BeastBlog: September 2005


About The Beastly Beasts - By The Beastly Beasts

This is where we, the Beastly Beasts, tell you all about what we've been up to.

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Love and licks,
Kai, Monty, Jack, Troy, Lucy, Mack, & Rosie - The Beastly Beasts

24 September 2005

Black Beasts

posted by Chris at 22:34
As you undoubtedly know, the four Beasts that make up the Collective are, in order of assimallation, Tan, Black (with a white chest), Black & Tan brindle, and White.

Not this evening!!!!! This evening I had four black, and when I say black, I mean black. And smelly. And goooey. And, well, f****ing (pardon the language) disgusting.

We were over at Salcey again as all the Beasts like it. We arrived about 17:15, and needed to be back to the car by 19:00 as that's when then gate shuts.

We had had a good wander round; all of the Beasts having charged after something or nothing at various points on the walk. They were all a bit muddy round the paws; it's a forest after all. Then ten minutes from the getting back the car they all dissapear up a track. Nothing too unusual about that, that's the point of them being off the lead, so they can explore. A few minutes go by and I whistle for them to return; which, as usual they did. Except that instead of tan, black, brindle and white I had black, black, black and black. They must have found the stinkiest, stagnentist, foulest, slimeyest pond; and gone mad in it. Just putting their leads back on (instead of strangling them with them) my hands got covered in black smelly slime. The 10 minute journey home was enough to make the car stink. And then it took 30 minutes of me getting sodden to wash them all.

And did they show any contriteness for having put me through all this? No! They wanted their tea!

And will we do it all again tomorrow? Probably.
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22 September 2005

Barney and Lill

posted by Chris at 21:05
We were back over at Salcey Forest again, 'coz it's safe to let Troy off the lead and have a good charge about. On the way back to the car we me Barney and Lill, two greyhounds from Northants Greyhound Rescue. At first I thought that Troy was going to be be a bit, well, not aggressive, but kind of dominant. As it turned out though, they all get on really well, leaving, as the six of them charged up the path to chase a totally non-existant rabbit/squirrel/fox (delete as you fancy 'coz there was bugger all there), me and their owner (who's name I didn't find out - it's always the dogs you get to know first isn't it?) to chat about the pros and cons of greyhounds, and rue the fact that the once you have one that's it - your hooked. Bit like me and Wolfhounds.
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20 September 2005

Off the Lead or Not Off the Lead

posted by Chris at 21:09
This evening we went for walk in Salcey Forest. The plan was to let Troy off the lead and have a bit of a run.

In a forest?? Won't he just run off into the distance??

Well, there is of course always the risk that the last thing you see is a Greyhound's bum disappearing over the horizon, and the recommendation is that you first let off a new Greyhound in a totally enclosed area. But with four of them there is a pack instinct, and Troy is quite an insecure hound at the moment. And although a forest, kind of by definition, is a big place, the reality is that you're pretty well limited to the paths for the most part; which means all a dog can do is run up and down it.

What happened?
We met other dogs that were off the lead; one small one was very friendly it was too; straight up to the Beasts. Jack of course wanted to say "Hi", Kai wanted to get on with the walk, as did Monty. And Troy? He seemed to want to say "Hi" too. It's still early days, but he seems OK.

Once away from the main area they went off the lead. As expected everyone went charging off, then came back again moments later. All through the walk, Troy went off a bit then back again to check I was still around. I think he probably did twice the distance of the others!! He needed a rest half way round.

So all was well. I suspect that the problem will come once Troy gets a bit more confidence and realises he doesn't need to check where I am all the time. That will be in about two to three weeks time I should think.
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14 September 2005

Furry-Baby Fashions

posted by Chris at 19:20
With the arrival of Troy, Gill decided it was time to get new collars and leads for the boys. We had a look at Anna's collars on Greyhound Gap, and I don't know if it's a temporary thing, but the range seemed to have gone to nothing.

Further research turned up Furry-Baby Fashions at www.furrybabyfashions.com. The collars looked well made (as far as you can tell from a photo) and the range of fabrics is excellent. So, after due debate about who should have what, we ordered four sets of Martingale collars and matching leads.

Julie, the lady that runs Furry-Baby Fashions e-mailed me a couple of days later to say that they were on the way, and just over a week later they arrived here. How's that for service?

One point to note: there is import duty (Furry-Baby Fashions is in the US), and the Royal Mail charge you an extra £4 as they pay the duty up front; the total for us was just over £10.

So, what are the collars like? Excellent.

They are really well made and very soft, and the Beasts look terrific in them. So if you're in the market for a new collar, take a look at Furry-Baby Fashions.

Kai in Burgundy Plaid
Kai in Burgundy Plaid
Monty in Red Bandana
Monty in Red Bandana
Jack in Musical Notes
Jack in Musical Notes
Troy in Navy Fish
Troy in Navy Fish
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12 September 2005

White Lodge Fun Day

posted by Chris at 10:51
Yesterday was the White Lodge Fun Day at Ashfordby Village Hall. A day of mixed feelings for two reasons: first it was a year ago to the day thay my Beastly Babe - Izzy died, and second, the recent announcement about White Lodge Long Dogs and the subsequent issues floating around (which I won't go into here, but people do get the hump over things) meant a few people who both Gill and I got on with weren't going to be there. Of course there were loads of others who were.

To ease the travel arrangements Gill took Kai and Monty and I had Jack and Troy. We turned up at Ashfordby just after 10:00 to a grey and windy Leicestershire morning. The assembeld crew pitched in and soon the marquees, show ring, BBQ, and (most importantly) the kitchen were up and active. White Lodge had one side of the ring; the other side being taken up by Houndsavers, Hope, College Garth, and Richard Lindley (does the photos of the dogs for Claire).

The public started arriving about 11:30 ready for the official start at 12:00. I was amazed at how far some people had come - a sizeable contingent from South Wales, and one lady from Denmark!

Despite the rather miserable start, the day brightened up a bit, and turned out to be quite warm. I registered the Beasts for various entries in the Dog Show, where we managed to win a couple of prizes; the Beasts got a joint 6th in Best Rescue Dogs - the deserved winner was Peco, who's story makes any of my lot look like they had a really cushy time of it; and Troy got 5th in the Best White Lodge Dog (that might have been a bit of influence on Claire's part :-) ). The surprise was that Kai didn't even make the cut in the Dog With The Most Appealing Eyes!!!!

Kai depressed at not being the Dog With The Most Appealing Eyes
Kai depressed at not being the Dog With The Most Appealing Eyes

The highlight of the day for me was Mallick, an beautiful Wolfhound, who (surprise surprise) turned everyones head. Maillick had a stunning lurcher friend, Oscar, who on his own would have been the center of attention. But when you're with a Wolfhound you're always in the shadow - sometimes literally. Anyway, turned out I was in competition with a lady called Helen's daughter for dog-napping Mallick.

Mallick
Mallick

Mallick and Oscar
Mallick and Oscar

Helen had come up from the Harlow area, another fair trek, and had her Greyhound and a Jack Russel Terrier with her; the JRT being looked after by her daughter of about 5 I would guess. Helen spent quite a while at the main White Lodge stand, as of course did we, and we got chatting. When I explained about Troy being new, she understood (having a Greyhound herself) and suggested we let her JRT get close to Troy. Well, we did, and of course he had a sniff - that's what dogs do, but that was it, as you can see below. Helen is the lady in the background, her daughter is cuddling Troy, and she's got hold of her JRT.

Troy and Helen's JRT
Troy and Helen's JRT

In fact, all day Troy was the model of good behaviour, pretty well ignoring small dogs, and in fact moving away from a spaniel that had a go at him (it had a go at anything - it was a horrible thing!). Later in the afternoon Helen was all for trying it without his muzzle, but I felt the day had gone well and no point pushing it. Helen did offer to meet up if we wanted to try Troy in a controlled environment, which is dead nice of her, but I do wonder if she just wants shot of the JRT :-). Actually, while not the worlds biggest fan of them, this one was OK.


The Beastly Beasts
The Beastly Beasts

The day was a huge success, and it certainly seemed that everyone had a good time. I would guess there were around four hundred people - maybe more that attended. About £1300 was raised on behalf of White Lodge.
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07 September 2005

Whiskers and Hedgehogs

posted by Chris at 21:56
Two posts for the price one today.

Whiskers


When we got Troy, Claire pointed out to us that he had no whiskers on his jaw. Apparently they dissapeared after one of his more stressful re-homing attempts. Well, the good news is that they are growing back!

Hedgehogs


I'm lucky enough to have a reasonable size garden, and it seems to attract a fair amount of wildlife (probably 'coz of the low level of maintainence it gets), including hedgehogs. Kai just sniffs at them then ignores them (inedible and don't move); Troy hasn't discovered them yet; but Monty and Jack go nuts at them. I guess they can't quite figure out why this thing that was walking across the lawn has suddenly stopped and curled into a ball. Jack just stands and barks at them; Monty, in his own inimitable fashion, trys to get them moving again by digging a hole next to them so they roll. The lawn is now starting to ressemble a lunar landscape.
Still, this makes a change from Murphy's trick of bringing them back in the house and depositing them in your lap.
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