MerseyGrey

Happy belated birthday Punkin! What a birthday feast you had!

Well, the scones can’t have been that bad! We all know what discerning tastes greyhounds have

It shall henceforth be known as the Travolta Liberty Flagpole and we shall hope and pray that nobody confuses it with anything that is less than wholesome.

Well, I WAS loving the like button but it looks like I’ve overdone it on my like rations and I’m not allowed to like anything else today . He has gone back and it was a wrench to say goodbye. He was excited to be there - he couldn’t see Naomi but when he heard her voice he put his jumped up to the reception counter to find her. But he also did a big lean on me when I had to hand him over. It didn’t last too long though. He quite happily trotted off without a backwards glance so he is ok, and we’ve arranged to take him for another walk next weekend

I LOVE the new ‘like’ button! I should have clarified that he is a teenager in dog years. He is three years old. Our play date yesterday went well, but I didn’t have much doubt about it. He seems to be fine with other dogs of similar size to him but is a bit too interested in smaller dogs and tends to fix his stare on them. Lizzie’s parents have lots of experience with sighthounds and showed us a technique that they use to distract their hounds - they drop treats on their heads which scatter to the floor around them. It’s enough to help break the stare with Buster so they think he’s workable with small dogs. He spent last night in our bedroom, much to Dan’s distaste! Dan drew some definite boundary lines for what he would and wouldn’t accept as dog owners, and sleeping in the bedroom is a step too far for him. As we tried to get Buster settled, he started barking at us from his rug, and Dan would have decamped to the living room immediately but I suggested we ignore him to see if he would quiet down and he did (making me look like the Dog Whisperer, which I most definitely am not ). After a few changes of position (floor next to me, rug, floor next to Dan, floor next to me, rug, Dan, rug, me, me facing a different way, rug) he settled down and I didn’t hear him again until I woke up at 5ish. As soon as I put the light on he was up and over to me, tail wagging and so excited to see me. It was a lovely greeting. We need to work on the stairs. He was up and down a few times yesterday, all with his harness on so we could guide him. But then he did it without his harness and decided that he could manage coming down as well as going up before we could stop him. He went a bit too fast and slipped down the last few steps which has knocked his confidence a bit so we ended up awkwardly carrying him down this morning. I might try and work on that a bit today @ramonaghan don’t suppose you’d do a information video on getting Doolin to come down the stairs too, would you?!?! That’s one of my favourite videos from Instagram this year . Today I’m also going to see how he reacts to the hoover. So far we’ve tested the tv, radio, cooker, kettle, microwave, washing machine, dishwasher and dehumidifier and he perks up at the beeps but is otherwise unphased. I might see how he is with the nail grinder too as he doesn’t mind having his paws held but we’ll see how the hoover goes as I don’t want to overwhelm him. Other than that, we are going to have lots of cuddles. He is so snuggly and loves contact. It’s very nice having a kitchen companion again. I’ve missed the black nose that appears at my hip when I’m preparing food

Yep! We are a pair of suckers but as I sit here looking at an upside down greyhound, I find I don’t mind being manipulated too much

She would have got some bones from me too

Peanut butter and jam! Returning him is going to be hard but having seen him with Naomi who runs the rescue, he is so excited to be there so it’s not like I’m returning him to a cold comfortless kennel. Oh, how I’ve missed the smell of farting dog!

…and he’s a real cuddlebug! He makes Buddy look cold and distant . His name is Buster and he’s staying with us for the weekend. He was injured during racing so he was retired and surrendered to Cheshire Sighthound Rescue in September. After Buddy died, we donated some of his things to rescue and chatted to the lady who runs it. She told us that she needs volunteers to walk her dogs (which we did the next day!) and she must have seen us coming because then she said she needs people to take them into homes to see how they get on. So here we are. He’s a roacher. He’s a leaner. He’s a countertop surfer. He found the sofa very quickly and we discovered that he is adventurous when he bounded up the stairs to have a good look around. Fortunately he was harnessed up to go for a walk because he had no idea how to get back down! He has the waggiest tail I have ever seen. Here are a few photos of him - I don’t have too many from last night because I couldn’t get him to keep still so they are all blurry. We have been for our morning walk and he is currently recovering (the roaching video is from a few minutes ago) but we are off out again in a few minutes for a puppy play date and puppaccino with lovely Lizzie, another grey who lives in our village. Enjoy the pics!

Oh, I love the last one! But they make Willa look like a shrinking violet. Bing can’t convey attitude very well

Welcome Stephanie!

Another lovely drawing

Happy gotcha day Mark! You look like you’re living the dream!

‘Don’t hit me again’

Oh AnnIE I can practically feel how soft she is from that lovely photo

That face says she’s just biding her time…

Is this AnnIE’s answer to Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed’?

. She may not be rite, but she is still perfect

Punkin, are you a backseat driver?!?!

Doolin’s gonna doo what Doolin needs to doo when Doolin needs to doo it.

Such lovely words and all of them true

Thank you.

Thank you. We did have a great time with him in the last five years. We were talking yesterday about how we had to adjust when we got him - mainly changing our working patterns and building a routine around him - but it felt effortless. I’m sure it wasn’t but that’s how we remember it. Now he’s gone it feels like everything has changed and it’s a big upheaval. We spoke to Dan’s parents last night. They had arranged to put their cat Biggins into a cattery over Christmas when we would have been there with The Budster. I asked if they had cancelled his booking, and they replied that they were waiting to see if we got another dog first! I think we would both have one but one of the biggest things about having Buddy was the guilt we felt about leaving him on his own. Covid was great as Dan got to work from home for two years, so I felt less guilty. We won’t have that with another dog. I also worried that getting another dog so soon would feel a bit like replacing him but I know that’s not right - we would be giving another dog an opportunity at life in a home, which can only be a good thing. We’ll see. I’m not sure which emotion will triumph.

Such a pretty girl! Happy birthday Sweep!