The Murdoch Uni Vet students do an annual dog wash, and they pick two dog-related charities each year to donate funds to. Today it was Greyhounds as Pets and Assistance Dogs Australia. GAP put the word out and we ended up with a massive number of dogs and owners.
I forgot my camera, which is one of the biggest sins of the blogosphere because there were so many lovely greyhounds there. Everyone had read about Barbie's CGC achievement and hopefully I have inspired some other greyhound owners to give it a shot. Greyhounds are so calm and reserved with each other on leash, and at least two of the big boys took to leaning their heads on Barbie's back. She didn't mind and just stood there. There was a big blue boy called Clyde who Barbie liked in particular.
Barbie was surrounded by first year vet students for a while and they were all asking questions. One of them said she didn't like big dogs because they jump up and are crazy - she had decided, seeing all these calm and lovely greys milling around with their owners, she said 'that is a kind of dog I could do'.
There was a woman with a lovely fawn boy, and he had a very cute question mark tail. She didn't adopt him from GAP and had only had him for a few months. She was asking me a lot of questions about training and treats. I told her I use Schmackos but it is cheaper sometimes to just cook up an extra steak or some extra chicken. I told them I used steak for recall training. I was reminded how lucky I have been with Ms Guts-o-Steel when people were talking about all the treats that cause their dogs stomach upsets.
I met Kerry's beautiful little girl, called Ling. She really was the smallest greyhound I've ever met and she only weighs about 21kg... which is 46 pounds for those who don't use the metric system. She has small, stiff ears that seem to stand up alot of the time. She curled up on Kerry's lap, and I asked if she was sure Ling wasn't half chihuahua!
There were a lot of different dogs that came for a wash, and Barbie greeted them all politely, befitting of her Canine Good Citizen title. There was even a purebred Dingo! I wanted to ask a million questions about keeping a dingo as a pet but was kept busy answering questions about Barbie. Barbie's sit and 'high five' tricks went down really well. Ling bows, which was very cute, but that was about it for tricks! There were a few greys who just decided it was nap time and layed down on the pavers.
Barbie kept going for the whole two hours we were there, she didn't seem to get tired at all! I was very impressed with her stamina. I drove her home, and she went straight to her bed, and she barely seemed to notice as I took Bender out the front door. Bender and I went to the river and he went for a swim.
Murdoch is the Uni I spent 4 years of my life studying at, and being there today made me really nostalgic.
