 (Portrait photo of Dasher at 9 weeks, courtesy of Adrian Frimodt-Møller.) Dasher's Italian Greyhound blog 2009 This is the story of IG Dasher (Sissala Sakramento) who we collected from his breeder when he was 9 weeks old on the 9th of July 2009, in Denmark where we live. The latest "happenings" will be put on at the top at frequent intervals, so the story unfolds from the bottom and up! He lives with our two Whippets: Magnus 9 years and Timmi, 7 years. There are videos on YouTube, if you search for my YouTube name: sighthounddotnet |
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The morning of the 1st of January 2010 New Year chat! So what we did last year was take the dogs down this grassy "lane” to admire the view of the countryside and all the fireworks far away, the neighbours were mostly out and it was a clear, beautiful night - and the dogs did what they had to do - they know the routine! The 26th of December The 23rd of December, 11 am The 19th of December, 8 am The 17th of December The 13th of December: The 9th of December The 4th of December The 30th of November The 29th of November The 22th of November The 20th of November The 19th of November The 15th of November The 14th of November and Dasher tried Lure coursing for the first time! |
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The 11th November, a single photo: The 4th of November and Dasher is 6 months old. It's from now on that one really can begin to see how beautiful he will be as an adult! He is now the magical 38 cm at the shoulder. (The max. that the European FCI standard will allow.) No photos, as the weather has been terrible, sheets of rain and hard winds and the temperature only 1 degree C above freezing!  . These photos taken the 10th of November - could be better but will have to do for now! |
On the 2nd of November we took Timmi to the local Animal hospital to get advice about his foot. Way back end July, he dislocated his right little toe after coursing. I "stroked" it back into place and ever since, during the day, he has worn a little elastic bandage to hold it in position. For 5-6 weeks he was on the leash at all times. Now the bandage holds his toe in place so he can run around the garden and get "a life" - he is a lively dog and Dasher encourages him, of course. The problem is, that he cannot "brake" and stop after running fast. He gets terrible pain if he brakes, (which spreads the toes and puts a lot of pressure on them), if the bandage is faulty or fallen off - rare, but does happen unfort. The vet spent a long time feeling the toe. The foot as a whole looks good and if you didn't know, you wouldn't see anything wrong. But the toe joint is a little enlarged and there's a small flap of skin between toes that isn't on the other foot. We discussed how long these things take to heal and he told us a long story about an accident he had with a Black & Decker power drill and it was 2 years before his finger joint looked normal again. I cited the case of my foot injury that was nearly a year to be normal. So he doesn't think an operation will help - and could make things worse with scar tissue etc. I am to go on putting on the bandage during the day and hope that time will heal. Poor Timmi, once a lure coursing star (and SO beautiful with superb muscle tone, just how a Whippet should be) and now he is only allowed to run a little in the garden. We keep our dogs in perfect condition by racing them to and fro between us in the garden 3 times a day, just for 2-3 minutes or so. They get a small treat each time they race towards us, and we stand as far apart from each other as possible.
Timmi can manage one or two of these sessions with the toe/foot well strapped up, so the toes are kept togetherwhen he brakes hard.
Timmi has no pain, as far as we can see - and he walks daily walks with no bandage at all - since he won't be braking when on the leash! You will have seen his bandage in the videos of Dasher playing with him. |
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn2JWcUKvJE Video taken the 29th October - Dasher at the vets's puppy playground again. 28th October - a few days ago Santi visited us... 28th October - at last, the last of his sharp milk teeth fell out today and he now has a perfect set of VERY white pearlies! 24th October - slight hold-up as my brother is here on a rare visit from Florida! 19th October 17th October You can spend a fortune in pet shops getting toys for your dogs, but there's nothing as good as the home-made sort! Talk about recycling! Today, our dead tomato plants went on the compost, the earth in the grow-bags was distributed on the flower beds and then Dasher found he had a wonderful toy: The empty plastic "grow-bag"! He even got the others to play with it! He chased up and down for a very long time with it in his mouth, often unable to see as it blew over his head and often he tripped op and fell in it - but this dirty and torn plastic bag gave him more fun than all his other toys put together!!! I took a really funny video but this will have to wait, it's stuck om the memory card again. Here he's fetched a ball to distract the other two as they won't share with him! The ploy worked! NOTE: 24th October: Got it off the camera now, see here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKCeJagy7yY  .
16th October It's a deadly secret, so I'm not telling anyone...but Dasher measures 37,5 cm at the shoulder at almost 5 1/2 months! (38 cm is considered the perfect height in the FCI countries.) My dream came true as I wanted a big dog since he's playing with far bigger and heavier dogs every day. Small and fragile is dangerous here in our house! So I've fed him plenty of the best puppy food. I always use several manufacturers so it's interesting for him (to stick to the same brand month in and month out has to be wrong! Dogs need variation, just like us - and they would get it in the wild. It must be like having cornflakes morning, noon and night otherwise!) Changing the dog food manufacturer menas that what the one hasn't got so much of, an other might have! This is so he can reach his maximum potential growth and get good stong bones and teeth too. 14th October 11th October 10th October 9th October 8th October Dasher gets a new winter coat in the post this morning - in the nick of time, as winter is on it's way! Also a lovely blue collar to match in the true sighthound wide design for these delicate sighthound necks - breeds that can "take off " impulsively at 90 miles an hour, completely forgetting they are on the lead! The wide collar is far kinder and more elegant too.  Dasher says: See my new coat at www.togsfordogs.net/18.html (Good to buy from England right now as the pound is so low!) This coat will do for the most of the winter and/or rainy weather. A friend is making me one for when it's REALLY cold that has a warm, fleecy chest piece. 4th Otober Dasher is 5 months - and did we celebrate it? No! Not even a photo. To compensate here are some more from Tivoli where Dasher met his sisters.  5 photos by Adrian Frimodt-Møller - but the dogs were so squirming around and we were so disorganised that this is the best of many.  .  . 2nd. October: Finally got the videos off the camera and here is the first one: "Timmi gets his own back" showing that Timmi, when he makes up his mind, CAN get his own way! He acts blind to all of Dasher's drastic and madly irritating "tricks" to try to get him to give him the small "chew-stick". But Timmi finishes it and eats it all this time. Click on: www.youtube.coown m/watch?v=eTOXTLKoQo8&feature=channel I have 2 new videos of Dasher, (one's very funny) - but they are jammed up on the memory card. Hope today to get one of my 2 clever sons to get them off! (Seeing them tonight.) Maybe my camera's breaking down... 24rd Sept.: |
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13th September, Dasher goes to Tivoli gardens and meets his 3 sisters! |
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12th of September, Dasher gets to play with the "big boys"! 10th of September, Dasher goes to the vet's "Puppy playground" again! Today, the 9th of September, we have had Dasher 2 months! It has been great fun and very rewarding but very hard! The worst has been my lack of sleep. The first chaotic nights where he slept in a "soft crate" lined in soft blankets beside the bed, he missed his sisters just SO badly, but after a couple of days, he settled down nicely to our routine. He is a VERY quick learner - we noticed this straight away. He only needs to see a thing once and he remembers next time. But he could not hold himself all night! He asked to go outside between 4 and 5 am every morning! At this time, he was lively and ready to start the new day, so he had to have a "pacifier" (a good chew bone) when put back in his crate. However, I rarely could go back to sleep with the vigorous gnawing sounds - which could at times sound remarkably like it was the "crate" and not the bone he was chewing! So I would give in and get up. So late nights and early mornings for the first month or so, have been very hard indeed. Now he sleeps fine through to 6.15 when I get up - and I hope to gradually extend this, but I dare not push him too hard too soon! The other major thing was how often we have trodden on a paw! He was so tiny - and black cannot so easily be seen, either. He was throwing himself under our feet at times and his squeals of pain broke our hearts, we were SO terribly sorry and we nearly died every time, it really got us down! Once I excelled myself: I trod heavily on a paw whilst all three dogs were greeting me excitedly and I had my outdoor shoes on. We got over this pain and shortly after, I opened the fridge door and as I slammed it shut, for some reason he leapt up to reach inside and the same paw got crushed in the heavy door! It was tough too when we had some friends round for a barbeque and Svend, after turning the meat, trod backwards onto a paw with wooden clogs on and Dasher's shriek of pain could be heard for miles, so all our friends and neighbours sprang in the air at this terrible animal cruelty. We did wonder if he'd ever survive to adulthood living with us! Finally though, he has become more sensible - and bigger. He's growing well, now about 35 cms at the shoulder (difficult to measure!) and about 5.2 kilos - but a touch overweight. After reading this, you'll be saying "what about accidents in the home and house-training him to "go" outside?" Well more of this later - will be put in above when I have time...but I have been following my own advice as seen on another of my pages. The 7th September The 4th September The 2nd September The 1st September The 29th August Our Grandson stays the weekend - Dasher feels quite at home with him. 
The 27th August Dasher goes to the vet's "Puppy Play Centre" where he meets all sorts. Hasn't been for weeks due to holiday and illness. To start with only a shy Coton de Tulear and they did play for a while, then gradually other dogs were moved in from the two other adjoining play areas - and in the end he was in with them all! Unfort. I did not take many pictures. Dasher gained so much confidence by going into "play mode" and getting many of the other dogs to play, that he tried his hardest to get the Whippets to play when he got home again! They leave him strictly alone, even when he's using the garden like a speedway track, zooming to and fro! I have encouraged them not to play as he has been far to little and fragile up to now. Timmi will race around a little bit with Dasher in hot pursuit, but he knows from experience that the game soon ends with Dasher squeaking in fear and running behind a bush for safety - and that's not fun. They think he's such a whimp!  . .  . Of course, he couldn't PLAY with the big ones, just greet them normally and calmly, but he did play with all the smaller dogs! The 25th August The neighbour children come in again and Dasher is getting much more relaxed - and probably looks forward to his daily treats! I'm so grateful for the chance to get him used to children. 
Saturday the 23rd of August...  Photo: Christina Dahl Alfast. we were invited by an "old" Whippet friend with 3 Whippets to meet up together with another Whippet friend with two Whippets at a wonderful old country farmhouse owning fields as far as the eye could see (well almost!) where horses normally grazed, but in honour of our meeting, they were all kept in the stables. To start with, all the dogs were let off to run around as they wanted - although I did not dare let Dasher run free as he would have become their "prey"! He's so fast that he attracts the Whippet's keen eye! He would have panicked and run miles, got lost or been trampled underfoot with 7 Whippets galloping after him! He still has a lot to learn. But a Danish/Swedish Farm dog called Krumme, (means crumb!) owned by our farm hosts, hit it off with him in a big way. Shame they never got to play privately together! Each could see that here was someone their own size - and Krumme was just SO gentle! Most of my pictures were these two playing under the table as we ate a wonderful variety of delicious cakes and had coffee, tea and Mulberry flower juice! Here is one of the cakes, on a hazelnut macaroon base, covered in whipped cream and topped with a tangy berry fruit mix! We tucked in! Photo to the right: Dasher had to learn to go up these scary steps - and he did!  .  .  Dasher and Krumme play as I eat at the table. They really enjoyed the mad game and took it in turns to "kill" each other!  . After eating cake enough for a whole week, we went back to the main field, where each dog in turn had a trail laid out by it's owner. We had an official instructor with us to show us what to do, she has the red t-shirt. In the photo, she is trying to help a dog to follow the trial, but the dog only has eyes for her mistress, who is standing nearby! The start of the trail is shown by the white stake, then a small flag marks the end. The trail was made of liver water! A piece of liver had been boiled for an hour and the water tapped off on water bottles, one per dog. The bottles had a small hole pierced in the top just before using. The liver was chopped up into small squares and dotted at intervals along the length of the trail - to encourage beginners to keep on going. A handful was placed at the end, near the flag, as a final reward. All dogs did well in more or less their own way. Only one really didn't go for it, but then an awful lot of interesting traffic chose to drive past on a nearby country road, so she spent most of her time watching that! She just needed more time to understand what was wanted. Mine did well as knew the meaning of the word "seek" and so they did so, as soon as I said! Dasher went last and really took his time so everyone else got very bored. He was under the impression that such a great meaty-trail should be lapped up and cleared away and not wasted! So he licked his way to the end! So this new way of following a trail took time - and on top of this, for his small mouth each liver chunk was a whole meal having to be carefully chewed 50 times and a thorough search made afterwards for possible crumbs dropped. But he made it to the end just before the others all started talking about going home!!! After we moved away into some enclosed gardens near the house, all the horses could be let out again. They had been whinnying their disapproval at intervals! I am hoping that the others will send me their photos so I can show you more from the day. Click here to see extra photos! PS The children have been in again - AND Dasher has been in the bath in special oil shampoo for dogs, which he didn't mind at all! He dried in a twink with the fine coat that he has. (This was AFTER the doggy get-together day so he didn't smell "funny" to the others!) Now he has lost most of his puppy "velvet" fur and is starting to get the very shiny adult coat. I wouldn't have done it, but he's been smelling of "pee" lately (!!) AND moulting. He probably passes underneath the bushes that my other dogs pee up! |
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The 22nd of August The 20th of August Tuesday 18th of August Dasher finds he loves to eat pears! He laid in a sunny spot in the kitchen doorway and noshed!  He also caught his first bird today! A dim baby blackbird who tried to hide behind a stone after he chased it and the Whippets left it, but not Dasher! He hauled it out by one wing and carried it across the lawn to play with. It was so big and heavy that he soon put it down - whereupon it managed to fly to the fence and get away through the wire. Dasher then spent over half an hour dashing to and fro from where he had caught it - ate a few feathers he found - then tried to dig and bite his way out through the fence, heaving and tugging petulently at the wire in frustration! Hours later, he still checks out the fence to see if it's there! Help! We've got a killer dog! Now I know he will love Lure coursing! Monday 17th of August Sunday 16th of August  Dasher goes to watch Lure coursing in Dianalund at Lone and Ib's wonderful place in the country, (thanks for the coffee, Lone!) - and who did he meet there - it was a lovely surprise to see sister Shiloh! They are 15 weeks tomorrow.  . At first they didn't recognise each other, but after a while, I think they realised and played until they went quite mad, especially Shiloh who did speedway racing in top gear running in big circles around us. Yes, Dasher is much bigger, he's grown a lot the last couple of weeks. Shiloh has a fantastic and beautiful "Italian" head and neck!  .  . .  . Pia desperatly tries to untangle them! Then along comes best pal Santi - he's brilliant at Lure coursing and we hope to run against him next year, if all goes well!!  . Right: Watching the "big ones"!  . They met a 9 week old Whippet puppy! Dasher goes straight to the most important part! Shiloh takes the nose!  Later in the evening - yes, they are both fast asleep like this! We laughed our heads off! Saturday 15th of August |
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Tuesday 11th of August Saturday 8th of August |
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Monday 3rd of August Some photos of Dasher dashing around the garden - he is growing well and getting more "Italian" every day! |