Lassie, go wee!
(Lassie: Glasgow, Scotland)
I got a call on Saturday night from my friend, Liz who was desperately searching for somebody to look after her dog the following day. I was behind on lots of work from almost a week off, so I had planned to be at my desk all day. Thankfully greyhounds are not the excitable, bounding, bouncy type and will actually lounge about on cushions rather than want to play. This was lucky for me. Aside from the long sighs, whimpers and occasional grunts, she was silent and snoozy the entire afternoon. I attempted to take her out for a wee, but couldn’t tempt her down the stairs. Liz neglected to tell me she has a fear of heights; my two storey stairwell is higher and steeper than hers so I was left with a quivering pony sized animal halfway down the stairs, and a doggie treat held out towards her trembling lips. It is made all the more distressing that she is has the most melancholy face of any dog I have ever seen. I think she is generally very happy, but her long snout and huge, bulging brown eyes and their intensity give her a startling sadness.
The imaginatively named Lassie, is an ex race greyhound that Liz recently acquired from a rehoming situation. She has letters tattooed in her ears for identification – apparently we can look them up if we have her race name. I’d love to find out how many races she’s ran or how many wins she might have had. I also wish there was a way to see how much money punters had won or lost on her. She’s had a whole sporting life before reaching me here in my flat, lying on the cool kitchen floor, chasing another hare. I found it vaguely ironic that her favourite toy is a bunny. She carries it quite gently in her mouth, lending her usually morose appearance a dash of comedy. I like her very much. There was a sweetness in the way she followed me from room to room, even trying to squeeze into the bathroom with me. My favourite thing about her, though, is that when she sits, she splays her hind legs straight out in front of her, then eases onto her eyewateringly muscular haunches. She cannot properly sit as her muscles prevent it – common amongst ex race dogs I’ll wager. Then to move to a lying position, she loses all poise and elegance, shifting her weight on her shoulder fist, twisting around and kicks her legs out from underneathe her. This is how she looks when resting. She would keep her brilliant brown eyes open, as if frozen, then slowly allow herself to drift to sleep. It was a nice, calming afternoon after a week of frantic activity and the previous days cycling.
It came time for them both to leave and I explained to Liz that we had some trouble on the stairs. We made another attempt and she found that it was so. I ended up with Lassie’s barrel chest tucked under both my arms (she had a very deep chest) and Liz grabbed the rear. We carried her down the first flight of stairs with some difficulty and she made it the rest of the way herself. Excuse me for enlightening you, but I think she passed at least a pint of liquid when we reached the park. The poor creature had been holding it in for hours.
– Today Rosie is finishing drawings for the NHS and having dinner with friends in Glasgow, Scotland –
Ooh she’s beautiful! She looks just like Arthur – Harry’s brindle patches are more caramel coloured. Although our two are still at the mental running and jumping about stage… I am hoping the cool, calm and collected phase is just around the corner!!
You’re right about Greyhounds not being able to sit properly – their thigh muscles are too developed and they therefore get cramp if they sit too long. You’re supposed to teach them to stand still rather than sit – which we have done, they know ’sit’ but very rarely get asked to do it!
You can find out all about Lassie’s racing history on the website http://www.greyhound-data.com/. All pedigree registered Greyhounds are on the site – along with photos, racing history, genealogy and sometimes there are even videos of them racing. Our two are on it, but since they’ve never raced their pages are rather blank, save for some very cute puppy photos, but their parents were champion racers – and their Mum has videos on her page. It’s fascinating – you should let Lassie’s ‘person’ know!
Sorry this is such a long comment – I just thought you and/or Lassie’s person might like the web link!