Gone To The Dogs

I thought it was about time that I wrote a little about my other great love, or should I say GREYT love? (Errrr, no, I shouldn’t.). Vintage clothes are amazing, beautiful and addictive. Unfortunately, at least for Greg, so are greyhounds.

I have 3 of these wonderful creatures sharing my home with me, and I wanted to take the time to extol the virtues of the long dog, and try and encourage people to help, where they can, greyhounds in need.

 

First, let’s start with some fun greyhound facts, shall we?

• Greyhounds are the fastest breed of dog in existence; they can reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour over a short distance.
• Racing greyhounds are bred for their speed; they are therefore not susceptible to the congenital defects or temperament problems of many other breeds.
• The structure of a greyhound's short and almost odourless coat, which only moults slightly, means that greyhounds can be suitable to live successfully with people who are otherwise generally allergic to dogs.
• Greyhounds are commonly known as "45mph couch potatoes". They can sprint very fast, but are equally as happy to snooze the day away (ours have 30 minutes exercise a day, and sleep for 15 hours!).
• A greyhound has stereoscopic vision. This means that it is best suited to seeing moving objects. They often don't see stationary objects - so when calling your greyhound back to you, you are best to be moving around. That way they can see and hear you.
• Greyhounds bark rarely, are very calm and gentle
• They are highly intelligent, intuitive, and loyal; they learn their new routines quickly.

Here are some disturbing facts about how greyhounds are treated in the racing world, and how easily disposable they are when they cease to fulfil their purpose.

http://www.greyhoundaction.org.uk/facts.html

I’m obviously biased, but greyhounds are the dog’s danglies. They are affectionate, hilarious, cuddly, amusing, intuitive, low maintenance, lazy, funny, beautiful, elegant and downright fabulous!

An interesting introduction to greyhounds courtesy of the Retired Greyhound Trust:

http://www.retiredgreyhounds.co.uk/About-Greyhounds/

I urge anyone thinking of getting a dog to consider opening your home and a space on your sofa to one of these wonderful creatures or, at the very least, making a small donation to one of the many greyhound rescue centres in the UK. Most of these lovely organisations’ kennels are fit to burst due to the ever increasing amount of homeless greyhounds in Britain today. The good thing is that there are now more regulations in terms of the destruction of ex-racers (although this does still happen, sadly), but this does mean that rescue kennels are seriously struggling to find the resources to take care of them all.

They are always in need of foster homes, walkers, blankets, bedding and food.

Here are a few of the centres you can contact if you want to help out!

http://www.retiredgreyhounds.co.uk/

http://www.grwe.com/

http://www.greyhoundandlurcherrescue.co.uk/

http://www.greyhoundlifeline.co.uk/

http://tiagreyhounds.org/

http://www.greyhoundgap.org.uk/

Just a little food for thought.

Big love xxx

PS: GHV like to donate a small amount of our profits to various centres, and we're also arranging to have a charity collection box in our shop, so please give generously!