MerseyGrey

Happy forthcoming birthday ladies! Buddy, who is a silver fox, sends his regards

Good boy Sid is also Stink Eye Sid

It was hot here yesterday. We wet a towel and laid it over Buddy, and gave him occasional rub downs which I’m not sure he enjoyed much but it seemed to help keep him cool. Our second walk of the day was at 9.30 in the evening and it was still incredibly warm. It is predicted to be hotter here today but thankfully it is deliciously fresh and cool this morning, so Dan has taken The Budster out for a long morning sniffari

This is what I do with Buddy when it gets warm. I know we’re going to get some hot weather, but at the minute, we’ve got patchy cloud and a cool breeze. We’re not getting anything like those predicted temperatures yet (and I live about 25 miles from Manchester). We’re all in the garden at 8am though, humans with coffee, Buddy sleeping soundly, and are planning for a scorcher. Just in case.

I made chips with lunch today on purpose so he could have some thank you

I missed this somehow so Buddy didn’t get his fries but he did have sweet potato skins instead coincidentally… does that count?

We have the Ruffwear Flagline harness which goes over the head and has two clips on either side down the body. It has three points that you can attach a lead to, and a handle on the back for extra control. We love it for our dog. Should you maybe look at tightening the martingale because it shouldn’t be that easy to escape from! An alternative would be a leather fishtail collar which is well suited for the thick neck and tiny head of a sighthound

Welcome home Max and congratulations to you both. What a handsome boy he is

Perfect! He’s nailed it

Grabbing him by the collar probably wasn’t the right way to approach your dog, who is still finding his feet in his new home. This would especially apply if your dog was sleeping- try and imagine how you would feel if you were relaxing and had your guard down, and someone grabbed you by the collar unexpectedly. Some dogs have something called ‘sleep startle’ and many people on here who have experience of it would never advocate approaching their dog unannounced when they are relaxing/sleeping, as the dog will likely respond with a behaviour that is not acceptable to the human, and quite scary to the uninitiated. The same probably applies to the second scenario you have described - your dog was sleeping and the ground beneath him unexpectedly started to move. His response was more likely to be defensive than aggressive - react first, ask questions later. To avoid a repeat, I would not touch the dog while he is sleeping, and I would not allow him to fall asleep on the human furniture, and I would not allow him to sleep on me. If you need to wake him for turn outs etc, call him gently to wake him up and wait for him to come to you. Greyhounds are gentle souls but the environment they come from can be very different from a home environment, and he is still learning the ropes. But it’s a learning curve for humans too - it depends on whether you are prepared to go on that journey with him. My dog has had sleep startle in the past and it is very unnerving when you’re on the receiving end of those big teeth, but with a slight adjustment in your (your son’s) behaviour, you will find that the reward will be worth the effort. For what it’s worth, our boy will still display elements of this behaviour four years after adoption (we only see it when he is tired or if there are strangers in the house), but we know what his triggers are and how to mitigate them if they can’t be totally avoided.

Bd - badonkadonk. Could that be it?

Welcome, Doolin

Straight for the honking hog! A greyhound perennial favourite. Congratulations to you all. I like Jasper. I think I would save Badger for a black and white houndie, unless you are trying to be ironic

I could spend a lot of time kissing that face

I think that, just like people, dogs are the sum of their experiences, and while their genes play a huge part in their personality there is an element of nurture which will affect how they behave. My retired racer has been a wonderful introduction into the world of greyhounds - he’s a dream with people, with the worst behaviour he shows being to ignore them (very, very occasionally) but has also been known to bury his head into strangers armpits after nuzzling inside their coats. But he’s a complete nark with other dogs and is unpredictable in how he will behave with them. This includes other sighthounds, although he is much more accepting of them. We were told that he had been attacked by another dog which almost certainly accounts for some of this behaviour. So I suppose I am saying that I am saying that I don’t think it makes a difference if the dog has been a racer or not. If a non-working dog has been trained and socialised well, it should demonstrate similar breed characteristics to its working counterparts, excluding any adverse experiences.

And meanwhile, Mark catches up on his beauty sleep!

It puts his head at a perfect height and position for food delivery. I might get a boot pillow

Social butterfly

I can’t help much with this as ours sleeps downstairs at home and is not very vocal, but when we’ve gone on holiday with him, it takes him a while to settle at night in new surroundings (generally we have gone away for four-night stays, and by the third or fourth night, he is much more at home and will sleep through the night. So when we come home we need another holiday to catch up on the lack of sleep!). Hopefully this new behaviour is caused by a change in situation and it will pass in a couple of days. Good luck!

WHAT?!?!? Call the RSPCA

Grace. She looks so small next to Guinness (also ). I love watching their faces change as they get older. Happy birthday beautiful girl

Logan . Buddy loves the smell of coffee but, like Rocket, he decided to sneak some of mine just after he came to live with us. Unfortunately the coffee was very hot and he burnt his tongue so now he just sniffs and licks his lips. I had a recipe for homemade puppacinos, which involved whipping coconut milk and pumpkin purée together. It went down very well!

Has he moved since you took the last video of him?

Damn It Petunia - this would have been a great racing name