Kitt

Thanks Tilly. Yeah, we continued with our walk and Lucy was fine. I made a conscious effort to relax and be normal. I'll keep a look out for any signs of nervousness around similar dogs.

Hi everyone, I wanted to share this inicident with doggy people, who will understand how scary it was. Yesterday afternoon I was walking one of my greyhounds, Lucy. I had stopped on the side of my street waiting to cross the road. In the far lane was a ute-type car, with a big enclosed back section with a big window. The car was stopped, waiting to cross a t-intersection. There were two dogs in the back, and they were looking out the side window with their front paws on the window sill. I was thinking "Wow, the driver must really trust his dogs not to jump out the window". Then, one of the dogs leapt out the window, growling and barking. It ran across the road and leapt onto Lucy, my dog. It wasn't a friendly visit. Ie, the dog didn't jump out, happily wagging its tail, to come and greet us. It looked like it was going to kill Lucy. It was a medium-height dog but was very muscley. I screamed and tried to kick it to get it off Lucy. The driver heard his dog growling / barking and heard my screaming. He jumped out of the car and screamed at his dog and grabbed it, and put it back in the car. I was terrified. I was shaking and went really weak. Lucy appeared to be fine. There was not a mark on her. But then (and for some reason I can't stop feeling bad about this?)... I absolutely lost it, because of the fear and adrenalin and relief that Lucy wasn't hurt. I started screaming at the guy "You f*cking idiot, what the f*ck are you doing driving around with your dogs unrestrained with the f*cking window open? You f*cking idiot!". The guy was very apologetic and was shocked. He offered to take his dogs somewhere and come back and get me and Lucy to drive us somewhere, and he kept saying sorry and saying that the dog had never done it before. My boyfriend (who wasn't there) asked whether I "lost my temper", but that's definitely not the case. It was genuine fear. I was terrified that this dog would rip Lucy apart, and that the other dog would jump out too. It wasn't a thought-out response. Ok, I just wanted to share that incident with other doggy people who would probably understand how scary it was. That's all, thanks.

Yeah Dju, do the walk with us! I've met only two of the team on one occasion, when I politely invited myself along to a Brissy meet and asked for a lift I would love to meet more Brissy dog people, so please join us! Also, I've never met a Swedish Vallhund but am always looking at them in my dog books, so it would be great to meet Hugo.

I'm definitely in. Will register on Thursday. Let's not talk about HECS debts

Hi all, I'm definitely in, as long as I'm able to get a lift. (Before I pay my registration fee, perhaps Keira&Pheonix could confirm that she's able to give me a lift?) Just trying to decide whether to bring Lucy or Deanna. I think I remember reading that the walk is 4km. Deanna's probably a bit too old for that, so I'll probably bring Lucy. If for some reason I don't get organised enough to have a red shirt on the day, will it suffice to put a red scarf on Lucy? I already very conveniently own a red doggy scarf. Looking forward to meeting more Brissie Dolers. Andy.

Thanks Dandy. It was nice to meet you and Raz the other day (and K&P with Phoenix), and it'll be nice to spend time with doggy people again.

Hi Keira and Phoenix, I would be interested in joining you and Dandy if you think you might be able to give me a lift, and if you and Dandy are happy to have me join you Do we have to fundraise, or can we just pay for our registration? I might PM you soon. Andy.

Thanks Keira&Phoenix! Awesome! I'll pm or text you on Saturday to confirm. I'll bring Lucy. But if there seems to be any tension between her and your pup when they meet, I'll swap Lucy for Deanna

I would love to go to the Toowong Park meet. If anyone is going from the Mt Gravatt area and could give me and one of my greyhounds a lift, that would be lovely.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting excerpts from the article. My greyhound Deanna would get extremely excited if I got out of bed very early. On those days, I would take her to a friend's house so she could spend the day with another greyhound. Even when the seasons changed (so it was sometimes dark at that time of morning, and sometimes light) she seemed to know that it was "early". And, like your dog, my dogs wait at the door when it's my typical home time.

I would love to join Keira&Phoenix on Sunday. However, as mentioned in a previous post, I can't drive due to a medical condition. So, if anyone is going on Sunday and happens to be driving past the Mt Gravatt East area and would be willing to collect me and my dog, it would be great if they could let me know. I would bring one of my greyhounds (desexed friendly female). But I totally understand that it might not be convenient for anyone to collect us - just thought I'd check Kitt.

Hi Brooke, Wow, we're neighbours! Yes, I've been to the Mt Gravatt East dog park (on Abbeville St). I was there this evening. I moved to Mt Gravatt East in December and have been to the park only a few times. Thanks for the offer of a lift. Andy.

Hi Dandybrush, Thanks for the offer - it means a lot to me. Next time there's a Brisbane meet, I might PM you and / or Jadesamara to check whether a lift is possible. I have taken my greyhound in cabs several times. The first time I did it, I asked the person on the phone to send a cab that allows dogs. She said "We can't put that in the request; we can only notify the drivers of a pick-up location." So when the cab arrived, I asked whether the dog could come too. The driver said it was fine, as long as I put a blanket on the seat. So, no, you don't need to ask for a cab that allows dogs. I've used cabs to take my dog to the vet, and when I moved house from one side of Brisbane to the other. One greyhound plus one cat came with me in the cab. I've never had a cab driver refuse. Kitt.

Hi Jadesamara, Thanks very much for your reply. Lucy has lived and travelled with male and female dogs with no problems, so I anticipate that she'll be fine. I get a bit sad that I can't make it to meets due to not being able to drive (medication condition), so thanks for keeping me in mind. The next Brisbane meet is happening in early April? Regards, Andy.

Hi everyone, I would love to attend Brisbane meets with my greyhound, Lucy. However, due to a medical condition, I don't drive. If there are any meets held near to where I live (Mt Gravatt East) I could get a cab there (Brisbane cabs take dogs). For meets further away, though, I was wondering if anybody would be willing to collect us? Naturally, I would give you money for your petrol and time. Perhaps people could PM me if they think they might consider giving me a lift to any Brisbane events? I would really like to be part of the DOL social community but I feel quite restricted by the fact that I can't drive. On another note - those photos of the dogs playing the water are lovely. Looks like they had a great time. Andy.

Hi all, I'm a "lurker", not a frequent poster, but thought I should let people know that I'm just down the road from Mt Gravatt Showgrounds, and have two extra large (xxxl?) steel dog crates that people can borrow if they need to contain their dogs.

Hi all, nice to hear everyone's experiences of dogs / partners ;) I'm wondering if maybe I misinterpreted Moselle's post. I interpreted "allowed" as being meant in a lighthearted way? For example I might say "My OH isn't 'allowed' to watch a certain tv show every night of the week because there's a show that I want to watch on Fridays had we only have 1 tv, so he 'lets' me watch my show on Fridays." I would mean that in a jokey way? I thought that that was what Moselle meant? That her husband is a bit uptight regarding certain aspects of the dogs? I didn't think that she actually meant that he has control over her, and permits her to do certain things. Like my OH doesn't 'allow' the dog on the bed when he's on the bed, but I don't think of that as controlling. I think of that as compromising - I have the dog on the bed before OH comes to bed. Not having a go at anyone, just saying how I interpreted Moselle's post and was wondering if anyone else took it in the same way. Loved the story about the dog zipping around the chair several times before OH noticed

My partner is not really a dog person, but we do compromise. I currently have a greyhound, Deanna, who is the absolute best thing ever (in addition to OH, of course). I've been trying to tell OH very diplomatically that we absolutely MUST have another greyhound. He said that he wanted there to be more room between him and the animals. Ie if we're in the lounge, and the animals are in the lounge, he doesn't want that to necessarily mean that the animals are touching him. He said that he wouldn't mind if I got another greyhound, as long as we lived in a bigger place. So on Monday we move into our bigger place ;) And on Tuesday my new greyhound Lucy is arriving It's lovely to read about partnerships in which both people are dog people. I understand that to those people, it probably does seem weird that partnerships like mine (and like the partnership that Moselle appears to have with her OH) can work.

Thanks everyone. Turns out that the foster carer did indeed know what I meant when I asked if Lucy had been crate trained (I thought that she must have thought I was talking about something really horrible). The foster carer just said that she prefers not to use crates for large dogs, but she is very happy that Lucy is coming to me. She knows that I would use the crate only if Lucy likes it, and when my 3-year-old niece is visiting or if Lucy wants to feel secure during a thunderstorm. So it's all fine. We're all happy. Thanks Greytmate for letting me know of the perspective held by some racing people - good thing to know.

Thanks so much everyone! Just what I was after. (Please let me know if you would prefer that I don't send your photo to the foster lady.)

Hi everyone, I'm adopting another greyhound next week and was asking the foster carer a few questions last night in order to prepare Lucy's new home. I asked the foster carer if Lucy has ever had crate training - ie has she been in a crate with the door shut. The reason I asked about having the door shut is that a dog who's only ever been in an open crate might freak out if she's closed into a crate for whatever reason. (I was just trying to cover all bases by asking a very specific question.) The lady answered "I hope not". So I think that she thinks I'm talking about some horrible type of punishment box I'm sending her a friendly email now explaining what I really meant, but I just thought it might be nice if I could attach a photo of a large dog (even a greyhound if I'm really lucky!) in a crate with toys and soft bedding. There are heaps of photos on the net, but I'm betting that there are lots of DOLers who have photos of their lovely crates with very happy pooches in them. I was wondering if someone might be happy to let me send such a photo to this lady? If so, please pm me. I don't currently have a crate which is why I don't have a photo of one. My current greyhound has a giant bed, from which she never moves. But I thought it might be a good idea to get one, which is why I asked the foster carer if Lucy has ever been in one. Thanks everyone.

Sometimes research studies could be influenced by how easily the PhD researcher thinks they can get participants. Someone might have a fantastic idea for awesome PhD research that would really benefit the field, but they know that they will have a very difficult time getting participants. For example, researching a certain issue might really require a longitudinal study, where the person can meet with participants several times over several years. It might be more difficult to recruit participants for this type of research then for research that involves one questionnaire and no further contact. I'm just typing as I'm thinking, and I'm not in the dog research field so maybe this is already done... maybe universities need to be aware that there are people who are willing to be involved in certain types of research? I know that sounds very broad and vague, but hopefully you know what I mean. Eg, groups involved in dog breeding or showing etc might let universities know that they have members willing to be involved in long-term research.

Thanks everyone for your answers. I'll be careful with food and toys - feed separately and watch for tension over toys. I'm just worried about coming home to find one of them has been attacked by the other, so was hoping to get people's ideas about which behaviours represent normal "figuring it out" stuff (figuring out who's boss), and which behaviours indicate that there might be serious ongoing problems. Or maybe there's not much difference between those behaviours? Maybe the critical thing is how long those behaviours last? I'll be home with them for the first 4 weeks, so hopefully by the end of that time I'll be able to see whether they've sorted out who's boss and are happy. Both dogs seemed fine when they met eachother. However, if we just assume that there might be problems: If, at the end of a couple of weeks, they're still fighting, would that be an indication that they're not suitable to live together? That's a very all-or-nothing question, I know, but I would hate for something to happen and look back and think that I should have seen it coming. Thanks again everyone. Andy.

Thanks Iltby. You mention watching for signs of dominance. Is it a big problem if one of the dogs does raises its hackles and does a little snap and the other one happily submits - e.g., walks away, and then they both settle? That is, if one of the dogs shows a few dominance behaviours with the other dog (not with me), and the other dog doesn't fight back, is that ok? Would that just be a normal way of sorting out who's boss? Thanks again, Andy.