Visiting sister Olive and her housemates....

Cheeky sisters 

Mouse's sister Olive lives on an orchard with another greyhound, and a cat. They have also been fostering Angus for GreyhoundAngels of Western Australia  for quite a while now.

We have taken Mouse to visit twice. It was really nice to see Olive's new family and get cuddles from all the furry kids. Olive and Mouse are similar in many ways - they both chatter their teeth A LOT when they are happy, and have similar mannerisms.

Olive really does have an awesome home with her very own orchard to romp in!

It is kind of funny to watch Olive and Mouse push each other around. They may grizzle at each other but they do spend a lot of time pottering around together. I'm not sure if it is just that Olive is keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't get in to any mischief.

They certainly don't grizzle at each other when they have a chance to romp in the orchard with Cody and Angus.

On our second visit they didn't get to run in the orchard, so they had to make do with the backyard. The only time they really had some words were when Mouse was using Olive's mumma's bed as a trampoline. Cody and Angus seemed to enjoy having visitors, though I think they were all more interested in the humans than Mouse. 

Cody is like a big fluffy panda. He sheds more hair than I have ever seen come off a greyhound. 

Angus is a lovely boy and I am really surprised that he hasn't had much interest from potential families. He is a black dog, unfortunately that makes him difficult to photograph. We did have a go though, and he posed for this lovely portrait.

adopt me ?

He does have a pretty good life at his foster home and has adapted to home life really well. He's not skinny any more, either. He's not a huge boy though he does have a very long nose. The photos don't really show his cute long schnoz but it's always the first thing I notice about him when he's sidling up for scritches.

pleaaase ?

I think it's pretty cool that we get to visit Mouse's litter sister. I also enjoy seeing Mouse & Olive's mumma Bronwyn when we go on GreyhoundAngels walks. 

sister bums

A day in the live of a volunteer - greyhound transport

As my followers in the USA can appreciate, sometimes dogs need to be transported long distances in order to hook them up with foster homes or adoptive families.

I turned out that this guy needed urgent transport on the weekend to a family who offered to foster, but they were 600 kilometres away. I volunteered to drive him half way there and the foster carers met me there.

It also just happened to be one of the hottest days of summer so far with a maximum of 41 degrees celsius. I had the air conditioning cranked so once he settled he didn't pant too much, he was hot when we first got into the car and pretty warm towards the end as the air con stopped working so efficiently. 

He was an angel in the car, just lay down quietly in the back. He had just had his sterilisation procedure but he also had some stitches in his head due to an unfortunate incident with another dog.

He is doing well at his new foster home and he will make a lovely pet for someone! 

I made a little video of the trip, enjoy :) 

Mousie Antics!

I have been working hard to wear Mouse out but she recovers so quickly all efforts seem self-defeating. This is what Mouse is like when I get home from work.

ok this is an old picture, but still, captures her nature perfectly

Well, actually she had already done 3 zoomies and this video shows what she is like when she is winding down a little.



She has been playing tug-o-war with Bender, but she growls and he gets freaked out so he lets her win. He growls just as much as she does. Weird dog. This morning they were playing tug and Barbie was annoyed that she was left out so she started barking at them. They started growling louder. Barbie started doing little semi-zoomies and jumping up and down near Mouse's rump. I had to stop them because I was worried Barbie might get a bit overexcited and bite Mouse on the bum. That would have been very counterproductive to their relationship.

I took Mouse down to Whiteman Park along with Bender and Barbie on Saturday morning. We were there for an hour and a half. Mouse ran with the Greyhounds til they wore out, then she found some Kelpies to play with. Finally she settled down for a nap when we got home.

She has been advertised on Petrescue now so I know I am on borrowed time with her. I plan to spend as much time as possible with her and grill every prospective family on their future plans! There shall be no bouncing this time I will do my best to make sure of it! 

City of Wanneroo - Dog's Breakfast

In my last entry I mentioned that we took Mouse to the TEDx talk simulcast at the Northbridge Piazza to prepare her for this Dog's Breakfast event up in Wanneroo. 

There were so many dogs there, big and small. This Great Dane was one of the biggest of course. Mouse did great. We were next to the Husky tent - they were trying to get people into dryland dogsledding and the dogs were very excited to be out and about so they howled and yipped and barked, as Huskies tend to do. Mouse was calm throughout it all.

Mouse even went through the indignity of a hydrobath before she got to greet her adoring public. She was so sparkling and white after her wash I had to wear my sunglasses the whole time because of the glare.

Barbie spent a lot of time chilling out, though she did do some meeting and greeting. She seemed to really enjoy the company of the dogs she has seen at the last couple of events, like Sabre and Annie. She also really liked Rudge, who she met for the first time today. 

We had a lot of doggie visitors, like this adorable little Husky pup. Annie made friends with some whippets - as she is in foster care with a couple I think she seeks them out now. 

Mouse had a lot of people pointing her out but after a while it was all too much. She tucked herself under N's legs and made herself small. I think she had enough attention for the day. 

I couldn't have been more impressed with her. She wasn't completely calm and didn't eat the yummy biscuit that she was given, but she didn't react to any dogs and was very friendly with all the greyhounds. 

House Mouse becomes City Mouse

This morning we went into the city to check out the simulcast of TEDxPerth at the Northbridge Piazza. The Piazza is a great public space that supplies umbrellas and vinyl bean bags for anyone to just come along and chill out. They often screen movies in the evening on weekends as well. 

We decided to take Mouse as part of our continued work on her socialisation. Mouse can be a bit reactive when she hears dogs barking, but we figured that there wouldn't be much barking in the city. We were right. Mouse met a few little dogs and was really well behaved. It didn't take her too long to find a comfy spot between our bean bags. 

I hope that big bird behind me won't come and eat me!

The talks were good, in particular I liked the lady who was talking about creating a sense of community on her street in Fremantle. There was also a presentation about wetsuits which are a visual shark repellent, and changing the model of cancer care in our hospitals to include more complementary treatments. Yes, TEDx talks can be pretty random.

yes, I am a good girl!

It was a pleasure to have Mouse there with us. So many people smiled at her as they walked past. A few people came up for a pat too.

this patch of sand looks comfy

She got a bit hot in the sun, and was eyeing off a patch of soft sand. Turns out the sand was really cool, Mouse ain't silly. We did have to stop her from turning over the dirt to get to the cooler stuff though - pretty sure a dog digging in a city park is not particularly welcome!

Hopefully this nice mellow outing will prepare her for tomorrow, the big Dog's Day Out up in Kingsley. She will be meeting and greeting the public and convincing people to adopt. I just hope all the people and dogs aren't too much for her.

Guess who's back, back again...

YES! It's MOUSE!

It's a bit sad that she is back with us, because her 'forever home' turned out not to be 'forever' after all.

BUT

I get Mouse cuddles again!

She had to be retested with the cats, but she was fine. Mittens and Frou approved her very quickly.

Barbie and Bender were both beside themselves with excitement. More soon!

Barbie and the Fosters at the Secret Harbour Spring Fair

Barbie's an old hat at these greyhound adoption displays, going to quite a few in aid of Greyhounds as Pets, the organisation I adopted her from. The fact that she is an old hand at this was evident pretty much immediately. She appeared to place herself out in the front line for pats for the first half an hour or so, standing out the front of the gazebo and helping to draw people in. After she had had enough of that she went down the back of the gazebo, but she was then confronted by young Sabre, who is fresh out of the racing kennel and is still in possession of all his parts. Barbie, being a proper lady, did not snark at him, but sought to get away by sneaking around the back and into a gazebo where they were selling jewellery (I think). The people there loved her and smooched all over her. She lay down in the shade there for a little while until I persuaded her to go back to the GreyhoundAngels display.

the crowd

Sabre is young, and cat friendly. Indy was the other young and cat compatible dog there on the day. Nic was supposed to be getting photos of everyone but she only got pics of Sabre with probably the ugliest muzzle in existence on, and no photos of Indy. Indy was a bit stressed out. She just wanted to get away from the display tent. Nic took her for a walk, and she was warned not to go too far as Indy wouldn't want to come back and she is very stubborn. After a while people were asking me where she was. I said she was on a walk, then Nic appeared, carrying her. Apparently she just refused to walk back and Nic didn't want to look mean dragging her.

Barbie totally chillaxing

Barbie laid down near the front of the gazebo with me after realising that she was safe there from Sabre's nose. She managed to convince a human to share his sausage sizzle bun with her as well so she was pretty satisfied.

Bronwyn was there, trying to find her forever human. Brownyn is mother to Mouse and Olive, and her face does resemble Olive's. They also got their soft, rabbit-like fur from her. She is even fluffier than they are. She also has a really strange tail - it is very bushy and has a white tip, like a fox. Her nickname is foxy lady. She had been standing up all morning, but when I got Barbie to lie down near her, Bronwyn laid down with us. I made sure that everyone who came by touched Bronwyn's rabbity coat. Every single person exclaimed in wonder at the softness.

LATE NEWS: Bronwyn met her forever family yesterday and is being adopted! YAY! 

Bronwyn and I sharing a joke

Annie, who is from the same kennel as Bronwyn, Olive & Mouse, was also there working the crowd. Like Barbie, she retreated when she had enough. She was a bit flaky at first, indicating a little bit of stress, but she settled into it very well. I think Annie was one of the favorites at the racing kennel, and she had been out and about even before she came into foster care. Her foster family has been doing a great job including her in everything they do, so the Fair was just another outing among many for her.

the beautiful Annie

The trio of 'old girls' was rounded out by Tess. Tess is lovely, and she likes to stand between people's legs for reassurance. She didn't lie down all morning though and she got quite hot! Tess is special because she only has a little stub of a tail. She won't be knocking anything over with it. Everyone has their favorite foster dogs, and Tess certainly has her groupies.

tess receiving pats

We waited around for the afternoon shift, as Nic was tasked with getting some photos of Gina. Gina is a really dark Brindle and is hard to get good photos of. Nic got a couple with her muzzle off but she was in the shade. I think the Volunteer Co-ordinator got a better shot of Gina when the sun was coming into the gazebo in the late afternoon.  Gina really coped well with the crowds and surprised her foster carer, as she was quite timid when she first came into care.

gina, bright and happy

Barbie clocked off after about two hours and moved to a shady spot down the side of the tables we had leaflets on. Other volunteers pointed her out every time they were trying to make a point about how chilled greyhounds are.  We left at maybe 1.30pm and Barbie seemed to enjoy the long drive home. The car was a bit cold because we had the air con on for her, and she seemed to appreciate it.

It was a huge Fair and I think quite a successful day for GreyhoundAngels. We handed out a few foster carer leaflets and a lot of people really enjoyed patting the dogs. Barbie got a great outing without having to walk or stand around very much, so assisting with her foot healing. I get the feeling Barbie knows these things are part of her 'community service' and just part of being a greyhound. She seems proud when she trots off for the day, knowing that she has done good work, allowing the public to adore her. It is really interesting watching peoples' reactions to the hounds, you can tell there are some that feel a very strong connection to them straight away. I know, I was one of those people probably 6 years ago, and it took a couple of years before I could finally get a hound of my own. Even though there may not be many hounds adopted immediately as a result of our public relations work, we know we are just there, planting the seeds and waiting for them to grow.  

Bender is a secret Greyhound (and goodbye to Olive, again)

I can hear you all rejoicing because the Furkid Palace Official Photographer has returned to provide much better imagery for the blog!

Having a DSLR camera gives you a different perspective of your pets. There is so much that you miss when you are just throwing a ball and watching them run. For instance with Bender, we miss his almost double suspension gallop.... here he is in the 'tuck' stage....

here he is at full stretch.

Bender's not a young pup anymore, he's 7 and a half and he has slowed down significantly in the last couple of years. People who don't know him think he is still doing well but we can see the difference. The problem is that her will never stop going hard at the ball.

After a slide like this you can guarantee he will be missing skin from his paw pads. We had to go home after a mere half an hour at the dog park today because he was bleeding, as usual. We don't think he will ever learn to slow down.

At the park you can see why Olive didn't make it as a racer. She isn't a super competitive doggie and she doesn't run around at top speed just for the sheer joy of it. In all the photos she is level with Bender or just behind him. Barbie likes to run as fast as she can for no apparent reason. She doesn't have to be chasing anything. She doesn't need anything chasing her. She just likes to go! Olive just keeps pace with the dogs she is running with and doesn't run random 'hot laps'.

After our little trip to the park, Olive's new owner came to pick her up. I was very sad to see her go, but for her sake I tried not to show it. Olive's new family has recently lost two toy poodles - I met one of them a few weeks ago but unfortunately he had to go to the bridge, he was blind, deaf and very arthritic but he was still so sweet and brave. I expect Olive will be providing them with plenty of distraction and cuddles to help them through a difficult time. It was very strange waking up this morning without a dancing white greyhound standing over me, poking me in the face with her nose and repeatedly bashing her tail against the bedroom door. Hopefully she will 'stick' in this home because if she gets bounced again it would be very hard to let her go for a third time.

We are going to miss her and her silly tongue.

We are taking an enforced break from fostering now with the exception of Olive if she is bounced as I couldn't bear the thought of her going somewhere else. There will soon be construction going on at the block next door. They need to build a retaining wall so they will be taking down our fence temporarily. The good thing about that is the fence will be more secure and far less ugly once it is replaced. I will be less concerned about it blowing over in a squally storm so that is a plus. Barbie's recovering leg has already gotten me into the routine of doing potty breaks on leash and I should be able to add Bender to that pretty easily. It will be all the better when Barbie can walk a proper distance. They will be totally spoiled with 3 walks a day!

There are also a few things that we need to do around our house and those things will be easier without an extra dog. Of course some of these things will have to wait until Barbie's foot is healed as well. The control-freak part of me wants to draw up a chart.

Wordless Wednesday - Olive the White Lion

The best thing about this was that when I put Olive's Lion Snood on, my two dogs came rushing over thinking they were missing out on something. I have trained them well!!

Olive Returns

Olive didn't last too long in her trial. It seems that she had an issue with the Alpacas, she rushed at the fence and scared them. Unfortunately every time they saw her they let out their 'alert' call which apparently sounds like a 'demented squeaky toy'. I am not sure what self-respecting dog could resist that kind of sound!

She was only gone for 5 days and so she settled right back into our routine very quickly.

She shared Bender's dinner with Frou Frou - there are never any bowls of kibble left at the end of the night, with everyone finishing off everyone else's food. 

Frou also tested out Olive's tolerance as they shared the couch....

She is such a delightful little girl and gives great cuddles. In fact, I think that Olive is so sweet she will rot your teeth! She is also a bit of a nut case and has taken to sprinting out the back door as soon as I open it, so a couple of times I tried holding on to her collar. It didn't stop her sprinting but because the tiles are slippery she just ran on the spot.

Olive certainly doesn't know that all greyhounds are made from spun sugar and will dissolve in the rain. She loves to walk in the rain and stomp in the mud. My floors are much dirtier when she is around!

I think Barbie was a little put out by the return of Olive, but Frou made sure she got an equal amount of cuddle time. 

Olive and Barbie also spend a lot of time lying in close proximity. Perhaps it is because they both want to be in the sun puddle in the lounge room, but I like to think they enjoy each other's company.

I have been switching up walking partners so each dog gets their share of one on one time. I think my least favorite combination is the Bender-Olive combo as they both have their crazy tendencies and it takes a lot more concentration to keep them both on the straight and narrow. 

I have rewritten Olive's biography, so hopefully it will attract some more interest. 

Olive leaves the building and Barbie's tricky time!

Last night Olive went on trial with a lovely couple who live in the Perth Hills - they have a young dog and alpacas. 

She has adapted well to house life, and has made much progress in learning how to use a dog bed since this photo was taken. N said 'nice try, but it seems she hasn't grasped the concept fully'. 

Olive was nice to the kitties, most of the time, and they were quite happy to share space with her. Barbie seemed to be a bit subdued when Olive was here because she didn't want to be chased. It was probably a smart move.

Good luck on your trial sweet Olive. You are welcome back here if it doesn't work out, but hopefully it will!!!!

Since Olive was gone, I had to do some doggie stuff to keep myself occupied. A friend of mine posted an adorable video of her dog Charlie doing 'roll over'. Charlie is a little boy, so I thought it was about time we committed Barbie's tricks to video and people could laugh at the differences between Barbie's roll over and Charlie's. 

I didn't bother to edit the video so this is realtime of Barbie running through her repertoire. 

What is your favorite dog trick? 

Ms Olive may soon depart...

Olive is really coming out of her shell. She has gone from just stopping next to you and standing still while accepting scratches to leaning against your legs and wiggling her butt when you scratch her. She is now playing chasey and tug-o-war with Bender. She jumps into the car without hesitation. There's no doubt that she is ready to go.

I took her to visit my buddy's new greyhound Miles and they played very nicely together with his toys before passing out on the lounge room rug. Miles is a bit of a 'soft' dog, Australians call him 'wussy', but Olive was nice enough to him. 

In the morning when my alarm goes off she sneaks up onto the bed for cuddles. She tried to sneak onto the bed with me last night and it only took a small amount of coercion to get her back onto her own bed until the morning. 

Barbie is incredibly tolerant and lets Olive share her bed. I think Barbie actually likes her, even though she hogs my attention sometimes. 

You know that a greyhound is relaxed when you catch them roaching at every opportunity. Olive has gotten better at roaching as I have fattened her up a little bit. 

Olive met had a date this evening and will have another one in the morning. I expect that she will be adopted very soon. We will all miss her though! 

New Coats for the Hounds!

Olive seemed to want a coat, so I had a look around for someone who made good value ones so that I wasn't spending all my money on the dogs, again.

I found 'dishlickercoats' on ebay and ordered two of the lighter fleecy coats, with postage they cost less than $50. I got Barbie's name embroidered on hers, I thought it would be small but I was quite impressed with her name spelled out big in pretty lettering. I guess they liked her name!

Olive says "a warm Greyhound is a happy Greyhound!"

Olive is officially a house dog - she figured out the couch

On Thurday Olive Oil made her visit to the Vet for her spey and vaccination. She was already microchipped as young greyhound pups are chipped here at 5 weeks old. The vet nurse said that her chip had moved and was right at the front of her neck. She told me that she once found a chip in a labrador's foot! If they can move around that far, it's no wonder that sometimes microchips aren't found sometimes! 

The nurse warned me that she was being a sook and that she would probably yelp when I lifted her into the car. Yelp she did, but she continued on for a little bit just to make sure I knew she was hurting.

When I got home it was a huge struggle to get her out of the car, but eventually she got down herself, with a lot more complaining. She yelped every time she went to lie down on her bed too, looking right at me and doing some good old open-mouth whinging. 

For some reason she decided the couch would be more comfortable. It must have been because she didn't yelp when she laid down. I expect she will be spending a lot of time on the couch for the next few days. 

Olive the Tattletale

Mouse was cat safe, and as Olive's sister, I thought that she would be too. I was happy to be right as the only thing that annoyed me about Zelda was her attitude towards the cats. Here is a video of the first time Olive met Frou-Frou.

Olive has been really good with the cats for a dog who has never actually seen one before. She has lumbered after them a few times when they have run from her, but she is very easy to call off. Now that I have seen what real prey drive looks like, I think I have better perspective when a dog cries or bounces when they see a cat. As you can see here, Frou is the one doing the tasting - giving Olive a lick on the nose. 

Frou is the brave cat, Mittens is still a bit traumatised by her experience with Zelda and is hesitant to come into the 'dog' half of the house. 

I was sitting in the lounge room updating dog listings for GreyhoundAngels, and I heard Olive barking. When N went to investigate she saw that Frou was on the kitchen bench, eating the food that I had boiled up for the dogs. Olive was tattling on her!!! Tattle tale!! Not sure Frou will give you any more kisses now, Olive! 

Outings with Olive - Breakfast in East Perth & a big, noisy crowd

Olive has been listed as being up for adoption on Facebook, Gumtree and Petrescue, so I don't think she is going to be with us much longer. With that in mind we decided that we should try her out in some new situations so that we could get more of an idea of her personality.

Barbie and Bender were pretty tired after their two hour outing to Whiteman Park, but I thought that Barbie would like to come out to breakfast. We went to the Partisan in East Perth again. We parked down near the river so we wouldn't have to pay, and got to take the dogs for a little walk to Claisebrook Cove, where the cafes are.

Olive is a bit like her sister Mouse, she doesn't like to walk in a straight line. I think she will understand the idea of leash walking fairly quickly though.

I ordered some fruity French toast and I didn't like it much - I should have stuck with poached eggs on toast, but Olive tried to stick her nose on my plate the second the waiter set it down.

Olive is a real people magnet, and once they come and start patting her, there's no stopping, because she won't let them! She didn't really relax during breakfast, but she did pretty well. 

When we walked back to the car, Olive jumped into the back by herself. We came home and let the dogs rest for a while and I watched a game of football. We then headed back out to the Avon Descent finish at Riverside Gardens with Olive to see how she would deal with the PA system and the maddening crowds. 

She was a bit tired and a bit overwhelmed by all the noise, but she didn't shut down and turn into a greyhound statue. I think she just needs to go to more of these types of events and her confidence will grow. She met some gorgeous kids who just wanted to cuddle her. 

We also met a couple of ladies who had three tiny chihuahuas. The lady bought the smallest Chi over - who was about half the size of Frou - absolutely tiny. The Chi tried to sniff Olive's butt but only managed to reach her ankle. The lady held the little Chi up to Olive's nose, but the Chi was a bit freaked and was flailing it's legs around trying to kick Olive in the muzzle. Olive didn't even flinch. 

We didn't stay long as it was clear that Olive was tired. When we got home she did exactly what Mouse did - refused to get out of the car. She was comfy on the back seat and just wanted to sleep there. 

Silly Olive!!!!