New Poster and Her Dogs: Introduction

Difficult to explain to people just what dear dogs they are. I've done the opposite to you, number; I've replaced cats with whippets. I find them very cat like. When out walking I'd rather meet an elderly lady with a lurcher than a young man with a staffie. Now they are lovely family dogs but in the wrong hands they can be lethal. I always find that young children in pushchairs seem very vulnerable when it comes to dogs as they are at 'dog height'. I know when my daughter lived in Nottingham she was always worried about dogs and her son is scared of them. Although nothing ever happened to him I think he sensed her fear.

Welcome Alexa and Pollyanna. I once had a lurcher, from a puppy, she was adorable, but not exactly over obedient. OK indoors, but once outside and off the lead, forget it! It nearly broke my heart to have to have her put to sleep aged almost 15, that was over 14 years ago, but we`ll never forget our Heidi. I stick to cats now, I`m not fit enough to walk a dog, so admire you immensely Alexa.

Agree about the vinyl, though. For both dog and owner, as whippety things just don't handle stairs.

Hmm. Both my son, when he was little, and one of my grandsons have had unnerving experiences with dogs whose elderly lady owners couldn't control them.

Not convinced.

It's mollie that's got the large dog; and she's only 21, aren't you mollie ?

No. Alexa has got a whippet lurcher. They're not very big. And when they don't do as they're told it's not like a Rottweiler not doing as it's told. And anyone that has the doggie knowhow to control a shepherd/collie cross is pretty high up the knowing how to control dogs scale. It's just that sighthounds are rather different to other dogs and if you've not had one before it takes a while to get inside their heads and you need to speak to other sighthound owners to get more info. Which is what she's doing. One of the reasons why I started having sighthounds was because I got talking to a lady who told me she used to walk 5 of her fathers greyhounds when she was really young, and had no problem controlling them. They're also much better for older people as, unlike a lot of dogs, when they're in the home they don't leap around and get under your feet [spaniels are a bit bad for that].

Nosings are, apparently, anti-slip things.

Are they to help stop you slipping down, or the dog to get up the stairs?

I would have thought so - sounds like a slippery slope to me - and what are nosings?

Am I the only one slightly worried by the fct that an 81 year old is in sole charge of a large lurcher dog that doesn't do as it's told?

Also, isn't vinyl unsafe on staircases?

Hi alexa my only experience with a lurcher was that he was an angel in the house or at training classes but a nightmare outside. Ran like the wind and kept running. once he started disappearing all night he sadly had to go, we lived among far too many livestock farmers to risk it.

Has he got some deerhound/wolfhound in him to be that size? Gosh; can you volunteer to walk dogs for the RGT? I could have a practice. Never walked a dog larger than a whippet [although my last one was a very large whippet]. Of course, I'd end up taking one home I suppose. They do refer to whippets as old mens dogs' though because you don't really have to walk a long way with them;just let them off and exercise themselves.

is there something about grannies and lurchers/sighthounds/greyhounds
I am on my second rescue lurcher - both of the shaggy kind and would have another in a heartbeat.

As I am a mere 5'1" tall and Ollie the lurcher is half my height when I see large men walking a small dog - are they the sensible ones who can lift their dog over stiles and in and out of cars when returning from the vets.

sorry we lurcher and sighthound dog-lovers have hijacked a thread - welcome to the alexa anyway.

Hello, pollyann and alexa!

Oh Grace I know what you mean, when mine died I said never again, it's just so tough. But I've been a volunteer walker with an RGT branch and I am so ready for another one! My OH has to decide without too much pressure from me that its what he wants,so it's work in progress

Welcome to pollyann and alexa

not part of the sight hound gang have a dopey Labrador,and my sons dysfunctional staffie but am a doggy lover and your stories have really warmed me I love to see greyhounds and would live a scruffy lurcher,plenty of room on my sofa...welcome to the new grans sorry for not mentioning your names but if I flick back on my IPad will loosely my postxxxxxxlove nellie

For some reason I feel that someone with a name like Moomin HAS to have another sighthound in their life.

Oh please do Moomin!! They are wonderful dogs and there are so many needing a good home. I love seeing ours (our 3rd) run round the garden like a mad thing, but alas she is getting on and the last time she went off at full pelt in the paddock at the kennels where she boards when we are away, she limped for a fortningt afterwards, probably pulled something. I prefer her to take life a bit more gently these days. Each time we have lost one, I have sworn I will never.........and within the week I am trawling the greyhound Trust website. This one will break my heart too I know.

Yes, there's always the worry when they have to have an operation about the anaesthetic [always a bit embarrassed to ask the vet if they know about the possible problems ]. Mine had an over reaction to a wasp sting the other year and was in a really bad way. Have probably had more vets bills with my latest whippet than any dog I've ever owned; she was the runt of the litter and I probably would have not bought her but the S.O. fell in love with her. Mind you, the vet [after she had her last operation which cost me loads] said what an incredibly healthy dog she was. Dread to think what an unhealthy one costs.

A greyhouhd at full stretch is a sight to behold for sure. My gorgeous greyhound girl died a couple of years ago, rescued and came to me age 4 - my first experience of "owning" a sight-hound! The trouble she managed to get herself into, the hefty vet bills (no cheap anaesthetics for these hounds, oh no!!) after running without engaging the brain. I had to be very careful where she was allowed to run free unless it was on the beach, in the countryside there was always the possibility of a hare popping up and she never, ever forgot where she'd seen one before so was constantly on high alert!

But, what a super friend she was. Quiet, affectionate, sofa-loving and sadly missed. Maybe one day I'll convince the OH to "acquire" another retired racer

Yes; they are terrible show off's arent they. They do seem to be aware of other sighthounds as well; much as they love other dogs they get very excited when they see another one of 'them'. Or maybe I just imagine it? Hattie seems to be a bit lame on a front leg these days; vet saw nothing amiss, but I've restricted her to walks on the lead for a while. I love seeing her run on the beach oop north so I do hope it's only a temporary problem. She crawled through a cat flap when we were out a couple of months ago [we got home to find her upstairs and she can't do stairs] so I wonder if she hurt her leg getting through the gap. It was absolutely tiny [it's one of those dog gates that's got a cat flap at the bottom]. It was my fault for not locking it, never dreaming she would try to get through it; lucky she didn't get stuck halfway. Of course, having got upstairs she then couldn't negotiate her way back down [her legs get in the way] so she was stuck in the bedroom where she had an accident. Our big treat is to curl up on the sofa together watching telly .

crimson love the description 'runs faster than they can think' - my lurcher tried to do a loop the loop on hard ground in front of his two lady labrador friends and broke a toe on his front paw. cue expensive x-ray and weeks of lead walks and a brightly coloured bandage on his front offside. Did he learn the next time he saw said girls - of course not. He still tries to go at full stretch (a beautiful sight) and do his fast turns

The main thing I remember is that, being a very tall dog, he could reach up onto all of the shelves. The children has a squeaky Smurf that he took a fancy to and, no matter which shelf I put it on he just reached up further and further. He was owned by a friend of my husbands who had bought him [I think] as a 'babe magnet' and hadn't trained him very well [if at all]. He also [the dog that is] eyeballed me at the start of our evening together with a 'don't you dare tell me what I can or can't do, you infidel' look. I was genuinely scared of this dog and was very relieved when they came back from the pub and rescued me. I never offered to look after him again. He certainly didn't have the sweet nature that all other sighthounds of my aquaintance have had .

Welcome Alex and Poll. Enjoy your time here .

PS tell us, what happened with the Afghan? Was he the Taliban of the doggie world?