We took the dogs for their weekly offleash burn at Whiteman Park this morning, and as we pulled around the corner I spotted two huge, beautiful furry sighthounds hanging out together. I didn't know what they were - I thought maybe Salukis, or Afghans, but since I have never come across these dogs in the flesh I didn't know for sure.
The Borzoi chased Bender a bit, and then spent a lot of time just gracefully gliding around the park. They are a sight to behold when they run, with all that beautiful silky hair flowing. Barbie did go for a burn, but only when she didn't think the Borzoi would come after her! Then she got chased by a small orange dog who was deceptively quick. She enjoyed the race with the little orange dog, and we ended up over near her owners. Her name was Ellen and she was an Italian Greyhound cross.
Ellen's owners asked me a bit about Barbie's recall. Ellen isn't keen on coming back when she is called. I told them we started at Whiteman and other safe places to practice recall. I told them that sighthounds often need some extra work and need to be well bonded to their owners. Ellen is three and they haven't had her all her life, so I think they will be OK if they keep working on it. She did seem to be a very dog-motivated dog, she wanted to chase other dogs but wasn't interested in me at all!