Hi From Wisconsin

[Guest bordermutts]

Hi all, new here... I don't have a greyhound yet but as soon as I can, I will. I've been lurking around on the boards for a while, but for some reason the site wouldn't let me register until today. Anyway, I'm an 18 year-old college freshman from southeastern WI, and I currently live with 2 wonderful rescued Border collie mixes (Smush, the little floppy-eared one is mine and Chopper, the one that looks like a jackal, belongs to my mom). I compete in flyball racing with mine (Chopper is still 'in training') and am working on agility, which Smushie LOVES, although we're not quite ready to compete yet.

Here they are up at our cabin last fall (hence the blaze orange, just to be safe).

 

Since I'm in school and still living at home, another dog is out of the question right now (*sigh*...), but as soon as I am financially able, I want to start fostering rescue dogs - I will probably alternate between retired greyhounds and herding dogs from the rescue we got our boys from. I am going to try and only let myself keep dogs that show potential for flyball, agility, lure coursing, etc. (because I know that otherwise I will want to keep them all ). My interest in greyhounds probably probably stems both from my love of rescue dogs, and my love of dogs that are fast and athletic (what can I say, it must be the flyball ). I am also totally cool with the idea of a dog that is happy to just chill out in the house whenever they're not "working." (The border mutts are kind of hyper, but luckily they have each other to play with so they keep each other busy ^.^ )

 

Also, my first dog (who we had to pts this spring at 13 due to cancer) was a Siberian husky, so I'm more than used to the whole "can't be trusted off-leash" deal. Huskies are almost worse because if they get loose, they will run whether there is anything to chase or not Although they are considerably slower, so I suppose it evens out.

Here's a pic of Sadie (the husky) and Smush pulling me on my scooter a couple of years ago:

 

Smush and Chopper love to pull me too... can you tell they grew up with a husky?

 

We ran our first dryland (on wheels) sled dog race last fall in Antigo, WI:

 

Oh yeah, and Smushie absolutely LOVES to lure course! He is crazy about it... unfortunately we've only been able to do it a couple of times, and so I don't have any pictures, but I have never seen him move so fast in his life If he weren't so darn short I'd think he was part whippet I really wish there were more organized lure coursing for non-sighthounds... oh well (I guess that will be another perk when I finally get my greyhound... someday... *sigh*). I also have a lure pole that I use in the backyard; both the boys are nuts about it. Amazing how a plastic bag on a rope can give them so much joy

 

 

 

Anyway, I probably won't be posting a lot on the boards because obviously I don't have a whole lot of greyhound-related experience to share (yet ), but have already learned a ton from the people on here and I'm sure I will continue to do so, and overall, everyone on here just seems really nice

 

~Annie and the crazy border mutts <3

 

 

[BertnLil]

Welcome from NJ!! Your dogs are beautiful!

[Guest KyGrey]

Hi Annie! Welcome! You have beautiful dogs and you can post here even if you don't have a greyhound. But, when you get your first one just remember they are like potato chips and you can't stop at just one. I would love to see more pics of the dogs and hear more about them.

[Guest houndstooth4]

Those are some cute pups you've got there! :

[Guest greyhound1]

Welcome from Florida!

[Guest bordermutts]

Thanks ^.^ And yes, I know all about the potato chip thing... my family already has a bad track record on that one... look what happened with our herding dogs I got Smushie and my mom was just so impressed with him that a couple of years later, she decided that she just had to have one for herself... I tried to warn her, but it was no use... Our city allows up to 3 dogs and the only reason we aren't fostering is because the economy is so bad that we just can't afford it.

 

Anyway, here's more pictures, as requested:

We're not in this one, but it's our flyball team... I love them, they are amazing

 

I wish I had more sports pictures, but unfortunately I never seem to remember the camera... and the one time I did, I figured out that it has an "action shot" setting AFTER I got home from the tournament with a camera full of blurry pictures... like this one... heh heh (In case you can't tell, it's a pic of Smush racing... my mom took it... I wish I could say the blur was due to Smush's speed, but alas no... we just didn't know how to use the camera

 

I'm curious to see if anyone on here does any sports with their greys? I've seen pictures of greys doing flyball/agility, and I've seen a ton of whippets in flyball (as well as a sighthound mix from Hurricane Katrina who is on our team), so I know it can be done, but I wonder how easy it is to train them (I'm guessing it will be way different from training my herding dogs). When I start looking for a grey I will probably just look for the most hyper, crazy one I can find since it will probably still be mellower than the dogs I'm used to, heh heh ^.^

 

Oh, and since you're probably all going to want to see pictures of that sighthound mix, I went and dug some up for ya... enjoy ^.^

His name is Mojo... he's adorable... he belongs to the lady on my team who runs the Southeastern Wisconsin Herding Dog Rescue; she wound up with him because when he first came up from Katrina as a tiny little puppy, everyone thought he was a Sheltie/Jack Russell mix... and then he grew into, well... this And of course he was just so amazing that she couldn't get rid of him <3 She thinks he's a Podengo with floppy ears (she's had breeders say so), although they're so rare that I wouldn't be surprised if he's just some kind of lurcher. Whatever the heck he is, we love him ^.^ And he's a great flyball dog too.

[SIGreyLady]

Welcome from Staten Island, NY. Do you also enter them in obedience ?

[momtogeorge]

Hi and welcome from Northern California. I used to lure course with my 2 greyhounds with Northern California Borzoi Rescue. My George is now considered a senior at age 8 and he would only be eligible to race a half track so I no longer take them. NCBR has an All American class which is for any dog other than sight hounds. Lots of fun to see a JRT lure coursing! I hope you can find a group that has such a class for your Border Collies.

[Guest GreytMuse]

Welcome to our community! Glad you found us and keep those pictures coming!

[djsgreys]

Welcome from Gibbons, Canada. Love your pups!

[Guest bordermutts]

Welcome from Staten Island, NY. Do you also enter them in obedience ?

 

Well, they're both trained in basic obedience, but I don't do it competitively... I'm sure they could do it (and probably be really good at it if I tried), but with me being in school and all, both time and money are kind of tight right now, so I stick to the events that I find really fun and exciting. Even then, I still don't have as much time as I would like to devote to my dogs' training and conditioning (we're kind of weekend warriors, unfortunately ). And there are other sports that I'm interested in, too, like herding and tracking, but unfortunately I definitely don't have time or money to pursue those right now.

 

Hi and welcome from Northern California. I used to lure course with my 2 greyhounds with Northern California Borzoi Rescue. My George is now considered a senior at age 8 and he would only be eligible to race a half track so I no longer take them. NCBR has an All American class which is for any dog other than sight hounds. Lots of fun to see a JRT lure coursing! I hope you can find a group that has such a class for your Border Collies.

 

That's cool... there actually are a couple of clubs around here - For Pet's Sake Dog Training and Lure Coursing Fanatics - that offer fun lure coursing for all breeds. The latter even gives out "titles" based on how crazy your dog is (therefore my dog will probably never be a "champion," because he's too obedient ) I just never seem to be able to get out there on the weekends that they're doing it... I'm always busy or out of town It is fun to see the other breeds doing it though. Personally I've never seen a JRT doing it, but I bet it would be a hoot... they're very popular in flyball and a lot of them are quite the little speed demons... some of them are just as fast as my dog, and he's over twice their size

[ozgirl2]

Hi and welcome to GT! Your dogs are beautiful!

 

That place where our greyhound group's picnic was this year was also hosting a flyball tournament! I had to go over & see 'cause I'd never seen it in person before - very very loud but AMAZING!! And the Border collies were fabulous!

 

I met a guy there who has a sighthound mix and, man, was that dog FAST!! He said he's the fastest on the east coast! Can't remember his name though...

 

Flyball looks like a BLAST!

[Guest isntitgreyt]

Welcome from Delaware!! My mom and her BF do agility in Maryland with their dogs. They love it!! I have a Boston Terrier I've thought about training with in agility but just haven't found the time. I've heard BT's are awesome at agility!!

[Sighthounds4me]

Hello, fellow Wisconsinite! I am from the Green Bay area (and buried in snow, as I am sure you can relate!).

 

My name is Sarah. I live with my husband Bill, a Greyhound, Naples, three Borzoi, Manero, Cooper, and Indigo (the semi-permanent foster), and a cat, Ziploc.

[Guest ShellS]

Welcome from Nashville, TN

[greypuppyluv]

Hi and welcome from Southern California!

 

If I had the time, I would love to get Zuma, our whippet, involved in flyball. She loves, loves, loves her tennis ball (she's obsessed with it, actually ). I think it's great that you're able to get yours involved.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Welcome from a FIB in Chicago. The president of our local adoption group has a grey that has won a few flyball competitions. If you ask me, its not fair to have a grey in flyball, they can run faster than most people can throw!

 

Chad, Jen

Bart (Jr B's Bartman) & Olive (Whatup AP)

[Guest DebR]

hi, and welcome from Michigan!

[Guest bordermutts]

Hi everyone - this forum seems like a really nice place ^.^

Yeah, flyball is a blast. Although I have to say, it's been my experience that bigger dogs like greyhounds are not necessarily the fastest in the sport, since the jumps appear to limit the length of their stride and it is a bit harder for them to turn on the box. For some reason, the Whippet/border collie sized dogs tend to be the fastest - they can sometimes run the whole course in less than 4 seconds (The large-ish sighthound on our team runs about a 4.6, which is still pretty darn impressive.) I still totally want to try it with one someday, though

 

Overall it's a really fun sport, although it is really important to find a team that shares the same goals as you; some teams are really competitive while some of them (actually, from what I've seen, the majority of them) are focused more on just having fun. My team definitely falls into the latter category-- when we go to a tournament, it's not just a competition, it's a social event We camp and cook out and everything; it's awesome.

 

It can take a while to get the dogs fully trained, since there are a ton of distractions in the ring and the dogs have to learn to ignore them all and just focus on their "job," but once they get the hang of it, they LOVE it. It can get kind of loud (some people wear earplugs), but it makes the dogs so happy that it's worth it