Exercise :)

[alilulusquirrels]

Hi everyone,

I'm worried Lulu might not be getting enough exercise - I work but she has my landlady who she adores as company all day. She gets 1 hr at 7am, 1/2 hr at noon and 1/2 hr evening, also lots of games including find the sausage in the garden!!



Her parents were both sight hounds, and she was hunted with guns in Almeria, Spain, lived in sheds,kennels and garages until the hunting season started! I want to give her a super life and let her play as she never had a 'puppy hood' in Spain - she can never be let off her lead as recall is 0, but I use an 8 metre horse lunge line so she can dance and track, and be active, as a short lead is so constricting for her. She has free run of our fenced in garden, squirrel free now as she sadly killed 3 in 1 week - she wears a Falcon bell on her collar now to give any squirrels a chance to escape!



Having never been part of a Lurcher's life before ( they are so different to normal dogs - which I've always had in my life ) I just hope I'm giving her the life she deserves! She's very strong and rears on back legs when she sees deers,rabbits, squirrels etc to which I encourage her to walk on with a soft voice! In house she's a gentle and very polite dog who adores to lean on everyone, rarely barks and loves her sofa!! She is heaven on legs I also walk her in parks to keep her socialised with other dogs as long as they don't mob her! She hates joggers as they creep up behind her so I wear a hi-viz gilet saying please warn us before passing!



Please let me know if there is anything I can do more for her ( she loves it when I have 2 days off each week, but get's a little depressed on work days obviously)



Many thanks and sorry for so much text ha ha



Ali

[sallyannh]

Hi, well done on homing Lulu she sounds adorable. I don't really know anything about lurchers, but the exercise you describe sounds plenty for a greyhound, especially as she's getting games in the garden as well. A guy near us has a retired working spaniel and he said the dog took quite a while to settle down as it had been used to working, I don't know if Lulu was the same. Greyhounds seem to have no such problems!

I think it very much depends what type of sighthounds are in her ancestry. All I can say is that the life you are giving her is a wonderful one for a greyhound (and probably for most other dogs as well). Best of luck with her for the future.

[alilulusquirrels]

Thank you so much Sally, so good to hear from a grehound owner! I just want to give her the best life and some fun that she never had - as she was bred only to hunt. I've still a lot to learn about 'Galgos' the Spanish term for wild hunting dogs! Thanks again, Ali

[sueb]

Hi Ali

Many congratulations on homing Lulu, she looks a beautiful girl. Poor girl has not had a good life, so I'm sure is really loving living with you. It sounds like you're doing a grand job.
I love lurchers, although have never had the pleasure of owning one (hopefully one day).

My understanding of lurchers over here is that they are a cross between a sighthound (eg greyhound, whippet, deerhound, wolfhound etc) and another, usually working dog. So, as Sally says their energy levels depends on what "the other" hound was, as they can have quite a lot of energy! They are incredibly affectionate and loyal,though.

But I think (in your second post) you say she is a Glagos, which I think is a Spanish Greyhound? I think their exercise requirements are similar to greyhounds, which don't take too much. Usually 2-3 20 mins walks are plenty for a grey and they will be comatose for the rest of the day!

I'm sure her prey drive will recede over time, although this varies as to time and full extent. I'm sure you're being very cautious with little dogs/cats, especially if they are running towards them (a muzzle is always better than an accident). My youngest hound has been with us 18 months and is still a work in progress, BUT she is getting better! She is also a real leaner, they are funny, aren't they? Another hound we had with a very strong prey drive (even towards little dogs) got over this quite quickly as this was superseded by her strong desire to please! But we kept her muzzle on for longer until we were sure she would be ok.

By the way, if you think she could slip her lead when rearing up (and it's easily done, given their long necks almost as wide as their heads), a harness is a good investment. One of my hounds did when I first had her and it frightened the life out of me! (I use the usual fishtail collar and lead and a harness and lead at the same time, gives you reassurance and more control, especially in the early days.

You could try Lulu on games, as she sounds a bright girl. There are quite a few ready made ones (although tend to be a bit pricey) where they have to find hidden food/treats, but you can do this yourself with plastic pots etc.This can help them use their good brain and tire them out!

Just a little word of warning, if I may. You are usually advised not to use any extendable lead (lunge-line), as the hound may well not realise that they are restricted on this and (particularly if they spot a squirrel etc) so pelt incredibly fast (45 mph for a greyhound!) and then really get an injury from a sudden stop when they get to the end of the lead/line!

Forgive me if you know all this already, but I'm not sure how much advice you would have been given.

Good luck, she sounds a star and well done, again!

Sue

[alilulusquirrels]

Hi Sue,
Thanks so much for your comments - so good now to get support from other hound owners Lulu's prey and chase drive is calming down slowly but will always be a work in process!
There is a cat in the fields I walk her in, and it STALKS us ha ha - have to keep going off in different directions as Lulu screams like a Banshee, she sounds like she's being murdered so deafening!!
Yes, Lulu waits until I'm on one leg to put socks on - then a full lean comes....timber ha ha!
Yes, she also has a loving desire to please me, pees on command - stays out of kitchen when there are hot pans, and oven doors opening, lays on her bed when we are eating, I don't like dogs begging or give them titbits from my plate, she has only dog food and dog treats - as she was dumped in a ditch in the 'Campo' she had to scavenge for food etc, so we have to keep all food from work tops, and coffee tables, as a little bowl of cheese puffs was speedily emptied and crumbs where in evidence everywhere, old habits never die bless her!

Have tried her with a beautiful padded harness - and a lead on collar too, but she seemed to panic when asked to cross the road and ran backwards when I encouraged her forwards - I had to push her like a foal from behind fairly quickly as we had to get off the quiet road!! So obviously she has memories of being manually handled abroad? Really don't know how the men had abused her 1st day I took her out in the car she went straight to the closed in boot and wanted to get in - I said darling never will you travel in a dark boot again, ride in style on the back seat with blankets and cushions and she sleeps while I'm driving to the park, love her!

Regarding lunge line I've worked many years with horses so I know to run forward quickly to eleviate any sudden stops - she's like walking a mini racehorse in hand, and if I walk on pavements to expose her to light traffic ( she hates motorbikes and lorries but I wait and soothe her and give titbits as we both watch them go by)she is only on the short training lead, I really appreciate your comments, thank you! And the games are important too, I have a police whistle that I use to start 'sausage bits' are to be thrown or hidden in garden, I need her to know if she ever slips her collar she'll know the whistle is from me fingers crossed and get a recall!

Ali

[sueb]

It sounds like you are doing so well, Ali and Lulu is really coming along, bless her.
She sounds such a star, already, amazing given how she's been treated and then dumped. I believe that a bond you have with a rescue dog is like no other.

[alilulusquirrels]

Thanks so much Sue, I feel blessed that I can slowly rehabilitate Lulu, to not wanting to scream to kill while out walking, hopefully her hunting training will ebb away enough for my training to be more desirable to her, with no abuse ever to frighten her again!

We go once a week on my day off to the Sunrise Senior Living Care home where I work in the restaurant, and Lulu adores the folks there, they have pictures taken, happy tears come because they remember their dogs from the old days in their family homes! She visits the bedridden who break out into a smile as they see her and she lays her head in their laps so they can stroke her! Gives me goose bumps to see a sad resident wake up and break into the most beautiful smile as they extend their arthritic hands to touch her

[sueb]

What a star Lulu is!

Sighthounds/greyhounds make great therapy dogs.
Willow also makes faces light up, even for a woman who insists she's terrified of dogs, while she strokes and fusses her!

[alilulusquirrels]

I'm wondering how on earth I can post Pics of Lulu when we can't have bigger than 1MB....such a shame unless I'm missing something Any ideas please.......

[darcysdad]

You need to use a photo hosting service like Photo Bucket where the image is held on a third party server and your post links to the image. There was a lengthy discussion on this a while ago, have a look at :-

greyhoundhomer.proboards.com/thread/42/photobucket-help

Good luck.