Fife Greys Forum
This is the place to chat about your rescued Greyhound.
Well, well, well....
We have now had Booker and Tula for 6 weeks. 6 weeks and a day anyway.
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGH IT WOULD BE LIKE THIS???????????........... 
It it is certainly somewhat different from what we anticipated. It has been a great experience spiced up with a fair bit of frustration as well, but for the most part it has been really good and rewarding.
I have been away the last 4 days. during this time Booker turned in to a bit of a bully as well. He is going through a period of getting very over exited at the moment, and difficult to calm down. As I have mentioned before, they like to pick up things and take to their bed.
One of the things they did this week was to pull everything out of the bottom shelf of a bookshelf in the bedroom and tore all the items out of a toiletry bag. Good thing there were no sharp items in there.
The last few days have been a bit on the wet and windy side. During one of the walks, Greg was picking up after Tula. While he was doing this (he had both leads on one arm) a jogger with a Labrador passed by. Of course they got too exited and pulled sharply on the lead. This caused Greg to loose his balance, but not the leads, and ended up in one of many puddles. He was not exactly pleased. He then walked home with them and gave them their evening meal. I was speaking to Greg just after they had finished eating. During this Greg had to cut the conversation short because the smell of a large "gas leak" was emanating from the hall. When he checked he found the cause to be more solid (but not much) than gas.
Booker has gone through a face of bullying his sister. I guess that is a dominance thing. Definitely something we need to address. During the walk today we were talking about trying the idea of ignoring him for a couple of days as suggested a couple of posts ago. However. As soon as we were in the door and he turned in to his sweet usual self, standing still against your legs awaiting the after walk rub, that intention went straight out the window. 
I got home yesterday afternoon. They had slept late that morning. I guess they did not want to get out in the weather. When it was time to go out, I took them for an hour long walk. They were pretty good then, but the weather helped as well. We met another dog on the walkway, but they were ok. Yes pulling strongly to go to it, but I just kept on walking at a fast pace so they had no choice but to keep walking. I still had to pull a bit though.
During one of the walks a week a go Tula suddenly started to sneeze a lot. WHen Greg checked it turned out that she had gotten a Daffodil stuck in her muzzle...
Speaking of Daffodils, Booker still has to find just the right one to offload his cargo on to. What will he do when they are all gone???
The walks today were pretty straight forward. Tula is easy to walk. She is clearly the most submissive of the two even if she can also get a little exited at times.
Booker pee'd inside twice today. The first time was my fault because I did not listen when he wanted to go out. I try to keep the times fairly strict, but today that did not work in my favour...
The second happened while I was out to pick up Greg from work. He had pulled the duvet off their bed and then peed'd on it. I don't know why he would pee on his own bed unless it is a dominance thing. Out on the walks, it is almost as if he is looking for trouble as soon as we are outside. But, on the positive side, although it can be difficult to correct him, it is not impossible.
Oh my God..... As I am writing Tula suddenly starts crying out load. Sounding like a lot of pain. She has been laying on the couch and she looks like it was painful to move. Booker was right there to watch over his sister. And so were we.... I helped her down on the floor and then gave her muscles a good rub. A little cramp or a sleeping leg and she made it sound like she was being tortured... She is now back on the couch laying the other way...
So far all walks today has been between 45-60 minutes. We are getting ready to take them out again, but just long enough for a good "sniff in the Daffodils..."
We are in from the midnight walk. As it was so late we decided to take the chance and walk them without their muzzles on. I worked out well. We did not expect to meet anyone, but just as we crossed the street from the gate going back home, we met one of our neighbours from down the street. He was walking his dog. They saw him and wanted to go there, but they were not hugely interested. They probably just wanted to go inside where it is warm and cosy....
So did we actually...
They were they new coats as it was a bit on the cold side. Booker got a leather pilot style (of course) coat while Tula got a pink leather suede leather. I got a couple of pics. I will try to put them up tomorrow. Now I am off to bed. Have a good night.
P.S. Still got to put the duvet cover back on their bed. Duvet has been washed.....
Below are the new pics taken at midnight last night. It was a good walk and they were in no rush to go out this morning. However....
After we went to bed last night Booker through up some of his dinner as well. Not much, but some. Then they both wanted to eat it...
We were not about to allow that, but it took a bit of effort to keep them off. At one point one of them even growled at us. An immediate squirt of water from the squirt bottle sorted that out. They went up in their bed and then started a fight there. Again the squirt bottle came in handy. They both got a heavier dose this time. That thing works wonders.
It was good walk this morning as well, and when I walked them this afternoon they were well behaved as well. Even when I walked right past what looked liked a dax in what looked like a Cocker Spaniel coating.... I am trying to use less corrections ( still correct) and just walk on. It seems to work from time to time, but time will tell.
I got 2 pics from the afternoon walk as well. They are all below. As usual they are crashed in the livingroom with me. Booker on the floor and Tula in "her" couch... I got a real good one of her tucked in on the couch. I's below as well.
Anyway, enough chatter, here are all the picks from last night with their new coats and 2 from today today.
After dinner, tucked in on the couch.
Emerging from the dark
It was cold last night
Booker is taking flying lessons...
What an elegant lady.
Take me hoooommeee....
From the flower bed....
Look at me!!!
Thats all. Hope you enjoyed the pics.
The evening walk today was a good one. We walked for just over one and a half hour. At times it was like rush hour with other dog owners. One looked like cross between a Labrador and a bulldog, but I have no idea what it was. It was off the lead and came straight to us, but staid just out side reach. He even snarled a couple of times jumping out of the way and running around us. Booker and Tula kept trying to jump on him and I must admit it was a bit of a struggle to hold them back. They are very strong when they both pull together...
The owner was running around us after the his dog trying to catch it. He looked like he was gonna hit it with the metal lead. Needless to say he was unable to catch it.
We managed to walk away and Booker and Tula gave up when I "scooped" him up and laid him on the grass. (I had walked them over to the grass) Booker calms right down for this manoeuvre. I used it once more during the walk, or tried to I should say, as soon as he felt my arms around him he just collapsed and laid down. Thats the way I like it...
They were knackered after the walk. went to bed before feeding. That was a first....
They did of course come out as soon as we started to prepare their meal. We gave them a can each of sardines in tomato sauce. They walked hard today and deserved it. 
Since that, they have slept almost none stop. Maybe tonight is the night to see if they will sleep until morning..... Hmmmm
Something else usefull I have learnt from your posts is never, ever pick the flowers in a public park!! If you go down to the park today you are sure of a big suprise!!
He loves to pee on them as well....
YAAAAAAAAAWN!!!!!!!
They sure don't like strange noises of people coming and going during the night. One floor below us has 4 student in a flat. Throughout the night we could here someone come and go and talking in the hallway. Every time they they got up with a startle, jumped out of bed and started barking while heading for the door. I think it stopped around 3....
And of course at 7... 
I wonder if they would sleep longer if we let them in to our bed with us... Not gonna happen!!! It wouldn't be any room left for us...
Beautiful weather this morning even it is frost on the ground. Less muddy that way...
The morning walk lasted for about 30 minutes and they were fairly well behaved. I did practice the scoop manoeuvre (almost) with Booker once with the desired result. He just laid down as soon as he saw it coming. I did not really have to,. but since the result was sooo god, my threshold for using this tactic has gone much lower.
More importantly, as I said, it was a good walk and we all had a nice relaxing time. Relatively slow walking this morning, for the most part letting them stop and sniff whenever they wanted to. That will change for the afternoon walk.... 
We will try to make it to the walk tomorrow and try to be on time this time... Any directions?
Last nights walk good until a fox came fairly close to us in the middle of a large open area. Loads of them around here. Probably mating season as well.. Does not help....
We managed anyway. It felt nice a and fresh outside and it was good to do a bit of walking.
Simular this morning except no fox... 
We did walk them a little earlier last night and as a result they wanted out earlier this morning. We did not listen and paid the price...
They are resting again. For the most part now they are staying out of our bed. Only yesterday when I was out for a few ours did I see traces of large animal, but that was unusual. Normally I find them in their own bed when I come home.
Feeding time has turned in to the most relaxing event of all. Now they both lay down and wait while we prepare their meal. It is almost as if they can barely muscle the strength to stand up and come to the food bowl. Poor things. Such a hard life not having their food served laying down....
Directions for tomorrows walk.
Go past GRF Kennels towards Kinross. Turn right at signpost "Kirkgate Park". Follow the road down to the carpark.
Despite not making it to the walk today, we had 3 good walks. The weather turned out quite nice and I think they enjoyed their walks out. At one point Booker snapped at me when we would not let them go over to another large dog. As a result I laid him down on his side and back and made him keep his head down until he had calmed down. It took a couple of minutes, but his attitude was different and he was good for the rest of the walk.
Last nigh we gave them back the squeaky toy that you may recall we took from them a while back. It did not last long before it was in peaces. I'd say about 5 minutes.... I picked up all the debris, including the squeaker. I could not help myself but to tease them a bit. I held on to the squeaker and kept pressing it. Every time they came running through the house. When they were in the same room I kept in my pocket while pressing it.
They got very exited and of course I had to clean up afterwords... But it was fun...
I think thats me and them done with the squeaky toys for the forceable future.
Back to today. During the evening walk, an Australian Collie came up behind us, following his owner who was running. Tula saw it first. Booker newer saw him before he was passing us. We kept a good pace walking and this dog came right up to Tula for a sniff. She was fine. Not much of an reaction at all, maybe because we just kept walking.
Booker was a bit more interested. They carried on and left us behind and Booker and Tula started howling as they tend to do in these cases. We assumed that they wanted to run as well. We were walking alongside the river and it has a very long shallow turn, so they disappeared out of sight fairly quickly, but for the next 5 minutes they were both focused on what was in front of us, looking for that Australian Collie. It was a beautiful dog too. Not before we turned off that particular walkway to cross the river, did they loose interest.
Tula still "owns" the couch, or so she thinks. Today however, just the couch by itself was not good enough. She laid down on top of 3 large pillows and made herself very comfortable.
Does anyone have a pea?....
Shortly we will be taking them out for their last walk. at the moment they are in no rush to move at all. They are both on the bed in the office recuperating from today. We did walk them a fair bit today already so they will only want a leisurely stroll, sniff and the usual business.
That is until a fox or two crosses our path... 
But only for a few seconds...
During the afternoon walk today, about half way, I was making a correction to Booker as he was focused on another dog in the distance. My heart skipping a beat is an understatement when I suddenly found myself with only a leash in my hand and no dog attached to the other end.
Luckily we were stopped and Booker never noticed that the lead was off and a frenetic moment later it was reattached.... 
We walked on while my heart slowly settled back to normality.
They have for the most part been really good today. Booker of course did have a little pea inside right after they had eaten this morning. we were only out about half an hour earlier, so not sure what that is all about. I laid him down once while we were out today. We are getting more focused on demonstrating that he is not in charge, we are. SO if he is too settled in what he wants to do, I just lay him down. It works quite well. At least for a few minutes...
After the midday walk I gave the a pig ear each. Tula takes a bit longer to finish her's due to her missing teeth. Even having gotten one about half the size of Booker's. We normally keep an eye on them to make sure Booker does not take Tula's treat when done with his own. It was all fine until the doorbell went. Booker is an opportunist and ceased the moment to take Tula's pig ear from her.
He immediately started to growl and when I approach and grabbed his collar he growled and barked at me. I did not want to get bit, but at the same time I did not want to let him get away with this kind of behaviour. The squirt bottle is indispensable... I gave him a heavy dose of water from the bottle until he left the pig ear and moved to the other side of the bed. I took the ear and gave a couple of more squirts when he started to focus on the ear in my hand. I gave the ear back to Tula and kept Booker in their bed for a while. I also rolled him over on his back in order to reinforce my position.
Appart from these two isolated incidents, they have both been very good and easy to manage today. Even when we on the walk met three guys with three on a somewhat narrow walkway. I was surprised at easily they gave in and carried on walking. Maybe there is hope after all....
The evening walk with Greg was also very peaceful. Greg had Booker and I had Tula and it was a lovely walk. In the house this evening they have been as good as gold, coming over for the occasional petting.... Feeding is as easy as it can get. Both stretched out on the floor until their food is ready. Might have something to do with a long walk before they get fed.
At the moment Tula is just a mess, on the couch, rolled around on her back with front legs stretched out and her head resting in Greg's lap. Booker was her a minute ago, but has now walked in one of the bedrooms.
I better go and check...
He was in his bed. When I walked in to the bedroom he came down (slowly) and greeted me, curving himself in a arch leaning against my legs so I could scratch/rub him properly.
I had to do it.....
Again it is almost time for the last walk and it is poring down with rain. It will be a short walk I think...
So it's that time again where I got called from work at 0400.. Yaaaahn.
I had enough time to relax and putter about the house before I had to go. I guess Tula though it was time to go out, because she came out and followed me around. Then she pee'd in the office before she went back to bed...
My plans changed to a later show, so I had time to take them out at 0645. It was nice and quiet with lots of rain and a bit of wind. (not from the dogs) We had a good walk for about 45 minutes. They were both very well behaved. I suspect they wanted to get back inside as quickly as possible, but they were wearing raincoats and so was I. After all that struggle to get it all on, we might as well take advantage and make it count...
After they both waited patiently to have their heads towel dried and a little rub as well, not to mention getting all that mud of their feet. They had breakfast and went straight back to bed...
I will find out from Greg later how they were on the walks today. I am away for 5 days, but will try to keep reporting.
It has been a while since I wrote anything, but I was away for 5 days and I thought it started to get a bit repetitive. Sorry!
Rest assured, all is ok.
Booker is still the wilder one of the two. Pulling a fair bit on the leash at times. We both got sore arms and are thinking that we need a reinforced exoskeleton...
One afternoon when Greg was walking them a smaller dog off lead came up close behind us. Greg just kept walking, but this dog was too persistent and kept sticking his nose up Tula's back until she finally had enough and turned around and barked at him. The owner was too far away to see that they were muzzled and shouted to Greg not to worry because his dog was a friendly one..... The dog did not get the hint and both Tula and booker bounced on him and had him pinned to the ground. It did not look too aggressive, but you never know...
In general they walk better now and are also easier to control when we meet other dogs. We used the "pick up and lay on his back" manoeuvre on Booker a few times and that in combination with using a slightly different technique while walking has made a big difference. We also see it in the way he walks as well when he is not distracted by a fox or a squirrel...
Tula is still a bit sneaky in the sense that she will try to get in to our bed. Usually only when we are in it though. Normally when we are up or out they respect that it is off limits. Last week we both had a day off. After we walked and fed them in the morning we went back to bed. After a few hours Tula in particular started to get a little restless.
Normally we have a strict line when it comes to the bed, but this morning, almost afternoon by now, we felt a bit on the weak side and gave in. After quickly preparing the duvet so we still had enough we called her up. It took a while, almost a whole second, before she had collapsed between us towards the lower end of the bed...
This got us an extra couple of hours of peace and quiet during which she slowly scooted herself up towards the head of the bed. At the end she was right along us with her head resting on the pillow. I must admit it was actually quite nice to have her there. Despite this she does not come in to our bed on her own accord when we are in it. Sort of anyway. The other day Greg told me that as soon as I went in to the shower she came up in the bed and rolled around on her back, making herself comfortable. As soon as she heard me come out of the bathroom she jumped down again....
Today we were both off work as well.....
All the Crocuses are gone, but the Daffodils are still growing and blooming strong. Booker still loves the biggest ones he can find. My advice would be never to pick a flower in the park as stated earlier on this thread.
We have finally started to practice recall and sit using a dog whistle and treats. They are responding well. SO well in fact that this evening when I pulled out the treats the both sat down before I even had a chance to blow the flute... 
I think they enjoy the recall training because we use a 11 metre long lead and once they get the idea they run.. Booker even managed to get himself all tangled up in the lead yesterday. He got a bit wild twirling around and I was not sure if he was playing or panicking. We stopped him and untangled him anyway. They look like they are enjoying the exercises and they are definitively progressing in the right direction. Although we had one yesterday, accidents inside is not that common at the moment. Lets hope it lasts.
The time is here when we need to have Tula Spayed unless we want Greyhoodle's puppies in the house which we don't....
Earlier this week we took Tula to the vet. She needed a checkup after her surgery last month and also a blood test to make sure her blood coagulates properly. This is because after her last surgery she bled a lot and it took a long time to stop. Tula has also gotten a swelling under a couple of her nipples. We suspected false pregnancy, but the vet said that was not it. He squeezed one of them and a orange fluid came out which he said was fluid with some blood in it. He said these lumps should come out at the same time as the spaying is done. I hope it's not anything serious.
They both had a rash on their chest and belly. The vet said it looked liked it was caused by external irritation or insect bites. He said to put some Vaseline or cortisone cream on it. We did and it is now almost gone.
Their kennel coats are really coming off big time at the moment. The house is full of hair. We brushed them for 30 minutes outside today and they loved it. Their bald spots are growing. They do, however, seem to have a fair bit (a lot) of downdraft. Is this normal? does anyone else have this and does it go away by itself or is a product to use for this????? Please advice.
We are now going to take them out again for the last walk of the day. We are both off tomorrow as well so hopefully a late morning....
So far we have done 3 out of 4 walks today. Tula has started to do lots of small pee's outside instead of a couple of bigger ones and she has also started to have one little pee in the hall after they have their evening meal....
Booker still got a somewhat aggressive streak in him when it comes to other dogs. The other day I was doing the afternoon walk with a friend of ours. A bit further down our path we saw a guy playing with his dog. A sheep dog of some sort. We stopped and waited until they had disappeared around the corner before we carried on. When we got to the corner we stopped again. Suddenly this dog came "flying" around the corner and right up to Booker who immediately went for the neck and pinned down the other dog. Had he not been muzzled it could have gotten very ugly.
Today we met the same Westie that cause him to bite me a while back as you may remember. Again it started to bark as soon as we had passed and again both dogs went nuts. I could feel Booker trying to snap at me through his muzzle.
I must admit that these kind on incidents sometimes, and I emphasise sometimes only, makes me wonder if we have bitten over more than we can chew...
But then there is times like yesterday when I took an afternoon nap and allowed Booker to come in to our bed. It tok a lot of convincing as he knows he is not allowed up. (normally) But once there he snuggled as close up to me as he could get, resting his head in my chest and did not move before I got up.
Feeding as mentioned before is a charm. Tonight we managed to get two (almost identical) pics of them laying on the kitchen floor while we prepared their dinner.
Remember the reason for the name Booker? Opposite of each other like two bookends?
Well, these two pics proves the point... Judge for yourself.
Tomorrow Tula is back to the vet. This time she is getting spayed and also the swellings on some of her nipples removed.
We came in from the last walk about 20 min ago. Kept it short as it started to rain and that arctic wind is just toooo cooold.....
Now they are clearly indicating that we should come to the bedroom and go to bed....
In the morning I'll take Tula to the vet and then stay home with Booker. He does not like to be alone. It works out well with all the extra time I got off at the moment....
We all had a good walk this morning. After the walk I took Tula straight in to the car an off to the vet. I am afraid that she will start to associate the car with the vet...
She clearly does not like it there. The other ay when we were there for a check up of her teeth she started to whine as soon as the vet wanted to look in her mouth. We had to come back the following morning for a blood test. This morning she started to whine as soon as the nurse took her to the back.
Poor little thing...
I know she is in good hands though. Not only has she already received great care, but I have used this same vet for the past 5 years with our cat that we had for 15 years. And before you say it: I know there is a slight difference between a cat and the two biggest greyhounds in Scotland...
Point is that I have learned to trust them. He has even given me a discount for the Spaying, only charging £110,- Even after I told him I would use him regardless.
After I got home in time to take Greg to work. I was expecting an accident when I walked in the door as He does not like to be alone, but it was all good. Had to give him a treat...
About 45 minutes ago we came in from the afternoon walk. Booker does seem a bit more mellow today and I can only assume he misses his sister. Previously when she has been away he has been very exited when she returned.
I am getting ready to go and change their bedding so it is nice, clean and fresh before Tula comes home with her surgical wounds. I hope she is not wearing one of those funnels on her neck...
I should hear from the vet shortly anyway. At the moment I am considering letting her stay over night simply because she would have come up 3 flights of stairs to come home, but I will go with whatever the vet recommends.
Just been out for the last walk with Booker. We did some (very little) running. No competition really as he can barely trot as fast as I can run...
But with spitting blood and tongue scraping the road (mine) we made it back to the door in one peace...
I think he enjoyed it. He was a little exited with wiggling tail and all and he run up the stairs to the 3rd floor. Good boy! lol Now he has had his dental sticks and is already snoozing on the carpet.
When I called the vet this morning they said she was fine. sitting up and seemed happyish. They said she started to whine as soon as she thought someone with a needle was coming her way...
She was happy to seem me and to leave the vet. I am sure she will love me when I have to take her back on Friday for a check.....
On the way home we stopped at the park and like before I let her out straight on to the grass where she had sniff around, and did some business. Going up the stairs did not seem to be a problem.
Booker was very happy to see her again. He spent a lot of time sniffing all over her, especially in the area where she had her surgery. After having a little bit to eat, Tula went and laid down, but as I was getting Booker ready to go out she came up and wanted to come out as well. That was not an option. I assumed she would lay down while we were out. I did cut the walk a little short as I wanted to get back in. Booker was fine on the walk and went about his things as usual. When we came back in Tula greeted us by the door and she had pee'd and pooped in the hall. She just did that outside...
She does spend most of the time laying down. She is a bit pitiful at the moment feeling very sorry for herself. Besides me checking on them, they have both been through a couple of times. Booker has spent most of the day in the bed with her. They were just out. she has gone back to bed and Booker is now laying on the carpet with a noisy gas leak...
Tula does not seem to be in much pain. she even tries to jump up on me for affection. For the next few days we will give her antibiotics and pain killers. As soon as Greg gets home from work we will take them outside. A very short one for Tula and a proper walk for Booker.
Tula just came back in and climbed up on my lap, stretching out to lick my face and of course Booker is right there as well. Now she just climbed up and laid down in her favourite position on the couch. Booker is back on the carpet...
I just caught her licking her wounds. I stopped her and hopefully I keep her from doing that, or we will have to get a collar for her.
Tula is fine this morning. She does not seem to be in any pain at all. She was not happy this morning when Greg took her inside as soon as she had done her thing while I took Booker for a normal walk. But that is the instructions from the vet. NO EXERCISE!!! Only enough for her to accomplish the required tasks...
I had to get some surgical tape this morning to prevent her from licking behind the dressing.
I'll take them both out for a short walk in a little bit. Now they are in their usual spots in the livingroom, Booker on the carpet and Tula on the couch.
Booker has been fairly good in his walks although he was not too impressed with a Chihuahua barking at him this morning....
