrome and when we got back to the park the girls and Frankie had their usual tear around

Frankie, Lucy, Cilla

Piggy - I mean,  Frankie in the middle of his harem

Bess seems to love water, she just gets in the river and stands there

Water baby

Fatima brought Bess and a gourmet lunch (thanks Fatima!) around to my place today and Bess just sauntered in and blended in.  No dramas.  I took some neat video of her playing with Frankie and Beryl and just generally letting off steam in my back yard but I haven't had time to play with it yet:-)  I think she could have happily stayed at my place .... and if I didn't have Beryl, hmmm, she probably would have, lol. 

I think Bess approves of my backyard!

So there you go:-)  I thought you might enjoy seeing this little girl, she's pretty impressive.

And Happy Halloween!  I don't have any cute photos of Greyhounds with pumpkins as we don't get into the pumpkin thing at Halloween in New Zealand.  It's only fairly recently that Trick and Treating began and I had a whole 2 lots of kids knock at my door tonight.  Silly me had forgotten what day it was and didn't have a thing to give them:-(

Seeya

Beryl Committed a SERIOUS Crime Today!!!

The kid's Auntie Fatima and I were at the velodrome early this afternoon with all the family and the hounds were doing their own thing and I spotted Beryl out of the corner of my eye with her head in Fatima's huge shoulder bag which she'd left lying on the ground.  I thought Beryl was after the Tuna Fudge treats that I'd given Fatima but she STOLE Fatima's wallet!!!  She's very lucky Fatima saw the funny side and didn't press charges or Beryl could be spending the night in prison!  Of course I didn't have my camera turned on but I did manage to get it going in time to 'capture' Beryl escaping with her spoils .....

Caught in the act!

It's pretty hard to take photos while you're just about BOL and also trying to pick up all the $20 notes and cards that were flying out of the wallet as Beryl was frolicking around!

A slight pause to check the contents

And then she takes off again with a big grin:-)

She had so much fun, lol!

Eventually she brought the wallet and most of it's contents back to us, very pleased with herself.  Funny girl, she gave us something to laugh about for the rest of the walk:-)

Now, here's a little teaser about tomorrow's post.  You know how my photos usually look something like this ....

Black hounds everywhere!

Well, check this one out ...

Notice something different?

All will be revealed tomorrow, hehe;-)

And it's Saturday so that means Blog Hop time.  I got in really early this week and did a typo in my link, I'm not happy, lol!!

The guidelines can be found at Life With Dogs, enjoy!