Normal... for a saluki
Well, Rosie has had blood tests and thyroid tests, and they have come back - well, not normal, but within a normal range for a saluki type dog, which after all is what she is. Some of the Greyhound Gap rescue people, who know salukis, have been saying to me for a while that her behaviour although a bit odd for average dogs, is typical of a saluki, and they should know. (Despite the name, Greyhound Gap rehomes a great number of saluki lurchers.)
Of course, pretty much from the time that I booked the vet appointment, her behaviour started to improve again, having had a bit of a dip, she's now back to eating pretty well, only reacting to *some* dogs and the reactivity to people that worried me has vanished. We took the hounds to a Food Festival / Open Day at the local agricultural college at the weekend, dogs, kids and other humans everywhere, and she seemed confident and happy, ate half a pork roll, even greeted some of the dogs nicely. She only reacted badly to one of them (a lovely big greyhound: it's weird how she dislikes sighthounds. They are her least favorite kind of dog!)
So I think I need to get on and try to find somewhere where she can stay if we want to go somewhere without dogs. Problem is, home dog boarding services usually have their own dogs already, I need someone who will be prepared to take just Rosie and Brythen and not have any other dogs staying, who only has dogs she gets on with. It's such a pity our old dog boarding lady has a border collie bitch, I'm fairly sure Rosie won't be able to cope with sharing a house with her, a real shame as otherwise that was a really good service. But if I can find someone who has, say a male golden retriever or a pair of shi tzu or something, that might work. I have sent an email of enquiry to one possibility.
In the meanwhile, Rosie Roo is untroubled by my concerns. She just wants to bounce in the gorse and chase bunnies.
