greyhound glossary

After i returned home i posted this:

Sunday, March 13, 2016

greyhound passant

The attitude (pose) of the beast above is greyhound passant (striding)

rubber nose—when resting, the nose can crumple or twist into the floor or wall

legs up—greyhounds can sleep with legs in the air (some people liken this to dead roaches)

rooing—generally quiet, they can howl a chorus, and one greyhound will do this at the example of another, whether dog or human initiated; their call is a 'roo'

leaning, nudging, head butting—either to demand attention, or more commonly to show affection. Greyhounds do not normally lick, or jump upon you; they do touch you physically by pressing their bodies against you.

counter surfing—the height of a greyhound allows him to stretch his head onto tables, stoves, and counters. They are curious, and look for food. They are sly, and look for opportunity. Lay a cake on the table, and turn around, and see some of the cake gone. Make a sandwich with four slices of meat, reach for lettuce or a condiment, and there is three slices of meat.

collecting, hiding, gathering—toys and other objects will be brought into the sleeping area

playing out of sight—a toy, or shoe, or something will be played with while you are not around, or looking; when sight is caught of you being a witness, activity stops

sitting—greys' anatomy is not conducive to sitting, they can be taught (grudgingly). Regular sitting has both hams off the ground, i heard a girl call this a 'butt hover'. Some greyhounds can sit longways with hips apart in a sphinx position

eating and digestion—with no other dogs around, the tendency is to hoover up the food; to the point of swallowing air, coughing, choking, yet continuing. The hounds make several noises, but as Adam Savage is fond of saying, 'the flatus' is often silent, or a whisper, but if names were given for mannerisms, Houndie would be 'Foul-fart'.

tongue lolling—some do, some don't. Those that do, look silly and goofy.

smiling—for those that do, some can be open mouth extra wide; some will bare teeth, which would look menacing in other dogs; some will chatter their teeth

ears—they are wonderfully velvety and soft, and very mobile, and be independent from the other. Each ear can be bent, folded inside out, up, back (in other dogs this is a threat, not greyhounds). They can both go in the same direction, or a different direction—randomly. O, and the insides are both tattooed with numbers indicating birth and litter.

zoom time—although not racing, they are born to run, and every once in a while need to let go—zoom, zoom.  At top speed, the ground thunders. Turns are made on a dime, with turf flying.

bow, stretch, shake—mine at least does this often, especially after getting up

propeller—the tail does not just wag side to side, it can go round and round

nonchalance attention focusing—like other dogs, 'o, something moved—wow!'. Then again, i don't care.

Gee, i should have been careful

The 4th of March 2016 laid a very wet snow around Cleveland. I had my first greyhound, Captain America, for one day less than four months. We went out for a morning walk, he came home that day, and i went to hospital. One bad step, and a shattered ankle. I have asked Captain about that incident, he has not said anything. Well, the day before i posted this on my regular journal:

Thursday, March 3, 2016

'G' is for Greyhound

It is easy to become enamoured of certain animals. God by nature grants graces. The eye, and then the soul, becomes enchanted. Hounds (i am not using the AKC definition, but the older English canine term) have great genetic elasticity, so that many various body shapes, sizes, and other physical characteristics run a gauntlet on the continuum. We are given the chihuahua, and many mastiffs. The hound is a social animal, that grants hounds and people position within the pack. The signals a dog recognises has him approaching an empath. It is easy, so doggone easy, to be infatuated with a breed.

Recently, i have come into possession of a greyhound, a track discard, an animal sheltered by a rescue organisation. Many people have done same, and still a majority of these dogs are not rescued. I will refrain from an euphemism, they are killed. How many have people have seen a greyhound pup? They are controlled by the industry. They are overbred. A culling comes early, not every whelp is deemed suitable. During training, and racing some are injured and their days are ended. A hound's racing span is not often long, and if not chosen for breeding, they are expendable. It is then death, or adoption.

Some are rescued and become companion animals--pets. They learn a new life. The transition is an healing proposition. A new socialisation occurs. Healthcare changes. Their care is not formed for racing needs. As with other hounds, parasites are an issue: worms, ticks, fleas should be removed. I read again and again, teeth are often in bad shape. Greyhounds scar easily (emotionally too), and bones can be fragile.

As other hounds, certain traits are very common in a particular breed. An Englishman, Rich Skipworth, is a cartoonist with a greyhound; and he has drawn some of the hounds' proclivities. My hound does do some of that, it is as if he did picture him. Other people with greyhounds have developed a descriptive greyhound vocabulary. The greyhound's physiology is not the average hound's. There are related sighthounds that share some physiology. They are lean, narrow, with long backs, longish necks and muzzles, deep chests, high tucks, long tails, long legs    built for the sprint run. 

They are bony, with thin coats, and very little fat. They are not winter animals, and they need a few amenities. They wear clothes in bad weather, and need soft bedding for reclining    and they do recline, to the point they are lazy. But, they are gentle, docile, quiet (some are painfully shy), and low maintenance. Their odd habits become cute and endearing to you. They are also watching you, and can be sly.

They are sleek and chic, beyond that i have noticed walking with my hound is that some people stop and chat, and to my initial surprise, thank me and bless me for getting the animal. I can not remember this sort of random, unsolicited bonhomie directed towards me.

[end part one]

walks like a ninja

When you adopt a shelter greyhound, you may be told that for these dogs everything is new. They have never used steps before,... And this is true. We got Captain America in December 2015, and he was perplexed and resistant to steps. The back steps he refused for a long time, first he became willing to go down the two steps, not until the summer did he choose to go up, and that when he was left alone on the enclosed porch. So, we used the front steps (which were wider, higher, and made of stone). We took him, that first December (it was a warm month in an erratic winter), to Rocky River Park where they had a long set of wooden steps, and this he did easily.

Captain does not tolerate fireworks well, and on the night of July 3rd he went down the basement stairs for the first time. Since then he regularly uses them, and he walks them nicely up, and flies down in bounds. He is like a ninja. He hides in silence, and comes and goes when the mood finds him.

Neither he, nor Cassius like linoleum. Cassius was timid too of the back steps. He sometimes needed coaxing. Going down, was a hop and not a walk. But within a few weeks he was comfortable, although he will spill on the kitchen floor. His paws are smaller than Captain's, and the lesser paw surface area has a lesser grip on the slippery surface. Cassius does not use the basement steps. He has to be carried down, and one leg at a time has to placed on the step to walk up. He looks like a claymation model that is maneuvered for every film frame, or a toy robot.

tongue out tuesday

I had to use a flash and it bleached the pink tongue and internal ear. On greyhound foto groups, they like to point out 'tongue out Tuesday'. In greyhound talk this is called a 'derp'. Tongue lolling is common. Cassius does so occasionally, Captain rarely, and then barely.

'sphinx' position

Saturday night Cassius was on the Solstice Steps in Lakewood, his hind quarters are in Sphinx position. Captain does not 'sphinx'.

mirror

The usual camera i use does not take close ups well. Mirrors change apparent distance (did not realise bird poop on mirror). Cassius likes to look out of the back window of the flivver.

Plea for prudence in fireworks

I, Captain America, Greyhound Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary of Parma and the surrounding municipalities am as patriotic as anyone. I have found the sporadic, random, gratuitous explosions of cheap fireworks maddening. The hearing acuity of hounds is far greater than yours. The olfactory powers to detect odours, likewise, are superior to humans. Spent gunpowder is not an interesting or enticing aroma. We understand many people have been in a war zone, and suffer psychological terror on these occasions of idiot merriment. It is good to celebrate Brexit 1776, but it is sensible and considerate to do so at centralised locations with professional artillerists and bombardiers. Also, as somebody who has the sense that God gave to a goose, and God knows, He did not give a goose much sense, you chance injury. Do you really want the nickname "Lefty", or "Three Fingers"? You remember how many fingers Boris Nikolajevich Yeltsin had on his left hand? On a personal level:  many hounds of my ken refer to Independence Day as "Scare the shit out of dogs day". O, and by the way, the stupid law in Ohio is that you sign a paper that contracts you to take your fireworks purchase out of state to use, because setting off fireworks is illegal in Ohio. This silly mendacity created to allow shysters to have commerce, and the state revenue is absurd. People, let us all have an enjoyable holiday.