![]() (Photo: Dasher at 7 months together with Magnus.) Dasher's Italian Greyhound blog 2010 |
This is the story of Dasher, who we collected from his breeder when he was 9 weeks old.
The latest "happenings" will always 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, from Kennel Vibe. |
Older blogs: 1st blog July 2009 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021- 2022 - 2023 |
Last entry in 2010: December 22nd November 23rd |
Sunday November 21st. A grey, misty and depressing day, so Svend takes Dasher on his morning walk with the mission to make people smile, be a little bit happier and think of Christmas cheer! ![]()
![]() A kind elderly lady that Svend passes nearly every day on his doggy walk, photographed him out with the Whippets one day about a month ago - and gave him a print! This is a photo of the print! Pity about the children's playgound giving him a "hat"!!! November 16th It is hard for me not to be able to walk my dogs because of my broken leg. I long to get out. Especially now as "Santi's mom" last December, very kindly sewed a wonderful and fun Santa Claus coat for Dasher as I had admired Santi is HIS last year! I have been looking forward the whole year to walking out with Dasher wearing this outfit. It makes everyone we meet smile or laugh and children LOVE to see him! (Plus cars have nearly crashed as drivers and passengers stared so long!!) Everyone is just a little bit happier seeing him! So Svend walks him instead - and has all the fun! This morning he walked as usual past the Retirement home and there was a whole crowd of the "inmates" standing outside waiting for the bus. Everyone exclaimed, laughed and commented and he left them all smiling and cheered! All part of the Christmas spirit! ![]() Santi last year in HIS Father Christmas outfit! You can see Dasher just below, when he wore his to Lure Coursing. |
November 11th Do you love salukis? Could you consider supporting STOLA Saluki Rescue in the US.? (Whom I have known for many years - Janet.) This is to let you know about their sighthound training and maintenance book, which has been in use at STOLA Saluki Rescue in the U.S. for the past ten years. They have been giving it away to adopters and selling it as a fund raiser during that time. Now it is available to the general public at Amazon.com. It has received excellent reviews. All proceeds from the sale go to benefit Saluki rescue. See some of the book here (you can click to look inside it!!!): www.minilink.me/saluki-rescue/ Thank you! Cherie Cherie Fehrman, founding President of STOLA, Vice President & Director of Development. STOLA Support Council/ STOLA - Saluki Tree of Life Alliance www.stola.org |
November 7th Dasher goes to coursing again! Hard frost - but a beautiful sunny and windless day! A good chance for Dasher to show off his Santa Claus coat! Dasher runs well. Santi learns to run again after a few times going on strike and sitting down letting the others do all the hard work!! - and Vincenza runs really well for for the first time for a while and without any owner help! A great day out! Video her: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5LVtw8elyw ![]() ![]() ![]() |
November 6th Timmi - as spotted on the sofa by our youngest son: ![]() Dasher rests his feet on my walking frame: ![]() |
November 1st October 26th October 10th October 1st September 24th Slight hold-up in this blog! I have been in hospital for a few days as I have broken my lower right leg - both bones - and now have metal bars screwed in to hold it all together! See the stitches here - there's another row just out of sight round to the right! See the whole story on: www.sighthound.net/theaccident.htm ![]() ![]() The dogs were SO pleased when I got home again! Here they are lying on the guest bed behind me as I work on the computer. September 14th ![]() August 28th and we go to Gisselfeld for three "Country Days" together with our coursing friends to give the general public a demonstration of Lure coursing! Read: http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gisselfeld - unfort. only in Danish. ![]() We walk for nearly a mile to get to the coursing area and I have made a little video of it all see here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdQtihJjZms Gisselfeld castle has such beautiful grounds with two big lakes and some small ones, woods, very old trees and beautiful old gardens, that it is a sheer pleasure to be there. Here is Dasher watching some other dogs run. He loved every second and was greeting every dog that cared to meet him and preferably play with him! Plus there were SO MANY good smells! All my filming is done with my unpractised left hand and him prancing around on the other end of the leash - not easy! ![]() |
August the 22nd - a fun day in Tivoli. Once a year Tivoli opens it's lovely gardens to all dogs that can creep or crawl - and the Danish kennel club has several shows and a "Dog parade" which we usually take part in each year. This time Dasher is fully grown - he was just a puppy last year. He thoroughly enjoys all the sights and smells and is good to greet just about any dog there! I photo'ed under great difficulties with hands full of dog and umbrella and it rained at intervals, ending with a torrential downpour with thunder! Here are a few shots - a few video clips here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-sCxI48R4c ![]() ![]() Dasher's sister Chilla who has turned out the most beautiful little Italian girl! Unfortunately, no good photos of her. We should have met up later but couldn't find them. ![]() ![]() Two lovely Deerhounds and to the right, a friend's Whippets, Emmy and Minna. See more on the little video link above! ![]() Dasher whispers secrets to a patient saluki! ![]() |
Winter is on it's way so remember to order your IG clothes (and collars!) from Helen Lister, an English IG breeder of Cruft's winners (who I have known from our first IG over 20 years ago, so I can recommend her things. Explore: http://www.togsfordogs.net/ August the 21st August 11th 2010 Dasher and Timmi relax lying behind me on the guest bed! Timmi was 8 years old on the 7th of August and as beautiful as ever! ![]() August 5th 2010 August 4th 2010 The 3rd of August: the 26th of July The 22nd of July July 20th. and more photos from yesterday. 19th July 16 - 17th July 8th July 2010 5th July 2010 3rd July 2010 2nd July 2010 Tuesday the 29th of June Sunday the 20th of June June 17th June 16th June 14th June 13th June 11th June 10th June 9th June 8th June 3rd May 30th May 28th May 12th May 4th. May 2nd. The 1st of May The 29th of April Dasher meets up with a "relative" Vincenza and both run perfect lure coursing rounds of 423 m - twice in one evening - and they were not even panting afterwards like the bigger breeds! ![]() ![]() Left: We try to get them to pose together - impossible! Right Vincenza and owner just before the off! See the video on YouTube of Vincenza's second run of the evening: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmEza9pEZ7c The 27th of April The 24th of April Dashers sisters Zoe and Sally needed looking after whilst their owners were at a special birthday party and they had a great time chasing Dasher around his own garden! He had a hard job managing the two girls! They will all sleep well tonight! See the wild racing around in our garden here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wazaiZ9jgek ![]() ![]() Left: Sally is the spitting image of Dasher! Right: Sally takes a siesta in Dasher's favourite bed whilst Zoe uses her own. ![]() ![]() Dasher is very keen on big sister Zoe and the feeling is mutual - but she knows how to keep him from being TOO familiar!!! The 23rd of April The 22nd of April The 16th of April Yesterday, Dasher played at the Puppy playground again that our local Animal Hospital holds. There were plenty of playful dogs of all shapes and sizes and he had a VERY good time. Here are some photos and a short video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnXODuneSwE ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The 11th of April |
The third of April 2010 |
March 30th March 27th - last Tuesday we took the three dogs to another beach: Kobaek Strand and they had a wonderful time. Dasher again was more or less (apparently) stone deaf to my calling, and when he DID come, either shot past or wasn't interested in the tit-bit he was SO taken up with examining everything and being "everywhere at once". However, this is typical of a dog who is rarely allowed to run free. The brain is "fully booked" with all the new input of smells and sights etc and drunk with freedom, they make the most of it, only to be very sorry when it all has to come to an end. We must try to come more often - but unfortunately Danish beaches are only open in the winter months and this winter has been impossibly harsh with so much deep snow we couldn't go for months. Dasher is wearing his blue "Togs for Dogs" coat! Lure coursing March 21st March 20th March 19th March 18th ![]() Dasher standing with his back curved. I think he has a bit of a straight back normally and I like the English dogs with the "whippetty curve" over the loin and many Danish IGs have a straighter back, but here, he's listening intently at the mud room door and his back is quite curved. He also has just about the longest tail I have ever seen on an IG - and I love long tails - far too many IG's have a short tail that is way too short in my eyes, but this normal for the breed. ![]() The first snow-drop to open - hurrah, spring's on the way! March 17th Had a bit of excitement Tuesday morning! We drove the dogs to Egerup Strand again and this time it was sunshine and and beautiful weather apart from a stiff wind that was just above freezing! Since Dasher doesn't worry about keeping near us, I put an extra RED coat on top of his ordinary one - a very old coat from my previous IG - so I knew I could see him at all times! (Had toyed with the idea of attaching a balloon to his back, but I thought this might excite the Whippets too much!) This time I had cheese cubes as "bait" and whereas the Whippets immediately kept even nearer to me, Dasher wasn't impressed - this new place was far more exciting than even a whole chicken! (His favourite meat.) He dashed around and had a great time. The Whippets seemed to spend more time eating unmentionable things and rolling vigorously on two dead bird carcasses! This time I was determined to go a little further, the beach ends at some point and there are giant cliffs impossible to climb. However, crossing the beach ahead of us was a fast moving stream of fresh water some 4-5 feet wide and coming from all the nearby fields where the melting snow has waterlogged everything. There was a way round, jumping over small "estuaries" but Dasher, with the typical IG mentality “nothing stops ME!” took one quick look, sized it up as “just water” and starting to march out into it! (He’s got amazingly tough this winter. After screaming in pain at his first snow experience, he thinks nothing of standing in snowdrifts up to his belly or walking about taking his time to sniff whilst knee deep!) He soon could hardly reach the sandy bottom and his coats flopped up and down in the water and he was now more or less swimming and I was screaming his name, as weighted down by TWO winter coats, I had visions of him drowning. I have had two bad experiences of rescuing a dog that had fallen through thin ice on a lake near us and I know the total AGONY of the knee-deep (luckily not more!) icy cold water and a quarter of a mile walk home on feet I no longer could feel, they were entirely numb!!! He reluctantly turned around and “swam” back, heaving himself out of the water as the coats weighed a ton and I shouted to Svend and the other two dogs that the were going back to the car at top speed! Dasher was soaking – and soon covered in sand but even this didn’t stop him racing around enjoying himself and he was SO disappointed at coming home again! Phew! This breed can put years on its owners! Of course no photos of Dasher swimming determinedly in two coats, I didn’t have time for that – only these long distance ones before his swimming exploit! First photo shows Dasher as a red dot on extreme right - see how important it is that he has a RED coat! ![]() ![]() March 14th Wednesday the 10th Tuesday the 9th We take the dogs to a lonely beach! Although Dasher is clinging and never lets me out of his sight if we go anywhere, when we gave him his freedom this morning, boy was he relaxed and casual! I have constant contact with the Whippets and they come immediately if I call and keep an eye on my every move, even at a great distance, but Dasher, just like my first IG, just was so taken up with exploring, that we all ceased to exist! He wasn't interested in the tit-bits I have either! Of course he has a lot to learn and we must take him more often now the snow has gone. Egerup Strand is right off the beaten track with fields all around and you can see for miles. ![]() Saturday 6th New photo of one of my favourite views during a dog walk. Plenty of snow still around! ![]() ...and below, my snowdrops, the first spring flowers, bravely struggling with the worst winter since 1986. ![]() ![]() Friday the 5th Thursday the 4th Wednesday the 3rd March The view from a path from the dog walk this morning. There's a farm right below us in the distance and very, very tiny... ![]() ![]() Underneath: Dasher with a new toy he holds i his paws like a monkey! ![]() ![]() Monday the 1st of March - hooray, spring's on the way! I felt a bit of an idiot today! I’ve noticed for some weeks that Dasher sometimes has a small, soft swelling on one testicle. You can see it as a light area on the video of him playing with the yellow activity ball: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS3pfuKYiCw Some friends even noticed it last week and they weren’t even specially looking! So today, I made an appointment to see the vet. (In the meantime I had Google’ed it and found that tumours had to have a biopsy to determine if malignant etc. and I was prepared – well nearly – for him to have to have an operation!) It took the vet just a couple of minutes to tell me, (with a big, highly amused smile) that Dasher was perfectly normal and the small “lump” is just an epididymis – yeah, go look that one up on Google! Bet you haven’t heard of it either! Problem is, that with this breed, the skin is so extremely thin you can see everything, even veins. Sighthounds, are so slim and narrow, that their testicles are not “side by side” but one on front of the other. The vet also said that it is EXTREMELY RARE that an epididymis can ever been seen with the naked eye. Only he, used to feeling for tumours etc. would be able to detect it with his trained fingers. We had a good laugh over it and I said I would have to dash home and revise, (with Google’s help) my knowledge of the male anatomy! So I now have the vet’s word for it, that Dasher is a VERY healthy dog indeed! Saturday 27th Feb. For the last three days we have been painting the lounge and kitchen for a friend. She is moving in to this really nice little old "double" Danish house and it badly needs re-decorating all over. (As you can see from the photos). It has a lovely garden to the right out of picture with wonderful old trees. ![]() We don't like to leave "live wire" young Dasher for too many hours, whereas the two whippets are fine for say 5-6 hours - or more in the evening, Dasher comes with us. He is perfectly house-trained and with chew bones and toys he passes the time and even supervises our painting! Our friend meanwhile is re-decorating the little rented house she is leaving! Yesterday and today, he decided to see if he could go up the twisty staircase. Good excercise. He got up, and then couldn't get down! With a lot of encouragement and tit-bits, he managed and now there's no stopping him! ![]() ![]() To the right: "How do I get down, Mum?" He has a jacket sewn in England for warmth as it's chilly here! See "Togs for Dogs": www.togsfordogs.net/18.html ![]() Doing it on his own! Thursday 18th Feb. OK, OK, we have been very busy, so no photos for some days, now we are looking after our grandson in winter school holidays ![]() ![]() ![]() Inspired by the two cute girls seen below, our Grandson also wanted to try out Dasher's cage for size! Here are 2 photos of the latest snowman - but due to a blizzard outside right now, we are planning a much bigger and better one! Dasher could see that it was HIS squeeky bone used as a mouth! ![]() ![]() Wednesday 10th Feb. Yesterday we delivered Kris and Nardo back to our friend (and had a delicious lunch). ![]() ![]() Kris and Nardo on their own sofa again (Dasher is off playing with one of their toys) and Svend looks at a map and hears all about the holiday in the Canary Islands! They are badly missed. One can't help getting a good, loving relationship with the dogs one looks after. Italian greyhounds are the most extreme of all the sighthounds. Extreme elegance that everyone can see on first sight, fantastic movement and gymastic abilities that never cease to delight and entertain me and there's horse blood in their movement too, ha ha! Kris showed me that he could do the elevated walk that dressage horses do where the rider gets them to switch front feet so that first the left front leads, then right front leads - anyone know what that exercise is called? Kris had a knitted sweater on, (knit is not good for short haired dogs as it rides down their backs and can't go back up due to the direction of the hair), so he itched badly on his back and and he threw his head up and did this wonderful dressage walk so I just laughed out loud. They also have the most extreme minds! Very lively and very intelligent right up into old age they do all the tricks in the book to get the best out of life and squeeze the most out of their harassed owners! Always wanting more and also much more active by far, than whippets and other sighthounds! So we have both been very highly entertained by having three IG’s literally running circles around us. They have taught Dasher a thing or two about good dog behaviour, as he is a bit of a spoilt brat! The Whippets have been angels about the whole thing. Extremely tolerant and have permitted “silly” behaviour they would murder a Whippet male for taking the same liberties! They too, to a certain extent, fall for the Italian charm! What other breed can allow 2 male dogs to just move in and live in harmony with 3 other males in a strange home? This breed has a talent for "all getting along just fine!" Perhaps because they all "speak the same language" - in that degree. Dasher is depressed and clinging today – he must miss them badly. ![]() This is one of many foot paths that are so high we can view 10 kilometres of farmland and rolling countryside to the sea. Dasher walks on his own now. I feel that it is wrong to have just one dog. Dogs need to be several and interact, play and sleep together and two dogs is perfect. One is just as “tied down” with one as with two. Also, it's terrific FUN it is seeing two dogs living their lives together, playing crazy games, communicating, exercising and entertaining each other. Just one dog is NOT the best for either owner or dog – unless of course it’s a service dog, and they lead very different lives. ![]() Dasher has a last game with Nardo on Manday. The "prey" is a knotted rag! No need for expensive toys! Sunday 7th Feb. I tossed a Brussels sprout for Dasher to play with! He loves new "toys" - but whereas it took 7 days for Kris and Nardo to discover the joys of Chinese cabbage, it amazingly only took them only 7 seconds to know that Brussels sprouts were edible and so all dogs had a couple with enjoyment - and Dasher hastened to eat his before the others took it! ![]() Saturday 6th Feb. A bitterly cold wind today. Here you can see Kris eating Chinese cabbage. After 7 days of seeing my three eat it with great enthusiasm, Kris and Nardo are finally convinced that there must be something in it and they have a go tonight. ![]() ![]() Right: Kris dozing. Below: all dogs waiting for Svend to come home! They heard the car... ![]() Friday 5th Feb. Thursday 4th Feb. 9.30 pm: Kris and Nardo say goodnight after a very busy day! They've chosen one of the Whippet's beds - again! ![]() I am amazed! Dasher has progressed from playing with a piece of Clementine peel to asking for and getting, a small piece of the flesh, which he eats with enjoyment! Yesterday, I squeezed several Clementines so we could drink the juice and I gave him a squeezed half, still with some flesh clinging to it. He then carefully gnawed it all out and ate it - see photos of before and after. He knows not to eat the peel! He took it inside his cage, scared that the others might want it - but the others were unanimous: This was definitely NOT dog food, no way!!! ![]() ![]() See him enjoying it on YouTube! www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIcbJTc2RLQ "Freezing fog" this morning - very pretty on my two doggy walks. Here's a couple of shots. Usually from here I have a view of the sea and the island of Fyn that is 10 kilometres away - we are so high up in this part of Denmark. ![]() ![]() Wednesday the 3rd Feb. Another heavy fall of snow - we really can't take any more! Here are photos from the morning doggy walk, at least the sun was shining. Oooh, roll on spring... ![]() Our house extreme right behind carport/workshop. This is the state of the road! ![]() ![]() ![]() Above: On the walk, we wait for a car to pass. Below: The dogs get plenty of exercise running in the "racetrack" we have dug out for them all the way around the house. ![]() ![]() Left Dasher and Nardo at full speed. Right Nardo and Kris who are last each time so no Whippets in sight, they are always first! ![]() All out for a quick pee! Today we cut Kris and Nardo's nails and I'm quite proud of myself! I set it up the way I descibe below (see the new picture below) and they gave no trouble at all. Nardo's were a bit "criminally long". Dasher didn't want to be left out, so we did his as well - he ASKED to come up and have them done, ha ha! Then the Whippets, shut in the hall so they didn't disturb us, cleaned the entire box top better than any washing machine - ready for next time! My way might seem mad - but it works a treat! ![]() Nardo after a run and then his little lunch! (But before his nails were cut!!!) ![]() Dasher enjoying the sun. Tuesday the 2nd February Monday the 1st February 2010 Terrible amount of snow and more on the way. I had taken the Whippets for a walk, then took the three Italians and it went really well! All three were on their best behaviour. The day-care mothers who we met with their cute children all thought they were seeing double, or rather triple, and were amazed the breed was not bigger. Actually Dasher is the smallest, (and there's me thinking he was big!) and he's just about fully grown at almost 9 months! ![]() ![]() They get along very well, although Nardo has "fallen in love" with Timmi, who just ignores him, and "docile" Kris turned really nasty over a chew-stick - so no more chew sticks, although there are old bones all over the place! Otherwise Dasher keeps them constantly on the go - which they are not used to, being as they are "elderly gentlemen" now! ![]() ![]() Dasher alternates between lying together with Kris, as in the left photo, or lying with Nardo - but so far not all three together. To the right Kris has sneaked in to sleep with Timmi. Timmi has a plaster on the tip of his tail. Somehow or other he has cut it, and blood poured out all over the snow, so a plaster was needed! I'll leave it on for a day. Sunday the 31st January 2010 Despite high snow drifts and even more heavy snow, our friend's IG's Kris and Nardo made it to our house where they will stay for about 8 days. The Whippets recognised them from the summer and are really kind and putting up with the typical Italian liveliness, whilst Dasher is in his element with - at last - two friends of his own breed who "speak the same language"! Tonight, you'd think they had always lived with us! Typical Italians, they all get along together just fine. I have never seen them fight, they can growl, and threaten with a look, but they work it out between themselves with no problems. Here are some first photos - no good ones yet...it's not easy to photograph such lively souls! ![]() ![]() All out in the snow! ![]() ![]() Making themselves at home and right, a funny shot - see Nardo's paw around Dasher! They all want up on my lap! 30th January 2010 This is Dasher paralysed in the deep snow that fell last night. We have never had so much and huge snow drifts everywhere. There is a flower bed around this tree marked out with boulder stones - but not a sign of any of them! The time was 7 am - and it was minus 8.9 degrees! Brrrr! At 11 am it is minus 4.3 in the sun! But keep an eye on this space! Tomorrow and for 8 days, we are looking after IG's Kris and Nardo, (seen twice in last year's blog) so I am expecting piles of funny photos and several videos to come out of what will be some hectic and fun days! ![]() 23rd January 2010 Can you see Dasher? This is Dasher on the sofa late last night! Look carefully! (It pays to always have one's camera at the ready!) ![]() 21st January 2010 HOW TO CUT YOUR IG's NAILS!!! I used to quite successfully wait until Dasher was tired and wanted to sleep, then slowly and carefuly cut his nails with Svend's old nailclippers. (He's got a new pair!) Now Dasher is older and cleverer and he makes it very difficult for me. ![]() So here's how Svend and I got his nails cut this morning. I've just invented this new way of doing the deed! You might like to copy the idea as it works well, the dog's happy about it and you get the ghastly job done! Step 1: Prepare the table. Cutting nails at table height is best. Put a folded blanket on the table to prevent claws from scratching it. Find something that can function as a little table for your dog to eat off - that is at the dog's head height. I used a cardboard box, weighted down with some large onions put inside (!!!) and then smear something delicious like liverpaté, cream cheese, even butter will do, all over the top. I used the Danish "leverpostej" (Liver paté made from pig's liver, not goose.) Anyway, it wants to be "lickable" and take time to be removed from the surface. Not just a blob of something, but a large area! See here: ![]() Put this box on the table beside the blanket. Step 2: Prepare the dog. Put collar on the dog with room for a hand to hold firmly so there's no chance of the dog falling on the floor. Put a good winter coat on the dog, preferably one with a chest piece. The coat makes it easier to hold the dog as they are as slippery as eels!!! We have not yet bought a lure coursing muzzle so Svend put on leather gloves as a precaution against biting. He was my "dog holder"! (The "holder person" so has his/her work cut out that it would be impossible to give treats at the same time. My way means the holder person is free to just concentrate on their big responsibility!) Step 3: Lift the dog onto the table and the "holder person" puts left hand inside collar and holds it with a death-lock grip and right arm around the dog's chest and squashes the dog tightly against him or herself - so this dog isn't going anywhere! Dasher, who had been quite excited at all the preparations, was amazed at being lifted up onto the table! But he immediately spotted the delicious treat of liverpaté right on nose level. He had a choice: Make a fight and try to get down or lick up the liverpaté and concentrate on that. He couldn't resist the liverpaté so he got started licking whilst I, with reading glasses firmly perched on my nose, got on with the cutting! It worked a treat! These nail cutters are better for small dog nails than proper dog clippers. Dasher thought it was a great idea and we were so relieved at how well it went! 19th January 2010 A tip: Dasher loves to play with SMALL things, from a pea, a hazelnut (which he cracks open and eats), table tennis balls, piece of orange skin, a laser light, small ball of silver paper, tiny piece of carpeting, a leaf, a small sock with a knot, a small plastic bag knotted up (rustles attractively!) a dice, a child's wooden bead and so on - so instead of buying dog toys for him, I buy cat toys! Big success! Thought I'd pass on the tip! January 15th 2010 I have been expecting for this day! Four neglected horses live in a field just one small field away from the road that I walk down with the dogs every day. Their wooden fence has been slowly falling apart during the nearly two years we have been here and this morning finally, they have realised that they can step into the next field and enjoy the long, untouched grass (even though it’s under snow, they kick it away) and even an old, half-rotten bale of straw left there from last summer. In their own field the grass is eaten down to the roots and their own bale of straw is long gone. ![]() Dasher was totally fixated with the sight of them so near us, so I went over with him. The horses were very interested in us (they see us every day from a distance) and probably hungry for treats but dog biscuits are probably not suitable. Dasher was paralysed with fascination at seeing them and refused to eat any biscuits - offered to ensure he would not bark - and sure enough he DID bark and so we beat a hasty retreat. They will be kept from the road by two thin wires, (no electricity), which I could see they had observed and respected. So they are safe – and enjoying the extra food. ![]() You can see their own very narrow field and fence in the far distance. January 11th 2010 I have many ideas to entertain the dogs inside while the winter is so cold. Here is one: I got an old shoe box, cut a hole in the lid and showed them that I dropped some small dog biscuits inside. (Actually I use their own dog food - it's healthier!) The lid was NOT taped down. They were mystified, but I know they have a recollection of the plastic ball one can buy in pet shops with a small hole where biscuits fall out when it is rolled around the floor. So they set to work. Dasher seems to want the others to solve the problem for him, later he’s a bit scared as the box is often sent spinning towards him and hits his paws! Timmi gives up pretty quickly then Magnus moves in and gives it all he’s got and succeeds in turning it over – and he gets all the tit-bits in the end! You might like to try with your dog? www.youtube.com/watch?v=zngjPNfyYcA January 9th 2010 January 4th 2010 Dasher is 8 months old and suddenly, out of the winter gloom, he was posing in a shaft of rare sunlight so we could see that he has become very beautiful indeed and definately up to show standard, despite his height now knocking 41 cm - where 38 cm is the ideal in Europe! I will have to take some good photos SOON, so watch this space!! There are now 18 videos of him on You Tube which you can find if you ask for "sighthounddotnet".
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