Leo and Carrie are settling into their new home very well. They moved in on Tuesday the 28th of June 2011 and won over the neighbours immediately. We have been dog sitting a greyhound called Harvey from a Sunday afternoon to Monday evening for about 18 months and fell for that greyhound charm.

On Leos and Carries first night they slept apart as advised by Celia and Jimmy. We had a little whining which I think came from Leo but we just left them to their own devices and it stopped. We took them out for the toilet at about midnight and I got up about six AM. There was no mess in the house but Carrie was so excited while I was putting my boots on to take them out in the morning she had a wee on the floor. We have been gradually increasing the time from their last toilet walk at night to their morning toilet walk and on Friday/Saturday they managed from 11:20PM to 7:10 AM with no problems. Neither of them will take treats after they have been to the toilet so praise and body rubs will have to suffice. Fingers crossed it is working.

On the second night they slept together with no problems. In our cottage our bedroom comes straight off the living room so we left the bedroom door ajar but jammed it so there would not be any greyhounds launching themselves onto our bed in the night. There was not a sound out of them. They are like an old couple already lying on each other in their bed on the living room floor. Leo enjoys breaking wind and Carrie was sleeping with her nose a bit too close to Leo’s tail and did wakeup with a surprised look wondering what the smell was!
They are happily drinking out of the same bowl but as advised by Celia and Jimmy we are keeping them in different rooms when it is food time. Carrie has a great appetite but Leo needs some encouragement before he will tuck in but Liz has managed to get him eating.

On one of their walks we meet lots of hares which where teasing Leo and Carrie but then we came across a deer eating at the edge of a field. It was standing still but they noticed it and stood watching it for several minutes. Something then spooked the deer and it ran off bellowing which they found quite exciting. They have since met two more deer at close range on walks.

They have made friends with a neighbour’s springer spaniel and will go on walks quite happily with him even in the woods where there is not much space for them to pass each other. The first time the spaniel was let off the lead Carrie was watching intently but after about ten minutes she calmed down. I think it will be the start of a good friendship.
Carrie has a wound on her left front shoulder and was very good when we bathed it with a little salt dissolved in water. We have been doing that four times a day.

Leo and Carrie have had a good groom every day. When they see the grooming glove they jump up off their beds and head for the front door. Both Leo and Carrie seem very happy with ear rubs so I gave their ears a gently clean again with slightly salted water as suggested in the “Caring for your retired greyhound” book we received when we adopted them.

Today, Sunday Leo and Carrie met the Greyhound Harvey mentioned at the start of this post near the house on neutral territory. Within a few minutes they were all ignoring each other. I took Carrie and Harvey out for a short walk while Leo got in some beauty sleep. Harvey and Carrie got on perfectly while out on their walk together. All three are sharing a bed in front of me and sleeping quite happily. We are going out for a longer walk later this evening in the cool of the day. We will keep you updated with their progress.

Sounds as if you are having a great time, glad that they are getting on well.

It's so lovely to read about GRF greys finding their forever home & settling in. By the sounds of it you are all a match made in heaven. Enjoy the many happy years, unconditional love & companionship x

14/7/2011 Leo and Carrie have now been in their forever home just over two weeks now and both are settling in very nicely.

Carrie is whining just before we are due to get up in the morning although it was 4AM on one occasion last week. In their new home a sharp Ah Ah means no and it seems to work even for noses sniffing food on the worktop! A sharp Ah Ah from the bedroom without her seeing us seems to do the trick and we had a whine free night last night. We just need to be consistent and I think we will get on top of it. I do not come through into the living room where they both sleep until she has gone back to her bed and there has been silence for a couple of minutes. Her other “trick” is when she hears one of us get out of bed she barks. Again a quick Ah Ah and we wait until she has been quiet and gone back to her bed for a couple of minutes before we go through. When we do go though we go straight out the room if she barks and wait until she is back in bed and quiet before going back into the room.

Carrie's cut on her leg is healing well but last night she has taken off a scab which has been there since she moved in with us. I cut down the salt water bathes to twice a day but will go back to four times a day until this part of the scar has healed.

Carrie was lying on her back with her legs up the wall sleeping yesterday evening so we both think she is relaxing into here new home pretty well and taking full advantage of her comfortable bed.

Leo has started eating but I do not think he will ever have a big appetite. He had diarrhoea for the first few days which has not returned so it must have been all the changes that upset him. Another thing we are working on with Leo is marking in peoples houses. We have been baby sitting a greyhound called Harvey and his owners kindly let us take Leo and Carrie into Harvey's house so we can teach Leo not to mark. Leo, Carrie and Harvey happily go for walks together although having three arms would be an advantage! The last time we were at Harvey's house it all went well so all we need to do now is apply the same technique Celia told us about when he goes into other peoples houses for the first time.

We think both Leo and Carrie's pads were sore at first and they certainly did not like walking on the stones up the lane to the house. We have been gradually building up the amount of time they get on hard ground during their walks and the limping seems to have cleared up. For an older boy Leo certainly enjoys his walks and they managed a two and a half hour stroll with Flynn their new springer spaniel friend on Sunday. They also got a good soaking and did not seem to mind. We have now got light summer rain coats for them.

They have now met all the neighbours dogs on many occasions and seem fine now even when meeting dogs they do not know. I am still putting on the muzzles until Leo and Carrie know us a little better then they may let me meet people without a muzzle on – or are they meant to wear the muzzles?

I will post some pictures of the pair out on their walks and relaxing in their beds very soon.