Lean on Me

I remember when we first brought Nicki home. I wondered if she had something wrong with her as she would lean against me anytime that I was standing still. What I came to find out, was that leaning is like a full body hug for a greyhound. She would not only lean on people, but the couch and our bed; all things that she loved.

Greyhounds have some other funny habits which I thought I would share. If you are like me, you may adopt for love, and not be completely informed.

They like to lay on their backs with all 4 legs in the air. I've heard this called the "dead cockroach." If I was going to give it a name, I would call it BLISS!

Greyhounds also like to "smile." If you're not clear on this, you may think they are snarling at you. Fear not - it's a smile!

Nicki also liked to nibble on us. It never hurt, in fact, it tickled. She would lay on the couch next to me and nibble on my shirt or right on my arm. It was almost like a secret language that we shared.

Greyhounds are unique. Enjoy falling even more in love once you get to them completely.

St. Guinefort

Recently, someone gave me a book of photographs called, appropriately enough, Greyhounds by photographer Barbara Karant. It is absolutely gorgeous and the proceeds from the book benefit greyhound rescue. Anyway, I was skimming through some of the text and saw it mentioned that the only non-human saint is St. Guinefort - a greyhound! How cool is that???

I looked up the story of St. Guinefort and learned that, supposedly, he was a 13th century dog near Lyon in France who belonged to a knight. The knight went hunting and left his infant son in the care his faithful greyhound. When he returned home, there was blood all over and the baby's cradle was overturned. The dog lay on the floor next to the cradle with blood on his mouth. Thinking the dog had killed the baby, the knight then killed the dog. Then he heard the baby cry. The baby was safe and sound under the cradle, but next to him was a dead snake - killed by the dog to protect the baby. Realizing his mistake, the knight buried the dog in a nearby well and planted trees to honor him. Locals started bringing their babies to the shrine to beg for protection from St. Guinefort, who had now become known as a protector of infants.

Greyhounds are truly special dogs!

Skinny heads, but big hearts and smarts

This is an actual comment that people have made to me on more than one occasion ... I've heard greyhounds are pretty dumb since their brains have to be so small to fit in their small heads. I've managed to be polite enough not to comment on the size of the commenter's head. I'll be honest, I don't know much about brain size relative to intelligence in dogs, but I really don't think one has to do with the other. My girl Elly is incredibly bright and picks up on things pretty quickly. She was a star pupil in obedience training and she's picked up on other things very well.

My favorite thing I taught her? Well, she loves her "stuffies" - stuffed hedgehogs, stuffed snowman and a giant bear that Santa brought her for Christmas. It's so big she uses it as a pillow. Anyway, when she goes outside to relieve herself, she usually takes a stuffed toy out with her. I don't mind, but when I first got her, I quickly learned that most of her toys would end up getting left out in the yard unless I went out and brought them in for her. So the rule is, she can take a toy out but she has to bring it in with her. So if she comes back to the door to be let in and doesn't have her toy with her, I just say "Elly, go get your toy." Nine out of 10 times, before I'm even finished talking, she heads back out into the yard to look for it. Sometimes, I don't even have to say anything, just a look will do it. She's a pretty good girl!

Another thing I worked with her on was being a good walker. It took about a week but she picked up on the concept of heeling pretty quickly. She nearly always walks right next to me and rarely pulls on the lead. Even when I give her plenty of slack to go off an explore a bit, she still stays by my side. I found a post in the Never Say Never Greyhounds blog about teaching your dogs to heel and I thought it had some great techniques and some great videos. Interestingly, Jennifer, the blogger, has somehow managed to get her hounds to sit. Elly doesn't sit (she does a great "down") and the greyhounds I've met who do sit often don't for long and usually look pretty awkward doing it. Anyway, check out her blog.