Jake (OMG! We have a greyhound living with us!)
He's gorgeous. He stands at about 72cm at the shoulder, so he's not exactly what you'd call a small, or even medium-sized dog, and he's bloody strong. It was a bitch trying to get him in the car after we picked him up- he noticed a) wallabies in the grass near the front of the hotel where we picked him up, and then b) an aeroplane in the distance- he just stands there when he's interested in stuff.
He didn't even so much as give Bandelle a dirty look. Bandelle's been a lot better around him than I thought he'd be- he's curious, and not quite sure what to make of Jake, but the two were sniffing one another, and they're still checking one another out- given that he's about five times the size of Mr. B, I'm pretty impressed. I suppose the fact that he hasn't tried to attack him has meant that B's more openminded than he is towards most dogs. It sounds weird, but I seriously wouldn't doubt it if they're getting along really well once they're both used to one another.
He likes Lewis, and he LOVES food. Oh, and he tried to eat a block of Velvet soap. And he's a couch potato. Initially he wasn't keen on sitting on the couch, he had to be asked up there- but when no one else was using it, he just climbed up and sprawled out as though that's what he was born to do. *snickers* His tail hasn't stopped wagging all night. It's so cute- the moment you walk into the room, the tail starts up. He's also really big on following us around- he seems to have taken me on as "the person to follow." And he'll just... lean... on you when you're standing up. Absolutely melts your heart, man.
We got the report from his foster carer, who he left today, as well as all his other goodies- flea stuff, his collar, his winter coat, his vaccination card- and I found out a bit about his racing history. Apparently he didn't do too badly- he ran a total of 42 races, he won 7, came second 4 times, and third 5 times. Then he damaged a back muscle and was retired. I love the personality report- under the "comments" section about how he is towards people, his foster carer has written, "Jake loves everyone." Under the compatibility bit, it's written that "[he'd be best suited to] a very busy and animal-oriented home." Busy? Animal-oriented? Sounds like us just a little bit. *grins*
According to the GAP woman we got him from, he's highly intelligent- he only needs to be told something once and he'll remember it. I'm still going to be quite cautious with him around the chooks- he's been okay around the cage at night, but they're locked up. Plan on letting the cat out, and the chooks out before we drop Lew off, then coming home, locking the chooks back inside, letting B in if he wants in (which he usually does), then letting Jake out to go to the toilet.
And... he's beautifully mannered. Seriously- he hasn't had any obedience training yet, but he'll come when called, and if you're to say, "Jake, come here- stop eating the cat food, it's not yours," he'll actually stop eating and come to you. It's... weird. Am yet to know a dog that'll do that.
Okay... photo time...
Couch potato is right, d00ds.
Petri and Jake in the loungeroom. For a size reference (for everyone bar shadow_empire and minga and purplelavender and budgiesmuggler and velvetglitter who've been over to my place), that couch is big. The blue on the end is Lewis artwork. The pink thing is Jake's winter coat.
It's an awful photo, it's shocking quality- but... it's me and my dog!
It's amusing- I recognised some of the names in his family tree from when I was following the dogs- that was when I was in year five. I was ten. And yes, I have wanted a greyhound since then. Have always loved them- they just rock. I still remember when I was in year seven at Sac- one of the only decent things I remember about the school was that we had this kickarse maintainance guy called Bob who lived in a house behind the school- and there was a crack in his fence. One morning as I was walking up... I hear barking. I look through the crack. He's got a greyhound in there. Every morning, I see that dog, man. A few weeks later, there's another dog- a bigger, fawn dog- a few months after that, the fawn dog's been long gone for awhile, and the original dog has puppies. I still remember the morning he caught me sneaking a look and invited me in to have a play with them. Then, a few weeks after that, he moved up to Queensland. He was a lovely bloke, though- he gave me pictures of the puppies and everything- I still have them, and the little letter he wrote to me... I guess it must be weird from his POV, some toffy little private-schoolgirl nutty about your greyhounds- but then again, it was kind of weird, in a totally cool way- from my POV- one of the few people who I remember at that place for being kind to me was Bob- and that he didn't just kick arse for that, but he had these dogs which I adored, and which no one I knew had (and which heaps of people I knew thought were evil and vicious).
So... this is a seriously big deal for me. Like the chooks and the huge aquarium- when I was a kid, I remember begging my mother to let me get an ex-racing greyhound, and was always told "When you have your own house, Jessica, you can have whatever animals you want," in that kind of way implying that I'd grow up and wind up going for a more normal pet. (But geez... I grew up in a multi-pet household- it's weird for me to not have at least a few animals around at any given time. What was I expected to do...?)
So... Jake's come home. He's awesome, guys.
He didn't even so much as give Bandelle a dirty look. Bandelle's been a lot better around him than I thought he'd be- he's curious, and not quite sure what to make of Jake, but the two were sniffing one another, and they're still checking one another out- given that he's about five times the size of Mr. B, I'm pretty impressed. I suppose the fact that he hasn't tried to attack him has meant that B's more openminded than he is towards most dogs. It sounds weird, but I seriously wouldn't doubt it if they're getting along really well once they're both used to one another.
He likes Lewis, and he LOVES food. Oh, and he tried to eat a block of Velvet soap. And he's a couch potato. Initially he wasn't keen on sitting on the couch, he had to be asked up there- but when no one else was using it, he just climbed up and sprawled out as though that's what he was born to do. *snickers* His tail hasn't stopped wagging all night. It's so cute- the moment you walk into the room, the tail starts up. He's also really big on following us around- he seems to have taken me on as "the person to follow." And he'll just... lean... on you when you're standing up. Absolutely melts your heart, man.
We got the report from his foster carer, who he left today, as well as all his other goodies- flea stuff, his collar, his winter coat, his vaccination card- and I found out a bit about his racing history. Apparently he didn't do too badly- he ran a total of 42 races, he won 7, came second 4 times, and third 5 times. Then he damaged a back muscle and was retired. I love the personality report- under the "comments" section about how he is towards people, his foster carer has written, "Jake loves everyone." Under the compatibility bit, it's written that "[he'd be best suited to] a very busy and animal-oriented home." Busy? Animal-oriented? Sounds like us just a little bit. *grins*
According to the GAP woman we got him from, he's highly intelligent- he only needs to be told something once and he'll remember it. I'm still going to be quite cautious with him around the chooks- he's been okay around the cage at night, but they're locked up. Plan on letting the cat out, and the chooks out before we drop Lew off, then coming home, locking the chooks back inside, letting B in if he wants in (which he usually does), then letting Jake out to go to the toilet.
And... he's beautifully mannered. Seriously- he hasn't had any obedience training yet, but he'll come when called, and if you're to say, "Jake, come here- stop eating the cat food, it's not yours," he'll actually stop eating and come to you. It's... weird. Am yet to know a dog that'll do that.
Okay... photo time...
Couch potato is right, d00ds.
Petri and Jake in the loungeroom. For a size reference (for everyone bar shadow_empire and minga and purplelavender and budgiesmuggler and velvetglitter who've been over to my place), that couch is big. The blue on the end is Lewis artwork. The pink thing is Jake's winter coat.
It's an awful photo, it's shocking quality- but... it's me and my dog!
It's amusing- I recognised some of the names in his family tree from when I was following the dogs- that was when I was in year five. I was ten. And yes, I have wanted a greyhound since then. Have always loved them- they just rock. I still remember when I was in year seven at Sac- one of the only decent things I remember about the school was that we had this kickarse maintainance guy called Bob who lived in a house behind the school- and there was a crack in his fence. One morning as I was walking up... I hear barking. I look through the crack. He's got a greyhound in there. Every morning, I see that dog, man. A few weeks later, there's another dog- a bigger, fawn dog- a few months after that, the fawn dog's been long gone for awhile, and the original dog has puppies. I still remember the morning he caught me sneaking a look and invited me in to have a play with them. Then, a few weeks after that, he moved up to Queensland. He was a lovely bloke, though- he gave me pictures of the puppies and everything- I still have them, and the little letter he wrote to me... I guess it must be weird from his POV, some toffy little private-schoolgirl nutty about your greyhounds- but then again, it was kind of weird, in a totally cool way- from my POV- one of the few people who I remember at that place for being kind to me was Bob- and that he didn't just kick arse for that, but he had these dogs which I adored, and which no one I knew had (and which heaps of people I knew thought were evil and vicious).
So... this is a seriously big deal for me. Like the chooks and the huge aquarium- when I was a kid, I remember begging my mother to let me get an ex-racing greyhound, and was always told "When you have your own house, Jessica, you can have whatever animals you want," in that kind of way implying that I'd grow up and wind up going for a more normal pet. (But geez... I grew up in a multi-pet household- it's weird for me to not have at least a few animals around at any given time. What was I expected to do...?)
So... Jake's come home. He's awesome, guys.