 (A crazy photo: Mega is 2 and Dasher was 16 years in May!) Dasher's Italian Greyhound blog 2025 |
This is the story of Dasher, who we collected from his breeder when he was 9 weeks old in 2009.
The latest "happenings" will be put on
at the top at frequent intervals, so the story unfolds from the bottom and up!
He now lives with young Mega. There are old videos of him on YouTube, if you search for my YouTube name: sighthounddotnet |
| 1st blog 2009 - 2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021- 2022 - 2023 - 2024 |
December 27th 2025 - and the 17th blog!  He sure knows how to stare when he wants something!  In a shaft of sunlight! December 1st 2025 Mega begins to wear Dasher's wonderful Father Christmas coat for the whole of December! (With a tear in my eyes as Dasher wore it for 14-15 years and has entertained many a passerby on our walks! Boy, do we both miss him...) 
November 19th 2025 Family to lunch and Mega gets his biggest wish come true: A lot of love! He wants and gives back masses of love!  .  .  A very happy dog! November 11th 2025 After the morning walk we pass our neighbour's house and she happens to be out in their garden and invites us in for a minute's play with "Hugo"!  The two dogs race around the lawn, then Mega of course wants MORE running, but Hugo has had enough!  .  Go on! Run again Hugo? Mega even pushes Hugo!  But Hugo is not built for high speeds! He does run a bit, but then that's it! October 13th 2025  When I must throw Mega's ball for him, he always makes quite sure I notice it when he brings it back!!! Photos from Sunday:  Family are looking after "Lucie" for some friends. She is a very large black dog (Labrador?) and Mega goes into total shock at the sight of her in "his" garden! His back hairs stand up and he not only barks non-stop but with a curious howl/barking sound. She doens't care, she is loving a good game with Megas ball!  . Mega runs to us for comfort! His favourite humans on a visit with this strange "dog thing" is too overwhelming for him!!! However, later on inside the house he calms down and they get along fine.  ..  .  She's not so bad after all!!! (But to her, he's just trash!!!! She has zero interest in him!)  When Mega is tired, he gets right underneath the blankets that cover his many beds! A couple of weeks ago, Hugo came again on a visit! Find Mega!!!  .Mucking about in the garden!  . It's always a big disappointment for Mega that no other dog runs as fast as he can - or even can be bothered. He always tries to get Hugo to run - and Hugo often DOES run a bit but only for a minute or two at a time.  "Let us in, Mum!" Below, I start to do some gardening.  .  Hugo is supervising me doing gardening and is getting in the way exactly as Dasher alwasy did! Upper left, he's chewing some small branches up - a good help!!!  . Left: Hugo supervising me in the toilet again! Right: He's found one of Mega's many bones that Mega thinks is "too old" to chew and leaves lying around the house. (He always wants fresh from the packet!) But it is novel for Hugo.  . "Why can't you get moving and throw my ball, Mum?!!!"  Mega stares hard at me across the table when he wants to tell something as I eat my lunch with the iPad to read!  My wonderful Cereus Night blooming cactus has just one more late bloom - the rest were opening in early August. The flower is huge, see my hand holding it, and the perfume at night tells me when it's open - but all dead in the morning!  Behind me as I sit in my office working on the computer, is a "guest bed" and Mega has just told me it is time for lunch! So I said "Wait a minute!" which he understands perfectly but grumpy about the delay, he crawls under the bed and peers out at me making weird grumbling noises! I cannot mistake the message and so I have to stop! September 25th 2025 September 23rd A VERY sad day. My heart is broken... Poor old faithful Dasher has been VERY overwhelmed by his old age this last year, but this morning, he showed me he could hardly go on any longer. He even slept instead of plaguing me to go out on his much-loved morning walk as he otherwise ALWAYS did. So I rang the vet and made an appointment for the afternoon. Dasher just faded away while I stroked him. The same vet has been giving him injections for 16 years, so he knew him well and entirely agreed with my dreadful decision.  Remembering how he was ALWAYS under a table hoping food would drop down for him! Here in August on the patio.  Last picture of him supervising me while I am in the bathroom!  Last picture in the morning of the two together in my office after breakfast.  Dasher was loved by everyone when he was a pup! He's been a truly wonderful dog and I will miss him forever. ..... Mega must carry on the blog alone.. ..  The VERY happy day I collected him from his breeder! This is the first time I picked him up ready to leave! He looks very relaxed.... aaah..... September 22nd 2025 I was crawling around in the kitchen garden clearing hedge cuttings with Dasher supervising me as usual, and he pushed his way right into my "garden wagon" to get my attention!  (It was nearly lunch time and he knew it so he sure made his point!)  Mega wants me to throw his ball all the time and he makes it easy by dumping it right where I can't help but notice it!!!  A very tired old bumblebee landed on me! So I put it on a flower and it started eating hungrily.  Mega holds his bone in a very human way!!! September 11th 2025 September 6th 2025 Hugo invites Dasher and Mega to play while I have coffee and cake with his owners, my neighbours!!!  I take a dog bed with me as they can't sit out on concrete!  - . Hugo wants to play again! Below: Dasher would sooner relax! 
August 17th 2025 I look after my neighbour's dog Hugo while his family go to a party. The dogs all know each other well and get along fine.  Hugo is good to chase Mega who just loves a chance to run fast!   .  - Below: Hugo is very clever to get balls and toys to "come to life" by tossing them around or batting with his feet!  .  They are good to share toys without too much drama!  Hugo takes over supervising me in the bathroom!  . He had his own bed with him but he preferred to sleep in this newer one which I offered him.  While I crawl in the garden doing weeding and clearing, Mega always wants me to throw his ball, BUT this time it's a large plum he wants me to throw!!! Below: They have just heard the big gate bang outside with "Mum" coming to collect her Hugo again the next day!!!  Waiting in the hopes someone's coming...  It was fun and extra entertainment for us all to have Hugo visiting for a while! It is good for dogs to have a "different day" occasionally. August 13th 2025 Two weeks ago I am still looking after my sons Cavalier King Charles and my brother comes on a holiday stay for 8 days! So of course Choko is jealous if the others have any attention!  .  . Brother Peter often came with me on the walk and sometimes took a dog as well. Otherwise I was quite happy walking the three. (I have walked FOUR Whippets and one Italian Greyhound in the past! See here - before I let them all off the lead to run free on the beach in Ishøj!  aaaah those were the days......  - Choko soon takes charge with supervising my visits to the toilet!!! Quite puts the others noses out of joint!!!  .My garden helpers! I have to throw a ball or two all the time!  . Mega dumps his ball in the bucket I put the weeds in! Then I can't miss what he wants me to do!  , A terrible rainy day so I found an old Italian Greyhound jacket that fitted Choko! But he didn't agree!!! Below: walkies in better weather!  . Right: Choko suddenly jumps up on my lap when I was taking a break from gardening! He needed a bit of love!  . Left: Choko is sitting on my lap in my office and Dasher doesn't approve! Right: Choko is thrilled to see his family again, when they come to collect him! July 13th 2025 I am looking after my sons Cavalier King Charles while the family is on holiday and he is such a different type of dog, but it is going very well. (My two know him well. Mega badly wants to have a friend who runs as fast as him but Choko knows he can give up there! And Dasher is completely bored as he isn't a female!  I walk the three! But this morning it suddenly rained very hard!  . Poor Choko got very wet! So before I could dry him with a towel, he rolled all over the floor!  He and Mega share the balls - both being very careful not to turn too nasty!  . - .  .  . .  . Meanwhile I am clearing fallen/trimmed leaves in the garden and Dasher has to check for anything edible!  I only have one problem and that is he won't eat - except for chicken snacks. At one point Frolic was great, but when I put a bowl in front of him, he wasn't interested. I have never owned or cared for a dog before who wasn't interested in ALL dog food - and anything else edible too!!! Oh well I'll just keep tempting him... Note: Dasher & Mega are both wearing anti-tick collars as I just found one on my arm the other day - from my own garden!!! Choko has had an anti-tick pill. July 6th 2025 Very funny! I was on my knees weeding and I threw Mega’s ball over the fence for him. (He can run after it for hours!) He could easily run around through an open gate just beside me, but he could NOT understand why I couldn’t just pick it up through the wire fence!  So then the clever dog brought his toy pig hoping I could throw that instead! He was very disappointed! 
June 28th 2025 I teased the dogs by giving them simply outsize bones! I couldn't get their usual ones, only some much bigger! They are still chewing a couple of days later!  . Mega DID chew quite a bit but here he is sunning himself! June 22nd 2025 Yesterday, I looked after the neighbour's dog Hugo for the day while they went to a big family party. This went very well indeed as we all know each other well now and the weather was hot but perfect! To start with I sit on the patio with them in the shade - after a run in the garden while my neighbour discreetly disappeared! But he took being left behind with me very well and accepted that I was his Mum for the day!  .Mega just loves to be chased! He tries hard to get Hugo up in speed!  .  Dasher is so disappointed he isn't a sweet female!  .Hugo supervises me - even in the toilet!!!  Later on, before dinner, they are out in the garden again. Mega would so LOVE some wild play but Hugo is not designed for supersonic speeds like Mega is!  . Hugo has his daily carrot! Right: Hugo sits for a while looking like he's hinting that he's ready to go home! But he soon comes and sits by me at my feet. It was a very nice day with some good entertainment for my two dogs! May 18th 2025 I pop in to the neighbours for a coffee and cake and a good chat - and take the dogs! They know "Hugo" very well and Mega tries hard to get him to play and actually does get him to run amazingly fast!  . . . . .. . I took a dog bed with me so they have somewhere to sit while we chat!  . Mega relaxing after we get home again! May 13th 2025 May 6th 2025  I am crawling around in the back garden and Dasher wants my attention so he stands inside the garden trolly and is completely in my way! Can't miss his message: It's lunch time!  Mega stands looking beautiful in the morning sun!  See where they run and my lovely lilacs! Sunday May 4th 2025 I am crawling around in the kitchen garden weeding and putting them in this pail. Mega wants his ball thrown all the time and decides to dump it where I can’t fail to see it!    Dasher is sixteen years old today!!!! I can hardly believe it! Despite bad cataracts, he can still see pretty well, but he is VERY deaf. But can hear if I whistle loudly. He moves well and no signs of arthritis or anything. April 30th 2025 -
March 11th 2025 - and the 17th blog! My son on a visit  .and they are begging him for som sushi!  He took this lovely picture of Mega for me!  On the morning doggy walk we often see the local hen "Peanut" who is free to come and go as she pleases!  - Last weekend I went to a family party on bus and train with just Mega. He was an angel and travelled free in a special travel bag. Left waiting for the train and right on the train. Dasher was well looked after at home by my kind neighbour. Below, Mega was VERY careful with the small children and I am not sure if he was uncertain as to what or who the baby was!!!  . He sniffs VERY carefully! February 22nd 2025 - and the 17th blog! February 13th 2025 A thin layer of snow everywhere this morning so I thought they had better have their togsfordogs.net/polar-fleece-trousersuit gear on - and for the very first time for Mega!  Mega is sitting thinking about what I have just put on him for the very first time!!!  Waiting for their slow Mum to take a photo! February 10th 2025 Last week my neighbours visited with their dog (who is very patient!) and Mega wanted wild play, but only another Italian Greyhound would be able to play with his young wildness and crazy ways!  . .  .
January 24th 2025 - and the 17th blog! My oldest son came to lunch bringing the most fabulously delicious sushi!  Of course the dogs were begging at the table - even though they have had THEIR lunch! So he gave them some tiny pieces to try:  But then to tease them he gave them a tiny piece with some hot chili on!  . And boy, were they licking their mouths afterwards! But they still wanted more!  Below: Another crazy lying postion! Mega always wants to be on top!  Below: But there is room for two!  I lift up the blanket and there they are! |
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.