Racing puppy
 

We had the chance to go to a greyhound farm last weekend, where they raise greyhound pups until they are old enough to be trained for the track.

I love puppies (and by extension, dogs), and the idea of spending a day playing with dozens of 'em sounded great. Taking care of them every day, on the other hand, is a lot of work, and not exactly a glamour job. On the other hand, one reward is to be present for daily non-stop puppy antics, like the little booger in this photo, who is having a blast untying my shoe. When he was done with this one, he went to work on the other one.

Here's another pic - so cute!

I was going somewhere or other and saw a billboard for a puppy farm in an open field, along the road. The name of the farm was "Look Dear, Puppies".
Great pictures, Windhund. Thanks.:thumb:

I love Greyhounds
 

I don't think I can have one because it gets too cold here. Greyhounds have practically no body fat, so they can't take the cold. Some people I visited in Massachussetts actually rescue greyhounds from racing (it is common for them to be abandoned or badly treated after they can't race anymore, apparently).

This dog of theirs, named Tammy, always had this look in her eye that she was deep in thought. I thought she would start talking or something. Well, she never spoke, but as you can see, we bonded anyway.

I've met a bunch of the hound rescuers, and they all make the same two points:

- These are the sweetest dogs in the world
- You must have a fenced yard

Not a problem. They love to snuggle! Whippets too.:D

I suppose I should just get one if I want one. I'm afraid I would have to deprive it of running outside 4 months of the year. Wouldn't want to deprive any dog of that.

I've never been in favor of outfitting dogs with sweaters and booties, but that could change. :3eye:

Friends of mine in the captial district of New York State have a rescued greyhound, and they've not had any problems with her in the winter.

One thing that was kind of interesting in an "oh, yeah, of course they do that" kind of way is that the dog obsessively runs along the fenceline, just as though she's still racing.

I know people in Canada that have greyhounds. They do fine. All you need is a nice warm coat for them when it gets below freezing, if they are going to be out for more than 10 minutes or so. In my experience, you have to be more careful with them when it's hot than when it's cold. Dogs don't have very efficient cooling systems.

A fenced yard is important too, since they can't be relied upon to stay in their yard without it.

While they do like to run, it's actually not that important to them. Mine will run in the yard for a few minutes and then they're done. Since they are sprinters, that's all they really want to do.

Leashed walks are actually the best exercise you can give a dog.

Good to know, Windhund. Nice website too. Maybe I should have looked at that in the first place. Thanks. :)

Re: I love Greyhounds
 

Woo, understatement... There've been cases of people finding fields littered with truckloads of dead racing dogs. It's a horribly horribly wrong thing. And I'm not even a member of PETA... :mad: :mad: :mad:

The more people I meet, the more I love my dog!

AND, That's because you actually like animals.;)

Bruce,

You should warn people when you post stuff like that - I am at work and I clicked on the link.

Now, back to more pups!
 

A couple more pup pix -

This guy looks like a little prisoner! I found this shot interesting because of the double paw thing there - cute.