HeyRunDog

Grace says thanks for all the birthday wishes whenever they were posted As a birthday treat she and Guinness went on a greyhound walk in Lichfield on the Sunday after her birthday where she met 65 other greyhounds for a gentle walk.

She's just applying her mud facemask to keep her skin wrinkle free Has the mulch got any fertiliser in it?

Guinness has just had one of those. It didn't worry him, he didn't lick it and it fell off after a couple of weeks

Congrats (insert name here) on finding a new home. As for his name what about something short like Ted

Stop putting the boot in. Something's clearly afoot. Sorry, couldn't resist it

You can tell Guinness hasn't been round. None of the ears are missing

Punkin you need a new PR department

I had to read it carefully to realise you meant the greyhound was Annie I'm Embarrassing not the lady in pink

She is very dainty when next to the lump that is Guinness She's 25kg (55lbs) and Guinness is 32kg (70.5lbs). When I got her 4 years ago she didn't have any grey on her face.

I think I will be joining you in being kicked out. I'm even worse as I do drink coffee, eat French fries and partial to a marshmallow with or without whipped cream but I have never given Grace or Guinness any.

A couple of photos taken this morning of my greying lady who despite Guinness maintains an air of graceful aloofness

Grace was through an adoption group but they had only had her a couple of weeks. She was and still is a nervous dog but the rewards of helping her to come to terms of the real world were worth it. Guinness was a bounce, he tricked the cat safe test and was then fostered before he joined Grace and me. Their personalities are like chalk and cheese and both needed training for different things which is ongoing. If you get a chance have a word with the kennel staff at the training kennels about the dogs personality.

How long have you had her and is she neutered?

What about the dogs?

I have a theory... Guinness's bed is always messy, crumpled up and covered in debris from outside world with, now squeekless, stuffies carelessly placed around its periphery. There might even be an occasional biscuit crumb for ron* hidden in the folds. Grace's on the other hand is usually still neat and clean and in the same state as when I last sorted it out after Guinness had borrowed it. The theory is...it is in the male DNA to be untidy and not put things straight away. So remember ladies you can't change nature *ron = later on

Just discovered why I couldn't get the greyhound savvy vet or the nurse, who has 8 adopted sight hounds, at the practice Grace and Guinness are signed up to for Graces last check-up. The owner has sold out to one of the big veterinary groups and half the vets have gone together with half the nurses. The greyhound savvy vet has gone to a practice out of the area so it isn't practical to follow her there. Of the two vets that are left one is the previous owner who is all smiles and loves the chance to operate at the drop of a hat. He cut Graces corn out when she had an abscess removed and it now comes back bigger than her other corns. The other is a Hungarian who has no bedside manner and treats all animals as if they are just livestock. I'm off this morning to have a word with another vets who are still part of a veterinary group but have more vets available so fingers crossed one of them is switched onto greyhounds.

All he needs is a piece of bread each side of him and covering in mustard and ketchup.

Create a routine when you are leaving her. Dogs love routines, some more than others. When I'm leaving my two I get myself ready without any fuss, fill a Kong for each of them with kibble, put the radio on to a station that is mostly talking or classical music, give them the Kongs and tell them to "be good" then leave. I have a webcam set up that also records movement so I can keep an eye on them while I'm out. It also helps to see if they have misbehaved what the trigger was. So far I've got hours of footage of dogs roaching, changing beds and sleeping

Obviously not the right sort of toys. There's no ears, arms or tails chewed off

Does she sleep in the same room as you? Grace didn't like being crated because although she slept in it with the door open she soon learned that if I persuaded her into it it meant she was going to be left alone for a bit. I found a Kong filled with food given to her just before I left stopped her concentrating on what I was doing, i.e. leaving her, and she'd settle down.

Punkin proves greyhounds can see into the future.

Nah! She's not weird. It's all the others that are weird. Weird is when your tongue flops out of the side of your mouth when laying down and you don't pull it back in when you get up and walk around for a few minutes before you realise. I'm looking at you Guinness

Grace is up there with the ain't rite awards. Like Mark she too likes to lay on the lawn but she's not bothered if it's warm,sunny and dry or cloudy, cool and wet. Even the word biscuit won't bring her in. She'll raise her head and expect it to be brought to her unless she thinks Guinness might be getting one and she's going to miss out then she'll come running in

Happy birthday Jagger. You're looking better than your namesake Mick

Sorry Br113 we seem to have got distracted. That is a difficult question. I suspect the top speed is probably very similar but it's the endurance that differentiates between a trained and untrained greyhound of the same size.