In response to our recent survey on "How you heard about greyhounds?" we received this funny update on Smiler (Pango Will He) and his idyllic life with his pal Bree and humans Andrew and Marie.
"Our first contact with greyhounds was at an A&P show, I think it was Helensville. Over the years we have had a number of dogs, an Old English Sheepdog which made the journey over from the UK with us in 1981, a German Shepherd and a number of Heinz 57's.
We moved a few years ago to 5 acres near Helensville and after a period with no dogs decided that there was a need. One for security, (they must bark at the right time), secondly, perhaps one of them would help control the sheep and thirdly, "why not€?
Marie had been scouring the adverts for rescue dogs and found a Staffie/Cattle dog cross which she had taken a liking to. I had bumped into a rather affectionate Greyhound at the A&P. So we compromised and had one of each. Both to be picked up the same day and on the same trip. They would meet in the back of the station wagon.
Smiler was 4 years old and an ex racer. Bree was about 9 months although no one could tell for sure. Instant friendship!!! Smiler has taught Bree his bad habits and she taught him hers.
The instruction when they entered the door was to be no getting on the beds or couches for snoozes, their place is their own beds. They can have freedom of the house and lawns , driveways, pathways etc, but if we are out then they have the large pen with their own shed. Basically they have an acre in which to do what they want. That includes barking at passing lycra clad bikers and anyone game enough to walk by. All done with an awful lot of tail wagging.
The first mistake was to assume that Greyhounds don't chase sheep. They do if the are in the same paddock. Put a fence between them and they will make great friends with sheep, goats and calves, and after they have moved on to another paddock they all leave some exquisite morsels behind them that need cleaning up. Greyhounds know how to worm their way into any other animal's affections even if the animal doesn't know it had any.
Ex racers must have, during their careers, a lot of minor injuries. Smiler cuts himself regularly on his legs and never objects to a bandage. In fact it seems to be a statement of his prowess to be wearing one. He is more than happy to meet anyone as long as he can lean on them. At the dog training club he could get away with not sitting, by leaning on you. The dog club soon realized that Greyhounds do not sit!!!! "Weaving€ is fun but "staying€ when there are treats around is expecting too much.
The 3 most important things in life are, car rides, treats, more car rides, and snoozing.
So in the 3-4 years they have been together how do they stack up. In one corner we have a highly athletic Greyhound with all the likelihood of being a relatively expensive investment, and in the other a Nuggety little Toughy that should be able to weather anything. Your money would be on the Greyhound being expensive and therefore we should insure him for any injuries or ailments. We procrastinated for too long in deciding to insure Smiler and did nothing. So far, great decision. Smiler has his yearly injections and never objects , wears the occasional bandage when he cuts himself on something agricultural and his only visit to the vet was for some dental work. "Nuggety€ is far more expensive with displaced hips, fights the Vet at annual injection time, and seems to annually get in the wars requiring treatment."
Greyhounds are GREYT
Andrew and Marie