Took the boys out for a long walk today over at Salcey Forest. We were out for a good two hours, and had everything from sunshine to downpours. It's great for dogs over at Salcey as there are so many smells, and places they can go to have a good rootle round. And it's so large that even two hours walking doesn't do it all.

Kai of course was off all over the place, and you could tell that Monty was itching to go off with him. But I'm still not sure if he would come back, so he spent the walk on the lead; albeit a long one so he could wander off a bit.

We met Mick and Julie out horse riding. Felt like the game keeper talking to the squire what with them on horse back and me with the two hounds in the woods

From information we got today I think this is probably the longest walk Monty has ever been on (he went straight to sleep when we got back!!), though it won't be the last like it.

Here's what we found out today from the Lorraine at Wexford Pet Helpers in Ireland that first rescued Monty. It took Gill nearly half an hour to stop crying when she read it. I won't say what I think should happen the people that she rescued Monty from and others like them as it would probably constitute incitement to violence. Anyway, here's the email we got:

One day I got a phone call from my uncle to say that he knows a breeder who has 3 greyhounds that will be destroyed if I don't take them.

I only had 24 hours to say yes or no. I was sick to the stomach; it was very tough knowing they could die if a place wasn't found for them. So I rang Mary in Waterford she does a lot of greyhound rescue and she put the post up on dog pages UK and after a short time Whiteloge offered of take him. So the greys had to go into kennels for 2 week before they could travel.

Jackie and I when to collect the 3 greyhounds from the greyhound breeder in Kildare. When we arrived the breeder only brought out one dog, he had a large fight wound on his neck and had a every dull smelly coat. The breeder said he sold the 2 female greys for breeding (poor doggies) and this dog was left. I asked the breeder what was the dog's name and told me he had no name, just dog.

The breeder told me the dog was to slow and wasn't interested in running after the hare. He said the dog was only 16 months old. When we tried to get Monty into the car he ran back to the gates where his dark shed was. This was all he knew and was afraid to leave. When we got him in the car we had to bring him to kennels, he stayed there for one night. Because he was so frightened I myself decided to foster him and let him know what family life was like.

At first he growled at my 4 dogs and 1 foster dog but soon realized that they weren't going to hurt him. So Monty made new friends. For 1 week I couldn't get Monty to move out of his bed he just lay there, I though he was depressed but Mary from Waterford told me that this was normal for a greyhound coming from a racing life, they are just like robots, they don't know what love it. How very, very sad.

So I gave Monty lots and lots of hugs and kisses to help him come around. After a week he started to wag his tail at me and gave me a little kiss. He knew I wasn't going to hurt him. When I would leave a room he would cry, when I returned he would have my clothes in his bed, anything I touched he had it in beds bed. I loved having Monty and he was so, so sweet. He really touched my heart and I'll never forget that beautiful face.