The Beastly Beasts

My First Family Christmas

posted by Maple at 08:49

I 'spose you might be wondering why it's taken so long for us to say anything about Christmas, 'specially as it's my first one here. I'll tell you why in a bit, but first I want to let you know about Christmas with The Beastly Beasts.

First off girls, what better way can you think of to spend Christmas than in the company of five gorgeous blokes? Hard ehh?

And one of them was Shaggy. That boy has everything; the looks, the smile, the personality. And the best of it all - he doesn't know it - it's just him. Grief, I sound like a gushing girl just coming out of puppyhood; but girls, he really is a hunk, and I'd've had his puppies.

Shaggy

Shaggy

Being my first Christmas in a family I had no idea what to expect, and Shaggy was in the same boat. The boys - Kai, Monty, Jack, and Troy - had told us that it was a really nice day; a long walk at our favourite place - Salcey Forest, followed by a snooze, then in the evening lots of new toys to play with and nice things to eat. Sounded good to me and Shaggy.

Mum playing with Kai

And sure enough, that afternoon we went over to Salcey. I just love it there, we all do; even Shaggy who had only been there a couple of times reckons it's a fab place. Dad was very naughty; he let Shaggy off for a run. There is one track through the forest that's about a mile long and dead straight, and that's were he did it. Boy, is that dog fast!!! I could only just keep up with him. He loved it though, and ran up and down the track a couple of times before coming back with a big grin on his face and totally out of breath.

Troy

Troy

Just a bit after that dad's phone rang, and I could tell by the way he spoke that something was going on - it wasn't his usual voice. We carried on our walk, but where as we are usually allowed to go off and do our own thing, dad made sure we stayed pretty close - he wanted to get back to the car.

Back at home dad spent a lot of time on the phone. He does that a lot normally - it his job (lot's easier than racing I can tell you), but the day was 'sposed to be a holiday.

Monty

Monty

Still, things got back to how the boys said it would be when dad started cooking; and did it smell good? And just like the boys had promised, dad did enough for humans and hounds, and it was yummy; I wish it could be Christmas every day!!

Then we had our pressies. We'd already had some pigs ears earlier in the day which were from Aunty Claire, and now we got toys. And not just one each, but three each!! 'Course, you can only play with one at a time, but it's fun choosing which one that will be. Troy got all the stuffing out of one of his in record time, and Shaggy wanted every pressie that came out the bag.

Troy disembowling a toy

And here I have to say I envy Shaggy; he joined in and played like he'd had pressies every Christmas, while I was, well, a bit over awed by it all. I know mum and dad and mum's puppy Lucie (she was there too) are nice, but it still seems all a bit strange that humans are so nice to me, and I keep thinking that when nice things happen that they'll end and I'll wake up back on the hillside in my tree. Silly I know.

Shaggy

Shaggy

But I did enjoy it; it was a lovely day, and I hope we'll have lots more Christmases together.

So to why it's taken a while to put anything on BeastBlog. Well, we can only use the 'puter when dad is here, and he hasn't been much. It was all down to the phone call dad got while we were out. Dad's dad had been poorly, and the call was dad's sister saying the human vet had called to say he was very poorly. When we got in dad spoke to them to find out how poorly; it was very. The next day dad was out all day seeing his dad, and very early the next morning the vet rang to say that he'd had gone to the kennel in the sky. And for humans that means there's lots of things to do, which is why dad hasn't been here much.

Monty

Monty

We hope you all had a nice Christmas, and that you got nice things to play with. Maybe one day every greyhound will be able to spend Christmas with friends and family; we hope so.

Labels: Christmas, Greyhounds

Greyhounds are frankly pretty ugly

Reference

posted by Troy at 00:08

Bein' site'ounds (as well as sighthounds) we of course surf the net, usually lookin' for news an' stuff on what's 'appnin' wiv grey'ounds 'round the world.

Today we came across a article that said, and I quote: "Greyhounds are frankly pretty ugly".

Can you believe it; some plonka actually wrote that!!!!?

Well pal, I don't know what grey'ounds you've bin lookin' at, but 'ere's a bit of advice from The Beastly Beasts:

Book yerself an opticians appointment, and sharpish.

Now We are Six

posted by Kai at 17:06

Once again it is my duty and privilge to welcome a new member to The Beastly Beasts, albeit on a temporary basis.

Shaggy, the Shag Meister, Mr. Fantastic Bombastic (as I believe the pop song goes), has come to stay - for Christmas at least. Dad says he is a foster, and the idea is to get him used to living in a house.

Shaggy

Shaggy

We went to see Shaggy at White Lodge the other day to see if he got OK with us, and apart from a bit of over enthusiasm on Maple's part everything was fine. This morning Aunty Claire turned up here with him in tow.

Shaggy, as you can see, is black, but there the similarity to Monty and Maple when they arrived ceases. Unlike them - quivering wrecks - Shaggy was more like Jack, as in "Faaantastic!!", and went off to explore the garden.

Shaggy is about the same size as Monty, very affectionate, very nosey, very squirmy, and an accomplished counter surfer (mind you, so were Jack and Maple when they arrived) a smiler, a leaner, etc. etc.; he seems to be all that a greyhound could be - and ohh yes, he has an incredibly pointy and prehensile nose.

Shaggy having a cuddle

In the house there were obviously a million and one places to explore and smells to investigate. Once they were done it was time to relax on the sofa - something that was done as though it was the most natural thing in the world. As I said earlier, the plan is to get him used to living in a house; I rather think this won't prove to be a difficult process judging by events so far.

Shaggy on the sofa

He has already managed the stairs; the first time wasn't very co-ordinated, but he's got the hang of them now. He is currently curled up with Monty, Maple and me in Dad's office, though we're just off out for a walk, followed by - I'm sure - a nice tea.

Two Years as a Beastly Beast

posted by Monty at 18:29

I find it hard to believe; I've been here two years today.

Just over a two years ago, if you'd 've asked me if I had ever wondered what it would be like to have a good bunch of mates to live with, enough food for all of us, toys to play with, and humans that stroked and cuddled you I'd 've thought you were boneo short of a dog treat - actually I wouldn't 've, 'coz I didn't know what a dog treat was then; but I do now, and that's not the only thing that's changed.

I still remember meeting Kai the first time. One of those things I'll never be able to explain, but I just knew he was nice the moment I saw him. Then when I went to live with him I couldn't believe it was true. In fact, for the first few months I just kept my head down so there was no excuse for sending me back to that shed. Well I didn't know this was home for good did I?

And looking back on what I've done and places I've been in two years: been to the seaside a few times - first time not long after arriving here, and I recall embarrasing myself in the car 'coz I thought I was been taken back to the shed. Where else? Ireland, Wales - twice; once to get Maple and once on holiday - and we're going again next year. Then there's all the events with other hounds - be they walks or raising money. And of course there's our own walks - I love those. My favourite walks are just up the road, 'coz I know every square inch; and Salcey 'coz I know that too and we always spend ages there.

When I was with my mums in Ireland I collected things for my bed 'coz they smelt of them and made me feel comfy. I still do it - 'specally if dad's out; and if he's looking for a trainer he always looks in my bed first - it's usually there.

So what about the future? Well, as you can imagine, I want there to be lots more home coming anniversaries. But me and all the others are determined to help as many hounds as we can to find homes of their own.

Me

Here's a recent pic of me; as you can see, ready for anything now - like my walk tonight; must dash.

Monty

Meet and Greet at Northampton Pets at Home

posted by Troy at 07:35

Wotcha. We was at Northampton Pets at 'Ome down at Riverside Retail Park yesterday doin' a Meet an' Greet to raise some dosh for Grey'ound Gap. Like wot we said at the last one we did, we've got an' 'alf decent gaff, but there's shed loads of 'ounds wot ain't, and want to 'elp to so as wot they do, 'specially this time of year like.

At just after 9 o'clock yesterday mornin' we all piled in the motor, pitched up at Pets at 'Ome, set our stall out, and lay - stood really - in wait for the punters. The Pets at 'Ome bods said we could go inside, but dad decided we wouldn't do that so as how we got more people. Trouble was, it was a bit brassy outside, and never really warmed up all day. Still no-one said it would be easy.

Our Stall

So there we was, us Beasts - all togged out in our festive collars from Anna (the punters thought they was dead good), mum and dad, and mum's grown up puppy Lucie. We was gettin' a fair bit of passin' trade already when we had company; a lovely lady called Josie 'ad came down 'specially just to see us - she said she'd been looking forward to it all week, which was nice. She's 10, and lives in Northampton, not far from were we was, wiv 'er mum and dad Ann and Norman. She's a bit poorly at the moment 'avin' torn her gracilis muscle, a common grey'ound injury wot's usually called "dropped muscle" (saw a fair few like it when I was in the game - an' unless you'd been on a winnin' streak recently it meant the end of your carreer, if not worse). Not nice, an' it means she can't 'ave a good old charge about. All the Beasts 'ope she gets better soon.

Josie

Josie

Josie does fund raisin' stuff too - when mum and dad was at the March for Greyhounds in London the uvver week, Joise was in Northampton raisin' money for Northants rescue.

Josie an' me

Josie wiv me 'avin' a cuddle from 'er mum ('As to be done!)

Then a bit later Whisper an' Morgan and their mum Bernie turned up. They'd come over from Ketterin' to 'elp us out an' stayed pretty much all day. Whisper's a whippet and Morgan is a longdog - a saluki x grey'ound; very 'andsome fella, and dead good at this Meet an' Greet lark. 'Is mum reckoned 'he was shy wiv blokes. Really? Not from where I was standin' 'ee weren't. In fact, 'ee was doin' wot I do - straight at the punters 'til they 'anded over some dosh - an' 'ee weren't bovvered wevver or not they was blokes.

The Beastly Beasts, Morgan and Whisper, and mums

We 'ad more 'elp in the afternoon too when Abi and Paul turned up with Rory. 'Ee's done these before an' is dead good at it - anuvver one wot don't 'ang back.

Rory showing 'ow it should be done

As anyone wot knows me knows, I ain't exactly your wallflower type at these doos either; I believe in the direct approach. Wot I've found works best is to stand outside the door of the shop and stare at the punters while they're payin' for their stuff. Usually they clock you while they're 'andin' over the readies, and come an' see you afterwards; but if they look like they're gonna do a runna I just go and lean on 'em as they come out the door. What ever way I get 'em don't matter; they always give you stroke, and that gives the old man a chance to stick the tin under their nose - works every time.

The uvvers did their usual fings: Kai just stood and looked 'andsome an' pulled the women; Jack did 'is "I ain't been fed for a week" impression - that's always a good one wiv the punters; Monty was mister enigmatic; and Maple, well, she's gettin' betta wiv people she don't know, but a ways to go yet I reckon.

'Course, the 'uman puppies are the ones; they just love to come an' see us 'ounds an' give us a stroke. Jack's our man for the puppies, 'ee always 'as a snuggle up to 'em. I don't mind 'em, but I prefer the grown up 'umans 'coz you can lean 'arder on 'em. Anyway, 'coz it's Christmas, we 'ad some sweets for the puppies, and stickers they could wear to say they 'ad 'elped an' 'ound - we gave them to the grown ups too; 'an I'll tell yer wot, they all went away well chuffed.

I've Helped a Hound sticker

We 'anded out loads of leaflets too; some about Grey'ound Gap and some about wot 'appens to loads of our mates once they finish racin'. Loads of people said they thought wot 'appened to grey'ounds wos 'orrible - they ain't wrong. Someone mentioned thet geezer from up norf wot done over lots of 'ounds. Tell you wot - I wouldn't cock my leg up 'im if 'ee was on fire.

There was a fair few people what seened really interested in 'avin' a grey'ound to live wiv 'em, an' 'opefully some of the blurb will 'elp make the right choice an' get one. Loads wanted to know about cats - wot is it about cats? Truth is that we know plenty of 'ounds wot live 'em.

Course, not everyone knew about grey'ounds and lurchers, an' all the stuff wot goes on, but a fair few looked at the stand and took away blurb, so 'opefully the message was spread a bit wider yesterday.

Anuvver pack, 'uman one that is, I 'ave to metion in Jayne's. Jayne comes an' looks after us if mum and dad are out all day. Today she pitched up wiv all 'er pack, includin' 'er mum an' dad, wot meant there was seven of them; certainly made the stand look busy while they was there. Course, 'coz all the kids know us an' we got loads of hugs and stuff, an' they was all dead generous. Jayne's mum an' dad 'ave got a lurcher called Fleur, an' they was sayin' they might 'ave a grey'ound next; why not get one now? I bet Fleur'd love 'avin' a mate.

Whisper an' Morgan 'avin' a rest

So wot wiv accostin' punters, 'avin a laugh wiv Whisper and Morgan and Rory, and visits from Josie and Jayne and their packs, the time flew, and just after four we decided call it day an' 'eaded 'ome, where dad made us a really nice tea an' we crashed out - we'd missed over eight hours beauty sleep!!!

We would like to say thank you to Whisper, Morgan an' their mum for comin' to 'elp us; an' 'ope to see you on one of the walks an' stuff soon. An' to Rory an' 'is mum an' dad for 'elpin' out. It really was appreciated an' 'elped make the day.

An' it was great to meet Josie an' 'er mum an' dad; hopefully we'll meet 'em again soon too. We'll see Jayne next week some time I'm sure.

Rory an' 'is dad 'avin' a rest

An' of course we must thank the people at Pets at 'Ome for lettin' us do wot we did, and to all the people of Northampton wot came an' spoke to us an' put some dosh in the tins.

Now, I bet you want to know just 'ow much dosh that was don't you?

Well, we did do pretty well; it makes all feel dead chuffed, an' like it was all worth it.

Our grand total was: £336.28

It's back to bed for me now; just time to say Merry Christmas an' 'Appy New Year to everyone, 'specially those 'ounds wot ain't 'ad a very good year this year.

Wet and Windy White Lodge Walk

posted by Kai at 22:40

Regular readers of our illustrious journal will know that with a certainty only exceeded by the fact that Jack will be hungry at 6:30pm daily, the second Sunday of the month means the White Lodge Walk.

It is probably appropriate at this juncture to point out that the accuracy this nomenclature is perhaps becoming somewhat diminished given the attendance, or lack thereof, of any of the current White Lodge residents, both this month and last. However, one grudgingly has to admit that Aunty Claire had a fairly reasonable excuse for her absence this month - being some two thousand miles or so distant.

Apparently where she was was (and probably still is) warm. One only wishes that one were able to say the same about our location. This was Melton Country Park - one of our favourite White Lodge walks. The weather however was unfortunately, in colloquial parlance, good for ducks; we even found some towards the end of the walk. Eleven hardy souls turned up to brave the wind and the rain, bringing with them a mere five humans; barely enough to be called a pack. Buddy and his new companion Lola, like ourselves, could only manage to get their dad to attend; our mums providing some what dubious excuses as to why they could not. Millie and Bess, Sol, and Sandy however did manage to get their mums out; so top marks to them.

Bess

"It's horrible out here!!"

The astute among you will have noticed at once that two new names have appeared; Sol and Sandy. And indeed, not only did these chaps get their mums out, they managed to do so, on a day such as it was, for the first time; one must take one's collar off to such achievements.

The Crowd

We set off not long after 2pm. At first it was all the usual, i.e. constitutionals being seen to by one and all. However, once over the river we were off; well Maple and I were. The other three decided to stay with dad and just potter. I have to hand it to Maple though; she is up for anything. As was Sol.

Mille

Millie

Sol, as pointed out earlier, was a newcomer to the White Lodge Walk. One is never certain how things will turn out with new chaps - particularly as I have to say, and I'm not saying this in any dogist kind of way, he didn't look too pointy. Pointer, maybe, but not pointy. However, I needn't have worried as he in fact turned out to be an absolutely terrific fella. Well up for the old chasing games, and didn't mind a bit of rough and tumble. And like me, well, even more than me, he is a ginga (as I believe the term goes), and also like me he is able to stand correctly for the camera - a skill that fewer hounds than you may realise possess. So with the exception of Maple, we let the pointy dogs be sedate - I think it was the weather - while we went off and and a jolly good time of it.

Sol

Sol in Action

A word here about Sandy. I think he wanted to join in from time to time, but wasn't too sure about leaving his mum on her own, being her first time here and all that. But we did have a chat, and it turns out he is a Bollywood Beast called Sanjeev. I got the impression that his body of work is a tad limited at the moment, but it sounds as though he is working on it.

Sandy

Sandy - aka Sanjeev

Buddy was very good with Lola, and stayed with her most of the time. I think she is still finding her feet a bit, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Millie and Bess always stay with their mum (dead strange way with names these humans have though - their mum's name is that same as our dad's. How does that work then?).

Buddy ad Lola

Buddy and Lola with their Dad

So those that wanted to had a bit of a run around, and those that didn't had a good walk, albeit a bit damp at times. But none of that mattered once we got back to the car park, because that is when the the treats come out. Actually, Buddy's dad had had some all the way round, but they don't really count; they were more like snacks to keep the energy levels up.

Ducks

Ducks - it was their kind of waether

Must admit though, no-one particularly wanted to hang around too long; it was getting cold and starting to get dark too. And that dear readers is the signal to find a half decent fire to lounge in front of while you get your human to sort out your tea; so that's exaclty what we did.

Until next time,
Kai

Maple is Miss April

Reference

posted by Chris at 22:02

Yep, Maple, aka Miss Marple, is Miss April in the Sighthounds Online 2007 Calendar.

Maple's SOL Calendar Photo

You can see all the pictures and order your calendar here.

The calendars are £8 each; all the profits go to Sighthounds Online.