Happy Tail - sigh

Beryl's happy tail:-)

Beryl was extra pleased to see me when I got home from work tonight and this is the result!  
This is the second time Beryl has damaged her tail in the 3 1/2 months I've had her.  Thankfully this time it's just a little cut and I've only bandaged it up roughly (as you can see from the photo!) and I'm hoping that will suffice.  The first time she did it the house looked like a war zone, blood everywhere!!!  And I didn't know where it was coming from, lol.  Took me hours to wash the walls etc.  It's amazing where blood splatters can get.  And it took me a few attempts to design a protective covering that wasn't too painful for Frankie when she wacked his face with her tail, lol.  The joys of having a dog that has a boney tail and is happy. 

She was a right little madam to Frankie last night.  He was all set to hop on the couch with her and she gave a very low growl and he slunk off back to lie in front of the heater, giving ME the stink eye and pouting!  His way of telling me "This used to ALL mine, Beryl won't even share.  I've never growled at her"

Then at 5-30 this morning she snuggles up to him on their couch in the sunroom (that's Frankie's nose peaking out under the green jacket) like he's the greatest hot water bottle there ever was.  She so uses and abuses him, lol.  But he does love her and she loves him.

Kids on their couch

Well, seeing as they didn't get a walk today I better go and do something to amuse them.  I don't think it will be 'stay' training, that's not active enough for them.  Maybe lots of 'touch' working on finishes?  I'll think of something.

Woo Hoo

Greyhound number 500 was recently adopted out from GAP.  Here is a link to the article

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1007/S00296.htm
Way to go GAP:-)

Beryl's Turn

I fell for Beryl when I saw this pic on the GAP  website ...

At the time I was only toying with the idea of getting a Greyhound but that look of mischief proved irresistible to me and I immediately put the wheels in motion and filled out the paperwork and waited.  I was devastated when I looked at the website a few days after and saw she'd been reserved, I thought someone else was getting her:-(  But that evening I got the phone call to say she was mine, whew!!  I was VERY lucky to get her as she's cat friendly and I don't have a cat and generally the dogs are (successfully) chosen to fit the applicants home, you don't choose your dog, lol! 

I took Frankie out to the GAP kennels to meet her and while he kind of approved of her he was more interested in going to check out the boarding kennels to see if any of his mates were there.  He has been boarded there a few times.

Does Frankie approve of Beryl?

Beryl was speyed a few days later and went to stay in foster care with my friends over Easter to recuperate.  I visited her every day and on Easter Monday we all went for a walk to our wonderful local park so she and Frankie could say a decent hello.  To cut a long story short, instead of going back to her Aunties, Fatima and Rachel, for a couple more days recuperation they all came round to my place and Beryl stayed.  So April 5th, 2010 is Beryl's Gotcha Day:-)

Settling in ... quickly!

Within a couple of days she had learnt (with Frankie's expert demonstrations) how to jump onto my bed and the couches!  Um, we don't have a lot of boundaries in my home.  My kids are my mates and as long as they're not destructive or possessive and are reasonably well mannered then nothing needs to change.  Frankie has taught me to put technological stuff he can chew well out of reach (but it took 2 destroyed mobile phones, 1 remote control, 1 landline phone.  Then him wounding another mobile and replacement landline, I'm a slow learner)  But it's been a while since he's destroyed anything so my management skills are improving.

More to come ......

Beryl

I know I was going to write something about Beryl, but it's getting late so I'll leave it for another night when I have more time.  But here are a couple of photos of her taken on Friday at the park

Beryl ready to pounce!

Beryl the shark!  Tyson the foster dog watching

Beryl can shake hands too:-)

Greyhound walk:-)

Beryl and I are going for a walk with other GAP greyhounds shortly.  Should be fun.  I took Frankie down to the park for a walk earlier so he isn't left out.  He can't go with the greyhounds as we call him the 'greyhound magnet' and he'd be mobbed and probably a bit overwhelmed by them all.  I'm taking my camera:-)

The walk was 'greyt'!  Awesome weather, about 20 hounds and 2 non-greyhounds.  Plenty of places for supervised off-leash running, sniffing and playing.  After the walk we stopped at the dog-friendly cafe and relaxed for a while and talked greyhounds while the dogs soaked up the experience.  I didn't take many photos as the dogs were usually too far away but here are a few ...

Walking to the cafe

The lovely Leo

Stevie, who is having her first show soon:-)

Beryl with Ellie and Chase in the background

We are all looking forward to the next GAP greyhound get-together:-)

This has been a mission!

I thought designing a blog would be easy .... nada!  This will probably be a work in progress as I learn more but at least it's 'up there'.

The kids (Frankie and Beryl) will be pleased for me to tell you of our adventures and daily life and I'll write a bit of their history as I go along.  For the moment: Frankie is a muttley dog I bought from a rescue society when he was approximately 10 months old and he was delivered to me in Feilding on December 22nd, 2008.  Nothing is known of his previous life except he was found wandering on the streets of a small country town, extremely thin and miserable.  He was on death row in the pound when he was rescued.  This is what he looked like when he came out of the pound.

Pretty skinny

There isn't any joy in those eyes

Luckily for me/us, he has turned out to be a very easy going, lovable, exasperating, happy, handsome man.

A few weeks after I got him, not looking too bad at all:-)

And now ....

He's not at all spoilt, lives a very rugged life and probably wishes he was back roaming the streets of Taumaranui .... not!!!!

Well, that's enough for now.  I'll be back with a potted history of Beryl, the retired racing GAP Greyhound before you know it:-)  Thanks for reading.