Well, this time it's Booker. He hurt his legs while running last night. Yes, both of them, but not too serious.

He was out running with their friend Sleet and I am sure Sleet tripped him on a bit of tarmac... He had a little fall anyway while they were running and really enjoying them selfs and he got a few scrapes, one looks like it would hurt a bit.

We rinsed it it a warm salt water solution and pot some antibiotic ointment on it. Now it is covered in a dressing. He does not seem to be in any discomfort or have any problems walking even if he is a little quieter than normal. We kept the walk short this morning and then rinsed and covered it again.

We are hoping to be able to make it to the walk this Sunday.

Booker and Tula are in the Kennel again, but only for one or two nights. The house feels empty....

The reason is their new ride. The Alfa was not good enough for them anymore so it has to go. Nothing to with failing MOT miserably with everything under the sun being wrong with it.....

Tomorrow we go down to London to pick it up and drive it home. If we get back in time we will pick them up, but we don't expect that, so most likely Saturday for them.

I will post pics later of their new transport.

Well, as promised, here are a couple of pics of their new ride.

Hope it's big enough for them....




And their onboard quarters with their toys...



I think they like it. They seem quite comfortable there.

Today was the final day of their beginners level obedience class. I am pleased to say that they both passed and got their certificate. We have now enrolled them in the club for further training and socialising.

The classes have been really good and we both really enjoyed it even if Booker and Tula just wanted to go home and have their dinner some of the times.

We were most impressed with the recall given the fact that it was a "tasty" Westie on the front row...

Tonight, just before class started, Booker jumped towards an Irish Setter, I saw it in time and yanked him back. In doing so, he accidentally hit the edge of a chair with his nose.

He was howling loudly for about 30-45 seconds. What a wimp....

Who knows what the class thought we were doing to him, and everyone wanted to give him a treat afterwords... He took full advantage of the situation...

I love Booker and Tula's new ride. It looks like there's room for at least two more dogs in there ..... I wonder if Celia's noticed.

Cool set of wheels. Looks big enough for a Great Dane. Which reminds me, I'm sure I've it somewhere before....

Looks good! What make of car is it?

We have booked the lassie & lady into class starting April

looking forward it and dreading it

The girls are soooooooo bouncy

might get kick out for being distruptive LOL

Mags

Steve, ours got the spare wheel on the back. Clearly not the same thing....

Stan, it's a Chevrolet Astro.

Mags, did you book them the same place as us? Cambuslang dog training club?

Let us know how you get on.

Agnes, SHHHHHHH, keep it to yourself, maybe she has not noticed...

I'm going to tell.
Ha ha.
Jimmy.

It's been a while since I wrote anything. For the most part everything is well settled down and it's no longer so many new things to write about. That being said, we still get the wee odd surprise, chuckle or amusement over their ever evolving little personality traits...

I guess you have all seen the "mystery van... They love it and especially Booker always wants to get in when we pass it on our walks. Good thing I suppose. Especially since we are planning a long trip. More about that at a later date when we know more as well.

You may remember a posting a while back (3rd of March) where I told you all about Booker falling and scratching both his legs on the tarmac while running with our friend Sleet "the bully"....

Sleet is a very playful and sweet Lurcher, half Greyhound (obviously) and half Border-collie. He used to be terrified of Booker when they first met. Now it is the other way around despite Booker being almost twice his size. That fall must have hurt quite a bit because Booker got in to his head that Sleet did it to him.

As a result, when we let them all loose in the fenced in area, Booker either sits or lay down and refuses to move. He want even come to me when I call with a treat...

The other night, about 2 weeks ago, he even went and hid behind a tree. We could see his head peeking around. Eventually he just laid down. When I went over and got him up, he trotted to the gate indicating that he wanted to go home. It was awful.....

I think the next pic where he sits down, looking towards Sleet say's it all...

How sad...



Here he laid down.



Tula is protecting him....



And here you can see Sleet as well, playful as always.



Although Bookers newfound "respect" seems to have calmed him down a little, it does not extend to other dogs. He went for a Staffordshire terrier that got a bit too close the other day. It run out the way towards Tula, who also went for him... It got away fine. The two of them sure winds each other up...

At the dog show we got the sad news that Booker and Tula's dad had passed away a few days earlier.

We had hoped to meet him one day.

Nipper won the Scottish derby in his youth and as a result we got Booker and Tula who were never fast enough to enter any races.... But they are so fantastic and I know that Ailsa (Nipper's Mother) is happy that he lives on in his children. we got an email with this photo of him a few days ago and thought it appropriate to post it.

There is also a note under "In Memoriam".


In memory of Nipper 30.06.2000-01.05.2011

History seems to be repeating itself with Booker. The other day I had them running in a smaller fenced in area, chasing a tennis ball.

Tula looooves the tennis ball. As soon as she see's it, she gets very exited and wants to chase it. She pics it up and almost brings it back to us, wearing off to the side and lay down a few meters away.

Booker tends to chase as well, but normally don't bother with picking it up. He just comes running back to get a treat...

This time however, he got all involved in playing with the ball, picked it up and run away with Tula in hot pursuit...

At some point when they were running side by side I think Tula must have stepped on his foot. He cried out, and came limping back to while holing with pain... It was nothing wrong with his foot/leg. I checked it over and moved al the joints and it was all fine. After that he was willing walk on it but reluctant to run initially.

Last night we had them out in a larger area and I was worried that he would not run again. He did, even if it was a bit reluctantly at first. What a relief....

Finally some sun and heat in Glasgow. Booker and Tula love it as long as they can lay down on the grass in the shade....

As they are on the cover of this years calendar. Here is the pci + another from same series and a closeup of each.

2011 caledar cover






And here are the closeups:

Cracking set of photos there

Love all the pics of Booker & Tula. They look so much more relaxed & happy. I love how my greys are such drama queens. We can be out walking & one lets out an almighty yelp & we instantly think, oh my god, some terrible injury has occured - after a wee bit of Ooohing, aaahhhing, cuddles & checking out possible "injury" they make a miraculous instant recovery & trot happily onwards, lol - Oscar winning performances.
The pic of T & B's Dad is gorgeous - crossed front legs. It must be a gey thing

Her tongue is never in her mouth. When she comes in to the room it is already going before she gets half way across the room...

The other day when we were walking, we passed close to another man on the side walk. As we passed, Tula turned around and licked his hand as we passed. He jumped and looked a little startled. We couldn't help but laugh as we apologised...

We loved the fridge magnet that said: Get a Greyhound, loose a couch....

SHould have gotten it....

As I believe i've mentioned before, Tula is the one that has comadeered the sofa in our house. Especially if anyone (and I mean anyone...) is one it. She get up, lay down with her head in the lap of whoever is there and then roll around expecting her belly to be rubbed.

Greg is the one that usually sits there with her head in his lap rubbing her belly for a whole evening. I am not quite that patient.

But she also make herself confortable by herself. here are some pics:




The head lights are on...





She loves it when the sun shines on her.

Clearly those massive rear muscles can be a bit heavy from time to time. Got to make sure that butt is not hanging over the edge.

We had two friends visiting for a couple of days and this was during the morning coffee...

Does my butt look big (heavy) on this duvet?????


OOOOOOOPSSSS.......


What just happened???????????????



It was a memorable moment...

Here are the both them just before going to sleep in their bed. We usually "tuck them in" in the sense that we will prop up their duvets to create a nest. They like that. From time to time booker will raise his head and lick Tula's ear for a minute or so at the time.

Hi Nicolai,
It was great to see you all at the kennels on Saturday.
Booker and Tula both look fantastic. Great to see them lying down on command.
We're working on the photos of the " family ". We cannot however change the title of the thread it seems.
We hope to see you at the next walk.
Celia and Jimmy.

Well, it's finally happening. The deadline is set and we are all moving to Portugal. We head south on the 3rd of October.

It is all because Booker and Tula loves the sun... You saw the pics above. How could we resist???...

We will be driving down to Portsmouth, take the Ferry to Santander and drive from there to Cascais outside Lisbon.

Their passports are issued and the large kennels on the ferry are booked.

It will be a busy month ahead. We will try hard to make it to the walk this September as it will be the last one before we leave. After that anyone wanting to see Booker and Tula will have to come for a visit...

It should come as nooooo surprise that Celia was quick to point out that they would be happy to export Greys to Portugal...


Hi Celia

How exciting!

I won't make it to the September walk with Lady and Bonnie so I wish you all the very best. Hope you've got the suntan lotion packed for Booker and Tula!

I hope the move goes well for you all. I can't imagine for a minute why you'd want to leave the glorious Scottish weather and head to to the continent

That will be a challenge for the dogs to learn Portuguese. I have gone through that here so I know what I am talking about

Very best wishes for all of You!

Thanks everyone.

We will try to take some pics from the trip even if a lot of the driving might be during the night.

And of course we will keep you all updated about their new life and Celia and Jimmy will have to come for a "home inspection".....

Delighted guys.
We're a wee bit busy just now and it could be a long inspection.
Could we book three weeks in July.
Celia and Jimmy.