Today is Christmas day and it is also Jess's first Christmas day with our family. So I took her under my wing and showed her the ropes. I am a bit of a veteran with this Christmas thing now. Mind you my first year with my family at Christmas ended up with me in hospital as I ate too much... but that it another story!
Christmas seems to be all about eating and lazing around, something we hounds are good at! But there is something different about Christmas day, pressents! Both Jess and I got presents. I find ripping paper and extracting the gift inside easy, Jess has still to learn the fine art of avarice and greed! But she is getting there.
Once my family sat down to share their presents, it was our turn to remind them that the focus of attention should be us at all times. Therefore, Jess and I strategically arranged ourselves to ensure that we were both appropriately in the way at all times. You can see our day in the images below.
Showing posts with label Big Dapto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big Dapto. Show all posts
25 December 2011
24 December 2011
Christmas Eve run
It was hot today, summer finally seems to have arrived and so what do my family do? They decide that what Jess and I really want to do is have a run. Not just one run, but several. The other morning one of my family got up nice and early and took us out for our regular walk, but this time he just took us to the reserve behind our home and let us go, with muzzles on.
So in the cool of the morning, we went! In no time at all Jess was eating my dust and we were a mere speck in the distance to our owner. He started to have palpitations, but we were just playing with him! We hooned off to the end of the field, right down by the skate park and near to the road. Once there we wandered around a bit and then decided to blast back to him. (He still thinks that he has recall sorted with us....!) It was great to run again. Jess is so slow! She keeps going on about all the races that she won, the prize money she earned and rubbing it in about how that is the exact opposite of my racing career! But as Keith my trainer said, there is no one faster on grass than me! And Jess has still yet to overtake me...
So today is Christmas Eve and for our afternoon walk we were allowed to run again, but this time no cool of the morning, it was hot! Mind you, I am pretty hot so I blasted off again and Jess, yet again, was literally eating my dust as the field we run in has just been sanded this week for drainage and I was flicking the sand up as I ran. In no time flat we were at the end of the field, as far away as we could get from our family, without straying onto the road.
Once again I could hear the call to return, but I decided to walk back, it was too hot and Jess decided to blast back. She is now counting this as a victory, she claims the sand sapped my speed. Yeah, Yeah Delilah! I know however that I simply decided that it was too hot and walking was a better option.... That is my story and I am sticking to it!
Merry Christmas everyone
So in the cool of the morning, we went! In no time at all Jess was eating my dust and we were a mere speck in the distance to our owner. He started to have palpitations, but we were just playing with him! We hooned off to the end of the field, right down by the skate park and near to the road. Once there we wandered around a bit and then decided to blast back to him. (He still thinks that he has recall sorted with us....!) It was great to run again. Jess is so slow! She keeps going on about all the races that she won, the prize money she earned and rubbing it in about how that is the exact opposite of my racing career! But as Keith my trainer said, there is no one faster on grass than me! And Jess has still yet to overtake me...
So today is Christmas Eve and for our afternoon walk we were allowed to run again, but this time no cool of the morning, it was hot! Mind you, I am pretty hot so I blasted off again and Jess, yet again, was literally eating my dust as the field we run in has just been sanded this week for drainage and I was flicking the sand up as I ran. In no time flat we were at the end of the field, as far away as we could get from our family, without straying onto the road.
Once again I could hear the call to return, but I decided to walk back, it was too hot and Jess decided to blast back. She is now counting this as a victory, she claims the sand sapped my speed. Yeah, Yeah Delilah! I know however that I simply decided that it was too hot and walking was a better option.... That is my story and I am sticking to it!
Merry Christmas everyone
11 December 2011
Animates Sylvia Park Grand Opening
It has been a while since I have done any dictation for my family to write up on our behalf. We seem to have dropped off of the GAP radar. Apparently the GAP Facebook pages are quite active, but as my family use Facebook for business, they are reluctant to mix business and pleasure on that particular forum so are missing out. Anyway, we heard through the e-mail chain that Animates at Sylvia Park were having a big opening and that us hounds would be most welcome to be ambassadors for pet ownership through adoption.
At 10:00 this morning our family bundled Jess and I into the car, we love going out exploring. The car always takes us to great places, with the exception of the vets and the kennels, but we can never really tell when that is going to happen, so we get excited anyway! Off we went to Animates at Sylvia Park for their grand opening weekend.
When we got there the place was awash with hounds we had not met before, with the exception of Reba and Hoss, who we know of old. Jess has taken a while to settle into meeting new dogs and often finds meeting new dogs, even hounds, stressful and will growl to encourage others to keep away. As for me, I love the attention and just lap it up, I take as much as I can get from all the willing hands that want to pat me and I just love meeting new dogs of every variety.
Apart from the attention, the best bit today was the furry creatures. I found the mice and best of all I found the rabbits! I really wanted to play with those guys, but for some reason, my family seemed really reluctant to let me do so! I kept pointing them out and I kept pulling them towards what I wanted to play with, but no dice, the nearest I got to playing with my buddies can be seen in the slideshow below. Ah well maybe next time they will let me play with the rabbits? Strangely, Jess and the other hounds showed little or no interest in the rabbits. Not sure why!
At 10:00 this morning our family bundled Jess and I into the car, we love going out exploring. The car always takes us to great places, with the exception of the vets and the kennels, but we can never really tell when that is going to happen, so we get excited anyway! Off we went to Animates at Sylvia Park for their grand opening weekend.
When we got there the place was awash with hounds we had not met before, with the exception of Reba and Hoss, who we know of old. Jess has taken a while to settle into meeting new dogs and often finds meeting new dogs, even hounds, stressful and will growl to encourage others to keep away. As for me, I love the attention and just lap it up, I take as much as I can get from all the willing hands that want to pat me and I just love meeting new dogs of every variety.
Apart from the attention, the best bit today was the furry creatures. I found the mice and best of all I found the rabbits! I really wanted to play with those guys, but for some reason, my family seemed really reluctant to let me do so! I kept pointing them out and I kept pulling them towards what I wanted to play with, but no dice, the nearest I got to playing with my buddies can be seen in the slideshow below. Ah well maybe next time they will let me play with the rabbits? Strangely, Jess and the other hounds showed little or no interest in the rabbits. Not sure why!
22 May 2011
Stan and Jess run together
This weekend marks the official residence for Jess. My family invited the Auckland dog ranger round to assess whether our section is good enough for us, we passed and now Jess has an Auckland City dog tag and the ranger took away her Manawatu licence.
The weekend got even better when my family got us up early today and took us out for our usual morning walk. But this time, for the first time in ages, they brought along our muzzles. Jess and I have never run together before, in fact my family have never let Jess off the lead when we are out. But today was different, today we went to the Crossfield Reserve and there was no one on it and we ran! It was misty and empty. I was allowed to run first, it was great to be let off the leash and run free again. Then the family let Jess go, she was not really sure what to do and bounded off like a bunny rabbit! She did put on a little burst of speed, but I am sure if we had been running together, I would have won!
This afternoon we went out again, this time to Churchill Park and again with muzzles. Our family took us to a section of the park where we could again be off lead. This time however, we had to do recall, which we did really well and the family also took some images of us running too. Finally Jess and I ran together and I still beat her!
You can check out the images of us running at Churchill Park below. It was such great fun, we hope to go back there again regularly. Several other dog walkers stopped us as we were returning to the car as they love us Greyhounds and were bitterly disappointed that they did not see us running. Next time, we told them!
The weekend got even better when my family got us up early today and took us out for our usual morning walk. But this time, for the first time in ages, they brought along our muzzles. Jess and I have never run together before, in fact my family have never let Jess off the lead when we are out. But today was different, today we went to the Crossfield Reserve and there was no one on it and we ran! It was misty and empty. I was allowed to run first, it was great to be let off the leash and run free again. Then the family let Jess go, she was not really sure what to do and bounded off like a bunny rabbit! She did put on a little burst of speed, but I am sure if we had been running together, I would have won!
This afternoon we went out again, this time to Churchill Park and again with muzzles. Our family took us to a section of the park where we could again be off lead. This time however, we had to do recall, which we did really well and the family also took some images of us running too. Finally Jess and I ran together and I still beat her!
You can check out the images of us running at Churchill Park below. It was such great fun, we hope to go back there again regularly. Several other dog walkers stopped us as we were returning to the car as they love us Greyhounds and were bitterly disappointed that they did not see us running. Next time, we told them!
16 May 2011
Stan and Jess TV
I have ironed out the wrinkles and the Hound Cam will be live from 7:30 AM NZDT Tuesday 16 May. It is running now just to test the power settings on the host computer. So what do Hounds get up to when they are left alone. I think that a parlour game will be counting how many of those sofas, will be slept on whilst we are not in the house.... The channel for Stan and Jess is here and the link to the embedded player in an earlier post is here.
15 May 2011
GAP - Nosh Metro
It was not a GAP run yesterday, but a meeting outside Nosh Metro on Ponsonby Road. Jess and I were taken there by the family and we all stood around looking great and spreading the word to encourage people to stop and then think about adopting more of our friends. The stopping strategy was easy, we occupied a corner, outside one of the entrances to Nosh. The then occupied both sides of the footpath. The only escape was either to duck into the Nosh store, which would have made the manager happy, walk into the busy Ponsonby Road, not very safe or run the gauntlet of us and be forced to love us!
So what happened? Well people and other dogs ran our gauntlet! Only one owner of a small white fluffy thing, sort of a feather duster with legs, elected to pick up his furball and walk through us. The rest were all happy to stop, pet us and be informed about us. Lots of people were happy to make cash donations to the cause. To all of you who donated, thanks a lot.
As usual it was great to reacquaint myself and to introduce Jess to some of my old mates. Here is the roll call of who was there before we left: Riley, Mouse, Puni, Nicky, Jenny, Molly and Otis.
Below are some images of us.
Stan and Jess - broadcasting live
Stan and Jess have their own TV channel on http://ustream.tv We want to see what our hounds get up to when we are not home. Do they play, do they sleep together, apart etc. So you too can check in to see what the hounds do by watching their channel either here or on their site: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/stan-cam1
Streaming live video by Ustream
Streaming live video by Ustream
24 April 2011
Easter Show
My family took me and my new compadre, Jess to the Royal Easter Show at the Auckland Showgrounds this weekend. We were bundled into the car and off we went, I love traveling in the car and stood all the way with my nose out of the window. Jess just lay there. Once inside the grounds we easily found all of our old mates and met many more new ones at the GAP tent. Jess had met some of them too from the last GAP meet at Four Seasons in Glen Innes a couple of weeks ago. It was really busy and we were ideally positioned between the rabbits and alpacas to really want to get off the stand and go find the source of the smells! Apart from that distraction we were on a corner site and had loads of traffic come past us. We were all over loved, patted, stroked and kissed by thousands of people.
As a result of us hanging around as we did, we were able to hand out loads of brochures and many of the visitors are now really interested in adopting some of our fellow hounds. I hope they do.
The images below are from the show. Forgot to write down the names of the hounds but you will all know who you are!
As a result of us hanging around as we did, we were able to hand out loads of brochures and many of the visitors are now really interested in adopting some of our fellow hounds. I hope they do.
The images below are from the show. Forgot to write down the names of the hounds but you will all know who you are!
23 April 2011
GAP - Advert
I have just spent a good deal of the day at the Royal Easter Show in Auckand promoting the GAP cause. I was accompanied by the new arrival in the family, Jess. We and the other hounds got huge amounts of attention, but more of that later. I did overhear that an advert has been produced on our behalf. So as soon as I got home I looked it up on the GAP website and have posted it here: Please pass it on!
22 April 2011
Winsome Jess
Today, after 5 weeks of fostering by Laura in Auckland. Jess came home today to live with Stanley. Currently Stanley is 35kg and Jess is 23.5kg she is much smaller than Stan, but is already asserting herself. The two of them have been getting to know each other all day. We are ensuring that the next week will be quiet and measured for Jess so that she settles in quickly. Good news however, tonight she ate all of her food that was given to her. Here is a picture of her and Stan walking on the reserve. Tomorrow they will both attend the Easter Show for GAP.
28 August 2010
Stan and Shannon explore
Shannon arrived on Thursday, since then my family have been toying with names. They do not want to have two dogs with names starting with "S" they think that we might get confused. So the are experimenting with names, I rather like Yelnats which is Stanley backwards! I think that the family have been reading and watching Holes too much!
I am slowly getting used to having another hound in the house. She is certainly inquisitive and has tried to show me how to play games. I am a kind of take it or leave it kind of guy, although she does look like she is having fun when she is playing, so maybe I will join in more soon. She also likes to get on the sofas and on the beds, which I do not do and my family do not like Shannon doing, but she still does! She has lots to learn. She does do stairs but comes down very slowly. We have been playing musical beds, but it all seems to be fine at the moment, there is always one spare place to flop and now that Shannon has discovered the beds and sofas, she has lots of choices when the family are not looking!
We have been on plenty of walks together and Shannon likes to investigate everything, she even balances on her hind legs to see over things. Shannon has met lots of other people on the streets and they all like to see both of us. Today we were walking and we met two of my regular friends, the Beagles, their owner calls me 'Stretch.' She thinks that Shannon is lovely and the Beagles kept their distance but were friendly too, towards Shannon. Shannon is still working out what it what. My, or should I say, our family took us to St Heliers today for a walk on the beach. There were kite surfers, mini humans, mini dogs, bikes and cars all over the place all of which seemed to be of tremendous interest to Shannon. I guess she is finding it all as exciting as I did when I first arrived.
When we got home we were both zoom groomed, I love this and Shannon seemed to too. Then Shannon showed great interest in a scarf on the hat stand and tried to pull it off. How history repeats itself. I did exactly the same thing just after I arrived! Only when I did it, my family did not notice my attentions and I pulled the whole hatstand on myself and gave me a terrible fright!
I am slowly getting used to having another hound in the house. She is certainly inquisitive and has tried to show me how to play games. I am a kind of take it or leave it kind of guy, although she does look like she is having fun when she is playing, so maybe I will join in more soon. She also likes to get on the sofas and on the beds, which I do not do and my family do not like Shannon doing, but she still does! She has lots to learn. She does do stairs but comes down very slowly. We have been playing musical beds, but it all seems to be fine at the moment, there is always one spare place to flop and now that Shannon has discovered the beds and sofas, she has lots of choices when the family are not looking!
We have been on plenty of walks together and Shannon likes to investigate everything, she even balances on her hind legs to see over things. Shannon has met lots of other people on the streets and they all like to see both of us. Today we were walking and we met two of my regular friends, the Beagles, their owner calls me 'Stretch.' She thinks that Shannon is lovely and the Beagles kept their distance but were friendly too, towards Shannon. Shannon is still working out what it what. My, or should I say, our family took us to St Heliers today for a walk on the beach. There were kite surfers, mini humans, mini dogs, bikes and cars all over the place all of which seemed to be of tremendous interest to Shannon. I guess she is finding it all as exciting as I did when I first arrived.
When we got home we were both zoom groomed, I love this and Shannon seemed to too. Then Shannon showed great interest in a scarf on the hat stand and tried to pull it off. How history repeats itself. I did exactly the same thing just after I arrived! Only when I did it, my family did not notice my attentions and I pulled the whole hatstand on myself and gave me a terrible fright!
26 August 2010
Moon Dancer joins Big Dapto
My family have so enjoyed my wonderful company that they have decided to get more of me!
One of the younger members of the family took me out for walk today, this is most peculiar mid week as they are all usually either working or doing homework. But still, I am never one to miss a walk as they often end in a run, especially when the muzzle comes out.
So today off I was taken on this walk. About 5 minutes into the walk, we chanced upon one of the other members of my family, who had another hound on a lead. This new hound is Moon Dancer, we spent the rest of the walk getting to know each other. I am not the most sociable of hounds, I like to keep myself to myself, but this girl looks like she might be fun, we will have to see.
It is early days, but she came home with me. I showed her round and she started to show me how to play, not sure about that at the moment! It seems like "Shannon" as she is called likes to run, so we could have fun together in the reserve behind our house soon. You can see photos of Shannon running here.
Here is a photo of Shannon and I out on our walk today.
One of the younger members of the family took me out for walk today, this is most peculiar mid week as they are all usually either working or doing homework. But still, I am never one to miss a walk as they often end in a run, especially when the muzzle comes out.
So today off I was taken on this walk. About 5 minutes into the walk, we chanced upon one of the other members of my family, who had another hound on a lead. This new hound is Moon Dancer, we spent the rest of the walk getting to know each other. I am not the most sociable of hounds, I like to keep myself to myself, but this girl looks like she might be fun, we will have to see.
It is early days, but she came home with me. I showed her round and she started to show me how to play, not sure about that at the moment! It seems like "Shannon" as she is called likes to run, so we could have fun together in the reserve behind our house soon. You can see photos of Shannon running here.
Here is a photo of Shannon and I out on our walk today.
18 July 2010
Just like a bus...
...you wait ages and then three come at once! Three posts in one day should make up for the silence of the last few months, it is not that we have not been doing stuff, we have. We have recorded a lot of it too, it is just that the family have been really busy with work, school etc of which I involved with too, but often means that computer time for this kind of work is put in the 'to do later' pile.
One of the family has been taking me out into the reserve at the back of our house a lot lately for off leash running, I love it! I am also learning to be obedient as you can see from this video. I seem to get more off leash running time if I come back, this is easy to do! It pleases the family too.
One of the family has been taking me out into the reserve at the back of our house a lot lately for off leash running, I love it! I am also learning to be obedient as you can see from this video. I seem to get more off leash running time if I come back, this is easy to do! It pleases the family too.
21 March 2010
Bark in the Park
Had a bit of a lie in today, let the family rest for a bit, but not for too long! I need to keep reminding them that I have needs! After they had all done their Sunday chores we went to the annual 'Bark in the Park' event at Waiatarua reserve in Meadowbank.
View Larger Map
When we got there there were hundreds of dogs of all different shapes and sizes. I think that perhaps next year there should be a GAP tent at this event as I was stopped lots of times and asked lots of questions and got lots of hugs. I must get a GAP bib!
The family and I wandered around looking at and meeting loads of new friends. We bumped into other sight hounds who had their muzzles too. We met Afghans and an Afghan/Lab cross, an accident, we were assured. We also met a Lab/Greyhound cross puppy.
My family entered me into a couple of competitions. I entered the biggest dog competition, because I usually am, but I was up against Mastifs and the like and suddenly I looked very small, especially when biggest was measured not in height but in weight!
The final competition I entered was the running! I knew I was a sure fire first prize contender in this event and so did all the other competitors! They all wanted to go in other heats to avoid me! But we met a couple of Whippets and an adorable Italian Greyhound. Best of all, we met up with Maddox an ex racer and GAP adoptee and he was wearing his GAP bib. We were both put in the same heat, which I won! Curiously the prize went to the Boxer and I got a consolation prize, clearly the ref was blind!
Anyway it was a long, exciting day and now that I am home I have crashed in a heap on the floor, I dashed off some dictation in the car on the way home and am getting the staff to edit and upload the images and enter the text.
View Larger Map
When we got there there were hundreds of dogs of all different shapes and sizes. I think that perhaps next year there should be a GAP tent at this event as I was stopped lots of times and asked lots of questions and got lots of hugs. I must get a GAP bib!
The family and I wandered around looking at and meeting loads of new friends. We bumped into other sight hounds who had their muzzles too. We met Afghans and an Afghan/Lab cross, an accident, we were assured. We also met a Lab/Greyhound cross puppy.
My family entered me into a couple of competitions. I entered the biggest dog competition, because I usually am, but I was up against Mastifs and the like and suddenly I looked very small, especially when biggest was measured not in height but in weight!
The final competition I entered was the running! I knew I was a sure fire first prize contender in this event and so did all the other competitors! They all wanted to go in other heats to avoid me! But we met a couple of Whippets and an adorable Italian Greyhound. Best of all, we met up with Maddox an ex racer and GAP adoptee and he was wearing his GAP bib. We were both put in the same heat, which I won! Curiously the prize went to the Boxer and I got a consolation prize, clearly the ref was blind!
Anyway it was a long, exciting day and now that I am home I have crashed in a heap on the floor, I dashed off some dictation in the car on the way home and am getting the staff to edit and upload the images and enter the text.
14 March 2010
Hundreds of little humans!
It has been a bit of a strange week for me. The family has settled into a bit of a term time routine where they leave the house in waves, the first starting at 7:50 and depending on the day the last at about 9:00 each morning. I just lie on my bed watching the coming and going, the forgotten lunchbox, keys, whatever. Normally they start drifting back from about 3:30 onwards and I usually play with the Kong they leave for me and then settle into sleep on my bed.
This week as I said, has been a bit strange. First of all one of the family decided to work from home on Monday so I had company, of sorts, so I just slept at their feet until I was bored of that and found my usual spot. Then later in the week I discovered the joys of sleeping in the bathroom and re-organising the austere layout into a more comfortable arrangement! Then on Friday, instead of watching the family leave in their waves, I was bundled into a car and taken to work with one of them. Now this had the potential to be really exciting and it was.
I spent the day at Wakaaranga School in Farm Cove. Some of the students have been doing a topic on pets and so my family thought that it might be a good idea if I went in. Well I have never seen so many little humans in one place at one time! I was in the playground at lunchtime and it was like a scene from the Pied Piper with hundreds of children following me around the playground!
I met a couple of classes and had my photo taken with them. I got really friendly with one girl and planted a big wet kiss on her cheek! By the end of the day however, I was exhausted and was glad to leave. I am not sure whether I enjoyed the day, it was full on! I slept for hours once I got home, they really are exhausting, I think that I was suffering from sensory overload!
This week as I said, has been a bit strange. First of all one of the family decided to work from home on Monday so I had company, of sorts, so I just slept at their feet until I was bored of that and found my usual spot. Then later in the week I discovered the joys of sleeping in the bathroom and re-organising the austere layout into a more comfortable arrangement! Then on Friday, instead of watching the family leave in their waves, I was bundled into a car and taken to work with one of them. Now this had the potential to be really exciting and it was.
I spent the day at Wakaaranga School in Farm Cove. Some of the students have been doing a topic on pets and so my family thought that it might be a good idea if I went in. Well I have never seen so many little humans in one place at one time! I was in the playground at lunchtime and it was like a scene from the Pied Piper with hundreds of children following me around the playground!
I met a couple of classes and had my photo taken with them. I got really friendly with one girl and planted a big wet kiss on her cheek! By the end of the day however, I was exhausted and was glad to leave. I am not sure whether I enjoyed the day, it was full on! I slept for hours once I got home, they really are exhausting, I think that I was suffering from sensory overload!
01 March 2010
Hot hounds at Helensville
As the Sun newspaper might roar in the UK: "Phew wot a scorcher!
My family packed me into the car again on Saturday and this time we went for quite a drive. Apparently we hounds were to strut our stuff at the Helensville A&P show for the cause. So after about an hour in the car, complete with roadworks in Parnell, three slow lost drivers in Henderson and a camper van, we arrived at the show grounds. What a cacophony of sounds, smells and animals, it was great!
We ambled up to the GAP tent and said hello to old friends and made some new ones too. Then it was of round the show grounds to promote the increased adoption of ex-racers for the cause. We got lots of hugs and kisses and lots of people are surprised to find out how little exercise we need and how easy we are to care for.
Wandering around the grounds was hot, thirsty work. We came back to the tent often and as you can see from the images below, we found it too hot to work... Even a cat would have been too much of an effort. On second thoughts, I would have not been able to resist the temptation! :)
The car got so dusty from our visit, that my family decided to take the car through the car wash on the way home. It was a new experience for me, but being such an amiable chap, it was not really an issue.
My family packed me into the car again on Saturday and this time we went for quite a drive. Apparently we hounds were to strut our stuff at the Helensville A&P show for the cause. So after about an hour in the car, complete with roadworks in Parnell, three slow lost drivers in Henderson and a camper van, we arrived at the show grounds. What a cacophony of sounds, smells and animals, it was great!
We ambled up to the GAP tent and said hello to old friends and made some new ones too. Then it was of round the show grounds to promote the increased adoption of ex-racers for the cause. We got lots of hugs and kisses and lots of people are surprised to find out how little exercise we need and how easy we are to care for.
Wandering around the grounds was hot, thirsty work. We came back to the tent often and as you can see from the images below, we found it too hot to work... Even a cat would have been too much of an effort. On second thoughts, I would have not been able to resist the temptation! :)
The car got so dusty from our visit, that my family decided to take the car through the car wash on the way home. It was a new experience for me, but being such an amiable chap, it was not really an issue.
20 February 2010
Audience by request at Animates
My family got an e-mail from the GAP people this week. The Animates store on Mount Eden Road was having a pet expo weekend and wanted as many pets as possible to be in the store. GAP thought it would be good for us ex-racers to be there to promote the cause.
So after I lazed about and watched the family do their chores, (it is amazing how irritating you can be by continually shifting your sleeping position to be just in the wrong place at the right time as they sweep the floor, load the dish washer or sort the laundry. They hate that!) Chores done, the family bundled me into the car. We went for a quick stroll in St Heliers to pick up another member of the family who had completed work and we were off.
When I got there is was a riot of animals. I was in my element! Lots of small furry things to sniff at and of course I managed to get in the way a lot. I have found that it is a great way to get extra hugs, especially in a pet shop. Just stand entirely across an aisle, blocking it, and they all have to pat you to get passed. I was the only Greyhound there, we got there at 1:00 and stayed for an hour. I loved the chooks, the rats and the piglets, oh and the cats, but they were safe behind glass. Now that is not what I call a sporting chance!
I got lots of interest from children and adults alike. I was easily the biggest animal there, that is until I met the goats! It was a bit of a Mexican stand off with them, no loss of face. Then I met a fellow dog, not sure what it was, I wandered up to him in a 'I'm the biggest dog in here' kind of way. I then realised that he was much bigger than me and at that moment I had a sudden urge to find something else to look at, outside the shop. In fact at that moment, the car, home and bed were suddenly very appealing.
On the way out we met a fellow ex-racer on the way in. She had a GAP bib to wear and everything, she looked very smart. We had our photos taken together, but unfortunately I have forgotten her name. Anyway the photos of the trip are below.
So after I lazed about and watched the family do their chores, (it is amazing how irritating you can be by continually shifting your sleeping position to be just in the wrong place at the right time as they sweep the floor, load the dish washer or sort the laundry. They hate that!) Chores done, the family bundled me into the car. We went for a quick stroll in St Heliers to pick up another member of the family who had completed work and we were off.
When I got there is was a riot of animals. I was in my element! Lots of small furry things to sniff at and of course I managed to get in the way a lot. I have found that it is a great way to get extra hugs, especially in a pet shop. Just stand entirely across an aisle, blocking it, and they all have to pat you to get passed. I was the only Greyhound there, we got there at 1:00 and stayed for an hour. I loved the chooks, the rats and the piglets, oh and the cats, but they were safe behind glass. Now that is not what I call a sporting chance!
I got lots of interest from children and adults alike. I was easily the biggest animal there, that is until I met the goats! It was a bit of a Mexican stand off with them, no loss of face. Then I met a fellow dog, not sure what it was, I wandered up to him in a 'I'm the biggest dog in here' kind of way. I then realised that he was much bigger than me and at that moment I had a sudden urge to find something else to look at, outside the shop. In fact at that moment, the car, home and bed were suddenly very appealing.
On the way out we met a fellow ex-racer on the way in. She had a GAP bib to wear and everything, she looked very smart. We had our photos taken together, but unfortunately I have forgotten her name. Anyway the photos of the trip are below.
07 February 2010
Been out with my mates...
My family have been winding me up again. Several times this week they have been making excuses for the couple of times that we have not been out for a walk twice a day. They have been saying things like, "You will get a big run on Sunday." and "...we're saving your energy for the weekend." So at 9:45 today I was packed into the car with the rest of the family and we went here:
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I met up with all my new mates again and made some new friends too. There were loads of dogs of different sizes on this beach, most were very playful, some were just plain rude. Some of the owners of other dogs were not very happy with us Greyhounds running together, even though we were muzzled, it is that whole muzzle thing again. We were just out having fun. I am still not sure about this water that moves stuff, although the others seemed to like it.
I got the staff to take some images of us at play, the are below hope that you like them. I would love to hear your comments.
View Larger Map
I met up with all my new mates again and made some new friends too. There were loads of dogs of different sizes on this beach, most were very playful, some were just plain rude. Some of the owners of other dogs were not very happy with us Greyhounds running together, even though we were muzzled, it is that whole muzzle thing again. We were just out having fun. I am still not sure about this water that moves stuff, although the others seemed to like it.
I got the staff to take some images of us at play, the are below hope that you like them. I would love to hear your comments.
Kong update
In my last post I intimated that something was up. This Kong toy is so engrossing that I focus on it and nothing else. Well, in this last week my family has been out a lot in the day, although one of the family is still here, she is always in her room doing stuff with the door closed, so I might as well be by myself. But I have my toys and my Kong to keep me occupied. The puzzle of having to solve how to extract the tidbits wedged into the Kong keeps me focused for hours.
The other day I was on my bed worrying away with my teeth and tongue on a particularly trickily wedged biscuit in my Kong, when members of the family came home. Normally the sight of the car reversing into the garage, sends me into a frenzy of excitement. I race between the garage door, where the family disappear and emerge from and the window where I can see the car reversing; I have even been heard to bark during this exercise, something that I do not do very often.
On this particular day, I was assaulted with a two pronged familial return to base sensory overload. As one member of the family reversed into the garage, another member walked down the drive and entered through the front door. Did I have a heart attack? Did I have a mad 5 minutes running from door to door to window to door to door to window to family members and back again? No! I had my Kong, I barely moved. Sure I went to the window, I saw what was going on and went back to my bed with my Kong. I showed them who and what was more important, I showed them!
The family seemed delighted at being ignored, strange!
The other day I was on my bed worrying away with my teeth and tongue on a particularly trickily wedged biscuit in my Kong, when members of the family came home. Normally the sight of the car reversing into the garage, sends me into a frenzy of excitement. I race between the garage door, where the family disappear and emerge from and the window where I can see the car reversing; I have even been heard to bark during this exercise, something that I do not do very often.
On this particular day, I was assaulted with a two pronged familial return to base sensory overload. As one member of the family reversed into the garage, another member walked down the drive and entered through the front door. Did I have a heart attack? Did I have a mad 5 minutes running from door to door to window to door to door to window to family members and back again? No! I had my Kong, I barely moved. Sure I went to the window, I saw what was going on and went back to my bed with my Kong. I showed them who and what was more important, I showed them!
The family seemed delighted at being ignored, strange!
31 January 2010
The king of kong
Something is up... I have been given this toy that has kept me busy for ages, it is so engrossing that I did not even notice that my family had left the house today, not that them going is much of an issue, it is just that this toy, called a kong is great!
Over the last few weeks I have been introduced to all sorts of stuff, but peanut butter is a firm favourite! It gets stuck to the roof of my mouth and it takes ages for me to get it off. Today my Kong toy had peanut butter smeared on the inside of it and I loved licking out the contents, then later on I had the same toy but with biscuit treats and peanut butter smeared on the inside, it was while I was engrossed with that particular combination that my family left me and I did not even know! As I say something is up, school holidays end this week and term starts, I think things might be a little different around here from now on.
Over the last few weeks I have been introduced to all sorts of stuff, but peanut butter is a firm favourite! It gets stuck to the roof of my mouth and it takes ages for me to get it off. Today my Kong toy had peanut butter smeared on the inside of it and I loved licking out the contents, then later on I had the same toy but with biscuit treats and peanut butter smeared on the inside, it was while I was engrossed with that particular combination that my family left me and I did not even know! As I say something is up, school holidays end this week and term starts, I think things might be a little different around here from now on.
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