Winnie the greyhound and the great rabbit rescue

So here's a story that the Lady Of The House wants to tell you.
I don't know why.
But over to the LOTH.
I'm going for a lie down.


Thanks Win.

So, me and Win were taking a gentle walk through the housing estates near our home one morning when she suddenly got her 'cat face' on.

This involves her ears flying straight up like flagpoles and her eyes focusing forward in a steely gaze and is usually immediately followed by one loud warning bark before she attempts to fly forward as far as her lead will allow in the attempted pursuit of a cat she's seen ahead.

But this time it was 'cat face' x 10.

I'd never seen her so intent on the chase. And what was more worrying I couldn't see a cat - or a squirrel.
I was hanging on to the lead and wrapping it round my hand as she barked incessantly and fought like fury to get at something.

Her attention was focused on the base of a tall hedge beside a path between a couple of houses.
I suddenly saw that tucked under the hedge was a large, beautiful, brown and white pet rabbit looking slightly startled but thankfully not taking flight.

But I now faced a problem.

The chances were the rabbit has escaped from one of the two houses nearest to the hedge, but Winnie was going so completely batty there was no chance of me getting closer to either house as it meant getting closer to the rabbit and I didn't want to spook it. I also was beginning to suspect that Winnie might pull me off my feet if she got any closer and any more excited.

I hoped help was at hand when I saw a woman walking down the path towards us beside the hedge.
"Excuse me," I shouted to her. ""Have you seen that rabbit. There look, under the hedge."
She glanced over her shoulder and then smiled at me. "Oh no," she said. "I hadn't" and she speeded up towards us and passed us (giving mad Winnie a wide berth).
"I wondered if you could...." I started. I'd been hoping that she might knock on one of the house doors for me..... but she was clearly not keen to get involved and was away before I could finish the sentence.

With no-one else in sight I looked around for a house that looked as if someone might be at home and not at work.

The house level with us has a car in the drive, so I slowly made my way to the front door with a shrieking, writhing and pulsating Winnie on the end of the lead and without ever taking my eyes off the bunny.

I knocked on the door, and did find myself wondering if I looked outside and saw a strange, harassed woman staring fixedly across the road with a mad howling dog spinning like a top on a pink lead in her hand whether I'd open the door to them.

Maybe they thought the same. The door stayed shut.

Thankfully, the commotion has fetched a woman out of her house further down the road to investigate. As she walked towards us I said: "Oh, can you you help me, there's a rabbit under that hedge and I can't get closer because...."

"Oh," she said. "I know who he belongs to. "He's been missing for four days. they will be delighted. Don't worry. I'll sort it."

So I made a graceful-ish retreat in the opposite direction....with Winnie still baying and twirling.

This is Winnie on a later walk, hopefully inspecting where the rabbit had been in case he was back. He wasn't - and I'm delighted to know he's safely back home and we played our little part.

P.S: Relating this story to a friend, she said: 'Did you get a picture of the rabbit and Winnie for your blog?'

I replied: 'Do you REALLY think she was in any mood to pose? It took all my strength to hang on to her! I wasn't going to get my phone out of my pocket and take a picture too!'.

Crochet for Kama's Cave Greyhound Sanctuary

The Lady Of The House saw an appeal on Facebook to crochet, or knit, four inch squares for Kama's Cave Greyhound Sanctuary in Lincolnshire.

So last weekend she got busy.

So did I.

Don't worry. I'd just had a bath and cleaned my teeth.

The squares are on their way to you now.

They're fine. Honestly.

Find out more abut Kama's Cave at their website.

Santa's Little Elf-er

Here is my friend Bo, wishing you all a very merry Christmas.

Bo is certainly going to have a very happy Christmas thanks to Emma from Impawtant Pups. You may remember that we blogged about Bo during Mayzie's Rescue Me Week.

He was rescued by Emma from a dog pound where he was on death row because of his incredibly bad skin condition and the fact that no-one wanted him.

Emma brought him back to Burton-on-Trent and has done a great job of nursing him back to health in a couple of months. He's also  been welcomed into the family by her own dogs Chanel, the boxer, and Cesar, the Bull Mastiff (Gosh! He's big and he has a really DEEP bark).

When Bo is a little bit better he'll be looking for his own forever home with other dogs. He loves the company of other dogs and wouldn't want to be on his own.

His skin is SO much better than it was. Here he is a few weeks ago cuddling up to Chanel.

Most of his coat has grown back now, but because he used to wear pyjamas to cover the special cream he needed, he's quite happy to still wear clothes, like his new elf outfit for Christmas.

Looks like he wasn't too sure about the hat at first though.

I love Bo VERY MUCH! And I hope he finds the family that's just the perfect fit for him in 2012. He is such a loving boy. I just thought you might like to hear how he's doing these days. If I wasn't so committed to being an only dog we would love to give him a home. But I'm afraid I am set in my ways now and it's not to be.

Today I am again joining the Saturday Pet Blog Hop hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.

If you'd like to join in and make new pet blogger friends, please follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste this week's new Linky code into the html editor of your own blog. The list will automatically update on everyone's blogs as new sites add themselves over this weekend and we can all hop from blog to blog and find out everybody's news.

Thanks again to our three hosts for putting on the hop!

If you follow a new blog after finding them in the blog hop - please let them know that you found them on the Saturday Pet Blog Hop

Mr Bo - A very Impawtant Pup

Today we are taking part in Mayzie's great Rescue Me week by spotlighting a deserving pet looking for a new home and the rescue that has saved them.

This post explains all about Rescue Me week - and Mayzie's much-loved and much-missed Grampa J who is the inspiration behind it.

Mayzie kindly said that we could take part over here in the UK - so I want to introduce you to the very lovely and very special Mr Bojangles.

Five-month-old Bo, as he's known for short, was rescued from a dog pound in Cambridge, England, where he was due to be put to sleep. He was saved by a small but wonderful dog rescue organisation called Impawtant Pups Rescue.

Bo has the skin condition Demodex mange, which had been left untreated and his sores had become badly infected. He is pictured above as he is now - wearing his favourite stylish pajama top.

His skin was very bad at first, and then he got a chest infection - but thanks to lots of tender loving care he's now lots better. He's still being treated and will be looking for a loving forever home when his condition is well under control. These pictures show Bo when Emma of Impawtant Pups first collected him.

This is Bo now cuddling up to Chanel. He gets on so well with other dogs - and they love him too - that Impawtant Pups would like to find him a home with another dog, or two.

Mr Bojangles walks beautifully on the lead and is incredibly affectionate.

Impawtant Pups have done a lot of fund-raising to pay for his treatment. Their website will be going live soon - but for now you can find out more about them at their Facebook page here - http://www.facebook.com/impawtantpups. You can also email Emma at impawtantpups@gmail.com

Thank you Mayzie for this great chance to highlight so many adorable pets looking for new homes.I've loved reading all the blog posts this week and I hope EVERY pet that's been featured gets the perfect home very soon.

Old dogs and new tricks

The Lady Of The House learned the lovely story behind the picture of the dog that appears on the cover of the latest album by American blues singer Seasick Steve.

It turns out this handsome old fella (the dog, I mean) was cruelly dumped years ago on the M4 motorway at Swansea - but ten years ago he chose a nice lady owner who came to the rescue shelter where he'd been taken.

Now they live happily together in Portsmouth where she took this picture of him - his name is Twm - paddling in the sea.

Apparently, Seasick Steve spotted the picture she'd uploaded to Flickr and thought he'd be the perfect illustration for the cover of his record which was called: "You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks".

How lovely!!

By coincidence, we also got sent an email story about wise old dogs yesterday which I thought I'd also share and dedicate it to the GSDs who visit my blog and say hello from time to time as well as all dogs of more mature years (like me). Here it goes:


One day an old German Shepherd Dog is out enjoying a run in the woods when, eventually, he realises that he's lost.

As he looks for a way home he suddenly sees a hungry young panther running towards him determined to eat someone for lunch.

The GSD thinks to himself: "Oh, oh! I'm in big trouble now!"

But then, noticing some bones on the ground nearby, he lies down to chew on them with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the panther is about to leap, the GSD says loudly: "That was one delicious panther! I wonder, if there are any more around here?"

Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.

"Phew!" says the panther. "That was close! That old dog nearly had me!"

Meanwhile, a squirrel who had seen the whole thing from a nearby tree, decides he can put this knowledge to good use and earn protection from the panther. So, off he goes.  

The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans about the trick the GSD has played and strikes a deal for himself with the panther.  

The young panther is furious at being made to look a fool and says: "Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that old dog!"  

Now, the GSD sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks: "What am I going to do now?" But instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to the panther and the squirrel pretending he hasn't seen them.

When they get close enough to hear, the GSD says out loud:"I wonder where that squirrel's got to? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!"  
 
The moral of this story...

Don't mess with the old dogs... Age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery!

Introducing Dino the Adorable

Today I want to introduce you to my new friend Dino.

He's REALLY hoping to find a new forever home soon and I think he's really earned a second chance so I wanted to tell you his story.

Dino is a lurcher - which you might know is the name that is given to a dog that is one of the 'sighthound' breeds - like the greyhound, whippet, saluki or deerhound - crossed with another type of dog.

Lurchers were traditionally bred for hunting so down the years people have bred sighthounds with breeds like border collies and bearded collies, bedlington terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers ('Staffies') to get the right combination of qualities they wanted to hunt different sorts of animals.

There's been lots in the news about how Staffies are often misunderstood. Yet Staffies make great family pets. They form really strong bonds with their human families and are very tolerant and loving with children. Combine this with the gentle, laid-back nature of a sighthound and the result is a dog with a fantastic, family-friendly temperament.

Unfortunately many of the bull lurchers in rescue centres are overlooked simply because people are wary of the ‘bull’ label, even if they don’t really know why. Because pit bull terriers are banned over here, under our Dangerous Dogs Act (there's a whole other blog posting to be done some time on THAT!), some people shy away because they think all bull terriers are banned.

Anyway, back to Dino. As you might have guessed, he is a bull lurcher.

He's about five-years-old and has been with Greyhound Rescue West of England for 18 months now.

He came to them via another charity, and was initially VERY insecure around other dogs.

It took this poor lad many months to learn how to politely say hello to another dog, and then how to make friends, but he’s just about got socialising sussed now. Dino is doing very well in a foster home, and has earned himself the nickname "Dino the Adorable". Now he REALLY needs a home of his very own.

So in case there is ANYONE reading this who knows someone, who maybe knows someone, who might be the family Dino is looking for, I'll let Dino himself tell you a bit more. Over to you, Dino.

"Thanks Winnie. Well, I'm clean in the house, happy to chill out in my crate or on the sofa, especially if the sofa comes with a human cushion or two (I do the best snuggles in the world) and can comfortably be left for a few hours. I love all my toys and am perfect for playtime as I have a bit more stamina than the average greyhound so can give it my best shot before flopping out for a good snooze! I am actually not at all bad at a bit of football and even better, I have now learned to apply both braking and swerving techniques so smaller people can also enjoy my fun-time. I take treats really gently, will do kisses if I think I can sneak a couple in and work very hard to make myself into an adorable giant softie. I do also try to honour my greyhound roots by sitting regally on the sofa, but it’s quite hard work so usually ends up as a lollop!

"Out on the lead, I am now much more confident and generally walk quite nicely with other dogs, especially once I know them. I sometimes still get worried, usually by the other dog’s behaviour, but if the person with me is calm and knows what to do, it soon blows over (GRWE will help you, don't worry!). I have actually started to get myself out of tricky spots and go to dogs I know for reassurance which is a sign of my growing social skills.

"My most wonderful quality though is that I will be your bestest and most devoted friend and make you smile every day. I love to share my cuddles and cheeky moments and once you become one of my special humans, you will remain so forever. I have room for a few more special humans – do you have a space for me?"

If you can help Dino, or know someone who could, the GRWE would LOVE to hear from you. You can call them on 07000 785 092 or visit their website contact page. There is also an email address - lisa.webb@grwe.com - specifically for enquiries about Dino.

I'm rooting for you, Dino!!

The postman calls three times

I'm the kind of dog that loves postmen, mainly because just recently they've been bringing me some lovely goodies.

First of all came a surprise package all the way from Scotland which contained the items the Lady Of The House bid for in an online auction in aid of RoyalHeart Greyhound Rescue and run by the lovely people at the Living with Pet Bereavement forums.

It wasn't just paper,like it looks in this picture, honestly. In fact there were two parcels. Once had some boring stuff for the LOTH but the other had two collars for me, a big bag of rawhide chips and a special chewy shoe from my great friend King Presley.

Then there were some packages of posters and a big banner from the Retired Greyhound Trust for the event the LOTH and her friend Alyson are doing in April (of which more on another day).

Then this week, the postman rang for a third time with a big box, and this is what happened next:

It turns out that the LOTH and I had won a competition we entered in the magazine that comes from our pet insurance people at PetPlan and we'd won a leather lead, a non-slip water bowl, a furry bed an a lot of dog food from Natural Instinct - who pride themselves on dog food as nature intended.

I am planning to share with food with my good friends Biscuit, Fender and Revel who live nearby but I've made myself at home on the bed already.

Hope you are lucky too in everything you do this weekend. Have a great time.

What a nice start to the week

What a lovely surprise when I was catching up on the news from my namesake - The Other Winnie Cooper - last night and found that she had very generously passed on to me the Awesome Blog award.

I felt very privileged and proud.

If you've not met the other Winnie yet - she's a Shih Tzu and very very cute and clever. So do stop by and say hello to her.

As is the way with these awards I now have to tell you a few things about myself that you might not know. Hhhmmm! Let me think.

1. My dad was an Australian greyhound called Hahn Bale who came over to the UK to sire puppies. I look a lot like him going by the picture on Greyhound-Data.com

2. His dad - my grandad - was Head Honcho who died in 2001 was one of the inaugural inductees in to the Victorian Greyhound Racing Hall Of Fame in 2009.

2. I love sharing Sunday roast dinner with the family - well they save some for me to eat after them - but it does mean some rather bad smells coming from the direction of my bottom on a Sunday evening which I pretend are nothing to do with me.

3. I like having my teeth brushed with chicken-flavoured toothpaste.

4. If we see people jogging on our walks I act like I want to join in (you can take the greyhound of out of the stadium but you can't stop her wanting to run).

5. My favourite toy at the moment is a squeaky plush reindeer that I had for Christmas - but that will change again soon.

Now for the blogs that I would like to honour by passing on the awesome award. This is really hard because I LOVE all my virtual friends who I follow. But here's who I have decided to recommend to you this time.

Presley the Lurcher (also known on Facebook as 'King Presley') - A Lurcher from Scotland with a lovely accent

A Scratch Behind the Ears - Always makes the LOTH feel peaceful and smile

Dogs for the Paws - Inspiring stories of rescue dogs

Finn's Dog Blog - He's a handsome bulldog

Granted Wishes Greyhounds - Greyhound rescue and training experiences

Hope you find some new blogs there that you perhaps didn't know about.

Have a lovely week. It's school half-term here so I may get busy helping the LOTH look after the BOTH (he's not only on holiday from school but he's got a nasty cold too) so if I go a bit quiet you will know why.

Grey and proud

Makes me proud to be a greyhound when I see stories like this one in the Birmingham Mail about a greyhound called Chicken who is brightening the lives of older folk in a care home.

No-one knows why he's called Chicken apparently, but like me he looked very sad as he waited in kennels at the Blue Cross animal adoption centre in Bromsgrove for a new home.

But now that he's out and about he's a happy chap and making others smile too.

Home manager Margaret Hook told the Birmingham Mail that his presence is highly therapeutic for the 60 residents.

"He will just sit there and they make a fuss over him and they love it. Some of the residents remember their own pets and they start talking about their lives. It helps bring them out of themselves."

The Girl Of The House is having a lovely birthday and asked me to say thank you for all your kind wishes. She would send you all some cake if she could but perhaps you can enjoy it virtually instead. I'll just get the Man Of The House to cut you a slice........

Jumping out of an airplane - to help greyhounds

It's good to know that there are Greyhound lovers around the world doing their bit to help us.

The Southport Visiter newspaper website is reporting on a local woman now living and working in Spain who has jumped out of a plane above Seville to help greyhounds in that country.

Lisa Ingram works in her mum's restaurant but also rescues greyhounds - she has four of her own - and she aims to open an educational centre to help people understand more about us as a breed and prevent many dogs being abandoned or killed.

I think the Lady Of The House should give that sort of thing a go....but she says she's scared of heights.

If you are going to Discover Dogs at Earl's Court in London next weekend - be sure to look out for my old friends from the Retired Greyhound Trust on stand 142.

Discover Dogs is a massive event on all day 13 and 14 November. I won't be going as dogs aren't allowed as visitors (although some dogs are allowed to attend if they are part of the displays or are invited to be the dogs that meet and greet visitors to teach them more about different breeds).

It's a great event which really shows what great things dogs can do in the world of search and rescue, pets as therapy dogs and working with organisations like the police.

There's also a chance for rescue societies, like the Retired Greyhound Trust, to encourage people to think about re-homing an adult dog who might in some cases be a better match for their family than a new puppy.

My family certainly thought I was a good match for them - I think it was my relaxed approach from day one. We greyhound know how to take life easy.

Have a good weekend whatever you are up to. See you again soon.

This was me minutes after I arrived in my new home in August.

Finding fame on Project Dog

There's now a picture of me - in characteristically active mode - on the Project Dog website.

I am happy to admit this was nothing to do with me. The Lady Of The House had been Twittering with Project Dog over in America and decided to add an entry for me on their website.

Project Dog is trying to photograph each of the American Kennel Club’s 173 recognised dog breeds - both a purebred and rescue dog of each breed (346 dogs total), from 19 US metropolitan cities, for inclusion in a book.

(Did you know that apparently there are about 77.5 million pet dogs in America? WOW!)

But Project Dog is happy for any dog owners anywhere in the world to add their dogs to the website - although they won;t make it in to the book. The website is also publicising a lot of good stuff about dogs needing new homes and promoting responsible dog ownership.

Project Dog is the brainchild of pet photographer Kira Stackhouse of Nuena Photography in San Francisco.

Justice for Jack

The cruelty some people can inflict on dogs seems to know no bounds.

Take the case of "Jack" - whose emaciated body was found bundled into a blanket at the gates of Whitehall kennels and rescue centre in Wakefield.

Brian Wheelhouse, who works at the kennels, found the dog - who he named Jack - and believes the poor thing died soon after it was left there in the dark between midnight and 5am on Friday 17 September, 2010.

Jack's tribute on Lost and Fond

It's heartening though to see the response, though, as dog lovers across the world unite to find those repsonsible, to support the great work Whitehall rescue centre does and to try and enforce harsher punishments on people found guilty of such cruelty in future.

A reward of £1,000 is on offer for information leading to the conviction of those who starved and neglected Jack for months leading up to his death.

If you can help, or want to lend your support, you can:
* donate or volunteer to help the rescue centre through its website
* join the Facebook group Justice for Jack and sign the anti-cruelty petition you will find there
* contact Wakefield police if you know ANYTHING about where Jack was before he was taken to the gates of the rescue centre.

A heart-warming story for a miserable day

If you are as cold and wet as I am today, here's a story to warm the cockles of your heart.

The Cumberland News is reporting the tale of 13-year-old Jack Russell terrier Bam Bam who collapsed with a serious illness - and a blood transfusion was his only hope.

Enter Blue, a noble and majestic-looking greyhound currently being cared for by Dumfriesshire and Cumbria Greyhound Rescue

He was taken in to the vet to provide the blood Bam Bam needed to survive - and the little dog is now making a good recovery.

But Blue is still looking for a forever home. I hope someone can help him soon.

Apparently greyhounds are often used as dog blood donors because their veins are close to the skin and they are among the more placid and easy-going of dogs so they cope with the procedure better than some breeds would.

Makes me feel mighty proud. Here's wishing Bam Bam and Blue many more happy years in loving homes.

Showing off

Well, another first for me today with my family - I entered my first class at a fun dog show.

The Lady Of The House and I entered the ring for class 4 - Best Rescue at the dog show at Derby's Markeaton Park.

We weren't placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd but there were some lovely rescue dogs with far sadder stories than mine.

The L O T H said she was just pleased that I didn't take off in pursuit of any of the park's squirrels - in which I had been showing a keen interest. And the Judge said I was a credit to my family - which was nice. AND I got some more lovely bone biscuits from The Dog Bakery stall! Hurray!!!

Entrants and onlookers at the Markeaton Park dog show

The Dog Bakery stall was also raising money for Derbyshire re-homing charity Just For Dogs which I thought was lovely. JFD do some great work on behalf of animals. Read the story of how they save the life of Casper the friendly dog. It's chilling that anyone could slit a dog's throat and leave him for dead. Thankfully there are decent people around who will try and put things right and in Casper's case there was a great happy ending.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. I'm curling up for a sleep. See you tomorrow.

Wishing Sandy a speedy recovery

My recent problems with my dew claw - oh, and I've scraped my nose a little bit since we last spoke - were put into perspective when I heard about the lucky escape of a greyhound called Sandy who fell 60 feet off some cliffs in Dorset last Saturday.

The Swanage coastguard rescue team were called into action after the horrified owner reported their dog had gone over the edge of a cliff between Studland and Old Harry Rocks.

Luckily for Sandy and his owner, the Swanage casualty watch team were already heading out to Old Harry when they got the call from Portland and they were on the scene extremely quickly.

They could see Sandy, who had broken his leg, at the base of the cliff and sent a crewman ashore. The Coastguard team then passed a special dog bag down so that the lifeboat crew could safely recover the injured greyhound to South Beach from where its owner whisked it off to a vet.

The Swanage coastguard say that the next day a very similar accident happened at the same spot, but by the time they got to the scene the owners had managed to rescue their dog themselves.

Of course we greyhounds love to run, and maybe Sandy got the sight, or smell, of a rabbit and took a very dangerous step too far. I wish him a full and speedy recovery.