Scary monsters

What we have learned today.

Monkey has added a couple of things to his ‘I’m scared of this as well' list.

On today’s walk he reinforced his dislike of transit vans and added a bus shelter – just the one so far – and wheelie bins.

He also decided that the swooshing sound a car tyre makes when it goes over a wet patch on the road – not a puddle – just a wet patch, is enough to make him jump forward.

He also discovered last night that he would like to be Scooby-Doo. Walking on the green in the twilight he moved away from me by a lead’s length – about six feet (two metres) while he was ahead of me I stepped on a twig. You could almost hear the yikes as he jumped up in the air. Luckily he didn’t try to jump into my arms!

Anyway back to today’s additions to the list. The bus shelter we pass most days is open fronted

Today’s evil bus shelter is one we have passed on the opposite side of the road several times without any fuss. However, walking on that side of the road necessitated a run round behind me as we approached it

Go figure.

Wheelie bin day leads to all sorts of shenanigans as some bins are on drives to our left – others are on the edge of the pavement to our right.

 If I could get Monkey on skis I swear he could win Gold in the downhill slalom at the Winter Olympics.

Taking the rough with the smooth

Before today's blog Monkey and I would like to send our love to all our friends in America after the monstrous outrage at the Boston marathon. Stay safe.

It was inevitable that we would have setbacks along the way to integrating new boy Monkey into our household and it would be remiss of me to paint a false picture of adopting a greyhound to those who may come across this blog and think that a grey could be their forever friend.
I must stress that it was only a minor matter and it was in no way Monkey's fault. I hold myself fully to blame.
As you will have read on previous posts Monkey was being trained to fit into our existing routine around getting the workers and pupil out the door. Sadly yesterday, I was tardy in getting Monkey into the garden first thing and he couldn't hold his wee any longer. I had the backdoor open but had left his leash in the wrong place so I couldn't lead him out and he relieved himself in the hall.
Nobody was more upset than he was. The look on his face said it all.
I got him into the garden on the lead but when I let him off he just ran back in the house and practically covered his face with his paws. Poor lad.
The incident seemed to upset him for the rest of the day. On the morning walk he was very skittish with the passing children and anyone in a hi-vis jacket was well and truly avoided - to the extent of stepping off the pavement to go by them. Breakfast was a no-go also - as I thought it might be - which was a pity as we needed to get some Drontal tablets into him. I'd even grilled a sausage to put the tablets in to disguise them.
Monkey had calmed down by dinner time but he was still needing the leash to get him in the garden and running straight back in as soon as he was let off it.
After some thought we have tweaked the routine in the morning to allow me to get Monkey into the garden more quickly and I have decided that for now we will keep him on the leash until he has had a wee and only then go back in.
The smooth news today is that it worked a treat. Monkey stayed on the leash until he'd weed. He had his breakfast a little later and ate the lot - including the Drontal stuffed sausage. I delayed his walk until the children were at school and that too went fine. Hopefully we are back on track and Monkey will continue to settle in.

Week One

Well that's the first week over with. Overall a solid start I think.
Monkey is much calmer than he was and more responsive. He is beginning to notice certain things such as the rattle of his muzzle when it is time for a walk.
I shall have to come up with something else to do in a couple of weeks - when we have tested his responses to other animals and children and decide if he will be going out without a muzzle. It doesn't seem to bother him too much - but he does keep wacking in against my leg to remind me it's still there.
Anyway at the moment when he hears me rattle his muzzle he gets up and comes to the front room door. I do have to be quick as if I leave it too long he goes and sits down again.
He will now wait when we get in from a walk so I can take off the muzzle and lead before he goes back to the front room.
He is using the new feeder we bought. It is still having to be presented to him at meal times but today he got up and had a drink from it. We also had teeth cleaning today and he didn't seem to object too much to that.
All in all a good end to the week and a good start to life with Monkey the Greyhound.

Mellow Monkey

Quiet day today with the Lady Of The House (LOTH) and the Girl Of The House (GOTH) out. One with boyfriend, one on business in Penzance. Of course it is the LOTH away on business.
Monkey and me and Boy Of The House Tom have spent a day chillin'. Tom with friends and some new games on his X-Box, Monkey - sleeping mostly - and a couple of calm walks.
Me, Soccer AM then following the footy on Sky.
Got myself a new copy of Greyhounds for Dummies - just to refresh my memory - and find myself torn between advice in the book and what has worked for us before. Will try some of the book's recommendations but mainly will go on gut instincts and what the LOTH feels to be right for us.
Sadly the netbook I usually post on is away with the LOTH so I'm having to use the main computer in what serves as an office upstairs. At least this machine doesn't freeze up every few minutes and I feel more in control of the post.
Hoping for another quiet day tomorrow with more chillin' with my boys and some good food and the Chelsea FA Cup semi-final - must keep calm for Monkey. Had a lovely text from a friend asking when they could come over and meet Monkey which I'm sure will make for an interesting day soon.

Big thank you

As Monkey the greyhound finds his paws in his new world I too am finding my feet in the blogosphere. I hope you will forgive me for not posting individual replies to all of you who have welcomed Monkey and myself into your lives. I am very conscious of having to tread carefully in this new world and would rather not leave a proverbial mess on someone's blog carpet.
Monkey and I are finding our way together in this new adventure and I hope you will bear with us as we come to know each other and yourselves.
I think Monkey will probably understand his world quicker than I will. I am after all an older dog than him and you know what they say about new tricks.

Monkey day 4

What an exciting walk we had this morning. So much to see and hear.

Not only was it bin day - but the Boy Of The House (BOTH) and the Girl Of The House (GOTH) were back at school after the Easter holiday break. I know - a bit mean having to go back in the middle of the week – the BOTH as pupil and the GOTH in her role as a teaching assistant.

The structure of the days so far has been preparing for this - with get-ups, toilet, walks and breakfast being arranged to fit around the rest of the Pritchard pack. What can I say, it worked perfectly. Monkey slotted in without a murmur.

The main concern was how the walk would go as we were timing it so there would be a lot of the BOTH’s schoolmates coming and going as the term started and we could see how the activity affected Monkey.

He was very alert with a spring in his step as he took in all the people bustling about. The traffic also seems to engage him as his head is all over the place looking and listening. He is a little anxious with the cars but not in a way that puts him off his stride and I’m sure with a few more walks Monkey will soon relegate the traffic noise to the background as we all have learned to do. He also got to meet Winnie’s old friend the crossing patrol lady.

Back home the cheese was used to encourage breakfast and also to help as we try to move his bowl out of the front room towards, and finally, into the kitchen.

Quieter afternoon walk. Passed a Labrador without too much fuss. It feels as though Monkey wants to make friends rather than cause trouble but with the muzzle on other owners, quite rightly, hold their dogs back or even cross the road.

Monkey decided to have his dinner closer to him. My fault. I'd put dinner by the door as I did this morning but came back to the room to try to get a picture so Monkey thought he'd sit back down on his bed.

Monkey day 3

Best day so far. The beginning of a structure put in place. Breakfast was eaten. Walks were taken and cats were passed without too much trouble. Monkey is being so good on the lead. Dinner was delayed due to visitors . . . but with a little added cheese it was devoured in minutes. A couple of days like this and we'll be ready to start looking at moving Monkey out of his 'kennel run' and into the rest of the house. At the moment he is so relaxed it is hard to see where his bed ends and his body begins. At lunch I put my coat on to go into the village - leaving Monkey with the GOTH. Monkey saw me put the jacket on and got up. When he saw I hadn't got the lead, he lay down again.

House noises do not seem to bother him as much as they did on Monday and Tuesday as the post arrrived through the letter box with a mere pricking up of the ears rather than a full-blown heads up 'what was that'?
There seems to be a problem with my netbook at the moment so I am going to try to post this and sign off for the night. Thank you all for bearing with me and I am very hopeful of being able to respond to your kind comments next week.

Monkey day 2

Another quiet night and out in the garden first thing for toilet. Monkey seems to like going out of a side door rather the patio doors. He had a slip in the dining room on his first night so maybe that has coloured his perception. He does want his lead on when he goes out and comes in. With the lead he will trot straight in but without he will stand his ground and no amount of cajoling will change his mind.

He also turns his nose up at treats at the moment so they are no use in reinforcing positive behaviour.

Breakfast today was also a no-go area although he has had some water – again, as his first drink last night, it had to be brought into the front room. It’s almost as if the front room is his run at the kennel and while he seems quite happy in here, he doesn’t like to leave it.

But, having said that, he goes off to bed in the kitchen at night without a fuss.

The news on the cat front appears promising as Monkey passed within two metres of a neighbour’s animal on our morning walk and never turned a hair.

We ventured down to the clay pits, on Bitham Lane, which can be a hit and miss affair as we have encountered loose dogs on there with Winnie but Monkey needs to nose out his surroundings and today there were no other dogs about.

He seems to be on alert all the time when out as traffic noise makes him turn his head all the time to watch. He can be skittish when other dogs are sighted but with the muzzle others are giving us a wide berth.

We are of course awaiting the revealing of Monkey’s true personality once the ‘honeymoon’ period is over and he begins to find his place in the ‘Pritchard pack’.

He is sticking to his ‘spot’ on the carpet rather than in front of the fireplace so we have put his daybed there and hopefully he will get used to the daybed and we can gradually move it.

Fruitless attempt at dinner time to convince him he must be hungry.

However, a bowl of pasta, cheese and chicken at 7pm finally broke his fast abd this was rapidly followed a couple of handfuls of dog biscuits and cheese. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring a proper breakfast meal – if not we’re gonna get through a lot of pasta.

Monkey makes his mark

As you are aware our last greyhound, Winnie, sadly died just before Christmas and this weekend we finally set off for Crossing Cottage Greyhound Sanctuary having, of course drawn up a picture of our ideal forever hound.

At Crossing Cottage John and Judith work very hard at pairing up the right people with the right greyhound. Before you visit you can go on their website and view the dogs that need rehoming. There are a great many details on this resource from whether the dog is shy through to the best age for the children to be in the new home.

We spent several days constructing our shortlist of attributes we wanted our next greyhound to possess in order for us to live harmoniously together. We printed out the details of more than a dozen dogs and then each of us went through the details and narrowed the dozen down to not only our favourites but also the ones that we felt wouldn’t cause too much disruption in the home.

Here is a rough idea of our shortlisted criteria: Female, Winnie was such a sweet-natured girl, black or blue, Winnie was a pale fawn colour so we wanted to get a contrast so as not to be reminded of her too much.

Also we wanted a greyhound familiar with a home environment, one  that was comfortable with the smells, sights and sounds of domesticity and would fit in without too much stress – for us or the animal - and was comfortable with teenagers.

If you followed Winnie’s blog you will also be aware that the she gave us all names: MOTH is me, the man of the house, well in name anyway. LOTH is Elaine, the lady of the house, mum to everyone else. GOTH is girl of the house, Caitlin, and BOTH is boy of the house 14-year-old Tom.

Anyway, MOTH, BOTH and LOTH duly trotted off to Crossing Cottage – GOTH was on bridesmaid duties – armed with an exact specification of what was wanted.

That’s when Monkey upset the applecart.

You can plan all you want, but you can never factor in love at first sight.

While we were looking at the first pair of dogs in the kennels I felt a tongue on the back of my hand and looked down to see a brown – all right – foxy, ginger rump disappear into the sheltered part of the kennel.

We asked Judith if we could take him out for a walk. Yes, you read that right HIM.

We took Monkey along the path and when we turned again to return to the kennels he just stopped and dug his paws in as if to say ‘do I have to.’

We coaxed him back and he was returned to his run. We looked across and for a split second he looked back – then turned on his heels and vanished.

We went to John and Judith and asked about his background.

He had only been at Crossing Cottage since February 4 and was quite aloof as he was very nervous and shy having just finished racing due to a pulled muscle. He had only lived in kennels but was very clean. He had very little confidence and needed to be taught how to enjoy love and cuddles.

Monkey would need a lot of attention, patience and love to bring out his personality.

If you have a minute, go back to the beginning and look at what we set out to find.

GOTH was sent a picture of Monkey – the wonders of the modern world – and added her approval. So the deal was sealed. Not only sealed but done and dusted and instead of going to Crossing Cottage and seeing what there might be for us to pick from at our leisure we brought our new family member home with us.

We were not prepared as we had no lead, and nothing for him to lie on in the car. The house was without a doggy-thing, all having been washed and bagged up the day we lost Winnie. So we arrived home with a hound that didn’t know what a house even was and was very frightened of us and everything around him.

I took him straight in to the garden for the toilet while LOTH and BOTH got everything we needed out of the garage. After he had done his business we had a spot of grooming and then tried to tempt him into the house. He was very reluctant and I had to put his lead on to enable me to get him up the step and in.

He hadn’t been fed since breakfast at 6.30am so we tried him with food but he wasn’t having any.

We went for a couple of walks with the muzzle on, as we had no idea how he would react to who and what he saw while out. Hopefully, the muzzle will be a temporary feature as he seems to dislike it intensely and wasted no time in letting me know by belting me between knee and groin every chance he got.

He also decided that he needed to emphasise his irritation even more by stepping behind me and bringing his head up between my legs every few minutes. A shortening of the lead soon stopped this.

Bedtime arrived and after another visit to the garden and then into an almost sleepless night as I waited for the trouble to start. I needn’t have worried. Monkey was silent throughout the night and come this morning the kitchen was both still there and still spotless.

We’ve had two walks today, again with the muzzle as I will be concerned at Monkey’s response to cats until we have a close encounter of the furred kind and I know what I need to do to keep him safe. He's had his first meal with us this afternoon

As I write on my netbook he is asleep on his bed at my feet. He is interested in all the noises around him and his ears prick up at every new sound. He is still unable to meet your gaze but we are in the same room.

And so our adventures with Monkey the greyhound begin.

Winnie the Greyhound - forever in our hearts

Winnie the Greyhound: 2002-2012

Pet sketch by Jane West 

Goodbye beautiful girl

It is with great sadness and heartache that the Pritchard family informs you of the passing of their beloved Winnie.

She was taken ill at the weekend and passed away in her sleep this morning.

Whilst we are stunned by the suddenness of her departure we remember her with much happiness. The joy she brought into our house was immeasurable and the new vistas she opened up for us made the world a smaller place.

Our thanks go to our friends around the world, drawn to us by Winnie, who said a prayer for her and who will now express their sympathy.

Winnie was a beautiful greyhound whose presence in our lives enriched us incredibly.

Her final race is now run.

RIP Winnie Pritchard

Where's Winnie?

Good question!

But first of all - Happy Thanksgiving to all my blogger friends across the pond. Hope you have a lovely holiday.

I am right here, where you left me, but my blog writing (and reading) exploits have slowed down to almost a full stop.

It's all the fault of the Lady Of The House, for taking her clothes off - and the Boy Of The House, for being a bit of a superstar.

Back in the summer the LOTH and her friends in the Little Theatre Company decided to do a Calendar Girls-style cheeky calendar in aid of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research. This is because they are doing the play of Calendar Girls in March and wanted to get into the spirit of the play and raise some money to help beat blood cancers. (This is a recap for those who missed the story first time round)

You may know that the original Calendar Girls were members of a Yorkshire Women's Institute group who did traditional "WI poses" - making jam, and baking cakes etc - but without any clothes on. The LOTH and her friends have done 'theatrical poses' instead.

Anyway, it's getting very VERY busy for them now and the LOTH is helping with the Burton Calendar Girls blog and social media and stuff and today she's been setting up a Just Giving page so if anyone further afield would like to support the cause, they can do it easily and securely. The 'girls' (and I use that term loosely) are also making lots of appearances at craft fairs and things to sell their calendars in person.

And what about the BOTH? Well, after he played one of the Lost Boys this summer - when his school did the Stiles & Drewe musical version of Peter Pan - he went along to open auditions to be in a professional panto version of the story in Derby. And he got picked to play John - Wendy's brother. He gets to FLY through the Assembly Rooms on a harness alongside George Sampson (winner of Britain's Got Talent 2008) who is playing Pan, and a great British actor called Larry Lamb who's Mr Darling/Captain Hook.

Rehearsals start this Saturday and the show runs from December 5 to January 6. The LOTH is going to be very busy taking the BOTH to and from rehearsals and performances - and she's been licensed to be a chaperone backstage.

Her work as a writer has got busier and busier too..... but don't worry, I'm still getting two walks a day and lots of hugs and cuddles. It's just that something has to give and it looks like it's my blog for a bit.

I'll try and get the odd word with you on here and on my Facebook Page but thought I'd explain why I'm quieter than usual.

In other news, I was delighted to win this striking pair of matching greyhound drinks coasters in an online auction by Kama's Cave Greyhound Sanctuary recently.

So I thought I'd choose one to send to my good Facebook friend Winnie in Tennessee, who sent me a lovely  greyhound suncatcher last Christmas.

I chose THIS one to send - and I kept the other.

Now we have one each. Tennessee Winnie's mum wrote to say hers arrived JUST in time for Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for your friendship and I'll be back in touch when I can.

P.S: The LOTH says she'd love to hear from any of you who might want to follow or leave comments on the Burton Calendar Girls blog. She says they have some exciting craft projects coming up that some of you you might enjoy.

Wordless Wednesday: I LOVE scrunching through autumn leaves

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.