Troy was a fairly successful racer, at the time called Mine's a Brandy. He raced regularly at Sunderland, Romford, once at Swindon, and finally became a regular at Catford. His final race was June 2003, and with the closure of Catford track on 5th November 2003, he was retired. Troy became Troy while at White Lodge, and it is a name that suits much better than Brandy; somehow he is a Troy.

Before joining The Beastly Beasts, Troy had four homes which for a variety of reasons, none of them (IMHO) his fault (you can read them here) he stayed at for very long. But he had actually spent most of the time in kennels since his retirement, and had been consistantly overlooked by loads of people while at White Lodge; their loss.

Perhaps because of being unsettled so many times, Troy is our special needs dog; he is not the most intelligent of beasts. To start with he craved almost constant attention and reassurance. He had nightmares (it's the only way I can describe his reactions when he woke from them) almost every time he fell asleep, and still has the odd one even now. He was, and can still be, very unsure of himself; for example, he can go up and down the stairs with ease, but it took over a year before he would do so without someone with him. And even now, he can get in a tizz over nothing, and will need reassuring that he his OK. So all the front in his BeastBlogging is just that - front.

However, if you have met Troy you will know that he is a very loving beast. He really does love people, and assumes that everyone has been put on this planet for him to lean against and be stroked by (everyone that is except me; I have another purpose - to provide a lap to lie on). And here's a wierd thing, even people that have known many greyhounds have commented that being with Troy - and that means being leant on - is in someway theraputic and restful.

Just like with Monty, it took a long time for Troy to really loose his demons, and they aren't all gone yet.

You can contact Troy from the contact page, or by e-mail at