Lily's Diary :)

[lilliput]

Hello, thought it about time for Lily's first diary update Lily has been home almost 3 months now! We love her to bits and I think she doesn't mind us either Sorry this is another very long update!

So we took Lily to her dog socialisation class about a month ago now. It didn't go quite to plan..

The dog trainers and other dog owners were lovely but the hall had a slippy floor, not a great start for Lily. Then the barking started! All the other dogs were constantly vocal and it was so loud and the barking was amplified by an empty hall!

It became quickly apparent Lily wasn't happy with all the noise, she was panting and a little shaky We'd not seen her like that before and it was quite distressing for her and us. She still managed most of her training but was so worried she wouldn't even take treats

Anyway the day after she didn't want to leave her home for walks (coming when called but running back to her or our bed when she saw the collar), after 24hrs we were so so worried. After being 100% in her toilets since she came home she pee'ed in the house. We felt absolutely awful, she must have been bursting! We spoke to Pat and she explained we needed to be kind but the boss. I think we felt so guilty of taking Lily to the class we doubted ourselves as fit owners and let Lily make too many of her own decisions. Anyway a massive lesson learnt by us!

24hrs later harmony resumed and she forgave us, we kindly took control of her walks and the usual routine resumed, everyone happy

I'm still astounded how quickly our happy routine completely disintegrated and then resumed as quickly. Note for new owners like us - if things go awry then speak to Pat quickly before things escalate! Pat thank you so so much for your diamond advice.

We haven't taken Lily back to the class, she ain't going to learn anything from a room full of barking dogs right now. We've continued going to the class without lily and found it really helpful Lily has now learnt wait, stand, come on, this way, busy busy (toilet), leave it, close (heal), lay down, steady and of course din dins.

I should also say Lily is perfect with all dogs we meet on walks. If I think a loose dog is over the top, so it's not an equal meeting that Lily can enjoy then we step in and take control of the situation. I think this has really helped Lily chill with all kind of dogs, knowing she has complete back up from us if needed.

Lily has also had her her first beach visit, she ran through the shallow waves as I ran next to her on the beach. Lily has also had long walks in the New Forest on a mini break from London

We've found a completely greyhound secure part of a local park and take Lily at least 4 times a week for time off the lead. Lily still just trots around within 5meters of us, but if we play and run with her she'll run with us. We can't run very fast though! We're working on teaching Lily to run and play more Any suggestions welcomed.

We've found two more local retired greyhounds, so Lily, Farah, Lola and Rusty will be going for a group walk very soon!

I'm sure you can tell but me and Tom are completely in love with Lily. I can't thank Dunton enough for looking after Lily when she retired and bringing her into our lives.

Some pics of Lily of course

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Sent from my iPhone

[lilliput]

Spring is definitely here! Hope you all had lovely walks in the sunshine this weekend We had a lovely long walk with Lily in Sydenham Woods, we hadn't walked there before but we will be making it a regular walkies destination from now on. So many little interesting trails to explore, Lily loved it! We found out Lily is very adept at jumping over fallen trees!

Lily's been home 4months and a week! Its amazing how much more she's blossomed over the last month. I thought she was a pretty contented hound already but shes grown again so much in confidence and playfulness She's learnt to really play properly and loves playing a game of chase with my partner Tom. Her tail wags all the time, the first month or two it didn't at all! Her baldy thighs have started growing back and she has the most beautiful glossy spring coat come through I keep looking at the greyhounds up for adoption, as I'd love Lily to have a greyhound brother or sister, but we have to be strict with ourselves as we really don't have enough room for two in our current home! But it is making us focus more on moving to a bigger place.
Here's a pic of Lily on her afternoon walk yesterday

http://instagram.com/p/BSZUGBLjnh-

[lilliput]

I can't believe it, Lily has been home a year this weekend! We shall be celebrating her first gotcha day with sausages and walk in her favourite woods If anyone lives near to Syndenham Woods and wants to join us on Sunday afternoon, then please do message me

Anyway here's our Lily update, very very long and including the mandatory pics of lovely Lily bugs! 😍

The year has flown by and Lily is flourishing. We love her so much, she is family and she has even won my parents hearts, who were previously wary of dogs!

Over the last year we've learnt Lily loves sausages, chicken, sardines, minced beef, investigating all plastic bags, paddling in the sea, exploring woods, jumping rivers/fallen trees/bogs, children, going for a slow jog with my mum's ladies running group (?!), rolling in fox poo, cuddly toys), watching planes, car journeys, being groomed, dinner parties (she thrives off hustle and bustle(?!)), horses, playing daily chase with my other half, finding her bark when seeing deer or foxes!, making nests in her many beds, and of course endless ear and belly rubs.

We've also learnt Lily doesn't like fireworks, shiny floors she's not familiar with, surround sound for action films, motorbikes, quadbikes, humans worrying about her (she is so in tune with us, we have to lead with pure confidence), having baths after fox poo adventures but she's learning it's ok, skateboards, people watching her eat her dinner!

From the start we could see she was a lovely, gentle, intelligent and inquisitive little houndie. But she can be a nervous nellie at times. Anyone who's followed Lily from previous posts might remember her being really worried about loose dogs to start with. She froze and shook TBH we threw her in the deep-end with walks in a busy London park! Well over the last year I've shaken any social embarrassment and have been incredibly protective and pro active at controlling loose dog interactions.

I'm so proud of how far she's come. She is now one of the most social of dogs I've ever met! Lily is so confident with all types of dogs running up to to her from miniature jack Russell puppies to giant mastiffs and everything in between! Her current best friends are a grumpy Boarder Terrier and a New Foundland rescue. She is always really relaxed and straight in there with a good bum sniff! I'm astounded how cool she is with meeting all loose dogs even though she's always on a lead! I really think changing to a harness really helped her act/move more naturally on lead. I've also read up on how racing Greyhounds are bought up, and realised how well socialised they are throughout their life's, especially when they're young. Lily just needed a bit of time to work out different dogs and situations, learn to trust our judgement and she was away!

Anyway here's to a year with Lily, the old saying that she saved us rather than us saving her has never been truer. Love ya Lils! Thank you so much to Maureen, Tom, Pat and the volunteers at Greyhound Homer so much for looking after Lily so brilliantly and bringing her into our lifes xxx

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[pat]

so great to see a beautiful dog all settled and loving their new home, makes all the work worthwhile
well done
pat

[sallyannh]

Here's to many more happy years together for you and Lily. She has to be one of the most photogenic hounds I've seen!