Zelda's Adopted!!!!!

Zelda met a family and two youngish couples last weeked who all wanted to see if she would be a good match for them.

In the end the humans didn't have much say in the matter. Zelda knew it when the right people came to see her. She attached herself to the guy's legs and enjoyed the pats and scratches he was giving her. When it came time for them to leave I had to tug on her collar so that he could walk! They told me they were going to have a chat about her, and I heard from the adoptions coordinator not long after they left that they had decided they wanted to adopt her.

My household was split 50/50 on Zelda. Bender, N & I will be sad to see her go, but Barbie, Froufrou and Mittens will be very happy to see the back of her!

Good luck Zelda, I am sure you will be very happy with your people and hopefully I will see you around.

As promised, the Demark Roadtrip video!!

I tried to give all of the dogs equal billing, and I think it's a great summary of the doggie parts of the holiday. There are plenty of cute Zelda zoomies as well as a full-out run from Barbie at Lights Beach.  Enjoy!



Click here to go straight to youtube if the above video doesn't work.

Road Tripping with Dogs - Denmark Western Australia

It has taken me a long time to write about this trip because I had to get the photos together, but we took Barbie, Bender and Zelda for a big road trip down to Denmark, Western Australia. We got a dog friendly holiday house so that we could have the dogs inside with us.

With three dogs in the car we didn't have much room for other stuff. We had Bender and Barbie on the back seat, and Zelda behind the cargo barrier in the back. It was a 5 hour trip, so we had to stop and get the dogs out of the car a couple of times. At our lunch stop I found a nice little park with some old play equipment I could tether the dogs to.

Bender and Barbie don't mind being tethered though Zelda didn't like it very much. I needed my hands free to eat my greasy road trip lunch, so I made no apologies.

It was really great to get to the house - a small place with a huge verandah and nice fenced in yard. The dogs were happy to run around after being cooped up in the car for so long.

The yard was really big and was a great place for the doggies to play. The house was fairly small and the verandah was massive. It had a nice reverse-cycle air conditioner for heating which is necessary in Denmark in winter. We had bought three dog beds with us, so everyone was effectively kept off the furniture.

Denmark is in a fairly dog friendly area, there are plenty of lovely places where dogs are allowed to hike with their owners. A lot of other country towns are surrounded by National Parks where doggies are prohibited.

Usually N had Bender on the leash and I had the two greyhounds. Sometimes though, one of us would take all three and they are pretty well behaved together.

We hiked with the dogs every morning, returned them to the house and spent the afternoon doing dog-less activities. We had a nice drink at the local brewery.

We also went to a few local wineries. My favorite place was Whitfield Estate and if you take a moment to pop over to their website, you will quickly figure out why. When we arrived the first thing I asked was where the dogs were. Yes, Whitfield is home to three beautiful Bernese Mountain Dogs called Bindi, Mac and Bud. 

Unfortunately the dogs were just leaving in their Range Rover as we arrived - they would never turn down the opportunity to go for a drive, so they were going into town. 

We were told that if we stuck around for dessert the dogs would be back. We ordered some lunch, and I had a lovely chicken pie. Then dessert was ordered and I was enjoying myself sitting in the sun. They actually phoned the dog-chaueffeur to check how far away the dogs were, and they arrived just as I finished my coffee.

Bernese Mountain dogs are from Switzerland and are commonly called 'Berners'. They used to pull laden carts. Bindi was very affectionate whilst Mac and Bud seemed more interested in the possibility of an afternoon snack. They were like big cuddly bears. 

The dogs got to enjoy a couple of beautiful beaches. The closest to town was Lights Beach. Barbie and Zelda both conquered some formidable skeleton stairs here. Zelda went straight down, though Barbie only went down after we walked around at the top for a while looking for an alternative route.

At Lights Beach we met another dog who was playing with a tennis ball. We kept Bender away from him so that it wouldn't be stolen and immediately punctured. They left and as we were walking back, Bender spotted something in the water. The other dog must have left his ball alone, floating in the ocean. Bender went straight in after it in order to rescue it. He killed it with kindness once he pulled it out of the water though and then he dropped it onto the rocks behind the stairs. We had to leave it behind.

At Cosy Corner, we discovered a cute little river flowing into the ocean. The dogs were thirsty and I tasted it to make sure it was fresh before we let them have a drink. It almost looked like a river of Coca-cola, the river water stained with tannins because of the leaves of native plants.

We even did a cafe visit at Cosy Corner with all three dogs. They were all a bit cheeky, I think it was just because all three of them were there.

Bender wanted to know when the food would arrive. When it finally did it was a bit of a struggle to keep Zelda away from my plate!

We had the inlaws over to the holiday house for dinner and we had a few glasses of wine. I left my wine glass on the table while I went to help in the kitchen with something. Father-in-law started laughing, and I looked over to see Zelda delicately dipping her tongue into my glass. She did well not to knock it over when I told her off. 

The drive home was very relaxed with Zelda lying down in the back, and Bender and Barbie snuggling. Overall it was a great little break and I can't wait to do it again. The holiday house we found is a true little gem and having the dogs along really makes the holiday complete! 

I made a video of the trip too, but I am going to leave that for the next blog post. 

Where is your favorite place to holiday with your dog? 

Zelda's Sweet Side

Actually all of Zelda is sweet. She is always sitting right next to Barbie, and usually also right next to a human.

When I get home she doesn't jump up like Bender and Barbie tend to do, she just comes and stands by me, quietly leaning against my legs and waiting for a pat. 

I like her snuggling next to me on the couch - it is winter so she keeps me warm, and it also means I can keep an eye on her and make sure she isn't up to no good. She went through a stage of jumping up onto the kitchen sink, sticking her head in and stealing the dish rag! She is also quite partial to the bin which she knows how to open. 

Mostly she isn't naughty though! She is good on the lead and I can walk all three dogs together. Wherever I take her people comment on how calm she is. 

She does play though. I got this video of her playing with some stuffies in the house - the light isn't that good but you get the general gist!

Click here to go straight to youtube if the video doesn't work. 

The Legend of Zelda - Finding Hidden Treasure

Sorry I have been a bit slack in updating the blog, we just spent 5 days in the South West with all three dogs and I will write about that next, but I have a great Zelda story to share in the meantime.

Zelda, overall, has been a really good dog. We have been leaving her in the house with Bender and Barbie and without supervision for a few hours at a time and she has not stolen anything at all. Last night we went out to see P!NK in concert, and it was a bit wet and cold outside, so the dogs stayed in. When we got home everything was how we left it, except for a wee puddle on the tiles. That was probably my fault because I took Zelda into the garden but didn't have an age to wait for her to go, and she never did!

Anyway, we cleaned up and went to bed a lot later than usual. I was already half asleep when N came in with the dogs. They were given their usual dentastick treats and they spent a while chomping away, then Zelda started sniffing around the room.

It's not unusual for Zelda to sniff around looking for cats under the bed but she did sniff for an unusually long time. Then the sniffing was replaced with chewing sounds.

N: "hasn't Barbie finished her Dentastick?"
J: "I'm pretty sure she is finished"
N: "what is that chewing noise then?"
J: "I don't know, let me sleep"
N: "Is Barbie just chewing on her leg?"
J: "If she was making that much noise chewing on her leg, she would be doing damage to herself"

At this point I forced myself awake and turned on the light so I could see what is going on. Barbie was lying in a ball on her bed, so I looked over to the other side of the room and spotted Zelda enthusiastically chewing on N's jumper.

J: "she's chewing on your jacket, you better get it off her!"

N confiscated the jacket and realised that she had left treats in her pocket. Zelda apparently doesn't understand how pockets work, so she was using brute force to chew a hole in the pocket and allow access to the treats. She was mainly successful at getting the food out.

N put the jacket in the cupboard to prevent further chewing and not long after everyone settled down and went to sleep. We all learned to empty unused treats from pockets from now on!

Transporting the lovely Pico

Today I drove for 2.5 hours to get a Greyhound called Pico from the pound and deliver him to his foster home.

Pico is a BIG boy - much taller than Zelda, though not quite as heavy as she was when she first came here. He was mainly good in the car, there were a couple of little howls but I think he was just confused about where he was being taken.

I was handsomely rewarded with Pico cuddles and he immediately took a shine to his new foster pawrents. They have whippets, and he was very good at ignoring them when they were bouncing around.

The whippets were very active and absolutely adorable. One day I might have one in the household, though they seem to run around a lot more than greyhounds do. 

Pico already knows how to sit and lie down and he comes to his name as well. He has really been fairly well looked after and he's a beautiful gentleman. I am sure he won't take long to find his forever home! 

When I got home, Zelda was most displeased that I smelled like another greyhound and lots of whippets!! She stuck very close to me and gave a lot of cuddles.

Early bed time tonight I think! 

Greyhound Angels Picnic, Mouse date and Zelda Update

Yesterday we had a fundraising picnic for the group I am fostering Zelda for, Greyhound Angels of Western Australia.

The picnic raised about $600 with a bit more in the donation tins, and mainly it was just adopters and foster carers. I took Barbie and Zelda along and they made a very cute couple.

Barbie is the one in the white muzzle being leaned on by Zelda. The big brindle that Barbie is leaning on is Jeffrey. Usually Barbie only lets big boys lean on her back like that but she doesn't mind Zelda there. 

The Greyhounds proved how amazing they are socialising with so many other Greyhounds on leash in close proximity. I did not see anyone get cranky. 

I convinced Mouse's mum to bring her for a run in the dog park, and to come over and meet some of the Greyhound Angels crew. She was almost mobbed, so many people recognised Mouse and came over to say hello. She did a great job of selling greyhounds to an older couple who were asking her a lot of questions. 

Mouse has been a naughty greedy guts, stealing a massive loaf of Olive bread at home and eating every last crumb. She didn't even get an upset stomach! She is still lean but looking really good - at least you can't see her hip bones anymore. She is a lean, mean eating machine! 

Mouse seemed to recognise her kennel-buddy Ellie in the park. It was quite sweet, they ran to each other and had a good sniff. Mouse and Barbie did the same. 

There were so many black hounds there I had trouble recognising Zelda when everyone was running in the dog park area. Barbie demonstrated her great recall, even coming to me when once when I was trying to get Zelda's attention, not hers. At least I could always figure out which one was Barbie! 

As I was busy trying to eat, talk and keep Barbie and Zelda from tangling me up, I didn't get to take any photos, so these are from other lovely Greyhound Angels people. 

After spending hours at the park, Barbie and Zelda were pretty tired so I decided to let Zelda and Mittens spend some time in close proximity. Mittens went under my bed where Zelda cannot reach her and Zelda did stare for a while, but then she got on the bed and hung out with me. At one point Mittens had enough and came out, chasing Zelda out of the door, before turning around and going back under the bed. Eventually Zelda left the room with me and slept on the couch. Mittens roamed around the house a little, I found her in the bathroom when I went to put her to bed. 

Zelda hanging out with me while there is a cat right underneath us. 

Bender was a bit upset that he didn't get to come to the picnic. I don't think he would have enjoyed himself as all of the greyhounds would have been after him and his ball. He spent an hour clinging to me when I got home. He has forgiven me now thankfully, and is lying in the very small patch of sun in the lounge room. The greyhounds are both still tired. 

Whiteman Park visit with Zelda, Bender, Barbie and my new favorite playmate, Teddy!

I transport all three dogs in my X-trail, and the rule always has been 'foster dogs in the back'. I have a cargo barrier separating the spaces so that no-one gets cranky with anyone else on the drive. The only problem is that Zelda can't jump up there by herself and she is HEAVY. I can lift her more easily now than I could a week and a half ago, but perhaps that is because she has lost a kilogram or two and perhaps I am a little stronger...

Miss Zelda says 'I would never cause any trouble!'

It is a bit of a juggle to get all the dogs out of the car and into the park - but that is mainly because of Bender. He is a sweet boy, but he just can not control himself when there is fetching involved. He runs around and around, and jumps up to try to steal the ball from it's throwing stick. The greyhounds don't appreciate his antics.

We got into the park without too much trouble, and Zelda seems to have some recall programmed into her brain - she came back when I decided to test her response to her name! She needs to be formally conditioned and proofed for recall, sure, but I don't think it will be that difficult with her. 

I bought the Gopro along to see if I could get the hounds running together, but the one time when Zelda and Barbie really went for a burn I didn't have the camera ready. I got some zoomies from Barbie alone though.

You will notice in the video two of the black hounds don't have muzzles. Barbie's was broken when I got it out of the car, so I decided to let her go naked. Teddy doesn't wear one because well, he is a beautiful soul and well...Teddy fetches tennis balls, he is the first greyhound I have met in WA who does. He is very sweet because he lets Bender get to the ball first, even though he is clearly much faster. He doesn't have as much as an 'eye' for the ball as Bender does - you can see that in the video where all the other dogs go in the wrong direction, but Bender's the one who gets the ball.

Anyway, enjoy our trip to Whiteman Park!!!

Foster Dogs - Introducing Zelda

Zelda is a four year old female who ran a lot of races and has had one litter of pups. She is a big girl who raced at 30 kilograms, and a tad overweight. She makes Barbie look tiny and on the weekend I might be able to get some pictures of her and Mouse together.

Her trainer had kept her as a pet for a while, so the house wasn't totally foreign to her. She does like to watch the TV sometimes, and she has a bit of a thing with her reflection in glass doors and mirrors. She also refuses to do stairs. 

She is quite good on the lead so we decided to take all three dogs to the Botanic Garden Cafe in King's Park last weekend. She did really well for her first time though she didn't lie down. 

She bosses Bender and Barbie around a little bit, she is a bit protective of food and couch space but I think she will get over it with some correction. She is definitely capable of sharing, she just does it when it suits her.

Can you tell who is who? (you can see in the photo that Zelda is bigger). Sometimes when I see a black greyhound out of the corner of my eye I am not quite sure which one it is!

Zelda is a total snuggler and she much prefers sleeping on my bed rather than in her crate. She will lean on you and last night she stood between my legs because she wanted my attention.

She doesn't mind being outside when I go out, she makes good use of the wooden kennel my neighbours gave us. She is good in the yard and I have been putting her out at least a few hours every day when I run errands and other things.

Zelda has been helping with house-guarding duties but she doesn't try to copy Bender like Mouse did. She takes more of her barking cues from Barbie, which is good because when she barks there is usually a good reason for it. 

Now, she's been here a week and a half, and usually I would have taught a new dog to sit by now, but we have been working on the only real problem - her interaction with Froufrou and Mittens. Zelda was OK with her trainer's cat, but Frou and Mittens were different and exciting. She was quite fixated and made a couple of pounces for the cats when she first met them. 

I couldn't get her attention at all at first, and Mittens did try to give her a scratch but didn't manage to. Not sure if Zelda was too quick to pull her head away or the muzzle was protecting her. I thought she needed more negative consequences for pouncing on the cats, so I bought a water pistol.

She is starting to find the cats less interesting though it has been a slow process, we are getting there. I expect that she will be able to stay until she finds her forever home. She is a robust kind of Greyhound and I think she'd be great in a family with kids.