Figured I'd Say Hello

[Guest OffLead]

I've popped in and out of these forums for a long time, usually following a search result of some sort, but never joined because I didn't have a Greyhound. But of course, now that has changed. :-)

 

The Fella and I own Irish Wolfhounds, and one German Shepherd named Flynn. This year The Fella had to go back to New Jersey for work, while I stayed in Texas. The Wolfhounds stayed with me, the GSD went with him. (We refer to Flynn as Daddy's Bitch...there was no way he was staying here with me while The Fella was gone for months.) At the start of this year we had two Irish Wolfhounds: Marlene, a young bitch pup who turned one year old in May; and Maggie, a 9.5 year old rescue bitch. So it was just the three of us here, and in April we lost Maggie, leaving just Lene and me. We were scheduled to travel to CA for the IW Nationals in May, and I didn't want to bring in another dog until we'd returned from that trip. So it was a LONG couple of months during with Lene was an only dog.

 

That didn't work out very well. I always knew that IWs did much better when they weren't only dogs, but I had underestimated how very messed up my confident, outgoing, belligerent, dominant bitch pup would get when it was just her and me. She suddenly suffered from separation anxiety if I left her alone for even 2 minutes. With the loss of The Fella, and Flynn (her favorite chew toy), and then Maggie (the older alpha bitch that taught her everything she was going to need to know to run the household in the future), it was too much. Then I packed her up and took her on a ten day road trip, staying in hotels. She was completely unglued the first part of the trip. Then The Fella joined us in CA for a few days, and the moment she saw him she started to relax a bit. She got to see her momma, sister, and breeder while we were out there, and that also helped. By the time we dropped The Fella off at the airport, and drove back home, she was starting to do better for short periods of time alone. But I knew we needed to bring a dog or three into the Texas portion of the household.

 

Of course, I would love to bring more Wolfhounds into the house, but it's not always so easy to do that. We don't get tons of them through rescue (I'm involved with our regional rescue group...the last dog we had come through was a mix, over a year ago, and he fostered with us before being adopted out), and my next show-prospect pup I want to be a male pup, out of specific lines...my options are somewhat limited and far between, so I must wait. I've long pondered bringing a Greyhound in at some point, and this seemed like a very good time to do that. So once I got back from CA, I put in my application with GALT.

 

GALT matched us up with a great boy. Two year old McGregor, a big brindle boy with a huge Roman nose. He's funny, outgoing, and very playful, which is exactly what I needed in a playmate for Lene (who has a lot of energy, and is used to playing a bit rough). His size helped too...he's about 29 inches, and 95 lbs. McG came to us in June. I felt that McGregor was too hard in the mouth for a call name, so we renamed him Jimmy (for Jimmy Durante). There were almost no issues at all in his settling in here, and Lene almost immediately began to relax and be more comfortable, even without me in sight. Within a week they were doing zoomies in the yard (Jimmy in the lead). Finally starting about 2 weeks ago, we achieved full on play. There is wrestling, rolling, pinning. Both Lene and Jimmy take turns being the aggressor. They stalk each other, pounce on each other, then chase each other around the yard, with Jimmy no longer always taking the lead.

 

I'm thrilled beyond words at how well the two of them get along. And Jimmy is nearly as good when we have visiting dogs, though I do have to keep him muzzled during those visits. (We have some Borzoi friends who come by every week or so to play, and Jimmy's form foster mom came by with her three Greys last week.) When there are visitors, Jimmy gets a little worked up during wild play, and starts to get vocal, growling and mouthing almost too hard on the neck and shoulders of the visiting dogs. The trouble, however, is not Jimmy's behavior, but rather Lene's correcting of Jimmy's behavior. Lene doesn't like her play packs to get loud or unruly, and if Jimmy starts getting vocal, Lene comes at him with whatever he's going at the other dogs with, only a little stronger/harsher. This just escalates the entire thing more, and also risks Jimmy getting hurt, since his skin is thinner than the other dogs', and Lene is grabbing him with her giant teeth and claws. So he stays muzzled when playing with visiting dogs, which is completely manageable.

 

And this would make us a happy household of two dogs and one person, except for a twist of fate that should have come as a surprise to me, but did not. Within an hour of the phone call informing me that I'd been approved by GALT, I got a call from our IW club president. We had a senior Wolfhound bitch being surrendered into rescue. She was too old to adopt out (8.5 years), and I am known for having an extreme soft spot for seniors. Additionally, I actually knew this girl, having met her at my vet's office when she was just a wee pup of about 3 months of age. Her owner took some time before finally releasing her, but Lizzie joined our little household over the July 4th weekend. She has her own issues, but is also settling in nicely. And the addition of the third dog brought a lovely balance back to the household.

 

Lots and lots of photos of the dogs.

 

 

 

[iluvgreys]

Welcome to GreyTalk! Those are some great looking hounds! Look forward to more of your stories. IW's are awesome...

[Guest greyhound1]

Welcome from Florida! Beautiful family.

[AnneGTS]

Welcome from the Netherlands!

[Guest momofevie]

 

Does Jimmy have a Roman nose?

[Guest PhillyPups]

Hi and welcome from Philly

 

Beautiful hounds.

[Guest Liz_in_PA]

And Jimmy looks like the small one of the back ends...

[nyGreys]

Welcome! Beautiful pups!

[kamsmom]

Welcome from Plano So glad you joined. I know a lot of people swooned over Jimmy (McGregor) here when he was available

[Guest FreddyGirl]

Welcome to GT from Long Island. You have a beautiful fur family.

[Guest OffLead]

Does Jimmy have a Roman nose?

 

Oh my, yes. The arch on his entire upper jaw is so steep that his front incisors meet when he closes his mouth, but then his canines only barely slide past each other, and he has about an inch-wide gap in the middle of the muzzle between upper and lower jaw. When he eats, he slops food everywhere. Of course, by now, it looks perfectly normal to me, and "regular" Greyhounds are starting to look a bit odd. ;-)

 

 

And Jimmy looks like the small one of the back ends...

 

Yes, he would be the small dog here, where the rule is "no dogs you have to bend over to pet". Jimmy is about 29 inches. When we reunite with the East Coast Edition of the household, Flynn will be the smallest -- he's a 28 inch GSD, which is 2-inches over the top end of the breed standard. Lene is kind of on the small side of average for a Wolfhound bitch at about 32.5 inches. Lizzie is only about 33 inches at the shoulder, but her angulation is so straight that her rear is taller than her front by nearly two inches, making her look taller.

 

Here's Flynn:

 

 

And here is Flynn a while back, with the boy we lost, Ty. Ty was a 38-inch, 190-pound male Wolfhound. Flynn always looked REALLY small in comparison. *G*

 

 

Welcome from Plano So glad you joined. I know a lot of people swooned over Jimmy (McGregor) here when he was available

 

Thanks! Jimmy is a complete doll, and I adore him. So does Lene, who is VERY happy in the last two weeks now that Jimmy really fully plays with her. Jimmy was also a huge hit at the obedience club, where he shamelessly fawned over every person we came within 3 feet of. Taking him and Lene out in public together is funny, because the Wolfhound draws a crowd of curious people, and Jimmy takes advantage by making as many new friends as he possibly can, leaving no person un-snuggled. It takes a while to get anywhere.

[4greyhounds]

from Apollo Beach Florida. Congratulations and your dogs are Gorgeous!!!!!

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I LOVE the photos! And I remember Jimmy's adoption pics. He's precious.

 

I am in love with the Borzoi. Who is she? The black mix is adorable too. You take great shots. The Borzoi leaping over the pool wins!

[Guest OffLead]

I LOVE the photos! And I remember Jimmy's adoption pics. He's precious.

 

I am in love with the Borzoi. Who is she? The black mix is adorable too. You take great shots. The Borzoi leaping over the pool wins!

 

Thanks! It's the camera, not the photographer, and the fact that I'm totally willing to shoot 600 photos in the hopes of getting a couple dozen good shots.

 

The Borzoi with pics up now is Geno, and he's actually a small male, who just turned a year old last week or so. Lene and I met Geno and his owner at the dog park when I was having to haul her out there every day to get her some exercise. I have more pics on the camera waiting to be processed, hopefully this weekend, of Geno and his litter brother, Jack. (The black Borzoi/Shepherd mix is also named Jack. I've taken to calling them Black Jack and Brother Jack.) Brother Jack is larger than Geno, with nearly the same markings, but his fawn coloring is slightly darker. They are hard to tell apart when they're moving around in a group, though. Geno's owner does not know the breeder's name. The entire litter was dropped off at Arlington Animal Control, believe it or not, where Geno's owner was working at the time. The question of just where they came from of course comes up often, but he doesn't remember the breeder's name.

 

Geno and Lene are a perfect match for playing, with the same preferences and extreme endurance. They can go for HOURS pretty much non-stop. And Geno flies over that pool at least 4 times every time he's over here.

 

We took Geno and Lene out to lure coursing a few months ago (North Texas Saluki Club) for short fun runs (since neither was even a year old yet). Both showed interest on the short runs, and I'm going to try Lene at straight racing at a specialty back east in October if all the plans fall into place. She'll be 17 months old, so I wouldn't run her on a long course yet, but I think she'll be able to handle the shorter course. Geno will also probably show up at some coursing events, if his interest continues.

 

I try to get the camera out when we have our BIG ** days (BIG SightHound Interactive Time - for lack of a better set of words to go with that acronym - any sighthounds over about 80 lbs, friendly in a pack, are welcome). It's hard these days though because we're doing play times late due to the heat, and it's hard to get good photos in the dark.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Oh, they are the Texas babies?

 

They are beautiful. Of course I have a soft spot for Borzoi

[Guest OffLead]

Oh, they are the Texas babies?

 

They are beautiful. Of course I have a soft spot for Borzoi

 

I figured. *G* Yes, the Borzoi Brothers are local...we just kinda wish we knew from whom they came. Geno's dad is hooked on the large sighthounds now, and I won't be surprised when he adds another.

[PrairieProf]

Welcome! Search the archives and I believe you'll find that the former McGregor has already been admired on the forum and had pics posted. My Beth has the same daddy, but did not inherit the TNT Star Wars roman nose, although it appears at least one of her littermates did!

 

[Edited to add, it sounds like Beth and Jimmy have quite similar personalities -- she also was issue-free, and lives to snuggle every human being she can get to and charms everyone (and also plays a bit rough and is vocal doing it!).]

 

I love IWs ... my parents' neighbor in NY has them and is a contact for wolfhound rescue there. Hope you'll post lots of more pictures!

Edited August 14, 2010 by PrairieProf

[Guest sweetpea]

Oh, thanks for sharing, and welcome!

 

I grew up with an IW, Bronwyn, she was the very best of dogs.

 

We luva-luva-luv those hairy beasties!

 

Buzzy

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

It's not too hard to imagine where they (or at least their parents) probably came from Looks like they have wonderful temperaments which are, luckily, a trademark of those lines (if that is where they, or their parents, originated from). Either way they are beautiful! I can understand being hooked for sure.

 

When you want another brindle Roman-nose let me know I know a couple that are still racing.

[Guest Lovey_Hounds]

WELCOME to Greytalk! I am so excited to hear that McGreggor (jimmy) has a great home and dogs to play with, i wanted to bring him home with us so badly but we do not have the space right now.... But i do have his mom here D.C's what for if you would like some puppy pictures of the big guy email me anytime! B _ Quinn09 @ hotmail.com (just take out the spaces)

[Guest OffLead]

Welcome! Search the archives and I believe you'll find that the former McGregor has already been admired on the forum and had pics posted. My Beth has the same daddy, but did not inherit the TNT Star Wars roman nose, although it appears at least one of her littermates did!

 

I love IWs ... my parents' neighbor in NY has them and is a contact for wolfhound rescue there. Hope you'll post lots of more pictures!

 

OMG, thank you so much!!! I had no idea that McG had been posted here, not to mention commented upon by so many folks. I'm THRILLED to find photos of him as a pup, not to mention photos of related hounds. THRILLED!!! :-D There's even a comment by HeyGrey about using the name Jimmy Durante!! I swear I had not seen any of these threads prior to adopting him and renaming him...haha. All of our dogs are named after classic film stars, unless they arrive quite old and already very attached to their given names. When I saw McG, and then showed his photo to The Fella, we both immediately thought of Jimmy Durante, and no other names were given serious consideration.

 

I may have to post to some of those older threads, so that folks know where he ended up. :-)

[Guest OffLead]

It's not too hard to imagine where they (or at least their parents) probably came from Looks like they have wonderful temperaments which are, luckily, a trademark of those lines (if that is where they, or their parents, originated from). Either way they are beautiful! I can understand being hooked for sure.

 

When you want another brindle Roman-nose let me know I know a couple that are still racing.

 

 

Haha! Well, at this moment, I have three in the house (three dogs, three brindles - though the older IW bitch you can't tell anymore -- but only one Roman nose). The limit for the town I live in is four, and I have to keep a space open for emergency fosters and/or a pup. (You know, just in case Lene's breeder has another litter that produces a boy, or the exchange rates shift in my favor and I can afford to import another from Denmark for less than the price of 4 house payments, haha.) And I have to keep in mind at all times that eventually we must re-merge with The Fella and Flynn, though we're not sure if that will be here or back east. So for now I must make do with three, and bide my time.

 

Though if a rough coated Galgo were to show up in my life, there's zero chance of me being able to say no.

[Remolacha]

What a wonderful pack you have! IW were my first sighthound love. I hope you post many pictures

[Guest OffLead]

WELCOME to Greytalk! I am so excited to hear that McGreggor (jimmy) has a great home and dogs to play with, i wanted to bring him home with us so badly but we do not have the space right now.... But i do have his mom here D.C's what for if you would like some puppy pictures of the big guy email me anytime! B _ Quinn09 @ hotmail.com (just take out the spaces)

 

Well, he is certainly a perfect fit for us, so I'm grateful that he's here. It's hard going to an adoption group and handing over a lengthy list of things you require in a dog you want to adopt, haha. Had to be male, young-ish (since we've had 5 losses in the last 18 months, two dogs and 3 cats), outgoing, confident (I didn't want to deal with any fear or shyness issues at this time, plus that would make eventually integrating with Flynn much more difficult), playful, tolerant...and on and on. But GALT immediately recommended McGregor/Jimmy, and it was exactly the right choice.

 

I found a link to puppy photos back in one of the old threads, but I'll email you also. Thanks!!! This really is very exciting for me...haha. I've had rescue and adopted dogs over the years, and the lack of knowledge about their background is one of the hard things to deal with. Just yay!

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I know, isn't it fun????