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Banjoman

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  1. I have no experience of greyhound puppies but over twenty years I have had four whippets as puppies & if your daughter is aged 12years I would think that a whippet is a good sized dog for her to learn to handle, it is very much like a greyhound in looks and temperament i.e. fast & a bundle of mischief when awake but happy to spend much of the day asleep once it has grown out of puppyhood. In six months or a year's time it will still be a comfortable size for her to cope with. I have just adopted my first adult retired racing greyhound and trying to keep 60lbs of excitable greyhound under control is quite a handful in comparison to a whippet, although they too can be surprisingly strong! If you think you have the time and space for a greyhound I personally don't see why you would not get one but I think you need somewhere safe for it to run off lead and that can be difficult to find unless you have easy access to a safely fenced field. Can you easily refer back to the breeder of your puppy about any problems you experience or get tips from them to help out? A good breeder will always be happy to support their new puppy owners. Whatever your decision I am sure you will end up as the proud owner of a lovely dog!
  2. i wish I had enough room for something like that. My lawn has large brown / bare patches on it where Chancey does a wee & several plants have died or have burnt leaves where Banjo cocks his leg.
  3. I think that very often greyhound eyes are light in colour and look fierce, which makes their faces look alert & possibly menacing, unlike a whippet's face which, if it has dark brown eyes has a more gentle look to it. I had a friend who thought my whippets were skinny and ugly, which didn't bother me 'cos I loved them! Now I have a whippet and a greyhound and think both are gorgeous in their own, slightly different way.
  4. "Sorry for replying so late but I have only just seen your post." Same here! My Chancey came with a big bag of "Odds On" in January. I couldn't find a supplier on-line and wanted to bring the protein levels of her food down as she no longer needed 27% now she was retired. When that food was running out I opted for the Dodson & Horrell Retired Greyhound food, hoping it might reduce the quantity & make her stools firmer if I reduced the water I added to it (I'm not happy giving dogs completely dry food). I also like the idea that it contained Green Lipped Mussel for joints etc. She's been on the D & H for 2 months and we're halfway through the second bag. I also add Forthglade cooked meat or my local butcher's "pet mince" (all their left overs minced up & frozen in a roll). She still produces vast amounts of poo and it is still pretty loose in comparison to my whippet who eats the same amount of meat but has a handful of Dene's wholemeal mixer in with it. Chancey has about 300g. D & H + meat a day, slightly more than recommended for her weight but she needs to carry a bit more yet, she's still too ribby. Had to have a deworming session earlier this month, which should make weight gain more likely now! Hoping yet again to make her stools more solid I'm just starting to transition her to Burns Original Fish & Brown Rice, it is dearer than the D & H, working out at just over £1 per day according to the Burns website. It appears cheaper at Zooplus though. Carol.
  5. Hi Alison, I was given a tube of Advocate for my greyhound when she came to me at the end of January & was told that would do for worms too. Last week I found roundworms in her stools and, after checking a couple of threads here on GT, bought Drontal Plus from my local pet shop. I have been given that by my vet for my whippet so decided it should be fine for a greyhound. She had 3 tablets last week and had no ill effects. I found out I could get them for about half the price on line so I ordered some so that I could dose the whippet now (one & half tablets) & have a dose ready for both dogs in three months. it's good to see another UK member on the board! Carol.
  6. Miss. Jan, we saw Seamie's staar lasst nyte, it waz verreee brite. We send likky kissis, Banjo & Chancey. Ower Mum sends luvving fowts to yoo too.
  7. Maybe it's something to do with the name but my Chancey crunched up ate a Lego toy including a rubber tyre - several weeks later I'm still waiting for the tyre & more plastic to emerge! She's shown no sign of any distress.
  8. I've had Chancey two months & her legs & feet now have so many nicks in them that I feel almost guilty about them, she was OK when she arrived. She has recently lost most of her thicker kennel coat and now has a fine, short coat so I suspect she's always going to have minor injuries like this. She does spend her time out in the garden patrolling the wire mesh fence that my neighbour's Leylandii hedge grows through & there are plenty of my own bushes to catch herself on. When the other neighbour's little poodle type dog is out and barking at her she's racing up and down the lawn & pushing through the shrubs to get to the fence that side.
  9. Will the kennel let you have a single day or an overnight stay just to acclimatise the dog to the kennel?
  10. I have had my first greyhound for just two months but I've had whippets for over twenty years. At the moment I cannot even get Chancey to walk to heel & certainly have no recall on her yet. Would I let her off to run free? Now, no, but if I could eventually get a reasonably reliable recall, yes I probably would because when it comes down to it she is a running dog, that is what she is bred to do, that's her nature. I appreciate that I run the risk of something happening to her but there is risk in everything we do & to me it is unkind to the animal not to let it have the chance to run if it wanted to. My fenced back garden is small, four running strides and she's nearly at the end of the lawn, twenty minutes drive away & I have a beach she could stretch out on, I will be delighted if I can eventually allow her to run on that beach. As for the risks - most days I walk my dogs on Forestry Commission land, some of which is heathland, home to the only poisonous snake in the UK. Whenever I take them there in the summer months I run the risk of them getting bitten by an Adder, a friend's whippet died after being bitten, it wasn't loose, it wasn't running free, it was on a lead, standing on the grass at the side of the path while other dog walkers passed by, it was just unlucky that an Adder must have been hiding in that patch of grass or undergrowth. I know I run that risk every time I walk my dogs in the forest but they need the opportunity to walk in pleasant conditions with lots of interesting smells etc. rather than only walk the pavements around my housing estate. When it comes down to it a dog is a dog & should be allowed to do the things a dog needs to do and a greyhound or a whippet needs to have the opportunity to run. whether it makes the most of that opportunity only the dog can decide but all of my whippets have enjoyed the freedom of running on that beach & chasing a squirrel through the trees in the forest. My heart has been in my mouth several times when they've disappeared for a while but I could never keep them on a lead for the whole of their life with me.
  11. Maybe you should do your training when he is hungry and wanting food? As I have been transitioning Chancey on to a new food i haven't wanted to give her too many treats and upset her tummy so I've been teaching "touch" my hand while waiting for her kibble to soak using pieces dry kibble and she now will 'touch' to earn her meal.. Also been working on "Look at me" using kibble, small pieces of cheese or any other foodstuffs like vegetables when I'm preparing them for cooking. After her first hesitant taste she now loves apple cores & comes out to the kitchen when she realises I'm peeling an apple so she has to "Look at me" for her piece.
  12. I am delighted to find this thread. Chancey has been with me for six weeks and for the best part of three weeks I've been transitioning her from the high protein racing greyhound food that she came with, to this:- http://www.dodsonandhorrellpetfood.co.uk/dog-food/working-dogs-and-greyhound-food/pet-greyhound In the last week she has suddenly gone scurfy along her back & today when a friend rubbed his hand along her back there was hair coming loose everywhere. As I was near the pet shop this afternoon I bought a large bottle of Cod Liver Oil as I thought a spoonful on her dinner might help improve her coat. i wasn't sure if it was because I've kept the heating on during the time she has been with me & the temperature difference was making her moult or whether the new food didn't suit her. As my whippet isn't moulting i didn't think it could be just an annual moult but it appears it could well be!
  13. Thanks Chris, I hadn't thought of a squeeky toy as a treat, she does like them but kills them within minutes. I find I run out of hands when walking with two dogs. As the whole idea of getting another dog was to keep Banjo company I don't want to walk just her & leave him behind to stress out! Providing nobody else wants to use the kennel run I think I can have it when I want so could hire it 11.30.a.m. - 12.30. p.m. and have half an hour playing with my dogs in the run with other dogs around and half an hour training / playing time without too much distraction. I feed the dogs around 1.00.p.m. so I need to use it before their lunch time but, being an outdoor run and with the recent weather conditions I might just need to ask them if I can go on a certain day & time my visit to suit the weather. A lot of the fields around the kennels are flooded, with water running off them and across the roads.
  14. Chancey has been with me for five weeks now & has settled in at home very well. She is straight off the track (her last race was the end of December) & when out walking she is permanently on the alert for anything that moves, people walking in the distance, a cyclist riding away from us & especially people walking dogs have her pulling like mad. I am working on stopping her permanently pulling into her collar & by the time we are nearing the end of our walk she is usually a little more relaxed. When she sees another dog she is frantic to get to them & I sometimes have a screaming bucking bronco on the end of the lead, yet she walks happily with my own whippet and the whippet & IG who walk with us most mornings. I don't think she is aggressive, she just wants to go and see them, although I'm pretty sure she would chase any small fluffy that ran away from her! I am currently working on "Look at me" at home but at the moment when we are outside nothing distracts her. i have been unable to get her to sit at all, she almost seems to have to think about getting into a "sit" when she wants to! Because I am aware that she is still "keen" & there are often small dogs running loose I have a plastic muzzle on her when walking in the forest but she often nearly knocks me over or trips me up when rubbing her head against my legs trying to get it off. When walking around the housing estate where we live I prefer not to have the muzzle on as we are unlikely to meet a loose dog and I can always cross the road or detour if I think I need to avoid another dog & owner. I have found a local boarding kennel that is prepared to rent out one of their exercise pens which would give Chancey the opportunity to have a little freedom and a lope around & where I can safely do off lead recall work with her. We investigated it & spent a short time there this week and Chancey spent the early part of the time running the fence watching the smaller dogs that were out in a neighbouring exercise area but after a while she seemed to lose interest a little. I can choose what time I want to use this area & wonder if it would desensitise her to small / other dogs if I go there when I know the kennel dogs are going to be out in their exercise pens & she gets to see them & used to their proximity but cannot meet / chase them? Or I can go at lunch time when I know there will be no other dogs out so no distractions if I want to do some training with her. We have not done much training outside in my small garden as the weather has been wet & windy since she came to me & all grassy areas are just sodden & squelchy. Suggestions would be appreciated, please. Thank you. Carol.
  15. I was always told that with sighthounds like whippets, salukis and greyhounds six feet high fencing was necessary. Greyhounds have been known to clear six feet high fencing in kennels. My neighbour has just replaced wooden fencing that came down in the gales we've been having in UK. Some of it is six feet high and some five feet. I am buying extra trellis to go on top to make sure it is all six feet high.
  16. I've had Chancey two weeks and she pulls like mad 'cos she is just so keen to see people, horses, other dogs and everything on our walks. I'm working on the stop and go the other way system with her but cannot interest her in even the smelliest bacon flavour treat to reward her for looking away from what interests her, her intensity is amazing. She is only a month off the track so everything is new for her, although I was told she was used to horses. Unfortunately I have nowhere to exercise her before we go out & the weather has been so bad (rain & gale force winds) that most walks are short and sweet with very little distance covered because we backtrack every few paces. I have to walk my whippet at the same time so life is certainly interesting at the moment!
  17. "Any suggestions on how to practice the recall for newbies? " Hi, I am not a trainer but I have had sight hounds (Whippets) for over twenty years. My first greyhound arrived in my house two weeks ago & I have nowhere safe to train her recall except my house and small back garden. I was taught to do all recall work on the lead at first, gradually using a longer & longer lead. If you have somebody to help by holding the dog's collar once they are let off the lead that helps unless you have perfected a reliable "stay" or "wait" command. With luck, after a little while you can do the recalls between you. If you find Wiley ignores the command "Come" or whatever word you use, try using a new command & work with him on the lead so that he cannot ignore you. Whether you use treats, clicker or verbal praise will probably depend on what you've used so far. After a while I add in a dog whistle to the command because that sound carries further than the human voice, especially on windy days. This is something I am going to have to work on with Chancey because unless I can get a good recall with her she will never have the opportunity to run free as there are no safely fenced areas I can let her loose in. Hope this helps. Carol.
  18. Upload them to Photobucket then copy the IMG link & paste it here.
  19. I have had Chancey just a week & she is currently eating the racing greyhound dried food that I was given, a 27% protein one. I was told to give her 4 cups a day + the equivalent of a tin of dog food. She needs to put on a good bit of weight and is getting two good size cups + half tin / packet of wet food at 1.00.p.m. & the same again at 9.00.p.m. I am trying to get her to produce nice firm poops and have cut down the amount of water I soak the dried food in. It seems to be working but she still produces quite a few poops daily, some better than others! Chancey is 5 years old & my first greyhound so it is trial and error here.
  20. Banjoman

    Lucas

    We know how much you will miss Lucas.
  21. Banjoman

    Little Millie

    Thinking of all Little Millie's family at this time.
  22. My little Japanese Chin who has always been pretty independent since I got her at 6 years old, started following me around, settling down in whichever room I was in. Eventually I decided it was because she was going deaf and seeing me was the only way she knew where I was.
  23. If she has Saluki in her be prepared for something that can run and not stop. A friend used to call her son's Salukis "horizon dogs" 'cos they always disappeared over the horizon when let off the lead.
  24. Banjoman

    Shadow

    While it hurts your heart, you know you did the right thing by Shadow and that is what matters. Thinking of you at this time, Carol.
  25. A life lived well and full of love.
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