More About Muzzles - And Passing on The Award:)

My last post about muzzles and tails provided some very interesting comments, thank you:)  I'll answer a few questions here.

A Couple of Misfits wonders if Beryl ever seems at a loss without her tail.  She is used to not having a tail now but in the early days she often looked around as if she was wondering where it was hiding!  And her balance was off for a while, her turns weren't as slick and she crashed into me a few times til she worked out how to adapt her running.

Her tail hair has grown back into a cute little point ... but only on the bottom, lol.  I'm very tempted to even it up with scissors but I'll leave it and see what happens:)

Hsin-Yi, Honey The Great Dane's Mum, wonders how Beryl gets on playing with other types of dogs and if they hurt her skin.  She doesn't actually play with other dogs like she does with Frankie and her BFF, Lucy.  She tends to keep her distance as I don't think she really knows how to play.  And she plays rough so I'm glad she is a spectator:)

Beryl playing fetch with smaller dogs.

Beryl dealing to Frankie!

And this question made me think about Greyhounds being adopted by people who already have another dog or dogs.  Obviously nobody wants to keep their other dog muzzled so they don't hurt their Greyhound.  There are many, many people who have a Greyhound with other dogs, and I would say injuries are extremely rare.  I know in Frankie's case he has extremely good bite inhibition and also if a tooth touches Beryl he gets told off in no uncertain terms!  I'm sure he's got a lot more loose skin around the neck and throat from it being grabbed and pulled, lol.  

One thing I didn't mention in the previous post and House of Carnivores brought it up in the comments is a muzzles' usefulness when bringing in a new Greyhound to a house with a cat.  Even if the Greyhound is cat friendly it is advisable to keep it muzzled for the first week or so when the cat and Greyhound are together (never unsupervised, of course!).  Everybody is relaxed then and it makes introductions and acceptance much easier:)

Also, if your Greyhound does have an injury that normally would require an Elizabethan collar to prevent it being licked or stitches pulled out then a plastic muzzle is probably even better.  I did read somewhere that the Elizabethan collars aren't a great success with Greyhounds due to the shape of their head and it being so narrow.  Has anyone had experience with them and could shed some light?

Then there are those dogs who eat their own poop!  Thankfully I've never had one but a plastic muzzle would be useful in that situation.  Never Say Never Greyhounds has a post here showing Riley wearing a plastic muzzle with a 'poop guard' to stop her licking an injured foot.

I think that's enough about muzzles unless someone comes up with a new query:)

Remember in the last post I told how we'd been given 2 Versatile Blogger awards?

Well, the rules that come with it are that you are to state 7 things readers don't know about you.  I'm going to cheat and change it to 7 things readers might not know and that can include the bits about muzzles and  Greyhounds with other dogs and I'll add 3 things you probably don't know about us -

1) I really don't like making phone calls.  I don't mind people ringing me though:)

2) Frankie enjoys lying on my lap upside down and looking at us in the mirror opposite where I sit at the computer.  He can also see out of the lounge room window at the same time.

3) Our DWTDS videos are taken, won't inspire anyone to have a go but may get a few giggles:)  I might have another go tomorrow before I put all the furniture back in my dining room and see if we can improve things a bit:)

And you're supposed to pass the award on to 15 other blogs you consider to be Versatile Bloggers.  The recipients who pick up and pass on the award can choose whichever colour award they prefer:)   So here goes in no particular order ...
BZ Training - lots of great photos, photography tips and 2 gorgeous Golden Retrievers
Little Dogs On Long Leashes - possibly the only other blog that includes a pig dog, Frankie admires Georgia Little Pea from afar:)
House of Carnivores - Argos, the Greyhound, who lives with quite a few cats!
Pet Blogs United - who do a great job bringing attention to lots of pet blogs and feature Oskar, the Schnauzer
Cult of The Greyhound - wonderful photos of lots of lovely Greyhounds
Loving Life With Hounds - who I see have just shifted from Blogger to Wordpress and this is the link to their new site.  Fun with 4 Greyhounds, great photos and quite a few adventures
Something Wagging This Way Comes - featuring Honey, another Golden Retriever.  Lots of thought provoking posts here.
It's a Greyt Day - simply stunning photos of Greyhounds and other dogs.  But check it out soon as this site is going to move in the near future!
Terri's Knit Blog - 2 beautiful Greyhounds, scrumptious cooking and interesting knitting.  Truly a Versatile Blog!
Why Greyhounds - hopefully an award will spur WG to post more often;)  Adventures with Rex, a Greyhound, and his young brother Rastus, a Kelpie
Genjis Corner - it amazes me how these bloggers get time to blog!  They go to the most wonderful wine festivals that let them include their Greyhounds and put up great photos of dogs and people having the best time:)
My Little Dog - lovely photos and stories of the very handsome and clever George the Whippet.
Dogs Rock!! - a very stylish blog with more wonderful photos of 2 gorgeous Whippets and a lovely Greyhound, and tales of their adventures.

I know that's only 13 but I've got lots of new blog posts to read from looking at my blog roll and I'm going to do that after I've joined in on the Saturday Pet Bloggers Hop:)

Details can be found at Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Life With The Plume.  Enjoy your weekend everyone:)

Will I EVER Get My Act Together?

Yesterday Beryl and I went to another Rally O competition.  We had an awesome day, good weather, great company and some very entertaining rounds:)  I entered Beryl in Rally Novice and Rally Zoom.  Unfortunately Beryl decided that she really HAD to have a comfort stop when we were almost half way through the Rally Novice course even though she hadn't needed to go a few minutes earlier!  We finished the course for experience sake and I've actually got a few photos of us in action.

I look a little lost as usual!

I am going to get a shorter lead!  Beryl is paying attention:)

Good heel position:)

Both concentrating!

Awesome 'down and wait while I walk around her'

You're not getting another down out of me unless I get a treat, Mum!!

So that was good practice anyway:)  A while later we did the Rally Zoom course which I don't have any photos of which is a bit of a shame as Beryl went SO well .... but I got lost again:(  We were half way through a weave and I forgot what the station was, lol!  My mind totally went blank (which isn't that unusual!) so I turned it into a weave twice which was totally wrong and cost me 10 points.  I keep forgetting that I can redo a station if I blow it, hopefully I'll get my act together someday!  I would have only lost 3 points if I'd redone the station.  And apart from me messing up again, she only lost 2 other points the whole course!!  We still got our first merit card on 88 points but we could have got a gold qualifying certificate, same as last weekend, duh!  But it's all good fun and experience and hopefully we'll get there:)

The next competition isn't for ages so now we can start learning some things for our Dancing Doggies debut:)

We hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter weekend:)

Time for us all to do some blog hopping which is kindly hosted by the fabulous Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of The Plume

It's easy to join in, just ....

* Link up your blog name and URL using the Linky Tool below. You only need to add you link once to be seen on all the Pet Blogger Blog Hop Linky Tools for that week.

** Grab the Pet Bloggers Blog Hop button that our friends over on Life with Dogs made for us and include it in your Saturday Pet Bloggers Hop post so that your readers will know what is going on.

*** Follow your co-hosts listed in the first 3 slots of the Linky Tool and comment on their blogs to say hello!

**** Follow as many other blogs on the linky as you'd like

***** Take a moment to comment on the blogs telling them you're from the Saturday Pet Bloggers Hop

****** Follow back when you get a new follower through the Saturday Pet Bloggers Blog Hop

Only 6?

I'm not sure how many blogs I follow but it's quite a few!  A lot more than 6 but only 6 are written by men!  All the blogs I follow are doggy related and there are probably zillions of doggy blogs I don't read that are written by men:)  But in my limited reading the vast majority are written by women.  Is it because we have got more time (!), we are more eloquent, we care more, we like to brag about our kids, we just like to natter about our kids, we got sick of boring our friends so we started a blog but don't really mind if no-one else wants to read about our kids?  There are lots more possible reasons, I'm sure, but I'm interested in knowing if you agree with me that most of the doggy (perhaps even animal) blogs are written by women and if you have any ideas as to why:)

I was recently given a Stylish Blogger award

by Sue and Song from Graceful Greyhounds, thank you girls:)  I think I'm supposed to pass it on to 7 blogs I enjoy reading but I'm just going to pass it on to the 6 blokes, so here they are in no particular order ....

Coffee With A Canine - who does interviews with people and their dogs and we were delighted to be featured a few weeks ago, thanks Marshal:)
A Bit of Loki - apart from having a gorgeous Greyhound, Mr Mischief is into all sorts of imaginative stuff, but you'll have to check his blog out for yourself!
A Dogs Journey - which is about Kassa and his very new brother, Ricky.  They are 2 ex-racing Greyhounds now enjoying retirement as pets:)
Shutterhounds - this is a mixture of Greyhounds and gorgeous photography.  If you're interested in either it's a must see:)
Whippet Tales - which, funnily enough, is again gorgeous photos but of Whippets this time.

I haven't forgotten the infamous Life With Dogs who surely needs no introduction but I suspect he has probably been given 16,386 of these awards already.  I'll let him know I've got one here if he wants it though:)

Now, we really should have a token woman here, shouldn't we?  This is where it gets tough as I've found a few really cool blogs in recent weeks but I'm going to give it to a favourite that I've been following for a while and it's Needle Noses which, yes, is about 2 Greyhounds and their Mum has the wickedest sense of humour I've come across ... but she gets that from her Dad I think;)

OK, I did manage 7 blogs!  I'm also supposed to tell you 7 things you don't already know about me and/or my kids, and that's harder than finding 7 blogs.

While I try and think of some things you don't already know about us I'll chuck in a video I did today of my Princess running with just a nubbin!  The first part I took a few days after she had her tail docked and understandably she isn't running flat out or making any tight turns.  Her nubbin probably got a jolt with every step she took!  Shortly after I took the first bit of video she took a tumble and hurt her confidence and her nubbin and it took 3 weeks before she would venture into the velodrome again!  And she only wanted to run by herself.  She's still unsure if she's with other Greyhounds about running with them, but she'll come right.  You'll see in the last part of the video, which I took on Friday at the beach, how happy and confident she is running alone:)




Here we go ....

1) Beryl and I are both Australian:)

2) Frankie likes to eat his meals in Beryl's crate.

3) I've got 8 tattoos.

4) I love my iMac computer which I bought nearly a year ago.

5) Beryl has talons instead of toenails!

6) We'd all love to live at the beach (but wouldn't most people with dogs?)

7) I have to get up at 5-15 tomorrow morning for work:(

OK, I know that wasn't very interesting but because I have to get up so early for work and should be in bed now I haven't got time to think of anything imaginative!

But I mustn't forget the Saturday Pet Bloggers Hop

which is co-hosted by the aforementioned Life With Dogs and you can find the instructions on his blog.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.  Seeya ....

The Greyhounds Were a Big Hit:)

Beryl and I spent the past 2 days at a huge agricultural, rural event held this time every year in our town.  We were helping man the Greyhounds As Pets marquee and had a good muster of people and hounds on Friday.  I couldn't be there Thursday as I had to work but I think the same crew were there.  On Friday we had a steady stream of people showing lots of interest and wanting to pat our lovely guys and learn more about them:)

Stanley, Beryl and a sleepy Tina:)

This is the only photo I got of Stanley:(  He's a lovely boy who's been with his new family for about 3 weeks now (that's his Mum, Sarah, holding his lead) and they love him to bits.  Tina's Dad is Graeme who is in the blue.

Tommy (National Debt)

Tommy with his Dad, Norm, and Mum, Maxine, Andrew and his Mum, also Maxine:)

The interesting thing about Tommy (apart from the fact that he was a top racer who is loving his new life as a pet!) is that he is a stumpy tailed Greyhound like Beryl!!  Same problem with the happy tail syndrome.  So Beryl had company.  Tommy's new parents are amazed and very impressed at how well he's settled into his new life:)

Andrew; such a lovable guy

Tina enjoyed herself:)

Beryl being abducted by Dennis, our CGC instructor:)

Dennis loves dogs and when he'd need a doggy fix he'd come and take off with Beryl or maybe Billy and wander around with them for a while and help spread the word on what wonderful pets Greyhounds make:)

I can see my Mum!!!

Adorable Billy resting on my leg:)

Beryl napping with Sarah

Tommy making some new friends

Where you going Mum?

At one stage I handed Beryl's lead to a very surprised lady and just asked her to hang onto it so I could take some photos.  Beryl wasn't real impressed to begin with but after the lady started scratching her hips she decided it was OK:)

Yep, that's the spot:)

All in all Friday was a successful day:)  We made lots of new friends, so many people have never patted a Greyhound and don't know they can be pets!

Yesterday (Saturday) was VERY busy!  Big crowds, I hardly had time to take photos as we rarely had a break from talking to people and with only me and Beryl and Michelle and her 2 lovely boys, Rozzo and Jumbo, there for most of the day it was pretty full on.  And very tiring for the dogs.  Beryl took to hiding behind the table so she could have a break!!

Monique, Jumbo and see Beryl hiding behind the table, lol!

Monique is a special young lady.  She just turned 10 years old and is saving up for a Greyhound:)  She comes along on all the GAP walks and to events like this to learn and get a Greyhound fix!  Her Mum told me Monique won't have to wait much longer:)  Monique and her girlfriend, Nieve, spent the afternoon with us and loved taking Beryl and Jumbo for little walks, which gave the dogs a bit of a breather too.

Rozzo gazing adoringly at his Mum:)

Rozzo, Michelle, Monique, Jumbo, Nieve (Monique's gf) and Beryl

I have no idea who the girl on the left is, lol!  A member of the public who happened to be sitting there admiring Rozzo when I took the photo.  I'd just called Beryl to get her to look at me but she decided she'd better come and see what I wanted:)

Meredith and Seth

Later in the afternoon we were joined by Meredith and Seth (who used to be Snuffles;) and they were soon being admired by the public!

Beryl wants to go back to her hiding place!

Seth looking handsome:)

You could buy everything from licorice to leather goods at the show!

Just around the corner from us was a stall selling natural dog treats.  How lucky was that!!  I bought the kids a 1 kilogram bag of dried liver and a 1 kilo bag of seconds which contains all sorts, pigs ears, sheep ears, deer ears, liver, beef cakes etc.  Hopefully that will last them for a while!  Jo, from the stall, gave me a small bag of dried chicken necks to give to the Greyhounds and they went down very well.  If anyone from New Zealand is interested, they have got a web site (they do post overseas too!) www.pet-care.co.nz and their stuff is very yummy!

Beryl posing in front of the Feilding information area

On Saturday I must have told thousands of people why Beryl didn't have a tail!  I was wishing I'd written it all down and copied it off so I could just give people the story, lol!

But you don't need a tail to be beautiful!

When we finally got home Beryl was understandably exhausted and the thought crossed my mind that I'd leave her home to sleep while I took Frankie for a walk after we'd had tea.  But as soon as she heard me starting the 'we're going to the park' routine she sprang back to life and made it clear that no way was she going to be left behind, lol.  And she really enjoyed being outside without any people around and stretching her legs with a gallop, big grin all over her face:)

I was so proud of Beryl.  She's not a dog who needs much patting or attention and she accepted it all from thousands of strangers, a lot of whom were children who she doesn't have much experience with.  She made it plain late Saturday afternoon that she'd had enough when she started going behind the table to hide but she'd still come out, without grumbling, to be patted yet again when asked to.  Plus she's still not 100% after her tail docking, it still worries her a little and is tender but thankfully nobody touched it or trod on it when she was lying down!

Hopefully some adoptions will result from the show.  I know on Saturday, especially, we gave out lots of brochures on adoption and quite a few people went away giving very serious thought to adopting a Greyhound:)

Now, who has noticed something different about Beryl apart from her tail?  Yes, she's sporting a new collar;)

She's the Sun, Moon and Stars to me xox

Totally an impulse buy but as soon as I saw it I knew it was Beryl and couldn't resist.  It was going to be a Gotcha Day present (which isn't far away!) but shortly after I ordered it we had to dock her tail so it became a Happy Nubbin present:)

And it's Saturday Blog Hop time.

Wander over to any of the co-hosts Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers  or Confessions of the Plume! for the instructions on how to join in and have fun:)

Keeping Up Appearances!

Quite a few years ago now there was a wonderful English comedy series shown on TV here in New Zealand called Keeping Up Appearances.  The star of the programme was a middle aged character called Hyacinth Bucket ... pronounced Bouquet:)  She had great pretensions of grandeur and class but always let herself down in an extremely funny manner.  If you ever see a DVD of the series it's well worth watching:)

What has this got to do with me and the kids, you may be wondering?  Well, I've been ever so gently chastised by a couple of my lovely readers for letting down my classy Princess by putting up photos of her in a collar that didn't match her tail bandage!!  Funnily enough (!) she actually does have a collar that matches her bandage perfectly and I had thought she should be wearing it but was too lazy to change the collars over.  However I quickly rectified matters and proudly present my lovely Princess in a matching ensemble this time:)

Better late than never I suppose, Mum:)

Right profile

Left profile

And my girl can still run with a big smile on her face:)  At this area of the river there is a decent strip of lovely sand and the other night, when she very purposefully strode away from me, I knew she was going to turn and race towards me:)  I just had time to get my camera out and turn it on but not really time to zoom in and focus but I got a couple of photos of her in action!

Go Beryl!!

And again:)

She's loving it:)

It does my soul so much good to see her running and enjoying herself:)

And it's Saturday again and you know what that means ... Blog Hop time!

For the instructions visit any or all of the 3 co-hosts Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of The Plume.  Have a wander around and make new friends:)

My Princess is Back:)

A BIG BIG thank you to everyone for your concern and sympathy for the plight of Beryl's tail.  It is greatly appreciated by both of us:)   I know it was only a bloody tail (literally for most of last week!) and it seems a bit weird me fighting to keep it when there are so many people who fight for the right to chop the tails off their breeds of dogs, but it was part of Beryl and her personality.

She spent most of yesterday languishing on her (my) death bed, so she would have me thinking:)  I'd check on her every so often and give her some love which she was grateful for but no, she didn't want to go outside to the toilet.  However, when I went to the bedroom about 5ish to put on my cruddy dog walking jacket she's instantly up on her feet, "oh, we're going for a walk now are we?  Wait for me, I'm ready":)  Miraculous recovery, lol.  She's only had her tail chopped off, not major surgery, so I said she could come with us as long as she took it easy.  I know she can pace herself and that's what she did, hardly broke into a trot but very happy to be with us.

I've kept a coat on her since picking her up from the vets yesterday morning as the weather has turned very wet and cooled down a lot.  So I haven't really had a chance to check out how she looks with her cute little nubbin (I like that description Katy) of a tail yet ... but it's short!!  And it's well bandaged.  I'm looking forward to seeing it though:)  She can still wag it as she demonstrated this morning when she was giving me the squirmy nuzzles:)  Not that I could see much of what's left of her tail as the coat covered most of it!

OK, here's a photo I took this morning of the Princess, promise you won't laugh?  We'll have a proper unveiling when the stitches come out in a couple of weeks and no doubt some video showing how she can still wag it and is looking as beautiful as ever:)

Beryl, my stumpy tailed Greyhound Princess:)

Frankie has behaved wonderfully through all this.  He's been leaving Beryl alone and giving her the peace she needs.  He probably knows he'd be well told off by Beryl if he didn't, lol!  And he hasn't been pestering me for walks or attention.  He's a good boy:)

Now seems like a good time to get back on the Saturday Pet Bloggers Hop

This is hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of The Plume.  Check any of those sites for the instructions and have fun blog hopping and making new friends:)

It Was a Greyt Day for the Greyhounds:)

I was going to title this post "Well, bugger me!!" but I thought that's not very PC, lol.  Today Frankie, Beryl and I went to our local dog training club's obedience and rally O day.  I entered Beryl in Foundation Novice and Novice Zoom and Frankie in Foundation Novice and Foundation Zoom.  In Foundation (which is a new class) your dogs can wear halti type thingys and you can take food (in a sealed container) or a toy in the ring.  I was so expecting Beryl to NQ that the first thought that went through my head when I found out she had got a merit card was "Well, bugger me!!".  I won't tell you what I thought at the prize giving when our names were called out in 4th place. lol;)  And yes, there were quite a few more than 4 dogs entered!!  So my clever girl came home with

a lovely ribbon, a merit certificate (which will be framed:) and is exhausted!

Lucy excelled herself taking out 5th place in Advanced Novice, Louie got a merit certificate in Novice Zoom and Ellie and Chase got a merit certificate in Novice

Ellie and Chase

In November Ellie and Chase also got their Foundation CGC.  Ellie is only 10 and Chase is 3 so there's lots more they are going to achieve yet!  So we did pretty damn well I think:)

Some of you may be wondering about Frankie, how did he go, hmmm?  Well, Frankie's Mum managed to totally walk past a station in Foundation Novice, it was near the end and I'd already done the course with Beryl, duh!!!  And it was an easy one, just a sit.  He hadn't even NQ'd.  Then in Zoom I stuffed up the second spiral which was near the end again.  What chance has he got with me on the other end of the lead, lol.

I still luff ya Mum xxx

Carrying on from the Mystery Mutts post, there was a woman at the show today with a red Kelpie and I asked her if she thought Frankie had any Kelpie in him.  She said she'd been looking at him and wondering the same thing.  On meeting him she thought it was very likely.  People either think he's got Pittie in him or Kelpie, never a mix of both:)  I go with the Kelpie group and am inclined to agree with Helen from 4leggedwiums that he's Kelpie with maybe some AmStaff, a dash of Greyhound (he has a real affinity with them and they do know another Greyhound!) and who knows what else.  Yes, I could get a DNA test done but they're quite expensive and I've read on the internet about people who've had them done at multiple places and got totally different results back!

I'd like to thank everyone who commented about Frankie on the Mystery Mutts post.  Some interesting thoughts:)  I hope to get time tomorrow to get around most of the blogs in the Hop and do some more guessing on other people's Magical Mystery Mutts.

And I guess now would be a good time to join in on the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop

You know the drill, pop over to Life With Dogs for the guidelines, grab the linky and enjoy!