My New Companion - Jiggy

[Guest mom2hounds]

All of your boys are very cute.

Edited August 5, 2010 by mom2hounds

[Guest bellenzo]

It looks like he's helping lay the stones for your patio. Gorgeous hound.

[Guest Supercoley1]

Nope the wife still refers to him as 'your dog'. She doesn't have time for him but a good thing for Jiggy as that the boys love him and he loves the boys. There's no way she would take him away from them now, ha, ha ,ha

 

With the laying on bit do you mean them hurting the dog or the dog hurting them? The oldest often cuddles up on the Sofa with Jiggy

 

AC

[Guest Mom2Shiloh]

I think with the laying on him bit.. it's good for the children to respect his space a bit.. if they play rough with him, he will likely be rough back and could easily hurt them without meaning to. Gentle petting, tossing toys, sitting together is fine but I absolutely would not allow rough housing. He is a dog, not a child, and will behave like a dog -- also for the boys sake, learning to be gentle will stand them in good stead when they meet other dogs who are not as tolerant and could likely injure them if they presume to get in their space or hang on them.

 

On the neutering... not neutering your boy creates a lot of tension and hormone stress and will affect his disposition in many ways; it will also play into his interactions with other dogs.. the females may have been 'muttering under their breath' (so to speak.. in dog language) because many females are not comfortable around un-neutered males; while the males become over stimulated and confused. Then you have a bunch of medical issues, including various kinds of cancer.. so, overall.. it's just so very much better for your dog and your family to have him neutered.

 

My little Staghound was neutered by his rescue at under 3 months!! THAT I'm sorry about, I think it has had negative effects on him. He should have been 7-9 months when it was done. I can't encourage you enough though to get it done asap. It will take up to 6 weeks after the surgery for all of the excess hormones to be out of his system... then you will have a happier, healthier dog and he probably won't be growled at by females any more. (He's still a puppy really, but you will definitely have a more laid back, calm around the house dog and I'm sure that will be easier on your wife.)

[Guest Supercoley1]

We decided to go to the beach today. It was nice out, pretty warmish for September and the kids are nearing the end of the school holidays.

 

I'm not the biggest fan of the seaside in England. Unlike other countries the English seaside areas are incredibly commercialised, crammed full of amusement arcades and fairground rides. Noisy places with litter everywhere and the smell of greasy fried food lingering in the air.

 

However there are a few beaches which have been preserved as they should be. Untouched by the hands of greedy commercial enterprise and therefore they are not attractive to the louts and partygoers that stream to the 'popular' resorts.

 

The beach we went to is called Anderby Creek and is on the Lincolnshire coastlne.It is dog friendly and a protected area. Facilities comprise of a toilet block in the car park, a beach shop, a tiny B&B and a cafe bar..

It is situated on the coastline about between 2 of the resorts with the aforementioned noise and clutter but so much better and natural. About an hours drive from our home.

 

This was the first time I had taken a dog to a beach. Much as we are a nation of dog lovers there are far too many irresponsible dog owners that don't clear up their mess or control their pets etc so most beaches are dog free zones.

 

With me being unsure of Jiggy's reaction to the sea and beach I kept him on the lead and then upon noticing 10 or more other dogs on the beach he stayed on it. When he sees another dog he is off like a shot so he had to wait.

 

Eventually there was a spell of about half an hour when he was the only dog there and so off he went. Bounding into the sea. Even sprinting along the 'wash'. This was a great sight. Like something you see in the films.

 

After his exuberance like all greyhounds he was absolutely worn out and settled down into the beach shelter.

 

He did get another chance for a few sprints along the waterline before we went home. Upon getting home I made him his food, he ate a little bit and then collapsed into his bed a happy but very tired boy.

 

Lots of new smells

 

 

Here he is with my 5 year old son.

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. These are from a new camera. The Casio stopped working and I had to buy a new one of ebay. Lower resolution and shouldn't be anywhere near as good as the Casio but it is much much better. The casio tended to make pictures look lifeless, dull colours. Even messing about with all the settings couldn't get it to portray the colours you see with the eye, however this Fujifilm is on Auto. The colours are superb with no playing

 

AC

Edited September 17, 2010 by Supercoley1

[Charlies_Dad]

Congrats! He is a beauty.

[moofie]

Jiggy is so handsome Great photo's, looks like you all had a lovely time . It's making me jealous, I wish we lived that bit closer to a beach.

 

Are you going to the Great Greyhound Gathering tomorrow?

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Oh, he is beautiful!!!! I just love him! And he obviously so loves your kids

 

Has your wife fallen for him yet?

 

I will go against the grain and say I see no need for a responsible owner to neuter a male dog. The health benefits are minimal (it may even be healthier for MALES to remain intact, though the opposite is true for females).

 

Whatever you decide, enjoy him, as you clearly are. He's stunning!

[Guest Supercoley1]

Jiggy is so handsome Great photo's, looks like you all had a lovely time . It's making me jealous, I wish we lived that bit closer to a beach.

Lol - Nottingham isn't that much farther. Takes us an hour to get to any of the coastline.

 

Are you going to the Great Greyhound Gathering tomorrow?

Go out an meet people. You must be crazy. lol I rarely leave the house. When I go out and am with strangers I'll be the one in the corner of the room on my own looking uncomfortable

 

 

Oh, he is beautiful!!!! I just love him! And he obviously so loves your kids

It is mutual. He loves them, they love him.

 

Has your wife fallen for him yet?

Nope. Maybe she does like him but it would never be shown. Jiggy was not her choice and therefore like with anything else. If she didn't choose then it rubbish. lol

 

He hasn't 'been done' yet. Every time I start to save, something comes up and then we're broke again. lol

 

AC

Edited September 18, 2010 by Supercoley1

[Guest Swifthounds]

I will go against the grain and say I see no need for a responsible owner to neuter a male dog. The health benefits are minimal (it may even be healthier for MALES to remain intact, though the opposite is true for females).

 

I'll second this. As much as the pro-spay/neuter crowd (most of whom have nothing against which to measure, having never had intact animals) likes to attribute the pet overpopulation to failure to spay/neuter and the assumption that accidental breedings will result, the facts just don't bear that out when it comes to dogs. With cats it's a bit of a different story, but with dogs, when you look at the numbers, the overflowing number of pets in shelters is attributable largely to the dumping of dogs that were intentionally bred by someone - whether by a BYB for extra cash, a puppy mill, or merely someone who bought a dog as a cute puppy and dumped it when it became too much work or not convenient. Shelters overflow because our society views pets as disposable when they become inconvenient, not because all pets are not spayed/neutered.

 

Spay/neuter are not without their drawbacks healthwise. Most breeders and owners of intact females I know do spay females after their breeding years to head off possible pyometra, the risk of which is greater in the latter years. There are certainly health complications that intact males can avoid by being neutered. OTOH, neutering increases the risk of at least one type of fatal cancer. Neutering or spaying before sexual maturity also increases risk factors. There are simply health issues associated with both spay/neuter and with not doing so.

 

Those who have intact animals, whether they breed or not, are not necessarily ignorant. Touting spay/neuter as a mandatory thing, in pushing a faulty sense of "population control" without regard to the health implications, is the ignorant view.

 

To the OP, your boy is lovely.

[4greyhounds]

Great pictures!

[greyhoundlov]

He is one big beautiful cow doggy!

[seeh2o]

Great pictures! Jiggy and your boys are adorable!

Edited September 20, 2010 by seeh2o