Gloucestershire Team, 12/12/2011
We have had Piper now for nearly 6 months, he’s a great guy, what a clown. He’s in to everything and considers it his canine duty to help out with what ever’s going on. You’d think that he would have twigged by now that being tripped over isn’t a term of endearment, but he’s not the sharpest tool in the box. What he lacks in brains he makes up for many fold with his heart. He has settled in well with our other lurcher (Sheena) who is 3 years older than him. She thinks he’s the best toy she ever had, we used to have a lawn but now it’s more like a race track. He has been to clicker training and passed with flying colours but his recall still isn’t good enough to let him off lead in public, which is a shame as we live close to some good beeches. He has been on a long line and his sister thinks it’s a great idea to run in circles just outside the length of the line. We are confident that given time, when his logic outweighs his instincts and he is not so easily distracted, he will be able to run off lead. Before we picked him up we were told of his chequered past as a stray and spending time in the pound before GRWE took him on. His missing teeth and claws and various scars bare testament to this. He is still not very good with cats and other dogs but he is a lot better than he was and is getting better all the time. We recently went on holiday to a cottage in Derbyshire (which we found on the GRWE website) which had a riding school attached to it, we were able to let him off there and by the end of the week he had started to run properly, like a greyhound. We are looking for somewhere locally that has a large enclosed area as doing circuits around the house just isn’t the same!
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Little Lenny - now Hamish
Kent Team, 19/10/2011
We had been looking at the GRWE website for some months when Hamish appeared on there. We drove to Kent to meet what we hoped could be our first ever dog. To be honest, when we first met Hamish we didn't really know what to think! He charged out of the kennels with such enthusiasm and was so excited to be with Janet, Chris, and us on a lovely walk that we wondered if we shouldn't re-think and wait for a nice, quiet greyhound! So...we had a big think! We kept looking at the GRWE photos and there was something about the up-front character, soft eyes and beautiful, brindle coat that made him impossible to ignore. I don't think any of us realised just how much we would love him. From the moment we got him home we started to discover that Hamish is very special, he can give paws, play fetch, sit, lie down, wait and stay. He plays 'find it' games and loves his 'destruction box' in which there are old cartons and paper bags in which treats are hidden. He plonks himself on my lap and snuggles down so that I can't use a laptop. He has his own 'Diggery' to persuade him to leave the gardening to us; he is even clever enough to bang his food dish if he would like seconds! Hamish has brought immeasurable joy to our previously well-ordered lives with his toothy smiles, his mad garden dashes; his tendency to poo outside the most expensive houses and the funny, excited 'snap, snap' noise he makes when he greets us. We know we have found a great friend to make us laugh and share our walks, our sofas and our family life. We are constantly amazed by how lucky we are to share every day with our gentle, trusting, playful and loving dog and hope for many happy, rather chaotic, years together. So, for anyone who is also having a 'big think', stop thinking! GRWE will be there to hold your hand and advise you as you discover the delights of Lurchers or Greyhounds and if you are really lucky, you too will find a Happy Hamish! Lorna & Bill Gray
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Millie
Kent Team, 05/10/2011
Millie (aka Little Kate) found her forever home in January this year. It all started on a cold and wet Saturday when the GRWE held a fundraising day in Horsham… we only popped into Horsham for a coffee and came back with a dog, well not quite, but you know what I mean! We visited Millie in her Foster home and from the moment we saw her she stole our hearts. Kaye (Millie’s Foster mum), filled us in on Millie’s little quirks (she has many) and her likes/dislikes – we didn’t need to think about it, we knew Millie was the dog for us. Our journey home with Millie was filled was apprehension… had we done the right thing? Will she like us? Will she like the cat? Well, seven months on and we couldn’t imagine life without our little black shadow. Millie follows us everywhere, which is a little tricky when there are three of us in the house, she never knows who to follow first and ends up doing a mad dash around the whole house. Millie loves her walks and will resort to fetching our shoes or even her lead if she thinks her walk is overdue! When she came to us, Millie didn’t really know how to play but she now proudly shows off (to anyone who happens to be around), a basket full of soft toys, balls, chews and ropes. Her favourite is a three legged lamb known affectionately as lamby but that’s another story! When she isn’t playing, Millie’s favourite pastime is roaching and soaking up as much attention as anyone will give her and who can resist those gorgeous brown eyes. We had a fantastic day at the GRWE’s South East Region’s Offlead Social and BBQ June and Millie made us so proud by winning the “Prettiest Girl” class. Tara, Mence and James Wilkinson
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Cassie
Kent Team, 05/10/2011
In September 2010 we picked Cassie up on our way back from a holiday to Cornwall. It took us 6 ½ hours to drive to Hastings, and then another 2 hours to get back to our home in Surrey. She was well worth the drive. For the next 4 months she lived with us in our little cottage on the horse yard where we worked. We had a bit of fun on the first day. She was let off the lead to meet to other yard dogs and although she got on fine with these (including a 13yr old terrier) the geese were another story! Within minutes of being let off Andrew was stripped down to his boxers wading into the big pond to ‘rescue’ Cassie as she had jumped in after them then realised she was stuck! However it didn’t take her long to get used to them, and she was also happy with the cats, chickens, goats and horses. Within weeks we knew we had rehomed an amazing dog. She is so responsive and trainable. She sits, lies down, stays and her recall is fab. She loves her cuddles and during the winter months sleeps in our bed cuddled up between us. She will squeeze into the smallest space on the sofa just to be with you. She is just such a friendly, cuddly girl! I really can’t put into words how much of a star Cassie really is. She is never any trouble and whenever we’re out she always has plenty of admires. Just in the last few weeks we’ve had a bank manager run down the road after us to say hello, a fellow greyhound owner cross the road for a 10min chat, and a large group of children on bikes got off their bikes to come and say hello in the park! Cassie has also recently started going to a couple of fun shows where she has been very successful. In her first one she got a 4th in ‘Happiest Rescue’ and a 5th in ‘Owner and Dog Most Alike’. In her second one she came 2nd in ‘Best Family Pet’, 3rd in ‘Prettiest Bitch’ and 6th in ‘Best Rescue’. We would like to say thank you to GRWE and especially Janet Lindsay, for setting us with Cassie. She definitely is a once in a lifetime dog! Katy, Andrew and Cassie!
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