# Lily and Tommy's Excellent Adventures



## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

So proud of Lily. 

Halfway through our morning walk we paused to play "Find Fat Mum", which involves me hiding in the bushes, and her scenting me out (a variant played with the OH, called "Find Twit Features", is also available).

So - Fat Mum hides, and Twit Features drops the bloody leash. In the middle of the fields, and in the company of a Noble Hound who has never been offlead in a field in the last 7 months - if ever - and who only answers to recall if she thinks there's something in it for her.

A greyhound can hit 45 mph in three strides. Fat Mum can jog for two yards before her trick knee plays up, and Twit Features is very nearly capable to moving under his own steam...

So: Twit Features calls out in alarm, Lily gallops round the corner of the bushes, I call her - and damn my eyes, she slows down and trots up to me, nice as you like.

Next week I shall attempt to train Twit Features.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

@tyg'smum Can you play another game tomorrow I haven't laughed so much in a long time!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> @tyg'smum Can you play another game tomorrow I haven't laughed so much in a long time!


My nerves may not be up to it...


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

Well done Lily ! That did make me laugh no treats for twit features.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Today was not quite as exciting, but I was very proud of Lily again.

The fields which we walk though are used for grazing horses. Lily was very uncertain about horses at first, but her confidence has built up over the months. She will now walk past them providing they are at least 30 feet away: the horses are well used to dogs, and don't come to investigate.

Today we had got as far as the middle field when I saw that one of them was right by the stile. I'm used to horses, Lily is okay if, as I said, they're not too close: Twit Features is nervous.

We walked towards them, keeping close to the hedge, when Lily decided it was both the time and the place for a Big Poo. I was holding her leash (after yesterday's escapade, are you surprised?) and so Twit Features assumed the role of clean-up crew.

All went well for the Noble Hound and I - she walked happily past the horse by the stile, only a few feet away, and we exited the field with no problems.

Sadly, I cannot say the same for Twit Features. While he was bent over de-pooing the grass, another of the horses wandered over to see what he was doing. As Twit Features stood up, horse grabbed his hat from his head and trotted off with it. Exeunt TF, clutching poo bag and taking Lily's lead from Fat Mum, who re-entered the field and spent a merry quarter of an hour following the damn thing round the field trying to make noises like a bag of carrots until I could retrieve the hat.

It's all go round here, I tell you.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Brilliant @tyg'smum you live such a wonderful life!

Cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Yesterday Lily met her first rabbit. And not somewhere I'd have expected to meet one.

We were walking nicely back down the road after an incident-free walk, when a lady, standing outside her house, called to me "Is your dog safe: my rabbit's out in the front garden".

It wasn't the scenario you might imagine. The "garden" is just big enough to get a car on sideways, with no wall, and has been gravelled over for parking (which is how I know she can get her car sideways on it...) Nothing to stop the rabbit hopping off onto the pavement or the road, or to stop other animals getting onto the "garden". 

I shortened Madam's leash and swapped hands so that I was between her and the rabbit. 

Madam stopped stock still. So did Mister Bunsie. Lily looked at Mr Bunsie. Mr Bunsie looked back. And then Lily shook her head as if to say "Yeah. nothing exciting to see here" and walked nicely on. 

I don't think she's read the bit about sighthounds having high prey drive.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Another excellent day: I think (fingers crossed) that our training is starting to pay off.

We have found a nice circular walk, through the woods, past the smallholding and the riding school, up the lane, through the horses field and back through the woods. Lily loves it - sometimes the man from the smallholding gives her an egg. sometimes we see muntjac, sometimes we have a picnic. But until today we have only been able to do this in an anticlockwise direction. To get from the lane to the horses' field, Lily's humans have to negotiate a tricksy little stile and she has to go through a little hound-gate at the side. 

She'll do this quite happily from the lane to the field; but until today has refused to go from the field to the lane. Clearly there are Things Lurking in the lane on the other side of the hound-gate which might attack nervous little hounds unless you see them first.

Until this morning. I led her up to the hound-gate from the field side and she simply bounded through. And she did the same again this afternoon. Lots of praise and treats, of course, but I'm hoping that this week has been a big boost to her confidence.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

Well done Lily! She is doing very well what a strange place to let your rabbit out though.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Boxer123 said:


> Well done Lily! She is doing very well what a strange place to let your rabbit out though.


That's what we thought: I know very little about rabbits (except in the culinary sense), but it didn't seem a very enriching environment for it, and all the houses in our road have good-sized rear gardens. I thought at first she meant the rabbit had made a bid for freedom, but apparently not...


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

tyg'smum said:


> Today was not quite as exciting, but I was very proud of Lily again.
> 
> The fields which we walk though are used for grazing horses. Lily was very uncertain about horses at first, but her confidence has built up over the months. She will now walk past them providing they are at least 30 feet away: the horses are well used to dogs, and don't come to investigate.
> 
> ...


oh god, this had me in fits of laughter. I read it out to my husband with tears streaming down my face. I have had hat grabbing horses which made it even funnier.


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## Teddy-dog (Nov 2, 2017)

Sounds like Lily is full of adventures! Chuckled at the hat stealing horse and what an odd place to let your rabbit out! Teddy would have gone mad


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

So funny, your never short of stories with a Lurcher type. With regards to the rabbit incident, Lily would have acknowledged Mr Bunsie but no prey drive would have kicked in until Mr Bunsie made a move! Our dogs dont bother to break into a sweat unless its worthwhile, so dont be fooled for future reference. As you say a very strange place to let a rabbit out without so much as a lead on! Please keep the training stories coming.
Oh I would add vary the tree or Bush hiding area, they soon cotton on to where your gonna hide, Emma stands at the various trees I have hidden behind in the hope's of a pretend finding of me for the possibility of a treat.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> So funny, your never short of stories with a Lurcher type. With regards to the rabbit incident, Lily would have acknowledged Mr Bunsie but no prey drive would have kicked in until Mr Bunsie made a move! Our dogs dont bother to break into a sweat unless its worthwhile, so dont be fooled for future reference. As you say a very strange place to let a rabbit out without so much as a lead on! Please keep the training stories coming.
> Oh I would add vary the tree or Bush hiding area, they soon cotton on to where your gonna hide, Emma stands at the various trees I have hidden behind in the hope's of a pretend finding of me for the possibility of a treat.


Lily doesn't show any interest in cats or squirrels if they run, but I still wouldn't trust her off leash.

She has got cocky-clever with hiding places and if we use the same ones too often she just goes to check them out, rather like your Emma. Fortunately there's a lot of choice in the woods! Tomorrow we're planning a walk and picnic at a common she hasn't been to before, so there could be Big Adventures in store...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily had a Very Interesting Day Out at the common. There are lots of stands of trees and bushes to explore and play Hunt The Fat Mum in, as well as heathland to run about in and lots to sniff. She met a whippet and a galgo, who she liked very much, shared our picnic lunch and had an icecream all to herself.

Madam is usually wary of car parks and hangs back, but as soon as I opened the car door for her she simply bounded out and headed towards the heath, her tail going like a helicopter rotor. Twit Features had the leash while I bought the iceceams, but she went quite close to the van, despite the number of people around.

That was the good side of the day. The downside was the number of people who simply don't understand when I ask them not to approach her too closely (as in more than a couple of feet - and what happened to social distancing??) because she's very nervous, but completely ignore me (and this included a mum with small kids who told me "my children love dogs" - well, they might, but Lily doesn't love them) - and dogs off-lead with either a total lack of recall or whose owner is nowhere in sight. In particular, a great lolloping dog who seemed to be intent on proving to Lily that he was an entire male. He was also very shouty. Remembering the advice I'd read on here, I chucked a handful of dog treats on the path to distract him, only for his owner to suddenly appear and shout at me for feeding her dog.

I don't want to have to walk Lily in one of those jackets reading "Nervous Dog", and I suspect the people who ignore a verbal request won't take any notice anyway, Nor do I want her to have to wear one identifying her as reactive, when all she wants is for people to keep their distance. She doesn't growl and bark, but she will try to pull away.

Having said all that, she remembered to get behind Fat Mum most of the time when there were people or dogs she didn't want to know, and in any case it didn't spoil her day. She walked very nicely past plenty of people and well-behaved dogs and didn't react at all to people on bikes, which have been a source of worry to her until this week. And she slept all the way home in the car and didn't want her tea until very nearly bedtime.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

That sounds like an excellent day, sadly you will always get utter prats where ever you go, who attempt to ruin it.

I'm not sure, she will correct me, but I think is was Bluejay who, when approached by unwanted attention, coined the shouted phrase, "my dog has a terrible flea problem at present" which works well, especially where small children & unwanted dogs are concerned. Worth a try for future reference.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> That sounds like an excellent day, sadly you will always get utter prats where ever you go, who attempt to ruin it.
> 
> I'm not sure, she will correct me, but I think is was Bluejay who, when approached by unwanted attention, coined the shouted phrase, "my dog has a terrible flea problem at present" which works well, especially where small children & unwanted dogs are concerned. Worth a try for future reference.


I'll remember that! A lot politer than my normal "Are you bloody deaf or what?" and probably more effective!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily on the common:


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Yesterday we went back to the Common. Far fewer people, and more well-mannered dogs (including a lurcher who Lily rather wanted to go home with).

Lily enjoyed her picnic and icecream, and was much admired by people who saw her drinking water out of a mug. They seemed to think that this was very clever and thought that we'd actively trained her to do this. We actually spend a fair amount of time at home trying to persuade her to take her long elegant muzzle _out_ of mugs...

Anyway, here's Madam with her icecream:


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Gorgeous girl, glad you had a lovely day out. We went to Clumber Park yesterday, such a beautiful day, my & Emma's favourite place.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily would like her friends to know that she was very clever yesterday. In the morning she walked straight past a horse and rider - with very little room to spare - without so much as a glance, ignored a shouty dog and heard a runner behind her before Fat Mum or Twit Features did and let them know by climbing up onto the verge to let him pass.

In the fields she played the recall game five times and on the way home we had Hunt The Twit Features with a new twist. Twit Features was sitting on a little bank in the undergrowth with his back to Fat Mum and Lily, and she saw a small patch of the back of his shirt. Rather than walk down the track to confront him, a certain little stripehound snuck up on him from behind and surprised him. The fact that this meant pulling Fat Mum through the boscage (good word, huh? Fat Mum learnt it in a crossword) and that Fat Mum's arms are now covered in scratches is neither here not there...

Fat Mum does know that she really should have stopped the pulling-through-the-undergrowth bit, but it doesn't usually happen, and FM was really rather impressed with the use of both scent and sight...


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

:Joyful:Joyful:Joyful you should write a book! So funny. "Lily's adventures with fm and tf" Lily is beautiful.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> :Joyful:Joyful:Joyful you should write a book! So funny. "Lily's adventures with fm and tf" Lily is beautiful.


We fell in love with that beautiful, worried-looking little face the moment we saw her - and until then we had no intention at all of adopting a dog. Lily, however, had other ideas...

We made a_ lot _of mistakes with her in the early days, but we all survived, and we're slowly making progress.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> We fell in love with that beautiful, worried-looking little face the moment we saw her - and until then we had no intention at all of adopting a dog. Lily, however, had other ideas...
> 
> We made a_ lot _of mistakes with her in the early days, but we all survived, and we're slowly making progress.


You will all learn together which makes it all the more exciting, interesting & rewarding.
Emma said very well done Lily your a very clever girl x


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> You will all learn together which makes it all the more exciting, interesting & rewarding.
> Emma said very well done Lily your a very clever girl x


Big Brave Girl today. We met Fat Mum and Twit Features' friend Owen, his young son and their 6 month old pup Narla, who is a very excitable American Bulldog. Lily is very good with Narla, and doesn't react when Narla gets a bit jumpy, but won't approach Owen at all (he's very patient, and appreciates that she's very timid).

Today Owen casually held out his hand with a treat in it, but otherwise ignored Madam. To our astonishment she walked straight up to him, took the treat and then licked his hand.

She has only seen Owen's son once before, and she doesn't like children. The young lad asked if he could try: we gave him a treat to use and suggested he copy his Dad and pretend that he wasn't in the least interested in Lily and just happened to be holding a treat - and damn my eyes, she did the same thing again.

(I know Lily doesn't need to interact with every dog or person she meets, but she can be such a nervous Nelly that it's a big thing when she comes out of her shell. And it's nice to be able to stop and exchange a few words without her trying to back away).


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

There are distinct advantages to letting Lily have her own way sometimes, particularly on walks. We'd never have found the badgers' setts for one thing, if Mrs Stubborn hadn't insisted on dragging me though a hedge instead of keeping to the path...

Today was another example. Halfway through a wander across the common (not the one I've written about before - commons are, well, common round these 'ere parts) she insisted on walking along a very boring-looking farm track rather than on the grass, and through a little gateway.

And there we suddenly were, in the most beautiful bluebell wood I've seen in many a year.


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## Teddy-dog (Nov 2, 2017)

Lily sounds very much like the nervous greyhound I walk. When his owners first got him he was so so nervous, I’ve never known a more nervous dog. It has taken a long time but he now goes for walks happily but he is very nervous of strange people and doesn’t like children! 

Sounds like Lily is enjoying life with you!


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Big Brave Girl today. We met Fat Mum and Twit Features' friend Owen, his young son and their 6 month old pup Narla, who is a very excitable American Bulldog. Lily is very good with Narla, and doesn't react when Narla gets a bit jumpy, but won't approach Owen at all (he's very patient, and appreciates that she's very timid).
> 
> Today Owen casually held out his hand with a treat in it, but otherwise ignored Madam. To our astonishment she walked straight up to him, took the treat and then licked his hand.
> 
> ...


Excellent, well done Lily & even more well done you explaining exactly what the little child should do. Great that it worked so well.
I had to do much the same today to a little boy who wanted to pat Emma on the head. Emma adores children but like most dogs does not want any ones hand smacking her on her head (who know what they might be attempting to do) One short explanation, little lad did exactly what he was told to do and Emma returned his gentle touch with a lick on his hand.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Lovely picture of her in the bluebells. We usually have a Bluebell thread. I go start one as we did a picture on Wednesday, perhaps you can add that picture too it later please.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Great heavens. Yesterday, the weather being of the "build an ark" variety, Madam didn't fancy much of a walk, so we had half-an-hour walking up the little unmetalled public footpath to the road junction and back again. 

The path is lined with brambles and assorted undergrowth, and although it's full of Interesting Sniffs, we have to be careful with Lily, as the local kids tend to chuck bits of unwanted takeaway (including chicken bones) into the bushes. Lord knows where they bring it from, as the nearest takeaway is a good half-hour's stiff walk away.

We've been working on "Leave it", with a fair amount of success (unless we encounter unexpected fox poo). Anyway, we were merrily trolling along on a shortish lead yesterday when suddenly a very poorly looking rat staggered out of the bushes and across the path, almost under Lily's nose. I've seen poisoned rats before, and this one certainly had all the signs.

Madam's ears shot forward and she tugged at her lead. I told her "Leave it" and fished in my pocket for a nice little bit of smelly cheese, and much to my amazement she stopped and came straight back to me.

This morning we walked past the same spot, and although she remembered and paused, she walked on when I asked her to. Without cheese.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Excellent, that's fantastic, well done all concerned.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Excellent, that's fantastic, well done all concerned.


Smelly cheese is a wonderful thing...


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Smelly cheese is a wonderful thing...


So true, the squirty stuff in a tube, also very handy ;-)


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

So - yesterday was something of a challenge for Lily. She has separation anxiety - the only time she doesn't want one of us in sight is during garden zoomies, and walks have to involve both Fat Mum and Twit Features, otherwise she freezes on the doorstep and refuses to go any further. She also can't be left alone in the house.

Both Twit Features and I were, in pre-covid (and pre-Lily) days, volunteers at a local National Trust property, and yesterday were booked on pre-house opening training courses, he in the morning and I in the afternoon. Some careful planning went into this. We turned up early and took her for a little sniffari - when it was time, TF slipped down a side path into the house and I continued to walk Madam. For the first ten minutes, she thought we were playing Hunt The Twit, and then it dawned on her. We had a touch of whimpering and pulling back towards the house, but - with the help of smelly cheese and bits of little sausage - she walked with me for the best part of an hour and a half. There were several times when she froze and refused to go any further, and there was an awkward moment when she saw someone at the gate, but we managed to keep going and even had ten minutes sitting in the little kitchen garden waiting for the Twit to reappear.

When he did, she was all over him. We had lunch, and even managed to get her into the little rest room, which was another Big First, as it's rather dark and she's normally frightened of going into dark places. She had a good explore of the room and settled down under the table.

In the afternoon, it was the Twit's turn to walk her. This was less successful - I'd managed to walk her into the woods, but by this time she'd worked out I was in the house, and didn't want to go anywhere but the gardens, and whimpered rather a lot: but she walked with him without me. A big, big step forward.

Afterwards we both took her on one of her favourite walks and saw a lot of bunnies scampering across the path - this was her second encounter with bunnies, and this time they were moving. She was interested, but had no inclination to chase them. There was great interest in one who dashed for shelter in the undergrowth, but she only wanted to look at him.

A challenging day ended with a quick trip to the chippie for some cod for her tea. Good and brave girls get special teas.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Oh this is all excellent & I think you are further on then either you or I expected to be by now. So pleased for all.

We had a strange happening at our fav NT place on Wednesday. We go to Clumber Park every week (except for when it was previously closed in lockdown) Emma has been going there, her first ever place off lead, since she was 12 weeks old. We have never had a problem going over the two bridges. She is always off lead unless we spot an on lead dog. One beautiful restored bridge is a proper good bridge the other is the wooden slatted small bridge over the rushing waterfall. Emma is usually running, walking or sniffing about well in front of us over that bridge; but having a good sniff at God knows what, we were well in front of her over the bridge Wednesday. I looked back as she hadn't caught us up to see her looking very upset and forlorn the other side of the bridge going side to side most anxiously! I called her, whistled her, nope she would not budge. By now a few people watching were probably thinking what awful owners we were this poor little dog looked pitiful. We both walked back to the bridge and made like mad new owners but no nothing would entice her, even calling 'I have chicken - look' holding up a tissue. So I had to walk back over the bridge clip her on her lead and walk her across! Let her off the lead the other side and off she ran happy as Larry - what the hell was that all about! Be interesting to see what happens next week when we go!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Oh this is all excellent & I think you are further on then either you or I expected to be by now. So pleased for all.


She was very clingy on the final walk, but we wanted her to realise that walks with both FM and TW still happen, and didn't try to chuck "Find The FM/TF" into the mix.

Today we had our usual circular walk with a bit of "Find The ..." chucked in, and all was well. When her beloved Twit set off down the track to lose himself, she knew exactly what was going on, and almost dragged me up onto the High Woods Walk (which is part of the routine so that the one of us getting lost has plenty of time to find a hiding place without being seen).

Sometimes I think we're making no progress with training, but then I remember that it's only nine months since we adopted her, and for the first twelve weeks we had to take it in turns to sleep downstairs with her.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Today we found a dead squirrel, which wasn't very exciting: only worth a quick pause and a stare before walking on. This was on the footpath where the poisoned rat was earlier in the week - not a mark on the squirrel that I could see (not that I investigated too closely), so I fear poisoning again. We'll be avoiding that walk for the near future, I think.

Later on we found a very dead heron. This caused problems - it was very dead indeed and Lily wanted to play with it very much. Fat Mum turned into a Bad Wicked Mum who wouldn't allow dear little brindle hounds to have fun, and there was much whimpering and pulling before Wicked FM had her way.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Yesterday we met Small Snappy Terrier, who is very aggressive towards other dogs: not his fault, the poor little scrap is a rescue dog with a traumatic past, who is believed to have been used for dog fighting. SST is always leashed and muzzled and his Dad keeps him on a short leash when other dogs are about. Lily, normally Little Friend Of All The World. loathes SST, and gets behind us or up on a bank when she sees him - he screams and barks until he's passed us.

But yesterday our paths crossed on a narrow, fenced path with a deep ditch on one side - nowhere to go, other than stand next to the fence and wait for the other to pass. SST was having none of it - he was pulling and growling, and when his Dad picked him up in his arms, the poor little sod was widdling himself in fear (SST, I mean!).

And Lily was so good. She calmly turned on her heel and let us know she wanted to walk back down the path to the road, where she stood well out of the way until SST and Dad had gone on their way. Then she trotted back up the path as nice as you like, clearly very proud of herself. And three months ago she'd have been panicking and trying to run away.

I feel so sorry for SST. He's okay with other people and loves children - it's just dogs that terrify him, and the only thing he knows is to shout and snarl at them to make them go away and leave him alone. But at least now he has a Dad who loves him and keeps him safe, and is prepared to do anything he can just to give him a good home with a comfy bed and enough food and where nothing is going to attack him ever again.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Today we found a dead squirrel, which wasn't very exciting: only worth a quick pause and a stare before walking on. This was on the footpath where the poisoned rat was earlier in the week - not a mark on the squirrel that I could see (not that I investigated too closely), so I fear poisoning again. We'll be avoiding that walk for the near future, I think.
> 
> Later on we found a very dead heron. This caused problems - it was very dead indeed and Lily wanted to play with it very much. Fat Mum turned into a Bad Wicked Mum who wouldn't allow dear little brindle hounds to have fun, and there was much whimpering and pulling before Wicked FM had her way.


Oh why no fun boxers love dead things they make hooman dance and gag.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Well, yesterday was embarrassing...

When we walk past the riding stables, down a single track lane, we often see a van driven by a local dog trainer/behaviourist. We stand on the verge to let her past, she waves merrily and we all go on our ways.

Yesterday Twit Features was in a world of his own. He had Lily's leash - I heard the van behind us just as we got to the gated entrance to the stables. I glanced at the van - it was indicating that it was going to turn into the stables. So, being a Helpful Fat Mum, I qouth unto the Twit "The van wants to drive up here".

My beloved smiled vaguely and walked Lily right in front of the gate, where they stood stock still. The van paused. Fat Mum said, a little less gently "Bloody well shift yourself, lame-brain, they want to drive up here".

TW looked even vaguer than usual (and believe me, that takes some doing) and said "They usually drive down to the lower gate." 

By this time the dog trainer is looking a little confused as to what it happening, Lily settles down for a good scratch, and I am wondering what I've ever done to deserve this. I explain gently that the trainer wants to use the top gate ("Well, they don't today. Bloody shift yourself!") and the Twit finally gets the idea and starts to move.

Except that Lily does not want to move. She lies in the middle of the lane, she whimpers, she howls - she's clearly auditioning for a role with the RSC. Even smelly cheese does not persuade her - in the end we have to pick her up and heave her to the verge, where of course she leaps to her feet and starts dancing on the end of the lead like a thing possessed.

And all in front of a dog trainer...


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Well, yesterday was embarrassing...
> 
> When we walk past the riding stables, down a single track lane, we often see a van driven by a local dog trainer/behaviourist. We stand on the verge to let her past, she waves merrily and we all go on our ways.
> 
> ...


Spat my tea out reading this ! Oh Lily how do you cope ? Did the trainer offer any advice


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Boxer123 said:


> Spat my tea out reading this ! Oh Lily how do you cope ? Did the trainer offer any advice


She was too busy laughing to actually speak... she must be used to Diva Greyhounds.

I appeased her by opening the five-bar gate for her and closing it behind her.

I think it's the Twit who needs to go to training classes...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily and me and a completely pointless stile:


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Lily and me and a completely pointless stile:


Surely a seat and smallish picnic table! One to remember for later in the year.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Surely a seat and smallish picnic table! One to remember for later in the year.


Well, it was a stile in a fence many years ago, but the fence got ricketier and ricketier, and the farmer eventually removed it, but left the posts. Over the last fee months the posts have disappeared, but the stile remains, presumably as a tribute to The Glory That Once Was...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Yesterday was a bit "curate's egg" for Lily: today was much better.

Yesterday Twit Features had his second covid jab. Fat Mum sat in the car with Lily, but Lily howled and howled for her Twit and was not happy until he returned. Then we drove to a nearby village and had a Very Long Walk on the green (which is enormous - it's an area of common land). All was well until we got home, when the car suddenly cut out on the driveway. Fat Mum took Lily inside for her tea while Twit Features fixed the car, but Lily clearly decided that her beloved Twit had run away _again _and was having none of it. She actually left her tea halfway through to search for him, and the paint on the inside of the front door will probably never be the same again. madam was a very clingy girl all night.

Today Fat Mum decided to spend a lot of her hard-earned dosh in Pets At Home. We anticipated problems with Lily, who doesn't like going into shops, or other people being too close, but after a few minutes' hesitation she decided to follow Fat Mum around the shop, ignored the toys and chews cunningly displayed at snoot level, met a Rottie pup who she loved to pieces, and very nearly let two of the staff fuss her up. After which, a long and rainy walk across the common.

Fat Mum was worried that, after yesterday, Lily would associate the car with Twit Features leaving her, but no - she jumped in happily and started nosing for a treat.

Anyway, here's a Big Brave Girl with the Twit. He says now he's had his second jab he's got a certificate. Fat Mum says - bitterly - he should have been certified years ago.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Yesterday was a bit "curate's egg" for Lily: today was much better.
> 
> Yesterday Twit Features had his second covid jab. Fat Mum sat in the car with Lily, but Lily howled and howled for her Twit and was not happy until he returned. Then we drove to a nearby village and had a Very Long Walk on the green (which is enormous - it's an area of common land). All was well until we got home, when the car suddenly cut out on the driveway. Fat Mum took Lily inside for her tea while Twit Features fixed the car, but Lily clearly decided that her beloved Twit had run away _again _and was having none of it. She actually left her tea halfway through to search for him, and the paint on the inside of the front door will probably never be the same again. madam was a very clingy girl all night.
> 
> ...


Bless her she is just looking out for her Twit.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Oh bless her, it's not a bad thing that she is a bit clingy, harder for anyone to entice her away! 
Sounds a very good exercise in [email protected] tho. I think you, & she, are doing wonders considering the short amount of time! I think you all deserve a Certificate not just TF !


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Oh bless her, it's not a bad thing that she is a bit clingy, harder for anyone to entice her away!
> Sounds a very good exercise in [email protected] tho. I think you, & she, are doing wonders considering the short amount of time! I think you all deserve a Certificate not just TF !


It would be nice if she wasn't _quite _so clingy: her separation anxiety is better than it was - after months of the flitting game we can at least go into the kitchen to make a cuppa without Velcro Girl, and nights sleeping on the floor with her are but a distant memory, but she still panics when one of us goes out. But, as you say, she's not going to be tempted away.

It's very strange, because when we adopted her - which, due to lockdown, was only the second time we'd met her - she came on the trial walk with us with no problem at all, couldn't wait to get in the car and came home happily. And she'd come from fostering, so she already knew all about stairs and was house-trained. I have a theory that she picked us (we certainly weren't looking for a dog: it was only by accident that we met). But for a little shy girl, she'd had a rough few months - shipped from Ireland, into kennels at the Trust (which apparently she hated), into fostering, adopted by a couple who took her back to the Trust the following day because she was "too timid", back to fostermum and then to us. She's determined that this is her Forever Home - as are we. And she could have far worse problems. She's far from a faddy eater (she did steal a cherry tomato this week, but then decided it was Not Fit For Noble Hounds), answers to her name and has grasped at least basic commands. "Sit" is beyond her, but then it's not comfortable for greyhounds (she did sit - once - on a picnic, in a patch of wet mud), and "Down" has mixed results, but the ones which for us are really important - "wait", "cross" and "quickly" for roads, "leave", "away", "stay" and "come" she 's really mastered. And yesterday her beloved Twit dropped the lead - _again_, I really don't know how he manages it - and she stood stock still without being told to until he picked it up again.

We are due a visit to the vets in the none-to-distant future, which I suspect will be interesting, to say the least, plus a nail-clipping session. I bought her some Paw Balm from [email protected] and we had a girl's night in on the sofa while I pampered her - after which she licked it straight off again.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

I think as you say she is afraid this may be just another move & not her forever home, as time goes on she will forget all about being moved on & then you will see a real change in her. Its excellent that she will let you 'do' anything at all with her feet. Can you explain to the vet/nurses that she is a rescue and needs encouragement? I had to do that with one of ours in the past & whilst the whole episode was worrying for me they did not overwhelm my girl or eyeball her too often which worked a treat.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

It's a small practice with an excellent vet, so I have no worries that they'll overwhelm her: I used them with my poor little tripod cat when he bust his cruciate ligament, and the vet couldn't have been gentler. It's not the practice we were registered with in our cat-owning days (the cruciate ligament was an Sunday morning emergency, and the suggested emergency vet wanted the thick end of £200 just for the privilege of seeing Tyg, never mind the costs of treatment and meds!). but our old practice has sold out to a group which now has a poor reputation among local pet owners.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> I think as you say she is afraid this may be just another move & not her forever home, as time goes on she will forget all about being moved on & then you will see a real change in her. Its excellent that she will let you 'do' anything at all with her feet. Can you explain to the vet/nurses that she is a rescue and needs encouragement? I had to do that with one of ours in the past & whilst the whole episode was worrying for me they did not overwhelm my girl or eyeball her too often which worked a treat.


Lily is fine with having her feet checked and washed, although she hates it when I try to clip or file her nails - most of them are black, and I'm always wary of nicking the quick. We take her to the branch of Greyhound Trust that we adopted her from - for a donation, Craig clips her nails with no trouble at all, which apart from anything else saves hours of wrestling with 28 kg of struggling hound. I usually give double the suggested donation and add tins of tomatoes, dog food or pilchards to help out with the cost of hound teas.

She's good with me checking her teeth, too. One of the books I read pre-adoption suggested trying to persuade her to take natural yoghurt from a metal spoon - there's no "try to persuade" about it!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Today was a Very Good Day.

We went for a walk along the canal towpath, where Lily saw several narrowboats and a mallard with thirteen little fluffy ducklings. Then we went to the pub.

Lily has been to this pub once before, and she didn't think much of it: due to Covid restrictions, entrance is only through the front door, and it's quite dark inside. Little nervous hounds don't like going into dark places: there may be Unspeakable Things From The Planet Zog lurking in the shadows, poised to kidnap pretty little brindle girls. I was just checking that it would be okay if we took her in through the gate into the beer garden (which for the foreseeable future is the exit) when she followed me inside - a little tentatively, but none the less a big brave thing to do.

The pub is on a hillside, and there is a flight of stairs down to the beer garden. She walked down these cautiously, with a little encouragement, and we sat out in the sun for a while. Then the skies opened, and we went under cover in the marquee, where she popped up onto one of the garden couches and went to sleep for a bit. She woke up in time to share my ham sandwich and took two treats from a lady who used to have a greyhound.

She's been flat out ever since we got home.










"Where's my drink? And crisps - can I have crisps, please?"


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Such a pretty girl. Love that she is positioned directly in front of the 'No Dogs Allowed' sign 
Love hearing about her adventures, she must think all her deserved Christmases have come at once since she joined you & TF


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Such a pretty girl. Love that she is positioned directly in front of the 'No Dogs Allowed' sign
> Love hearing about her adventures, she must think all her deserved Christmases have come at once since she joined you & TF


Oh. she knows exactly where to pose!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

The "no dogs allowed" sign is by the gate of the kid's play area, by the way!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

I really must start training The Twit.

Conversations at Chez Lil tend to centre round the vexed question of the back door - whether or not to leave it open so that the Noble Hound can come and go as she wishes, or whether to leap to our feet every time she wants to go out/comes in.

Fat Mum is all in favour of keeping the door closed and consequently keeping the heating bill lower. Twit Features has a selective memory and is incapable of connecting the thoughts "The dog's come in" with "Go and shut the door" (or indeed connecting "The door is open" and "Why am I cold?")

Yesterday FM mumphed her way out of bed at crack of sparrow-cough, went down to make a cup of tea and found the house more than a little chilly. The back door was wide open, and must have been so since TF let Lily out for her late night wee at 11pm. There followed an interesting exchange of words between FM and TF...

It was at this point that conversation was interrupted by Lily alerting her people to the presence of a panicking sparrow on the landing...

_Edited to add: the back garden is fully fenced and only accessible through the house. FM managed, with aid of a large cardboard box, a ceiling brush and her natural low cunning, to persuade the sparrow - unharmed - outside via the loo window. It was a slightly easier experience than the pigeon-down-the-chimney episode of some decades past, which involved persuading two determined cats that going up the chimney was neither helpful nor a good idea..._


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> I really must start training The Twit.
> 
> Conversations at Chez Lil tend to centre round the vexed question of the back door - whether or not to leave it open so that the Noble Hound can come and go as she wishes, or whether to leap to our feet every time she wants to go out/comes in.
> 
> ...


How do you cope!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> How do you cope!


I often wonder. Tonight I left the Twit in charge of cooking tea while I laid the table. I say "cooking" - we weren't overly hungry, so it was his signature dish: tinned ravioli and bread and butter.

You might think that was pretty straightforward, and so it might have been if he hadn't left the sodding cooker on and set the smoke alarm off.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Today is Not an Excellent Day.

Poor Lily is suffering from runny bum - even by greyhound standards, which can be pretty gross. She was distinctly hyper on her walk, tugging and pulling, and was very unsettled at home afterwards.

At the moment we are having Girlie Cuddles on the sofa, tucked up in our favourite blankie. A nice plain tea is in order, I think and Sofa Time this evening.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily has celebrated her return to gastro-intestinal health with a touch of the Drama Queens.

In the midst of mad indoor zoomies this morning she uttered the Greyhound Scream of Death and staggered across the rug on three legs, collapsing in front of the fire where she whimpered pitifully and refused to let me look at the offending leg.

It took both The Twit and I to hold her still - I wriggled round like a demented eel and managed, to the accompaniment of much howling and crying, to run my hand down her leg and look at her foot. And there, on the centre pad, I found the culprit. A small piece of sellotape, all of a quarter of an inch square. I pulled it off - and that didn't take much doing - at which point she screamed like a banshee, farted, and had a fit of the sulks.

It took three pieces of cheese and a buffalo tail for what passes in the house for normality to be restored.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily goes to the pub ...










Two days running! She isn't very fond of it and has to be persuaded through the gateway, but she was a good girl and no whimperings other than when FM needed the loo. And it makes a nice break for TF and FM in the middle of our Long Walk.

Lily had cheese and bit of sausage. FM had two gins and a bag of crisps, and looked a bit like this when we got home:


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

A sad walk today. The chap who ran the local smallholding was given notice to quit by the landowner, and has moved to a new site some 40 miles away.

Walking past the smallholding on a regular basis has really brought Lily on. At first she was frightened by the rooster crowing, but gradually she got used to the various noises from the hens, geese, pigs, goats and donkeys, and always wanted to stop and look through the fence to see what was around.

And now there is nothing but empty fields - all because the inhabitants of a nearby block of "luxury apartments" wanted to have countryside views without countryside animals and put pressure on the Powers That Be.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Well, what an exciting weekend! On Sunday we went for our usual Long Walk and found a nice sunny bench tucked away in a quiet corner of the pub's beer garden - as you can see, Lily was much happier here...









Yesterday Fat mum had her second Covid jab, and Lily was Not Happy at being abandoned with only The Twit for company. So we followed up with a nice walk in a park we hadn't been to before. We were further from people than we often are on our regular walk, but someone was still a skittish little girl. Then we noticed something small, furry and Very Interesting in the verge:









Today we have been a Big Brave greyhound, and said Hello to several people we know (and one we didn't) on an early walk. One of them was Narla's dad Owen, who gave Fat Mum a clicker to try when training. Fat Mum would be very grateful for any advice...


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

Loving Lily’s stories she is a brave girl. Sox once got a piece of tape on his belly and it was extremely traumatic. Loki loves his clicker I just started by every time he looked at me I clicked. We go on a walk he looks back click. I’m sure someone more experienced will give advice.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily is Not Impressed with the weather. Our long afternoon walk has become an evening walk, and this is clearly Not Acceptable.

She didn't have the best of days yesterday. Her beloved Twit Features had a doctor's appointment in the morning, which meant she was left alone for hours and hours and hours with only Fat Mum for company, and Fat Mum didn't cut the mustard at all. And next door are dog sitting a labradoodle at the moment, and it barked, and that is, apparently, Not Acceptable.

Then in the afternoon TF went out in the car and left FM and Lily again! And this really was for hours and hours - he was taking some stuff to the local auction house, which should have taken about an hour, but the bloody car broke down, and he didn't come home for three hours. Lily was inconsolable, and FM was starting to panic (needless to say, FM tried to ring him, but might just as well have saved the effort, as his phone rang merrily from under the sofa cushions....)

And after our evening walk TF went for a nice long soak in the bath, and took so long that FM ended up banging on the bathroom door and asking what the blue hells was he doing in there, had he bloody drowned or what, some people in this house need to use the loo. And of course Lily had decided she was the Orphan of the Storm, and had been abandoned - _again_...

But in the middle of our evening walk she astounded me. When we play Find The Fat Mum/Twit Features in the woods, sometimes one of us sets off along the lower path to hide and the other takes Lily up to the High Woods path. Usually Lily has to be tempted up to High Woods - it's not until she's at the top that she realises the Game Is Afoot and starts to enjoy it. (FM is quite aware that certain little stripehounds may be putting it on a bit in order to get a few treats). We don't always play this in the woods - sometimes we play it in the fields, and sometimes, if it's too hot or she's tired, we don't play it at all.

Anyway, we got to the little bank where the two paths meet, where we sometimes have a few minutes rest and a swig of water - Lily looked at me with her "as I and the late Queen Mary were saying" expression and simply shot up the High Woods path, dragging the Twit behind her. It was quite obvious that she'd decided it was time for The Game.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Lily is Not Impressed with the weather. Our long afternoon walk has become an evening walk, and this is clearly Not Acceptable.
> 
> She didn't have the best of days yesterday. Her beloved Twit Features had a doctor's appointment in the morning, which meant she was left alone for hours and hours and hours with only Fat Mum for company, and Fat Mum didn't cut the mustard at all. And next door are dog sitting a labradoodle at the moment, and it barked, and that is, apparently, Not Acceptable.
> 
> ...


Oh dear Lily so unacceptable you have to admit your hoomans are trying their best. Loki is not impressed with later shorter walk or early morning walk.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

The nights now being hot and sticky, Fat Mum has undertaken her annual migration to the spare bedroom, where she will in all likelihood remain until the weather reverts to cold and shivery, and a nice warm Twit is needed to warm her chilly little feet on.

Lily has taken this opportunity to move into the main bedroom and sleep with her beloved Twit.

This morning Fat Mum wandered into the bedroom to collect Twit's laundry and discovered them fast asleep on the bed, Lily spooning up to the Twit, with her front feet over his shoulders and her head beside his on the pillow.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> The nights now being hot and sticky, Fat Mum has undertaken her annual migration to the spare bedroom, where she will in all likelihood remain until the weather reverts to cold and shivery, and a nice warm Twit is needed to warm her chilly little feet on.
> 
> Lily has taken this opportunity to move into the main bedroom and sleep with her beloved Twit.
> 
> This morning Fat Mum wandered into the bedroom to collect Twit's laundry and discovered them fast asleep on the bed, Lily spooning up to the Twit, with her front feet over his shoulders and her head beside his on the pillow.


:Jawdrop
I've tried going to the spare room to get cool, but Dan just follows me an OH has a peaceful night with a kingsize bed to himself whilst I'm struggling to get any space on the single bed. Incidentally if OH goes in the spare bed Dan stays with me, I can't win.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> :Jawdrop
> I've tried going to the spare room to get cool, but Dan just follows me an OH has a peaceful night with a kingsize bed to himself whilst I'm struggling to get any space on the single bed. Incidentally if OH goes in the spare bed Dan stays with me, I can't win.


Fortunately Lily is Twit obsessed at the moment: he and she have the king size, and I swelter on top of the single.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Fortunately Lily is Twit obsessed at the moment: he and she have the king size, and I swelter on top of the single.


I bet he will buy her a top of the range cooling system soon.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Madam has a new harness, after she chewed her way through the last one:









As it was much cooler yesterday, we went for a wander along the Railway Walk and popped into the outdoor café for tea and crumpets (Lilly had some sausage and a very little bit of crumpet, and was Much Admired). We took along one of her favourite toys to keep her amused when we had a break: here is Mrs Christmastree Ted enjoying a day in the country:


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Loving these Lily stories, you should put them all in a little book about her.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Loving these Lily stories, you should put them all in a little book about her.


This morning she took a large bite out of the new harness...


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> This morning she took a large bite out of the new harness...


Oh dear perhaps she would prefer a different colour ?


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> This morning she took a large bite out of the new harness...


arrrgh perhaps she doesn't like the pink, although it does suit her.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily has had her pedicure - which took all of five minutes, if that, mainly because Craig brooks no nonsense and knows exactly what he's doing.

She was Not Happy at going back to the Trust - FM says it's because she's fearful that FM and TF are going to leave her there. However, a nice walk post-pedicure down the leafy little lane at the side of the kennels cheered her up. She met quite a few of the Trust's other greyhounds being walked, and was happy to say hello to them, if not to their walkers.

Quite what she'll be like next week, I hate to think. On Saturday we start volunteering at the kennels, exercising, grooming and bathing their hounds. And Lily will, of course, be coming with us. I _hope _that this will help with building her confidence. Fingers and toes crossed...

We've been talking about volunteering there for some time - mainly because we have such _fun _with Lily, and want to give something back to the organisation that let us have her in the first place.

And I have had to harden my heart. As we arrived there, there was a couple who were having to return their hound because she was too nervous for them to cope with. And I felt so sorry for her, I wanted to pop her in the car and bring her straight home, where there is a comfy sofa and nice things to eat and no-one ever shouts if you chew the wallpaper (I mean, FM and TF aren't exactly overjoyed, but they never shout). But Lily needs to be an Only Hound, and we did promise her that she would be...

Perhaps I'll get to work with little nervous Ivy next week....


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Today we met an over-excited, off-lead little dog, His head and front end appeared to be chihuahua, but his tail and bum were definitely more pug-like.

FM, TF and Lily were sitting on a shady little bank enjoying a cold drink when he bounded up the path towards us. Lily clearly wasn't struck on him, and moved a step or two closer to the Twit. Small dog was joined by his owner, who was busily telling us what a well-behaved dog he was, when Small Dog suddenly launches himself towards Lily, screaming and growling. Lily takes another step towards the Twit, FM gets to her feet to insert herself between the Chihuahua Of The Baskervilles and Lily - and what does the owner do?

Tells FM that there's no need to get concerned, small dog is only reacting to the squirrels, that's what. FM points out - none too gently - that (a) she'll be the judge of that and (b) one crunch from Lily's mighty jaws and Small Dog would be history.

Lily, I'm pleased to say, didn't react in the least, other than her stepping towards TF. As we walked on, she had her nose in the air and an expression on her face which said "What a silly boy. _I'm _a Good Girl." A few months ago she'd have been terrified.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

That's excellent news - what a good girl. I hope the Prat Owner and dog were duly reprimanded !


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> That's excellent news - what a good girl. I hope the Prat Owner and dog were duly reprimanded !


Well, I feel that he may change direction and walk the other way if he sees me again...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Another good day!

Twit of Twits left his good walking stick at the kennels when we went over on Sunday, so today we popped over to retrieve it, And the weather was cooler, so we came back via the heath, where Lily had a good and interesting walk with plenty of sniffs. I was going to treat her to an icecream, but the van wasn't there, so we decided on a pub lunch at the canalside pub that she likes and which has plenty of shade in the beer garden.

We - all three of us - had ham sandwich and chips and icecream to share- in fact we did very well for icecream, as the waitress managed to mix up our order with another table's, and we had a second one free because we hadn't complained (honestly, some people!). But that wasn't the best bit.

While we were finishing our drinks, a little girl (I'd say about 4 or 5) came up and asked if she could stroke Lily, who was sitting very nicely between us. I explained that Lily was very shy (and then had to explain what shy meant...) and suggested that she offer her a bit of sausage from the treat box, hand flat as if you were feeding a pony, and pretend you're not looking at her. And Lily, may the gods bless her, took the treat very gently, licked the little girl's hand and allowed herself to be stroked. No cowering or shying away, just a big brave hound being gentle and letting a little girl love her up.

There was a bit more sausage/stroking interaction, which I drew to a close by saying that if Lily had any more bits of sausage she'd get tummyache and might be sick, and then we came home. A Certain Somebody was very pleased with themselves...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Great heavens. Considering that we only live a 15 minute bus ride from the town centre, we're not that far from countryside, - as evidenced by Lily's regular walk route. This morning we were having a short break under the trees when we saw a red kite. I had no idea there were any round here.

We also saw a pair of Small British Blue butterflies intent on making caterpillars.

We used to have a visiting sparrowhawk, until next door's cat snuck up on it from the rear while it was busy finishing off a mouse: and there was the never-to-be-forgotten day when there was a cock pheasant on the extension roof.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Another good day!
> 
> Twit of Twits left his good walking stick at the kennels when we went over on Sunday, so today we popped over to retrieve it, And the weather was cooler, so we came back via the heath, where Lily had a good and interesting walk with plenty of sniffs. I was going to treat her to an icecream, but the van wasn't there, so we decided on a pub lunch at the canalside pub that she likes and which has plenty of shade in the beer garden.
> 
> ...


WOW that's fantastic on all fronts. Well done Lily and also have to say well done to the little girl for actually asking if she could pet Lily!

Very jealous of you seeing the Red Kite.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> WOW that's fantastic on all fronts. Well done Lily and also have to say well done to the little girl for actually asking if she could pet Lily!
> 
> Very jealous of you seeing the Red Kite.


I've only ever seen Red Kites in Wales until now.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> I've only ever seen Red Kites in Wales until now.


My friend has them nesting in her wood, in Norfolk. She sent me a video of them & the chicks (taken from a distance) today.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

There's been a big change in Lily's behaviour since Sunday: I don't know whether the hot weather has anything to do with it, but suddenly she's calmed down when one of us leaves the house. No crying or pacing round looking for the missing person - providing that she has something to chew or lick she settles down on her bed and then zonks out on the settee. A couple of times she's let me know that she's heard the car in the drive when The Twit returns, but most of the time she's just raised her head, looked at the door and then can't be bothered to go and greet him (a pleasant change from the hysteria known as "Daddy! You're back from Peru!")

And confidence with strangers has increased. Yesterday we were chatting to an old lady who lives further up the road who we've never met before, and Lily decided to sniff her hand; and later in the walk she was happy to be fussed up by the owner of a cockapoo. She also made friends with Dexter The Dachshund, who is young and bouncy and who she wasn't struck on when she met him earlier this week.

It's been such a big change and happened so quickly that, as I said, I wonder if the weather's affecting her. Bur it's a change for the good, and let's hope it continues.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Excellent news, I thinks its the confidence in you and TF, she has learnt there are comings & goings in her household & its learnt routine. We notice that Emma learns a new routine very quickly & surprises us with its suddenness when it happens so quickly even now. What ever it is, hot weather or confidence in you both, enjoy it & be proud of yourselves and how far she has come in such a relatively short time.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Well, today was our first day volunteering with the Greyhound Trust. To be quite honest, I expected to spend a fair amount of time shovelling poo, but no...

We took four hounds for a walk - one at a time, but with Lily. John was big and bouncy, Spirit was little and very timid, Mindy spent most of the time trying to persuade us that we needed another hound and she was The One (despite the fact that she goes to her new home on Monday) and Roz was even bouncier than John and nearly had Fat Mum over before we were out of the kennel block. 

And Lily loved each and every one of them, and stuck to Spirit's side as if they were glued together and showed him interesting sniffs and a Nice Path to explore.

We had a wonderful time and celebrated with a trip to the pub, where a Big Brave Girl had sausage and showed off outrageously. 

(I want to adopt Spirit and give him the home he deserves - he was a Brave Little Boy - but TF says No.)


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Perhaps you and Lily could write begging letters on Spirit's behalf to TF?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Today we were walking down the little country lane that leads to the stables when a lady driving a 4x4 stopped by us, wound the window down and said delightedly "I must say hello to your greyhound!"

And what did our little timid girl do? Cower behind FM? Try to climb up the bank? Attempt to run to the hills? Not a bit of it. She walked up to the car, reared up on her hind legs and greeted the driver as if she was an old friend.

Then she noticed a very beautiful saluki in the back of the car, and nothing would do until they had touched noses and had a treat all round.

If the local farmer hadn't arrived in his tractor and needed to get past, I think we'd be there still.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

An odd night. Lily didn't want to go up to bed with her beloved Twit, preferring to bed down on the sofa - she often does this and eventually bounces into the bedroom in the early hours. But after an hour we heard her barking. This is unusual, unless she wants garden zoomies or she's excited about an imminent walk. If she needs a wee, she lets us know by coming to the door and whimpering, but she was still downstairs.

I went down to see what she wanted, and she was still on the sofa, staring at the fireplace and barking. There was nothing to be seen. I sat with her for a while and she calmed down, so I went back upstairs - five minutes later she started again. I went back down - nothing. I calmed her down and went back to bed. This happened twice more and then she shot upstairs and slept like a log for the rest of the night.

As I type this she's sofa surfing next to me. The fireplace is of no interest at all.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Is it a working fireplace i.e. has an open chimney? Birds bats inside it?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Is it a working fireplace i.e. has an open chimney? Birds bats inside it?


It is, but it's capped


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily is Very Pleased with herself. This morning we were back at the kennels to walk some of their hounds, and she behaved impeccably again.

The first hound we walked was Joe, who is big and bouncy and highly reactive and who nearly had me over twice. He's very strong-willed, especially when it comes to quite who decides which way to go (No, Joe, you are not going to drag me through that patch of nettles...) and will need a home with an very experienced owner. I feel he may be there some time.

Then we exercised some friends: little shy Spirit, who is so much more confident since last week; Ivy, who was returned for being too timid and too boisterous (I can't quite work that out) and who, since she was returned, has become very distressed when her poo is cleared up - which makes us wonder quite what happened in what was supposed to be her forever home - and Mindy, who was supposed to go to her new home on Monday, but has been poorly and is being looked after in kennels until her tummy trouble is cleared up, And Lily loved them all.

Then we went to the pub, where we met another two greyhounds, and there was much sniffing and play bowing.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Good girl, Lily!

We start and end our regular country walk on the fishtail collar and lead: Lily wears her Cosydogs harness and as soon as we leave the road the long line goes on the harness and the fishtail and lead come off. 

Today Fat Mum had a Touch of the Twits, and managed to take the collar off before the long line was clipped on. Lily, happy to be on the long line - or so she thought - started to walk on, completely unsecured. FM made a grab for the ring on the harness and said "Lily Wait" - and before my fingers touched the ring, she'd stopped dead.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Good girl, Lily!
> 
> We start and end our regular country walk on the fishtail collar and lead: Lily wears her Cosydogs harness and as soon as we leave the road the long line goes on the harness and the fishtail and lead come off.
> 
> Today Fat Mum had a Touch of the Twits, and managed to take the collar off before the long line was clipped on. Lily, happy to be on the long line - or so she thought - started to walk on, completely unsecured. FM made a grab for the ring on the harness and said "Lily Wait" - and before my fingers touched the ring, she'd stopped dead.


Fabulous, they never cease to amaze when they actually do something so good


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Fabulous, they never cease to amaze when they actually do something so good


She also refused flat blind to cross a road today when I gave her the wrong command: she seems to know the difference between "Come" and "Cross".


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily has not have an Excellent Day since last Monday. Not one. Lily has had a Rotten Week.

Fat Mum is on a course, which means that she gets up at crack of sparrowcough, before Lily has woken up, and runs away, leaving Lily alone with Twit Features ALL DAY! And what time does she get back? Teatime! Not good enough!

Poor Lily has tried everything she can think of. Lily has howled and cried and sulked, and refused to be comforted with peanut butter licks or yoghurt or Kongs (although she has eaten all these because it is rude not to). Lily has TOLD the Twit to find Fat Mum, and he just says that Fat Mum will be back soon. Lily has refused to walk any further than the gate unless Fat Mum is there. Lily insists that she spends hours and hours on evening walks just to show Fat Mum how lovely long walks are so that Fat Mum will stop going on the course and stay at home with Lily and enjoy long walks. Lily has even started digging a Very Big Hole in the middle of the lawn to try and tunnel her way to Fat Mum.

Lily says Fat Mum and Twit Features are not her real Mummy and Daddy. Lily's Real Mummy wouldn't run away and go on a course just so that she can earn a bit more money to spend on Lily. Lily's Real Daddy wouldn't let Lily's Real Mummy do that. Nor would he say "What a good girl, asleep on the sofa" when it should be obvious even to a Twit that Lily is just trying to work out what she can try next to make her Mummy come home.

Lily's Real Mummy and Daddy wouldn't do that.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Lily has not have an Excellent Day since last Monday. Not one. Lily has had a Rotten Week.
> 
> Fat Mum is on a course, which means that she gets up at crack of sparrowcough, before Lily has woken up, and runs away, leaving Lily alone with Twit Features ALL DAY! And what time does she get back? Teatime! Not good enough!
> 
> ...


Oh no has your course finished? Poor lily.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Boxer123 said:


> Oh no has your course finished? Poor lily.


No - I have another week and a half to go! But I am forgiven every night when I get home, and we had a lovely day yesterday.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Yesterday we went to exercise the hounds at the kennels, but it was too wet to take them out (Lily says "Wimps! It was not too wet for me, and I hate the rain!") We offered to help with grooming, but Lily suddenly went into full-blown panic mode, so we took her on a walk and came away. I think it was the noise - every single hound was barking loudly (too be honest, I think they were trying to tell us that a walk would be nice!)

Then we had a bit of a Trying Time. First we had to go to Argos, and the Twit parked in the covered part of the car park, which is dark: Fat Mum stayed in the back of the car with Lily, who kept her eyes firmly fixed on the doors until the Twit reappeared - there was a little whimpering, but no more than usual. Next stop was the local convenience store, where the Twit stayed with Lily and FM simply galloped around the shop, trying frantically to remember what might have been on the shopping list if she'd bothered to write one; and then the pet shop, where a Twit and his hound remained in the car while FM stocked up on the necessities of life, like Buffalo Tails, Magic Bones and Chicken and Cheese Treats; and finally to the computer repair shop, where FM and Lily had girly cuddles and kisses while Twit Features tried to explain to the man who sorts his laptop out what he'd managed to do this time and what he was actually been trying to do. FM refused to go in instead on the grounds that she gets highly embarrassed when the Man Who Mends Laptops falls about laughing and enquires how the blue hells Twit Features does it. It was all a bit much for a little girl, but she only cried at the first stop.

Then - and about time, sez Lily - we had a nice walk by the canal, and met several nice dogs, and went for our weekly pub lunch. Lily had ham sandwich and chips and some cheese and helped FM and TF finish their icecreams. And said hello to a young girl and let her rub her ears. After the week she's had, we were expecting the worst and were pleasantly surprised.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Velcro Girl has had a big intake of Brave.

She refused to go for a walk with her Twit on Monday - but on Tuesday he managed to persuade her out of the house, down to the corner of the road, back up past our house to the tenth house up - where she froze and insisted on turning back - and then down back past home to the corner again, back to the tenth house and then home. Not very far, but at least she went for a walk. There was very little whimpering or whining all day, and in the evening - when he did the supermarket run - she was too busy with her yoghurt pot to take much notice of him going, and jumped up on the sofa to sit with me straight afterwards. She didn't even run to greet him when she heard his key in the lock.

Yesterday he walked her up the little footpath to the road junction - they only turned back when the skies opened and the rain started to pelt down. I should say this was about half a mile. She didn't stress out at all during the day, and only started to get excited when it was about the time I've usually been getting home (and of course the bus was late...)

She's very clingy when I get home, but much, much less stressed than she has been. And of course a little girl whose Mummy ran away All Day gets treats...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Well, yesterday lunchtime we went to the local to celebrate the fact that the Twit and I have been living together for 20 years and I haven't killed him yet. We had a very nice lunch, and Lily had a ham sandwich, some of my fish pie and some of the Twit's burger. And some icecream.

It was a very nice lunch, but it was cut short due to two small children who simply wouldn't leave Lily alone. She was not in the mood to be fussed, but they kept coming up to us and trying. I have no idea where their parents were - nowhere in sight, and I suspect the kids had been sent out to play in the children's play area unsupervised - otherwise I'd have gone and had a word with them. So after the third time, when Lily was backing away and tucking her tail firmly between her legs, we knocked back our drinks and left.

I did explain, several times and in child-friendly language, that she doesn't like to be fussed and I didn't want them to fuss her, but the little swine - sorry, darlings - took no notice.

I have gone back on my principles and have ordered her a "Nervous Dog" vest. I don't want to, but it might get the message over if I explain that it means they should keep away from her. And although Lily is by no means aggressive, it might help get the message into parents' heads as well.

(Madam had recovered by our evening walk - she met several of our friends and was happy to have a word with them. Including a chap who we only know as "Izzy's Dad" who was out without Izzy but with his wife, and greeted us with a cry of "Look! It's Lily and her Mummy and Daddy! I've told you all about them!". We didn't recognise him without Izzy. I swear Lily has a better social life than we do.)


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

I do so hope you are writing all these 'days out' in a Diary or small book. It would be lovely to send it to the Dogs Trust or equivalent for people to read what its like to take on a 'nervous' to start with dog & how well things can turn out if your willing to make the effort for them.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> I do so hope you are writing all these 'days out' in a Diary or small book. It would be lovely to send it to the Dogs Trust or equivalent for people to read what its like to take on a 'nervous' to start with dog & how well things can turn out if your willing to make the effort for them.


That's very kind of you, but honestly we're just doing this by guess and by god (with help from this forum!) and patience.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

I, and I'm sure many others who are reading these brilliant stories of Lily's new and exciting life with you and TF, think you have done, and are continuing to do, amazing things for that girl & I applaud you both & of course Lily for being such a good girl x


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Well, today was - erm - interesting. I am now home all day but have a distance learning course to do, with the first assignment due on - gulp - Saturday. (I was unable to start it before today for various reasons, none of which were my fault). So, up at 7.00 am and frantic catch up on the work.

I digress. When Lily finally arose from her pit - at 11.00 am - she was clearly amazed that I was at home. She had breakfast, I had an aspirin and a large coffee, TW had a coffee and we went for a walk. Now, I have been pondering whether it might be possible to let Lily off-leash along the little fenced path to the woods: there's a gate at the end, and nowhere she can escape. Or so I thought.

Someone has very kindly chopped back the brambles, nettles and small branches that were overhanging the path, making it a lot easier to walk along. I was contemplating the possibility of letting Madam off-leash, when we came to a bit where the chopping back had been a bit over severe and there was a large hole in the hedge. Lily suddenly dived into it, there was the sound of a panicking squirrel, and I was nearly off my feet. I managed to stop her pulling (it's at moments like this that t I realise quite how strong 28kg of over-excited greyhound actually is), the squirrel made a rapid exit and an annoyed voice from the other side of the hedge shouted "Get your bloody dog out of my sodding garden!" I hauled the miscreant hound out and shouted my apologies, and we went on our way, one of us reluctantly and another of us wondering if her shoulder was dislocated...

Needless to say, I shall not be letting a certain someone run free along the path....


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

When they wanna go they sure can! Sometimes even what you believe is a 100% recall perfect dog still has the ability to go. You had her on lead so you have now learnt that lesson so be glad of it as a reminder. It's a matter of judgement where & when to let them off I've found. I can appreciate your shoulder problem as I do have a rotary cuff problem myself due to a similar situation as you some years ago! Lily is still a lovely girl that is doing so well thanks to you.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> When they wanna go they sure can! Sometimes even what you believe is a 100% recall perfect dog still has the ability to go. You had her on lead so you have now learnt that lesson so be glad of it as a reminder. It's a matter of judgement where & when to let them off I've found. I can appreciate your shoulder problem as I do have a rotary cuff problem myself due to a similar situation as you some years ago! Lily is still a lovely girl that is doing so well thanks to you.


She had a good look at the hole in the hedge on the way back (honestly, the hedge is about 6 foot thick, and if it was my garden I'd be checking for gaps and blocking them off - an adult could, with determination, have got through it, but when's all said and done it was my hound in his garden) but Fat Mum was determined that there was nothing to see here, move on, and an unhappy hound walked on.

I wonder whether it was Interesting Rustling In The Undergrowth that set her off. It's the first time she's behaved like that since well before Christmas, when two randy squirrels lost their balance, fell out of the tree and landed on the path right under her nose... more work to be done on calm behaviour.

There's a couple of secured fields not too far away where you can rent sole use for a fiver for half an hour, so I'm going to check them out with a view to letting Lily have a good run off lead.

The shoulder's still a bit sore, but useable.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

The Curse Of Twit Features has struck again.

Me having said that I was going to buy a "Nervous Dog" jacket for Lily, he decided he'd do so.

It arrived this morning. It is not a jacket. Not even the twittiest of Twits could mistake it for a jacket. It is a bandana. It is patently obviously a bandana. It is a large triangle of bright yellow cotton bearing the motto "I Am Nervous" in two-inch high letters. I have no idea of how to affix it to Madam: if I fold it into a bandana the lettering is too large for the warning to be read, and if I don't it'll flap about in the breeze and drive Lily mad until she manages to tear it off.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Too hot for a delicate little hound. Much, much too hot. We have all windows open and Lily is wiped down frequently with a damp cloth (she won't put up with cooling coats or an artfully draped damp teatowel) and walks are restricted to very early morning and late at night. And she really doesn't want to go very far when we do go out.

While we're indoors, she alternates between being out for the count and being hyperactive. Her boredom has been taken out on her favourite squeaky, which is now in shreds (it was a Christmas present, so all things considered it's lasted quite well) and an old blanket, which until yesterday formed part of her bed but is now more hole than fabric. She cannot be bothered to play even gentle games. Yesterday she showed her displeasure by having a good gnaw at the bannisters - a habit I thought we'd trained her out of. She announces her boredom loudly. The neighbours have never heard a greyhound in full voice before - normally she's a quiet little girl - and have been phoning up to see if everything is all right.

If we let her out into the garden, Sunshine Girl wants to lie in the sun. The little passageway to the backdoor is cool and shady and floored with quarry-tiles, and is where she is fed, but will she go and lie on a soft bed in there? Will she Nanny Woof. It is, apparently, her dining room and Elegant If Hot Hounds do not sleep in the dining room. If necessary, she goes upstairs and plays flopsy bunny on the landing, which is dark and stuffy. She shoulder-charged her way into the bathroom and had a fun time destroying an entire pack of loo rolls. Fortunately Fat Mum has succeeded in training the Twit to put the soap back in the soapbox and the soapbox back in the bathroom cabinet, otherwise she'd be back to her old habit of eating the soap. Fat Mum says if this goes on much longer, she'll be the one eating the soap. Or hitting the bottle. 

In short, Lily wishes her people would sort the weather out.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Perhaps you and Lily could write begging letters on Spirit's behalf to TF?


I forgot to let you know - when we went to exercise the Trust's hounds on Saturday, we walked with another of their volunteers, who has re-homed two hounds from there, and also volunteers as a dog-walker. Anyway, as we hadn't walked any hounds for a fortnight, we asked her about various hounds we've met - and Spirit has a new home! Spirit has been adopted by this girl's Nanny, who loves greyhounds, and has settled in nicely. 
And little nervous Ivy was full of confidence and was due to go to her forever home - who are used to hounds, and already have one, so Ivy will have a big brother to show her the ropes - yesterday. Ivy walked beautifully and stuck to Lily's side - this time it was her who was showing Lily where the best sniffs were.

Poor little Mindy, whose adoption was postponed because she was poorly sick, has recovered and gone to her new home.

We walked five hounds in total - one big bouncy one who Lily didn't like much after he stuck his muzzled snoot up her bum (he tried that with my crotch, as well!). And we met Diva, who is not a happy girl at the moment because an off-lead dog ran up to her and attacked her. She has stitches in her offside foreleg, and a nasty-looking wound in her armpit which looks almost as though a bite's been taken out of her. She's happy in the company of other hounds, but at the moment has to be kept on a short lead if there are other dogs about - I think she may be at the Trust for some time, not least because of her wounds.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

No hound-walking yesterday. So we went to our local pet shop, where I bought Madam a "timid dog" bandana - the sort that just slips on over the collar - and Lily had a biscuit and a free treat for later. Then we had a Very Long Walk on the common. It was cool and after the last week's weather Lily was very grateful to be out and about. Lots of cars on the carparks, but very few people about (FM asks: Where were they? Had the cars driven themselves for a nice day out?)

Most of the people we met had very well-mannered dogs, and Lily liked them all, except for a very large English Bulldog, who was exceedingly bouncy and tried to mug TF for biscuits. And there was the dachshund, with ideas above its station, who decided that Lily was just Too Big and barked itself into a state of hysteria. Lily, bless her, just looked down her long elegant muzzle with her "As the late Queen Mary and I were saying..." expression.

And we met frogs. We'd seen tadpoles in the pond a few months back, and Lily looked on in interest while Fat Mum rescued suicidal tadpoles who'd beached themselves, whale-like, on the margins of the pond, but this time there were frogs! And they go Bound! and jump and Lily goes Bound! and jumps after them, and Fat Mum lurches forward on the other end of the lead and says Blimey Our Lil, You'll Have My Arm Out Of The Socket.

Several hours later we retired to the pub and lunch, and the new bandana went on. It doesn't actually say "Timid Dog" - it reads "Caution! Give Me Space!" - and it had the desired effect. The pub garden was quiet when we got there, but there was a wedding in the marque, and after a while the guests flooded out into the garden and a tidal wave of over-excited kids headed to the play area. 

One glance at Madam's latest fashion accessory, and the majority of people were keeping their distance and warning their off-spring not to approach "that pretty doggie". One of the wedding party had hounds of his own, and came over to see her: we had a long chat about how loving greyhounds are, and how a lot of people seem to think that they're starved and ill-treated to make them race. Two other dog owners wandered over to have a word, and we talked about why she was wearing her bandana. Everyone respected her space. And what did she do while this was happening? Lay down on her blanket like a good girl and ate her new treat. It was more of a chew than a treat - shaped like a toothbrush and apparently very yum indeed. This is the first time she's been interested in chewy treats when we go out - biscuits, training treats fair enough, but normally she'll only look at chewy treats at home. I shall stock up on these new ones...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Back to some serious training yesterday. We haven't done a great deal yesterday - firstly because I was cream-crackered when I was on my course, and secondly because of the heat. But yesterday, being nice and cool, we picked up again.

We started with long-line recall training in the second of the horses' fields. On the first attempt, Lily decided to ignore "Wait" and came wuffling up to me for the expected treat, and was more than a little disappointed when no treat was forthcoming. On the second and subsequent attempts she realised what the game was, and waited until called. Good girl! When we'd done enough, we walked on to the third field, and she was very interested in a horse being lunged - we had to have a good long look at that.

"Wait" worked well when we came through the hound-gate and onto the lane - there's a verge here, but no footpath, and we always wait while Twit Features hauls himself over the stile and Fat Mum checks there's no traffic about. Sometimes excited little hounds want to bound straight out onto the lane, but yesterday she listened and remembered and waited patiently.

Lily remembered how the kissing gate worked as well - after the first time we went through it she knew exactly what to do, but we haven't been down there for a few weeks because of the horseflies. No flies yesterday, though, and she slinked her way through beautifully, much to the admiration of a couple with a labrador, who wasn't certain about it at all. 

Then we had scent training - in the form of "Hunt The Twit" in the woods, which was only slightly interrupted by the fact that there were muntjac in the high woods, and they're much more interesting to scent. She came on nicely when asked to, though.

We still have problems with crossing the road to the woods. She'll cross nicely when we cross from the little footpath to the woods, but not when coming the other way. We freeze and have to be tempted on - sometimes we freeze in the middle of the road and have to be carried across. It's not a busy road - at this point it stops at the entrance to the flats - but there's something that spooks her. We've started turning up the road for a few yards before crossing, and this seems to be a slight improvement.

And then - just to finish the walk off on a high note - we met Perry and his Dad. Perry is a very gentle lurcher who was the very first dog that Lily met when she came to live with us, and they love each other. So there were sniffs and helicopter tails and treats all round. Perry's Dad is one of the few people who Lily will go up to and greet, so it was lovely to meet them after some weeks.

Next Saturday will be her first Gotcha day. Where has the time gone?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Turning a negative into a positive.

Our first attempt at recall-on-a-long-line was a failure again, Lily being unable to work out why she should be bothered to wait until told to come. A lack of cheese and sausage reminded her of what we were doing, and from then on she waited, on a loose line, until called.

That's not the turning point. After a quick hand of "Find Fat Mum", we were walking back through the woods, TF striding merrily ahead and Lil and I bringing up the rear, when she froze in the middle of the path. She leant back on the line like Delaney's donkey, and I was about to start bribing her when a thought struck me.

I let the line fall loose and told her to wait. A look of distain crossed those noble little features - she was clearly thinking "That's what I am doing, you damn fool." I walked a few feet on, the line still loose, turned, put my hand on the treat bag and cried encouragingly "Lily come!"

The words were scarcely out of my mouth when there was a hound nosing at my hand and telling me she was a Good Girl.

One to remember for the future.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Today Lily had another Big Adventure.

We went on our long circular walk through the fields, and played the recall game. Just over halfway round there is a track leading down past the old catteries and down to Penn Brook, where a little bridge leads to the coppice woods - when we have a wander here there are lots of paths to explore and sniffs to investigate. 

Lily does not like getting her feet wet. Unfortunately there is a bit of a tricky slope down to the bridge, and a little Fat Mum has to be a bit careful picking her way down. Today, Lily decided that the easiest way was to go down the gentler slope, take three steps across the bit where the brook is shallowest and up the bank the other side.

Fat Mum was astonished, and wondered whether the same thing might happen on the way back. And it did - as far as getting into the water was concerned. Then a certain little greyhound decided that Water Is Fun, and ran up and down the brook splashing away happily. After this, she got out, and then jumped back in again, running from bank to bank.

I have honestly never seen her have so much fun. And on the way home we saw Mr Foxie slinking back to his earth.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

This is Lily's Gotcha weekend. Tomorrow is a whole year since we adopted each other: where_ has_ the time gone? She's come a long way in a twelvemonth - still a Nervous Nellie, but much more confident, and with a fair variety of commands under her belt.

Gotcha Weekend started at teatime yesterday, as it was takeaway burger night from the local tearooms (situated very handily at the end of the road): a certain little stripehound shared our tea. Today was hound walking, with several of the Trust's hounds she's already friends with, followed by a pub lunch: someone had kibble, some of Fat Mum's cheesy jacket potato, a little of her Twit's ham sandwich and a surprise slice of chicken from the pub chef. And a new toy - a fearsome looking stuffie, who has been well chewed and shown round most of the house.

Tomorrow Fat Mum will be doing something vaguely Italian with mince, tomato and pasta. I dare say someone will be joining in...

(Looking at this, it suggests that we never feed her anything vaguely healthy - we do, honest!)


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## Guest (Aug 2, 2021)

Congratulations on your year together  I have enjoyed reading your tales.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

Happy Gotcha weekend Lily I hope you were suitably spoilt. I’ve ordered a personalised high viz for me to wear which says, ‘dog in training please give space’ we will see if it works.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Well, a certain someone is marking their anniversary with a big dose of Brave.

Lily isn't too fond of the pub we went to on Saturday: she's okay when we get there, but tends to freeze on the carpark (there are two, one of which is outside the pub boundary and which we have to cross to get to the pub's own carpark). However, on Saturday we were in the car, and parked at the pub boundary. No hesitation from Madam - straight in. Yesterday we passed the first car park twice (on separate walks) and she showed every sign of wanting to go to the pub, although we didn't weaken to the temptation. Today we decided to have a coffee mid-walk, and she crossed both car parks nicely, pausing only when the pub cat sat and stared at her. As said pub cat is a bit of a thug, I can't say I blame her. We had a pleasant break and she was not at all startled by the children playing noisily in the beer garden.

And there's more. On our way back, I needed to pop to the local shop which is on the main road. Traffic and Lily is not a happy mix, but she walked very happily along the pavement, crossed nicely at the lights and very nearly followed me into the shop. Delighted with our progress, we walked further up the main road to the pet shop, which she came into after a little hesitation and very nearly made friends with the owner. Walking back was no problem either - nice confident tail all the way.

She is now flat out on the bed with her beloved Twit and another new stuffie.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

And now we have disgraced ourself.

Fat Mum was reheating yesterday's pasta sauce and foolishly left the wooden spoon I'd been stirring it with on the draining board.

Cue the sound of pattering little feet, followed by graunching sounds from the hall.

You guessed it.

But I am pleased to say that I managed to take the remains of the spoon away from her without any resource guarding.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

What a mixed week! On Tuesday, Madam had her nails clipped - this was at the Trust we adopted her from, and she was a good girl and made no fuss. Unfortunately, once we got home I wasn't quick enough to file down the little sharp edges before she jumped up at me - and I was wearing short sleeves - as a result of which my forearms look as though I've been fighting off a mad axe murderer.

The weather has been foul this week, and Lily doesn't like getting wet, so she has been a Most Unhappy Hound, and we've been privy to Mad Indoor Zoomies. But on Friday we went back to the National Trust property where we volunteer, and she was a good girl while I was working - curled up in the volunteer's rest room and a lack of howling or whimpering. If all goes well, she'll be appearing with her Beloved Twit as the estate's Noble Hunting Hound.

Yesterday we were back at the Trust (greyhound rather than National) for our weekly stint of exercising the hounds. There are a lot of very big bouncy boys at the moment - too big and bouncy for a little Fat Mum to control, so I walked Lily while TF walked the lads. I was particularly glad of this when we walked Ted, who is very reactive to any dog who isn't a greyhound. There was a very nasty moment when he took great offence at a nervous Lab who was too frightened too move. - Ted refused to move and was lunging and snarling, and the Lab's Mum was - understandably - very upset. The Trust's hounds all have to be muzzled when walked, but even so it was a very nasty encounter. In the end TF forced Ted away with brute strength, and I tried to apologise, but was unable to calm the woman down (the fact that I had Lily, who was perfectly behaved, probably didn't help). To be honest, if she'd turned her dog round, we might have been able to drag Ted back, but she was just frozen against the wall and screaming (which also didn't help much). We explained this to the Trust when we took Ted back, and Lord knows who will take him on. Kind and gentle words don't work, and neither does a Stern Voice. What I feel he needs is someone to work on his reactiveness every day - let's hope he gets it.

Lily was a bit subdued after all this, so we treated her to a pub lunch. Jacket potato and cheese goes down a treat.


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> What a mixed week! On Tuesday, Madam had her nails clipped - this was at the Trust we adopted her from, and she was a good girl and made no fuss. Unfortunately, once we got home I wasn't quick enough to file down the little sharp edges before she jumped up at me - and I was wearing short sleeves - as a result of which my forearms look as though I've been fighting off a mad axe murderer.
> 
> The weather has been foul this week, and Lily doesn't like getting wet, so she has been a Most Unhappy Hound, and we've been privy to Mad Indoor Zoomies. But on Friday we went back to the National Trust property where we volunteer, and she was a good girl while I was working - curled up in the volunteer's rest room and a lack of howling or whimpering. If all goes well, she'll be appearing with her Beloved Twit as the estate's Noble Hunting Hound.
> 
> ...


Oh it's very difficult with reactive hounds. Let's hope someone can give him a nice quiet home.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Big brave girl again yesterday. 

We spent the whole day with the National Trust. The Twit and I booked a half-day shift each - he in the morning and I in the afternoon - and arranged that we'd split each shift between us, so that only one of us was working in the house at a time - the idea being that the other one would walk Velcro Girl, or sit in the volunteers' room with her.

Lily had a ball (as in a good time). We had half an hour's walk before the shifts started, and she had a good long explore through the woods. She went into the volunteers' room quite happily, and wasn't too fazed by the people in there - indeed, by the end of the day, she'd made friends with the head gardener and let him fuss her up. The Twit took her for another walk while I waffled on to visitors about The Life Of A Seventeenth Century Servant, then I had her while he burbled on about the escape of Charles II. After a split lunchbreak, she and he sat outside by the entrance door and talked to visitors while I went back to being a servant - this went so well that in fact they spent the whole afternoon there. Madam was much admired, behaved herself impeccably and let several people get quite close to her. Afterwards we went to the pub for a quick restoring pint (or "muscle relaxant", as a friend of mine would say), and Lily actually approached one of the bar staff for a fuss.

She was so tired when we got home that she just wanted her tea and to sleep. We had to force her outside for a pre-bed toileting session, after which she went straight back to bed.

She was such a good girl, and we had very little nerves or shyness. We go back on Friday, so fingers crossed for then.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Well, three days at the National Trust and a half day hound walking, and Lily is still behaving perfectly, if a little timidly at times. We have had one complaint about her at the National Trust, and that was from a visitor sho doesn't like dogs. As Lily was nowhere near the visitor and was on a short lead (and dogs are allowed in the gardens and grounds providing that they're on short leads) we've been advised to take no notice.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Not just a Good Girl today - a Superb Girl.

Another day at the National Trust, and Ms Shy And Retiring suddenly approached a elderly lady of her own accord, and started to love her up. The lady was delighted, and fussed her back. I was rather confused by the fact that she kept calling our girl "William" and telling us that she was a whippet - and then husband told us that William was a brindle whippet that they'd had many years ago and that the lady was suffering from dementia.

Meeting Lily apparently did this poor lady the power of good, and she was (so we were told) much more alert than she'd been for some time. The husband thanked us fulsomely.

I swear Lily knew. I am so proud of her.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Not just a Good Girl today - a Superb Girl.
> 
> Another day at the National Trust, and Ms Shy And Retiring suddenly approached a elderly lady of her own accord, and started to love her up. The lady was delighted, and fussed her back. I was rather confused by the fact that she kept calling our girl "William" and telling us that she was a whippet - and then husband told us that William was a brindle whippet that they'd had many years ago and that the lady was suffering from dementia.
> 
> ...


What a very lovely story. Yes they do know, are far more sensitive to these things than we are. Well done Lily clever girl. What a wonderful home you & TF have given Lily.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Oh dear. I fear that Twit may now have a bit of a reputation...

We were coming home from Lily's afternoon walk, she having taken exception to a group of runners, and my having taken exception to a young man with an over-excited collie whose idea of calming it down was to shout at it, when we reached the junction of the little public path with the end of our road. The fences are about 6 feet high here, and we can't see what - or who - is coming up the road.

Lily suddenly froze - she could definitely sense someone there. TF shortened her lead and moved to the side of the path, and round the corner came a young woman. Lily cringed (she was having one of her "Poor little me" days), the young lady looked a little nervous, and Twit Features said in tones of great jollity "Who's a good girl? Come here, Lily."

The young woman joined Lily in a game of statues, with a look of horror on her face. Now, I know the Twit isn't exactly love's young dream, but he doesn't normally have that effect on women. Thinking that it was the Noble Hound that had spooked her, I said gently "It's okay - Lily's very timid but very safe, aren't you, love?" and fondled Lil's ears.

At this point the young woman squeaked "My name's Lily!" and shot off down the path at a rate of knots. 

I spent most of the evening trying to explain to the Twit quite why she must have thought he was stalking her...


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## Boxer123 (Jul 29, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Oh dear. I fear that Twit may now have a bit of a reputation...
> 
> We were coming home from Lily's afternoon walk, she having taken exception to a group of runners, and my having taken exception to a young man with an over-excited collie whose idea of calming it down was to shout at it, when we reached the junction of the little public path with the end of our road. The fences are about 6 feet high here, and we can't see what - or who - is coming up the road.
> 
> ...


Oh dear :Hilarious


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Oh dear. I fear that Twit may now have a bit of a reputation...
> 
> We were coming home from Lily's afternoon walk, she having taken exception to a group of runners, and my having taken exception to a young man with an over-excited collie whose idea of calming it down was to shout at it, when we reached the junction of the little public path with the end of our road. The fences are about 6 feet high here, and we can't see what - or who - is coming up the road.
> 
> ...


woops poor TF


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2021)

Oh my


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Ha Ha Love it


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

And another Big Step Forward.

Lily does Not Like busy roads. Neither do I, and hence we tend to ignore them. But on Sunday we were coming back from our walk and she decided she wanted to walk down the next cul-de-sac to the one we live in.

We've walked a little way down it before, but usually she wants to turn back before the halfway point.

This time she trotted down the whole length quite happily, pausing only for the occasional sniff, until we reached the bottom, where it joins the main A road. It was busy, with one or two big delivery lorries zooming by. I quite expected that we'd have to turn back, but no - after a reassuring word and a cube or two of cheese, she walked along the 20 yards of pavement to the end of our road. She was a little apprehensive, and kept very close to us, but she did it.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

(Lily is so proud of herself that she has dictated this to me)

Today I have been Big Brave Good Girl, Good Girl Lily, Clever Girl.

Firstly we went for a walk along the old railway, and explored the woods and had coffee (and I had some coffee too, but Fat Mum says I shouldn't say that because coffee isn't good for Noble Hounds, but I have just told you so it is too late. It was only a lick or two, though). Then we went to the Heath and walked for hours and hours and hours. And I suddenly sniffed an Interesting Sniff and went to explore it, and it was a Dead Bunny.

I thought it was only Sleeping, but FM says it was definitely an ex-bunny. And I was standing over it enjoying the sniff when FM said "Lily Leave" and so I did and she gave me some little bits of sausage and cheese because I was Good Girl and made a Big Fuss of Me.

And then we played "Lily Wait, Lily Come" for a time, and I waited and came when I was called and there was more sausage and cheese treats and Clever Girl.

Then we had an icecream each - me as well! - and had a Nice Sit Down before we did a bit more walking. And I said Hello to a lot of dogs.

And when we got home, Mum realised that the clip on the seatbelt harness had broken and I was Completely Unsecured in the car. I was being Very Good Girl, though, sleeping on the back seat with my head on FM's lap.

And now I am asleep on the sofa.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> (Lily is so proud of herself that she has dictated this to me)
> 
> Today I have been Big Brave Good Girl, Good Girl Lily, Clever Girl.
> 
> ...


It's days like this that make it all worthwhile being good Lily. Love Dan xx


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Thats Excellent Lily, you are indeed a very good noble hound. 
Very good for not moving on the back seat even tho unattached as today the powers that be have announced a very large fine for anyone who has an unattached dog in their car!!!!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Thats Excellent Lily, you are indeed a very good noble hound.
> Very good for not moving on the back seat even tho unattached as today the powers that be have announced a very large fine for anyone who has an unattached dog in their car!!!!


The Twit has improvised a temporary repair until the replacement part arrives.

Today she found a dead rat at the back of the maze - again she left it when told to.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

(Lily wants to dictate again):

Lily here. I am going to a party! I may be going to two! I have not been to a party before, but FM says they will be Great Fun.

The first party is in two weeks time and is the part of the local Great Global Greyhound Walk. There will lots and lots of us Noble Hounds all walking in the local country park, and afterwards there will be Things To Eat and a game for us Noble Hounds called "Bobbing for Sausages".

FM and TF have helped me practice Sausage Bobbing in my water bowl and say I am Very Good at it: sometimes I manage to get the Sausage before it has a chance to hit the water!

And then two weeks after that, my friend Rantipole, who is the pussycat who lives at the local pub is ten years old and the pub is having a Beer Festival in his honour to celebrate! Mum says we will try and go so we can say Happy Birthday to him, but it may be a bit busy and crowded for a nervous little girl like me.

(Rantipole and Lily are not close friends, but they will sit about five yards apart and look at each other without reacting. Rantipole was a feral cat, and the Twit and I were the first people who he allowed to stroke him without violently attacking them.)


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

I like the sound of the GGG Walk, especially the sausage bobbing! Beer festival not so much, too much chance for bad behaviour, but I'm sure Lily will do you proud x


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> I like the sound of the GGG Walk, especially the sausage bobbing! Beer festival not so much, too much chance for bad behaviour, but I'm sure Lily will do you proud x


The beer festival is at a (normally) quiet little country pub, much beloved by walkers and dog walkers, so we'll keep fingers crossed.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily and her People at the National Trust,,,,


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Love the NT, not been as much since we got Dan though as we like to potter around the gardens and dogs not allowed in most of them. Great costumes though FM and TF


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Love the NT, not been as much since we got Dan though as we like to potter around the gardens and dogs not allowed in most of them. Great costumes though FM and TF


Two seventeenth century layabouts.... and Lily, who plays the part of a seventeenth century hunting hound.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Big Brave Girl again.

I've mentioned Lily's SA before: she's much, much better than she was, but still demands one of us with her at all times.

Today Twit Features has a lot of shopping to do in town, leaving me with Lily. Now, granted it's flipping hot, and she doesn't want to move much, but...
when the post arrived, Madam and I were having girlie cuddles on the sofa. I picked up the post, noticed it was next door's, and went round to pop it through their letter box _leaving Lily alone in the house for a few minutes. _When I came back, she was at the door waiting for me, but there was no whining, excitement at my return or any evidence of the wallpaper having been chewed.

I must admit that I didn't make any fuss of her, mainly because I didn't want her to think that me leaving her and coming back was a Big Thing. A little later I took some rubbish to the bin, and she came to the door again, to see what I was doing - and after a few minutes I took some more rubbish out. This time she couldn't even be bothered to get off the sofa.

It is now over two hours since TF left the house. What on earth can he be buying?? (Lily says she hopes it's treats).


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

[Lily is so proud of herself that she is insisting in dictating to me again]

I haz had a Very Busy Week being Good Girl Lily Clever Girl.

On Monday I went to the National Trust again and played at being a Noble Hunting Hound. I walked straight through the reception without freezing or whimpering and walked straight up to my new friend Auntie Gill so that she could fuss me up. And then I went into the volunteers' room which is dark dark dark and used to be a bit scary, but now I know that iz where the fridge iz and people keep their sangwidges in there, and there are often _biscuits _it iz not scary at all. And then I went outside with the Twit and went straight up to a lady who was in a wheelchair and who couldn't see very well, and she loved me up and told me all about how beautiful I iz, and I laid my head on her lap and she let me have a lick of icecream. It was a very little lick, bit it was strawberry and YUM!

On Tuesday we went to a Volunteers' Do with the National Trust. Fat Mum and Twit Features were going to take it in turns to stay outside with me, but the managers said No, Bring Her In, so we found a little table in the corner where I could lie in the corner and there weren't too many people approaching me. There was a buffet, and I was given a bowl with a lunch in it all for me! And I said hello to another lady in a wheelchair and was Very Good Indeed until the presentations started and there was a lot of clapping and the noise frightened me so FM took me outside until they all stopped banging their hands together. FM said Gor Blimey, The Acoustics In This Scout Hut Are Something Appalling, Just Think Of It Full Of Overexcited Cub Scouts, and TF said he'd rather not.

In the evening we went on our usual walk and I decided I wanted to go across the big frightening carpark and have a walk on the golf course, and it was Fun! And the car park was not too frightening, so yesterday I decided I wanted to do it all again! TF said Well Lily, We Seem To Have Cracked That One (but I do not know what he cracked - perhaps he can mend it with sticky tape) and I wanted to go to the pub on the way home and FM said That's My Girl, Lily and laughed. So they had beer, and I had water and some biscuits and sausages, and when we got home FM had to go and lie down. She said her knees were hurting her, but I think she was Wobbly. I think she catches Wobbles when we go to the pub.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Dan says "Lily you is living the dream"


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2021)

I love reading your Lily updates


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_(Lily again...)
_
I went to a party yesterday! It was part of the Great Global Greyhound Walk (FM says it should be called the Great Global Greyhound Gallumph) and there was over a hundred of us there! _(FM says - true. 96 rehomed greys, 12 from the kennels awaiting rehoming and 2 Italian Greyhounds. It was an awesome sight).
_
'Scuse me, Fat Mum, but this is _my _story. The kennels had brought Ted for the Twit to walk, and I was a bit sulky about that, because Ted has Issues and he takes up all the Twit's time on walks. So I walked with FM and we had lots of sniffs and I said hello to a lot of the other hounds and was not too skittish about their people. And I have to admit Ted was very good - he listened to the Twit, and passed eight non-greyhound dogs without a murmur - it's not so long since he'd have been up on his hind legs snarling and snapping at them. He did bounce at the ninth dog, but then that dog did bounce at Ted first. TF said Ted was Much Improved and just needs a Firm Hand, but FM said I was always a Good Girl and cuddled me.

Anyway, we walked for an hour and then went to the party. It was upstairs, and Ted has never done stairs before, so I was Good Girl Lily Kind Lily and showed him how - and there were treats, and sausage bobbing, and _biscuits _and I showed Ted how to mug TF and FM for cake. And there was a local vet there who FM is going to register me with because this vet is greyhound savvy and treats all the dogs from the local track, and FM says she is tired of explaining to the vet we are with now that greyhound's blood count and thyroid and things are not the same as Other Dogs and she is not spending hundreds of pounds on tests that don't need doing. Anyway, the new vet said I was a nice little girl, and checked me over and said my eyes and ears and nails and body condition are Spot On and FM and TF are doing everything Just Right. And then she looked at my teefs and said O What Lovely Pearly White Teefs, Greyhounds Usually Have Dreadful Teefs, What Are You Doing To Keep Them So Healthy? and FM said Lily Has A Bison Tail To Gnaw After Her Walks And A Whimzzy In The Evening and the vet said Gordon Bennett I Will Have To Recommend That You Just Keep On With It And She May Never Need Dental Work.

So after that we had another bit of cake to celebrate and Ted was Taken Short on the floor and FM had to clear it up (and everybody laughed and said O I Was Afraid My Hound Would Do That) and it was time to go. I helped Ted go down the stairs and we said goodbye, and FM and TF and I went to the pub and then for another walk.

It was a lovely party.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

This iz Lily and I iz Not Happy. It has been wet wet wet and I do not like getting wet and miserable on my walks. It was not wet and horrible on Monday and FM took me for a LONG Walk through the meadows at the National Trust, and it was lovely at the time but when I got home I was all itchy and graunching at my bum and my lovely long tail and FM had a look and said Oh My Good Gawd She's Picked Up Bloody Grass Fleas Nasty Little Sods and went and got the flea comb and she found Hundreds! She said there were half a dozen but I know it was Thousands. So I had to have a Tablet (which she cunningly wrapped in squeezy cheese so I just went Gulp and didn't notice it) and she has been Frantically Hoovering.

And yesterday we went to a local history meeting, which was boring so I fell asleep under the table, and then we went to the chippy for supper and FM and I stopped outside while TF opened his wallet to buy fishy chips and give the moths an airing and it was Horrid outside! It was dark and there were lots of cars that I couldn't see properly except for their lights and lots and lots of noisy people and I simply Howled because I was Not Happy.

But we all had fishy chips for supper, and there is some Cod for my tea tonight. And later today I am going to the Pub to meet my new friend Peggy and tell her not to be so nervous about Going Outside (she had an Unfortunate Encounter with a car and broke her leg, so I am Not Surprised she does not like Going Outside and FM says I should be Thankful that the Worst Thing that happens to me is a few grass fleas and standing outside the chippy in the dark, but I am not).

But when we go to the pub I always get some Pub Lunch, so perhaps life is not so bad after all...


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> This iz Lily and I iz Not Happy. It has been wet wet wet and I do not like getting wet and miserable on my walks. It was not wet and horrible on Monday and FM took me for a LONG Walk through the meadows at the National Trust, and it was lovely at the time but when I got home I was all itchy and graunching at my bum and my lovely long tail and FM had a look and said Oh My Good Gawd She's Picked Up Bloody Grass Fleas Nasty Little Sods and went and got the flea comb and she found Hundreds! She said there were half a dozen but I know it was Thousands. So I had to have a Tablet (which she cunningly wrapped in squeezy cheese so I just went Gulp and didn't notice it) and she has been Frantically Hoovering.
> 
> And yesterday we went to a local history meeting, which was boring so I fell asleep under the table, and then we went to the chippy for supper and FM and I stopped outside while TF opened his wallet to buy fishy chips and give the moths an airing and it was Horrid outside! It was dark and there were lots of cars that I couldn't see properly except for their lights and lots and lots of noisy people and I simply Howled because I was Not Happy.
> 
> ...


Hello Lily Dan here, you is very brave. I do not like the wet it makes my lovely fur go all soggy and my tail flops down. Hoomum puts me a coat on sometimes but I still gets a wet belly and legs, but gets a nice cuddle wrap in blanket when we gets home, which is nice. I hates the comb and sticky blobs that get stuck to my legs an wrap round my furry butt. I also refuses to go out in the dark, too many scary monsters that might eat furry little dogs, hoomans do not even try to take me out now, I have trained them well, no treats involved just hide behind sofa, the soon get the message.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Glad all is still going so well with the Noble Hound, such adventures you 3 are having, life is good


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

This iz Lily again. I did not like the pub very much yesterday, because it was too wet and cold to sit outside in the beer garden, and the wind was blowing and made the sides of the marquee go Flap Flap Flap very noisily, and I do not like inside the pub becasue it iz Dark. And I met Peggy again and she did Not Like the Flappity Flap very much either (and FM says she was much braver than me but that iz a Lie) and I had Steak and Cheese and Snosidge and Calabrese for my lunch, which was Yum. Peggy only had a few treats because her People had ordered burgers and there was Onion in them. I like Peggy, but not enough to share my lunch with her. And I had two treats from Peggy's Dad, and then Peggy and I made friends with a cockerpoo called Frank. We took my friend Rantipole The Pub Cat his birthday card and present because FM says his Birthday Beer Festival today might be Too Much for me, especially if the marquee goes Flappity Flap again.

It started to rain on the way home, but FM was Prepared and had my light raincoat in her bag. And she put this on me over my nice warm pink fleece coat I was already wearing, so I was nice and warm as well as nice and dry on the way home.

It did not rain on the way there, and we played the Recall Game three times in the horses' field and I got it right every time and got Treats!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily sez:
_
Hello friends: it haz been a bit of a mixed week here. Fat Mum and Twit Features are a bit down over something but keep hugging me and telling me that I iz the best thing that ever happned to them. _(Fat Mum says: someone who is nothing to do with us or our lifestyle has been spreading rumours about how objectionable she finds Lily: but these don't affect us at all other than being hurtful.)
_
Oh. I can be objecitonable if she wants me to! Shall I?? Anyway, last week My Friend Peggy The Greyhound and I met for lunch again - FM sez that we are Ladies That Lunch, and our hoomans just tag along, and she's not wrong there. Peggy was really confident, and we spoke to some new people. We are lunching again today.

And FM sez I am really clever: when we play the recall game now I go to whichever of my people is calling me straight away, and simple _*bounce *_with excitement because I get treats and fuss and Good Girl Lily Clever Girl. And when I get in the back of the car with Fat Mum I always get a treat and then she says Turn Round For The Twit (because he fastens me in so I iz safe safe safe), and then I get another treat, so I have started Turning Round For The Twit when I am asked.

She found a flea on my bum this week, and that was not so good.

Lily


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily sez:
> _
> Hello friends: it haz been a bit of a mixed week here. Fat Mum and Twit Features are a bit down over something but keep hugging me and telling me that I iz the best thing that ever happned to them. _(Fat Mum says: someone who is nothing to do with us or our lifestyle has been spreading rumours about how objectionable she finds Lily: but these don't affect us at all other than being hurtful.)
> _
> ...


Oh Lily a mixture of a week... But a flea on your bum not good!


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## Guest (Oct 14, 2021)

Lily there is nothing objectionable about you. Nothing at all. 
Tell FM and The Twit to try not to feel down. We love you. Xx


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Oh Lily a mixture of a week... But a flea on your bum not good!


The naughty flea made my little stripey bum go itch itch itch and FM said O Mi Good Gawd Not Again and we went outside with the flea comb. I iz taking tablets to make sure he did not bring any little friends with him.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

J. Dawson said:


> Lily there is nothing objectionable about you. Nothing at all.
> Tell FM and The Twit to try not to feel down. We love you. Xx


FM and The Twit say she is a miserable old trout and if anyone is objectionable it is her (and FM says she is going to hunt her down and tell her so to her face).

We iz alright. We had a pub lunch with Peggy and it was Pie and it was Yum. And Peggy and her people are Nice.


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily sez:
> _
> Hello friends: it haz been a bit of a mixed week here. Fat Mum and Twit Features are a bit down over something but keep hugging me and telling me that I iz the best thing that ever happned to them. _(Fat Mum says: someone who is nothing to do with us or our lifestyle has been spreading rumours about how objectionable she finds Lily: but these don't affect us at all other than being hurtful.)
> _
> ...


Oh Lily I do enjoy your updates you'll have to update more often please


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Bloody off-lead dogs and their inconsiderate owners.

Today Lily had had a very good walk indeed, and we were mooching our way home - on the leash - along the Seven Cornfields, when suddenly an off-lead spaniel runs towards her along the cart-track.

Lily, little friend of all the world, is quite happy to sniff noses and bums. Then, just as the spaniel's people approach, things start to get out of hand. Spaniel's people tell him, very halfheartedly, that our girl doesn't want to play. Neither did the spaniel - he's suddenly decided to mount her. Lily does not want to know, (and neither do we) - we try to pull her away and distract sex-mad dog, Lily tries to get away into the field (and succeeds in getting herself under some barbed wire) and the spaniel follows her. Spaniel's people cannot see any problem here, other than asking if we want a hand in getting her out.

All things considered, I was remarkably well-behaved. I did not shout or swear: I told them in no uncertain terms that what I wanted them to do was put their oversexed dog on the lead and take him away. They appeared to think the whole encounter was quite funny - I was too busy in getting Madam out under the barbed wire without hurting her (which I did: she's a clever little girl).

Grr...


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

Arrrggghhhh! I'm sorry to read about Lily's encounter with that sex mad fiend.
Hope she's forgotten it now with a yummy tea?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

SbanR said:


> Arrrggghhhh! I'm sorry to read about Lily's encounter with that sex mad fiend.
> Hope she's forgotten it now with a yummy tea?


I think tonight's tea will include sardines: she's been very well behaved, all things considered, and Big Brave Girls deserve a special tea.


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> I think tonight's tea will include sardines: she's been very well behaved, all things considered, and Big Brave Girls deserve a special tea.


Yay!!!:Smuggrin


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> I think tonight's tea will include sardines: she's been very well behaved, all things considered, and Big Brave Girls deserve a special tea.


Poor Lily! The off lead dogs we come across most are spaniels. Thank goodness Lily was leashed and couldn't bolt.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Poor Lily. I have to say I personally would not have been as nice to said owners. If they don't control their dam dog it would not phase me to do so ! My skinny legged whippet cross assaulted by a bullish Male has the possibility of broken bones probably to said Male via my boot! I find that sort of behaviour an assault on me as well as my girl,


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Poor Lily. I have to say I personally would not have been as nice to said owners. If they don't control their dam dog it would not phase me to do so ! My skinny legged whippet cross assaulted by a bullish Male has the possibility of broken bones probably to said Male via my boot! I find that sort of behaviour an assault on me as well as my girl,


If the bloody spaniel hadn't followed Lily under the wire, I'd have dragged the damn thing off somehow (there was, of course, no collar or harness which we could grab).and booted him to kingdom come - as it was I needed to get her out of there quickly before she injured herself on the wire. The Twit had already tried to disuade Sex Mad Spaniel by waving his knobkerrie in its face and trying to get it - and himself - between the would-be canine rapist and Our Lil.

I was worried about any possibly injury to Lily either by the spaniel having his wicked way or by the weight of his body on hers. And I don't regard any dog as "playing" when their little willy is out and they're trying to mount another dog, no matter what their owner may think...

We're usually aware of off lead dogs and don't allow Lily to make friends with every dog she meets, , but this one shot out of nowhere before we could get between him and Lily (who, I'm pleased to say, clamped her tail down very firmly over her Important Little Places as soon as his intentions became clear).


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

And on this morning's walk Lily was very nervous when she saw other dogs and kept glancing behind her. Fingers crossed this is just a temporary setback.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Good Girl Lily. 
No lead is not good but no collar is downright bloody stupid! What if the dog runs off, gets lost of hit by a car who do you tell! Stupid people.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Good Girl Lily.
> No lead is not good but no collar is downright bloody stupid! What if the dog runs off, gets lost of hit by a car who do you tell! Stupid people.


They had one of those rope slip things, which they eventually put on him, but no collar (and hence no ID tag: I did call after them that they were breaking the law by not having a tag, but they took no notice. Mind you, my tone of voice at this point was far from pleasant...._


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

And another off-lead dog incident: fortunately this one didn't involve us.

On yesterday's walk we had a break at our usual country pub: very dog-friendly, and most of the dogs are very well-behaved. There are one or two who shour at other dogs, but they're always on leads.

Except yesterday Jack wasn't. Jack is a very reactive JRT who shouts and lunges at any other dog, has a hate/hate relationship with the pub cat and is a more than a bit of a nightmare. His favourite activity is to lie quietly under the table, where no-one can see him, until he spots a potential victim - at which point he becomes a barking, snapping horror. It's not fear aggression: when his owner tells him off, he starts to behave again (and I think if he was ever rewarded when he does calm down, his behaviour would be much improved. But I digress...)

Lily hates Jack, and so we always sit well away from him. Yesterday we were sitting in the little shelter by the loos, and Jack was in the marquee. Suddenly a woman walked past with a beautiful little Pom, walking nicely on his lead and not bothering anyone, when Jack, unrestrained, shot out from under the table, growling and snapping, and grabbed the Pom by the scruff of its neck. All hell broke loose: the Pom's Mum grabbed the little one in her arms, the Pom screamed in fear, Jack was jumping up and snapping - and what did Jaclk's owner do? Sat there and finished his pint. Jack's Dad's friend went over and started telling the woman to calm down, Jack was still being aggressive, Pom's Mum told the friend to control Jack, said friend pushed her shoulder and told her to calm down, she lost her cool and told him (in no uncertain terms) not to touch her, Pom screamed even louder: and I went into the pub and told the staff that things were about to kick off.

Jack and his Dad are now banned.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

tyg'smum said:


> And another off-lead dog incident: fortunately this one didn't involve us.
> 
> On yesterday's walk we had a break at our usual country pub: very dog-friendly, and most of the dogs are very well-behaved. There are one or two who shour at other dogs, but they're always on leads.
> 
> ...


Incidents like this are not nice to see but the friend defending Jack. Well that's just pathetic am glad the lady with the pom spoke badly at him.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Incidents like this are not nice to see but the friend defending Jack. Well that's just pathetic am glad the lady with the pom spoke badly at him.


Had it been Lily, I'd have done more than telling the friend to control the JRT...


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

I have learnt now the only way to deal with the Jack's & their owners & friends of this world, is to lash out, verbally or physically, or boot at said Jack. I will not have my precious well behaved dogs treated like that ever again - once bitten twice shy.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Jack and his Dad are now banned.


Sounds like justice was done, I hope the little pom wasn't too traumatised.
It's a shame the owner didn't take the responsible action of using a leash in a public place could have been avoided. Or better still leave the little horror at home when he went for a pint.


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## Guest (Oct 25, 2021)

Oh poor Pom 
Did he and his owner stay on after Jack and his owner were removed? I assume they were removed if he was banned.
I hope the incident does not set the Pom back. Let us know if you see him again and how he is.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

J. Dawson said:


> Oh poor Pom
> Did he and his owner stay on after Jack and his owner were removed? I assume they were removed if he was banned.
> I hope the incident does not set the Pom back. Let us know if you see him again and how he is.


r
Pom and Mum went inside the pub, where she was busy telling everyone what a nasty experience they'd had: Jack and Dad were told to leave immediately and not come back in no uncertain terms (though it wasn't clear if they were both banned, or only Jack). Personally I think the friend should have been given his marching orders, as well.

We went again today - just to build up Lily's confidence, you understand, she was upset by all the growling yesterday, though from where we were she couldn't see what was kicking off - and all the dogs were on leads, including Wilf The OverWeight Bulldog (who is too idle to shift unless there are crisps in his immediate vicinity) and a rather nice Cane Corso, who was, if anything, even more timid than Our Lil.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_(Lily is dictating again)
_
Today has been Very Exciting. After The Twit came home after running away for hoursandhoursandhours this morning (FM says it was threequarters of an hour while he had a fasting blood test, but I knows better), we went for a walk down the Railway Walk, which I Love. There were lots and lot of interestind Sniffs, and at the end FM said Lets Have Coffee and as we walked towards the cafe a voice said Hello Lily! and it was Auntie Clare from the kennels and her friends and four greyhounds! So while the hoomans all had coffee and crumpets and toast (and I had the frothymilk off FM's coffee and some toast corners) we greyhounds made friends. Auntie Clare told everyone how I am Much Braver than I was when I was in kennels and used to refuse to come out of my bed, and FM said she didn't care if I was a Cringing Coward (which I took exception to) because she Loves Me (so I forgave her again, but that was mainly because she still had some toast left).

And then we went to the pub, and we met three other greyhounds: Leo, who is very loving, and Katrina, who doesn't like anyone touching her back since a Nasty Big Rough Boy tried to have his wicked way with her, and who was wearing a pair of Greyhound Pyjamas with Bunnies on them (and FM says if I am a Good Girl Santa might bring me some, but she will have to measure me so that he gets the right size) and Raymond, who is Very Big and kept trying to eat the spray spidersweb stuff that is a Hallowe'en decoration. And FM told me when we got home that I am much better behaved than they were, because when their hoomans' cheese cobs arrived, Leo and Katrina and Raymong tried to grab them off the hoomans plates, but I lay down like the Good Girl I am, and Raymond's Dad gave me some of his cheese cob! and so I loved him up and he gave me a bit more.

And we are all going on the same group walk the weekend after next, which will be Fun!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

This iz Lily. I have decided to take over this thread, although I will allow Fat Mum to write things about me if they are Nice.

Yesterday we went on the Circular Walk again, and we played the Recall Game, and I Simply Bounded up to FM and TF when they called, because the Recall Game always means snosidge and cheeeze when I get it right (so I always get it right). And we had a break at the pub for coffee at the pub - wot a surprise, sez I - and I had the froth off Fat Mum's coffee and a special biscuit all to myself because the bar staff say I am beautiful. And I sat for a bit, which is Not Comfortable for Greyhounds, and then I lay down and waited for more coffee froth.

And when we left I decided I wanted to walk across the golf course car park onto the common, and FM said Blimey Our Lil, I Thought You Didn'd Like The Car Park, and I had a lovely sniffari in the little copse of trees. And then we went home and I zizzed till teatime, which was Sardines because Good Brave And Confident Lilys get Sardines when they have been Good Brave and Confident. (I had Sardines on Saturday, too, because I was Good Brave Girl when I had my booster jab. I was not very Confident, but I did not whimper or try to run away, and I had _biscuits_ afterwards for being Brave).

We are going out in the car later, because FM needs to buy some Stuff for a Nexhibition she is doing tomorrow and she sez Why O Why does she always leave things till the last minute. But if we go out in the car we always have a Big Adventure somewhere, so I don't mind. I shall sit in the cat with my Twit while she iz in the shop so that he doesn't get lonely.


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> This iz Lily. I have decided to take over this thread, although I will allow Fat Mum to write things about me if they are Nice.
> 
> Yesterday we went on the Circular Walk again, and we played the Recall Game, and I Simply Bounded up to FM and TF when they called, because the Recall Game always means snosidge and cheeeze when I get it right (so I always get it right). And we had a break at the pub for coffee at the pub - wot a surprise, sez I - and I had the froth off Fat Mum's coffee and a special biscuit all to myself because the bar staff say I am beautiful. And I sat for a bit, which is Not Comfortable for Greyhounds, and then I lay down and waited for more coffee froth.
> 
> ...


Oh Lily you gorgeous girl, how sensible of you to take charge of this thread. It IS about you after all!
Please get Fat Mum to take some photos of you on your Big Adventure later. We haven't seen any for such a long while now


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

SbanR said:


> Oh Lily you gorgeous girl, how sensible of you to take charge of this thread. It IS about you after all!
> Please get Fat Mum to take some photos of you on your Big Adventure later. We haven't seen any for such a long while now


 Ths is me and Fat Mum sploring the woods:


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Ths is me and Fat Mum sploring the woods:


Oh Lily:Kiss
How about a sparkly brooch or summat, just like Queenie sports. You deserve to be treated like Royalty!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Lily you iz livin the dream, your hoomans are more interesting and kind than mine. 
love Danx


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Lily you iz livin the dream, your hoomans are more interesting and kind than mine.
> love Danx


Dan, me and Fat Mum and Twit Features thinks your hoomnas iz just as kind and interesting!

Lily


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Thank you Lily, my hoomans is very kind and they do try I spose. x I's just a bit grumpy cos Dad can't take me to loment garden cos its too wet so has to stay home with hoomum. (mum: it's just a couple of hours a day!)She does make an effort to entertain me though and I gets to play treat chase, tuggy and blanket snugs and then we go to meet dad and get loadsa fuss from lotment gang and maybe a treat or two.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Well, yesterday was Different.

We went to the Retail Park, and I sat in the car with the Twit while Fat Mum gallumphed round the craft shop and moaned because they have moved evrything round for CrispMouse and nothing is in its usual place. And then we were going to go for a walk along the canal bank where Fat Mum once saw some water voles, and I was walking along the car park like a Good Girl Lily Well Done when suddenly two people simply shot past us on lectrick scooters and I was startled and said No No I Do Not Want To Walk Along Here Any More, so FM said Fair Enuf, They Startled Me Too and so we got back in the car and went to my favourite Railway Walk. But this time we walked in the Other Direction which was very interesting and we met a lady who adopted a greyhound last weekend and wanted to talk about how loving we Noble Hounds Are. (FM wonders why she hadn't got her Noble Hound with her...) and it was a Nice Walk and we played Recall.

And then we went to the Other Pub - the Saturday one, where Rantipole does not live - and instead of going through the door and through the pub into the beer garden we went into one of the little rooms and I lay down under the table and went to sleep with my head on the Twit's foot while my people had their grub, and then there was grub for me! I had ham and egg and two different sorts of peas and chips and mashed potatoes and then I had some icecream! And lots of people did not realise I was there and when they did they said My Goodness Isn't She Good My Dog Would Be Trying To Grab The Food Off My Plate and FM smiled and said Lily Is A Good Girl And You Wouldn't Believe This Is Her First Time Inside A Pub She Is A Very Brave Girl Indeed. And I was much admired.

It is warm inside the pub and there is no wind to blow on my bum. I might go inside again.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Thank you Lily, my hoomans is very kind and they do try I spose. x I's just a bit grumpy cos Dad can't take me to loment garden cos its too wet so has to stay home with hoomum. (mum: it's just a couple of hours a day!)She does make an effort to entertain me though and I gets to play treat chase, tuggy and blanket snugs and then we go to meet dad and get loadsa fuss from lotment gang and maybe a treat or two.


I iz soory you cannot go to loment garden but your Hoomum is trying to make it up to you. FM sez This Weather Cannot Last Forever And It Will Soon Be Spring (but TF grumphs ans sez Wot About Climate Change You Dizzy Bint). FM had a half share in a lotment once, but she got fed up when the Other Woman dug up all her Potatoes and Heritage Carrots when FM was not there and planted sweetcorn instead (and kept all the Potatoes and Carrotsis for herself!) so she packed it in.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> I iz soory you cannot go to loment garden but your Hoomum is trying to make it up to you. FM sez This Weather Cannot Last Forever And It Will Soon Be Spring (but TF grumphs ans sez Wot About Climate Change You Dizzy Bint). FM had a half share in a lotment once, but she got fed up when the Other Woman dug up all her Potatoes and Heritage Carrots when FM was not there and planted sweetcorn instead (and kept all the Potatoes and Carrotsis for herself!) so she packed it in.


 Hoomum can't beleeve FM's carrots and potatoes were stolen!  not surprised she gave up. Hve a nice day Lily and be a good girl x Love Dan


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Hoomum can't beleeve FM's carrots and potatoes were stolen!  not surprised she gave up. Hve a nice day Lily and be a good girl x Love Dan


FM sed there were enuf caggots and spatatoes to last until Crispmouse, and she had Nurtured the caggots, so she was Very Not Pleased!


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

So good you have taken over the thread Lily as Emma likes to hear about your adventures. 
Has FM bought you a Poppy for your collar yet? Emma is wearing hers but ,like you, she wears a hound collar (in Hot Pink !) so the Poppy does not fit very far up to collar to be seen it sadly. 
You do look very noble in the picture to be sure.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

It haz been all bangy-flash-bangy for the last two nights with fireworks, but I haz cuddled up on my sofa and taken no notice. FM and TF iz Much Impressed.

They is in a Quandry at the moment because they have heard about a poor little timid greyhound whose Hooman iz in hospital and not expected to come home again, and the timid little hound is in urgent need of a temporary foster home. My hoomans have been asked if we will foster him, but they are In Two Minds because of me and my timidity and it is only a Small House and what if the Other Hound and I do not get on? They are going to talk it over with the people who asked us tomorrow.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Ah as a general rule Greyhounds like other greyhounds. Also not always but with two one can often help bring them both on if that makes sense.

I am sure you will make the right decision for you both and beautiful Lily


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Ah as a general rule Greyhounds like other greyhounds. Also not always but with two one can often help bring them both on if that makes sense.
> 
> I am sure you will make the right decision for you both and beautiful Lily


(FM here): it's a tricky decision. Lily loves other dogs, particularly sighthounds, but she gets the green-eyed jealousies after a while. And when we adopted her, she'd been fostered by a friend who has two hounds of her own: Lily had many issues at first, but most disappeared once she realised she was the Only Hound and didn't have to share anything. She's also slightly undersized, and we wonder if she was bullied by her siblings/kennel mates - that would certainly explain the reason why she'd eat her meal so quickly she'd be sick.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

tyg'smum said:


> (FM here): it's a tricky decision. Lily loves other dogs, particularly sighthounds, but she gets the green-eyed jealousies after a while. And when we adopted her, she'd been fostered by a friend who has two hounds of her own: Lily had many issues at first, but most disappeared once she realised she was the Only Hound and didn't have to share anything. She's also slightly undersized, and we wonder if she was bullied by her siblings/kennel mates - that would certainly explain the reason why she'd eat her meal so quickly she'd be sick.


It's definitely going to be a hard decision but your relationship has definitely flourished. So there should hypothetically be suited to having a temporary friend now. Best thing to do is meet on neutral terms, an enclosed field would be perfect and see how they do together. There is probably enough space to have fun, but also enough space so you can supervise and step in when you need to.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> It's definitely going to be a hard decision but your relationship has definitely flourished. So there should hypothetically be suited to having a temporary friend now. Best thing to do is meet on neutral terms, an enclosed field would be perfect and see how they do together. There is probably enough space to have fun, but also enough space so you can supervise and step in when you need to.


Well, things haven't gone quite to plan. Tommy - the hound needing urgent fostering - has been in an emergency foster home for four days, and it hasn't worked out (there were already four hounds there, which was apparently too much for him). There is nowhere else for him to go: so he arrives here tomorrow afternoon, and if he and Lily get on, we'll be his foster home until a permanent home can be found. And we know nothing about him, other than the fact that he's 7 or 8. very timid and has lived in a house before.

I envisage another session of sleeping downstairs while he settles in.

Fingers crossed. please!


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Just seen this..

Fingers crossed for you all and Tommy!


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Do hope things work out for ALL concerned


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

I hope it works out for you, he sounds like he needs a home, if he gets on with Lily hopefully it should be ok. Fingers crossed for you. p.s.I hope your couch is super comfy


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> I hope it works out for you, he sounds like he needs a home, if he gets on with Lily hopefully it should be ok. Fingers crossed for you. p.s.I hope your couch is super comfy


I'm starting to panic now: I have no idea what he's bringing with him, other than a sack of hound meal and a collar and lead, we don't know if he's used to travelling in the back seat of a car (fortunately we have a spare safety harness), I don't know if he'll have a raised feeding bowl with him, whether he's used to being crated (and we don't have a crate) - all I know is his name, age and that fact that he's used to being in a house.

He's covered by the Trust's insurance, and they will pick up food and vet's bills. Fortunately we have a spare house collar, complete with tag with our details on it, and Chappie was on special offer at the shop last week, so I'm well stocked up on that: and we always have plenty of treats. Lily had a special tea last night in an attempt to bribe her into accepting a FosterBrother (honestly, I need to get my act together...) I have a spare duvet to make a bed out of, and a second fleece blankie in case he likes being tucked in. There's plenty of toys around... will Lily be prepared to share? (I definitely need to get my act together!) We've gone over all the mistakes we made with Lily during our first few days together, so that we don't repeat them...

The couch is super comfy - as far as I remember. I tend to spend most of my time sitting in the dog bed while Lily hogs the couch....


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> I'm starting to panic now: I have no idea what he's bringing with him, other than a sack of hound meal and a collar and lead, we don't know if he's used to travelling in the back seat of a car (fortunately we have a spare safety harness), I don't know if he'll have a raised feeding bowl with him, whether he's used to being crated (and we don't have a crate) - all I know is his name, age and that fact that he's used to being in a house.
> 
> He's covered by the Trust's insurance, and they will pick up food and vet's bills. Fortunately we have a spare house collar, complete with tag with our details on it, and Chappie was on special offer at the shop last week, so I'm well stocked up on that: and we always have plenty of treats. Lily had a special tea last night in an attempt to bribe her into accepting a FosterBrother (honestly, I need to get my act together...) I have a spare duvet to make a bed out of, and a second fleece blankie in case he likes being tucked in. There's plenty of toys around... will Lily be prepared to share? (I definitely need to get my act together!) We've gone over all the mistakes we made with Lily during our first few days together, so that we don't repeat them...
> 
> The couch is super comfy - as far as I remember. I tend to spend most of my time sitting in the dog bed while Lily hogs the couch....


You is a very brave girl FM and also very kind to take in an unknown dog. I hope he appreciates the trouble you are going to. You can only do your best. I'll be thinking of you, keeping fingers crossed for good luck.
By the way you need to teach Lily "budge up" to make room for you


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## Guest (Nov 11, 2021)

Good luck today ☘
I know with one of my cats when I have taken in foster cats, he does not like his favorite lounger or wand toys to be used by other cats. Creates a case of paw waving and chasing.
I would not have him in Lily's favorite resting spots or use her toys as a precaution. Have separate but similar toys for him and places to sleep
Though Lily may be accommodating - I would err on the side of caution.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

J. Dawson said:


> Good luck today ☘
> I know with one of my cats when I have taken in foster cats, he does not like his favorite lounger or wand toys to be used by other cats. Creates a case of paw waving and chasing.
> I would not have him in Lily's favorite resting spots or use her toys as a precaution. Have separate but similar toys for him and places to sleep
> Though Lily may be accommodating - I would err on the side of caution.


We have a couple of toys that Lily won't touch, so he'll have something to start off with. Tomorrow could be a Big Shopping Day... and I'll have to remember to keep her beloved Ogg, Mrs Christmas Tree Ted and Little Monster quite separate (she did have a toy box, but decided to shred it...)


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Hope things are going well, if the timid boy has been picked up. It will be a wonderful home if all works well for all concerned


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Hope things are going well, if the timid boy has been picked up. It will be a wonderful home if all works well for all concerned


Still waiting for him to arrive (the Trust are bringing him).


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Last-minute change of plan. Tommy Two-Stroke* will now arrive tomorrow afternoon. TF is now out buying another raised feeding bowl, extra treats and a toy or two...

*not his real name, but one of our favourite films is "The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill..."


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy Two-Stroke has arrived!!

He is a beautiful black boy, not much bigger than Lily. All is, so far, sweetness and light: Lily was so excited when he arrived. Tommy has had a good sniff round the house, is Not Certain yet about treats unless they are sausage, has had a good walk (and he certainly has some miles in him!) and now he is asleep in the corner.

When he forgets to be timid, he is desperate for love. If all goes well, we shall be fairly long-term fosterers.


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## Guest (Nov 12, 2021)

Glad to hear off to a good start


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Fingers crossed for you and your black beauty.

I am sure any treat will do when he's more settled, though sausage is a nice treat for dogs and humans alike!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Fingers crossed for you and your black beauty.
> 
> I am sure any treat will do when he's more settled, though sausage is a nice treat for dogs and humans alike!


I do think he's a bit uncertain about things like treats: he didn't want his tea at first (I had to hide it from Greedy Guts Lily), but after a few mintes, and my offering the bowl to him, he ate the lot. At the moment he's curled up in the corner (Lily wasn't too certain about him wanting to go there at first, although she's never too struck on it), and Madam is asleep on the sofa.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

The new boy:


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy's only problem is that he doesn't like the Twit or I going into another room (or outside): he wants both of us there with him. But as he's only just lost his HooDad I can understand that. He's had a very unsettling week, and I'm just surprised he's as happy with us as he is. However, it's early days yet - his character may well change in the next few days.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Oh he's gorgeous. I love black dogs, and black and tan obviously owning Stan, Eevee and Harley. I don't know how I ended up with who I refer to as a ginger mutt, being a long dog. I think I just thought she was striking!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Well, so far so good: both hounds spent all night sleeping cuddled up next to the Twit. There was a slight falling out when Lily got a bit too familiar sniffing at his willy: Tommy growled quietly and she backed off. This morning he's let me know that he needed to go out for a wee (good boy, Two-Stroke!) and scoffed his breakfast: he's certainly not a faddy eater. At the moment they're both back in bed.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Fingers crossed for you and your black beauty.
> 
> I am sure any treat will do when he's more settled, though sausage is a nice treat for dogs and humans alike!


 Biscuits are Very Nice today (especially the one he had for being a good boy and letting me know he wanted to go out for a wee).


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## Sarah H (Jan 18, 2014)

He sounds like a real sweetheart.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Oh it sounds like all is well so far. Lily is a good girl for sharing her hoomans and space with him. Looking forward to updates and pics of them both with you and TF enjoying the great outdoors


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily says:
_
Well, Tommy Two-Stroke and I have had a nice walk to the pub. Tommy did not want any ham sangwidge or chips, but he did have some coffee froth. And he didn't want any treats for being a Good Boy while we were out (what a funny chap!) but I had treats for being Good Girl Lily Kind Girl and showing him where the best sniffs are and how to go through the hound gate and the kissing gate. And when we got home we each had a Chew and we lay in front of the fire together and chombled our chews up. And now Tommy is lying on his bed and I am cuddling FM while she watches a sci-fi film and TF has taken his neuralgia to bed. And now Tommy wants a word.

_Tommy says:
_
It is all a bit new and strange, and I have had a horrid week without my Special Person, but I think I am going to like it here. I do not think I want to live anywhere else. Everyone is very kind and patient with a poor little boy like me, and I have had a lovely walk through the woods and past the horses and the pub was all right because the Twit cuddled me up when I got nervous (and Alison the barmaid said I was lovely and gave Lily and me a special biscuit each). And there are sausages in the fridge, and when Fat Mum found out that I recognise the sound of the fridge opening and get there in a nano-second she just laughed and said That's My Boy You'll Fit Right In.

I am feeling much happier than I did when things went Very Wrong Indeed.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily says:
> _
> Well, Tommy Two-Stroke and I have had a nice walk to the pub. Tommy did not want any ham sangwidge or chips, but he did have some coffee froth. And he didn't want any treats for being a Good Boy while we were out (what a funny chap!) but I had treats for being Good Girl Lily Kind Girl and showing him where the best sniffs are and how to go through the hound gate and the kissing gate. And when we got home we each had a Chew and we lay in front of the fire together and chombled our chews up. And now Tommy is lying on his bed and I am cuddling FM while she watches a sci-fi film and TF has taken his neuralgia to bed. And now Tommy wants a word.
> 
> ...


Lily I think you and Tommy could be very good friends. . It sounds like your hoomans are coping very well with 2 dogs. Looking forward to more updates.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Oooo is Tommy going to be a failed foster? Has he already found his forever home?

Lovely lovely update


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Oooo is Tommy going to be a failed foster? Has he already found his forever home?
> 
> Lovely lovely update


We'll see how it goes. There has been a slight spate tonight over quite who gets to sit on the sofa with FM, but all seems to be sweetness and light again.

I must admit he's much easier than Lily was in her first few days (but then I really had no idea what I was doing!)


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

tyg'smum said:


> We'll see how it goes. There has been a slight spate tonight over quite who gets to sit on the sofa with FM, but all seems to be sweetness and light again.
> 
> I must admit he's much easier than Lily was in her first few days (but then I really had no idea what I was doing!)


No one would know you are a complete novice!
If you have managed already to have 2 dogs that you can take to the pub you are winning in all ways!


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## Guest (Nov 13, 2021)

Keeping fingers crossed ☘


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Two beautiful hounds: no one would ever guess from this that Tommy had just had a very bad nightmare...


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

tyg'smum said:


> Two beautiful hounds: no one would ever guess from this that Tommy had just had a very bad nightmare...


Lovely picture


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Lovely picture


The pale spot on his flank, by the way, isn't a scar: it's a white fleck in his coat. He also has a white blaze down his chest and white toes.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

tyg'smum said:


> The pale spot on his flank, by the way, isn't a scar: it's a white fleck in his coat. He also has a white blaze down his chest and white toes.


Never noticed! Now you have said my friend's brothers staffy is a really cream colour. She has one dark spot on her flank too.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> No one would know you are a complete novice!
> If you have managed already to have 2 dogs that you can take to the pub you are winning in all ways!


Oddly enough, it's Lily who can be a bit reticent when it comes to walking across the pub carpark: yesterday Tommy led the way confidently, and Lily followed without any hesitation.

_Tommy says: That is because it is all new and exciting and I wanted to explore, even though I wasn't as brave as Lily when we got there - she lay down and went to sleep, but I stood up all the time. And, Auntie FatMum, you haven't told them how brave I was when we met a golden retriever and we exchanged gentle nosesniffs. And I ated all my tea up last night, and it was Yum again, and ated all my breakfast today, and me and Lily shared a bowl of milkylicks when Unka Twit had finished his breakfast.

Lily says: I am not certain why Tommy Two-Stroke has to follow me everywhere, but it is Nice to have a friend._


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Oh its all sounding so lovely, I do so hope it continues, it will be great for them to have each other and for all 4 of you to have a wonderful life together. Emma & I so happy for you all


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## oliviarussian (Sep 2, 2010)

I come over from Cat Chat every day to read about Lily’s adventures, looking forward to also hearing about your new addition


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily says:
Today we went for a walk through the horses field again, and this time Tommy led the way. It took him a few minutes to go through the hound gate (FM says he probably hasn't seen one before) and then we went to the pub again. This time FM and TF had Sunday Roast, and they saved some for me and Tommy and we eated it all up! FM says Tommy has had Roastie Dinners before. And then Tommy had a big adventure under the table, which I will let him tell you about. And on the way home we met Owen and Narla, who we haven't seen for months, and I let Owen give me a Treat. But then a shouty cokerpoo-type thing and shouted at us and Tommy decided he'd been brave enough for one day because there had already been an Incident with the horses.

Tommy says: The pub was nice except for some noisy children who were running about, so I decided to get under the table where I would be safe. And I had my dinner there and was nice and safe. Except when we were ready to go I did not know how to get out from under the table and Unka Twit had to ask the man on the next table to help him lift it up so Auntie Fat Mum could get me out. [FM: it was one of those table-and-bench affairs from the beer garden. Tommy was very good - he just didn't know how to get out again.] When we went through the horses field, there were some naughty boys chasing them, and the horses simply gallumphed towards us and Auntie FM said O Blimey and some other words I did not understand and we went next to the hedge and Auntie FM stood between me and the horses because she is Not Afraid of horses and Unka Twit had Stern Words with the naughty boys and shook his walking stick at them. And we met Unka Owen and his dog Narla who is very young and very bouncy, but when the Other Dog started shouting I decided I wanted to go home._


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

oliviarussian said:


> I come over from Cat Chat every day to read about Lily's adventures, looking forward to also hearing about your new addition


How very kind of you!

Tommy is very nervous, though he has taken to us. We need to work on this, and also on his fear of children. And we need the Trust to make a vet's appointment for him, because no-one has been able to find his vaccination certificate or his microchip details, and there is a little growth - rather like a fat skin tag - inside his offside hind leg which I want sorting out sooner rather than later. Not to mention his nails, which are a disgrace and far too long for me to tackle.


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

FM, TF, Lily and Tommy - I started reading this thread a few weeks ago, because I was wondering how an Excellent Day had run to 5+ pages. Then, I completely understood. 

I love reading about your Very Exciting Adventures and I have big hopes that Tommy's fostering turns out to be a long term, or even Permanent Arrangement.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily says: FM promises me that she is going to buy another long line so that she can see if Tommy will walk on that, and then she can see if he wants to play the recall game as well. Today he has been Very Brave, and so have I!

Tommy says: Today we had a little walk across the golf course and I went first and my fostersister followed me! And I bounced a bit - but not too much! - when a squiggel ran across my path, and Unka Owen gave me a soft treat which I ate and a lady at the pub said Hello to me and I let her rub my ears! But there was a little dog at the pub who was very shouty and I did not like that.

FM adds: Another good day, and Tommy Two Stroke amazed us. The small shouty dog is a Pomski (?) with ideas above her station who is allowed to run round off-lead (not the Pomeranian who Jack attacked the other week) and who tried to chase Rantipole the pub cat. As Rantipole's idea of fun is to pick fights with the local badgers, I don't fancy the Pomski's chances should she corner Rantipole. Lily's spare harness should fit Tommy, so a bit of recall training should be fun. And we managed to walk both hounds with only one of us holding the leads (if you see what I mean)._


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Two very brave & clever Noble Hounds me thinks ❤


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Not such a good day for Tommy today.

The bits that were good were very good indeed: he let one of the bar staff fuss him up and he enjoyed hiding with FM while Lily and the Twit played "Find the Fat Mum"; but he was scared by a tractor on the cart-track and was very clingy and shaking when we got home. 

It's the fourth day of us fostering him, so early days yet.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Blimey.

Twit Features is suffering from neuralgia, leaving me to try to walk the hounds. Lily, as I've mentioned before, does not like going for a walk unless both of us are with her: she freezes and refuses to move. And today I had two hounds...

Lily played up for about 50 yards (much lead tugging from me, I'm afraid to say, because when she's in this mood, bribery just doesn't work). Tommy was full of energy and excitement - and after the first 50 yards Lily decided she might as well walk on. We were only out for about 20 minutes, but this was a great improvement.

And Tommy discovered walking back down the other side of the road. He didn't like it much and kept trying to get me to cross over, but he did it. 

Two dozing hounds at the moment - and the worst bit for me was that they keep crossing each other's paths and getting the leads tangled. Maypole dancing with greyhounds, anyone?


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Blimey.
> 
> Twit Features is suffering from neuralgia, leaving me to try to walk the hounds. Lily, as I've mentioned before, does not like going for a walk unless both of us are with her: she freezes and refuses to move. And today I had two hounds...
> 
> ...


Practise juggling FM then you'll have no problem quickly swapping leads between hands


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Leads can get tangled but if they walk nicely together then I find one hand for both leads is easiest, spare hand to reign in control. However I bet you are doing this already but heads up to anyone not holding leads with one hand.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Leads can get tangled but if they walk nicely together then I find one hand for both leads is easiest, spare hand to reign in control. However I bet you are doing this already but heads up to anyone not holding leads with one hand.


At the moment, we have periods when I can manage both leads in one hand, but then one hound wants to forge ahead while thr other has a good sniff. But we will get there ...


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

tyg'smum said:


> At the moment, we have periods when I can manage both leads in one hand, but then one hound wants to forge ahead while thr other has a good sniff. But we will get there ...


 my minibeasts can neither walk in a straight line! So always tangle the leads!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> my minibeasts can neither walk in a straight line! So always tangle the leads!


There are moments when I feel like the chap in the westerns who is tied to two horses who are then sent galloping in opposite directions...

I had a Zoom meeting this morning, during which both hounds demanded attention: I excused myself while I raised the larder for buffalo tails, which were chomped with great enthusiasm (and much noise), after which the Terrible Twosome took themselves back upstairs to bed.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

This is all sounding really lovely, long may it continue & a wonderful Christmas is had by all 4 of you. 
p.s. Hope TF's gets some pain relief working soon, neuralgia so debilitating !


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy says: _I had an Unsettling Experience last night. Lily was having a Silly Moment and kept barking at Auntie FM because she (Lily) wanted to to get on the settee, so Auntie FM went and sat on the rug in front of the fire, and then Lily barked at her because Lily wanted to lie in front of the fire, and it got very noisy. And I do not like it when it is noisy and there is lots of barking, and I went up to Auntie FM and stuck my snoot in her armpit and started to shake, and she loved me up and cuddled me up and told me it was All Right Tommy Nothing To Be Frightened Of. And after a while I stopped shaking and we had Big Cuddles and Lily calmed down a bit.

I do not like it when there is Lots Of Bark.

_FM: _he was very upset indeed, and Lily was being very silly. But all was sweetness and light by suppertime, and they shared milky licks from the same bowl.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Poor Tommy. My cat really hates the dogs barking, especially Harley as Harley is a great source of entertainment for her.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy and the Twit (sounds like a Roald Dahl sequel) are still in bed, though Tommy did get up for breakfast, so Lily and I are taking the opportunity to have a Girls Coffee And Biscuit Morning on the settee. She's very clingy today, but for the last couple of days she's made it clear that I am not her favourite person (out of a choice of two), so it's nice to have some bonding time.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy Two Stroke says:_
Today we have been out for Sunday lunch again! It was different to last week because although we went to the usual pub, we went in the car. It was my first time in TF's car, but Auntie FM said Well We Will Have To Face It Sooner Or Later. Unka Twit had to pick my bum up to help me in, and Auntie FM sat in the middle between me and Lily and said Gor There Ain't Much Room In Here, and I lay on her lap and shuddered because I didn't like it. And I nearly fell out of the car when we got there because I lost my balance, but we had a nice walk over the golf course and then there was Lunch. And I had some steak pie filling, and a little bit of pie crust and chicken and Yorkie Pud and peas and carrots and broccoli and roastie potato and it was All Yum. And Lily has the same and when she had finished I licked out her bowl in case there was any Yum left and she licked out my bowl just in case. And I did not shudder in the car on the way back, but lay on Auntie FM's lap and she said Gawd Stewth What A Heavy Boy and I did not lose my balance getting out of the car when we got Home. And now I am snoozing in front of the fire and Lily is flat out on the sofa going flappity puff. And Unka has gone to lie down because he is Too Full and Auntie says she might join him in a bit.

_Lily says:_
Burp!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Tommy Two Stroke says:_
> Today we have been out for Sunday lunch again! It was different to last week because although we went to the usual pub, we went in the car. It was my first time in TF's car, but Auntie FM said Well We Will Have To Face It Sooner Or Later. Unka Twit had to pick my bum up to help me in, and Auntie FM sat in the middle between me and Lily and said Gor There Ain't Much Room In Here, and I lay on her lap and shuddered because I didn't like it. And I nearly fell out of the car when we got there because I lost my balance, but we had a nice walk over the golf course and then there was Lunch. And I had some steak pie filling, and a little bit of pie crust and chicken and Yorkie Pud and peas and carrots and broccoli and roastie potato and it was All Yum. And Lily has the same and when she had finished I licked out her bowl in case there was any Yum left and she licked out my bowl just in case. And I did not shudder in the car on the way back, but lay on Auntie FM's lap and she said Gawd Stewth What A Heavy Boy and I did not lose my balance getting out of the car when we got Home. And now I am snoozing in front of the fire and Lily is flat out on the sofa going flappity puff. And Unka has gone to lie down because he is Too Full and Auntie says she might join him in a bit.
> 
> _Lily says:_
> Burp!


 lucky boy!


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Tommy has definitely landed on his paws!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Tommy has definitely landed on his paws!


And they still demanded their tea, after all that!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I iz very very embarrased. After Auntie FM went out at the crack of sparrow-cough this morning, I realised I needed to Go Outside very badly. I called for Unka Twit to let me out, but he did not hear me, and I was so desperate that I had a Little Accident. They won't send me away, will they? I didn't mean to, but I couldn't hold on any longer. I didn't mean to have a Little Accident....

_Lily: _Don't worry, Tommy, It was Not Your Fault, and TF cleaned it up when he found it. They won't send you away - I had a Little Accident when I first came here, and nobody said anything about sending me away. And Fat Mum laughed when he told her about it and said Well, The Kitchen Floor Needed Cleaning Anyway And At Least It Was On Lino. And I was impressed - it was a Very Big Accident!

_Tommy: _Promise they won't send me away?

_Lily: _Promise.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

FM here, trying to cope with two energetic hounds who need a good long walk to tire them out,but who have taken violent dislike to the idea of walking in the snow: hyperactivity rules...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I was in Big Trouble earlier. I needed a wee, and it is cold and snowy and horrid outside, so I wee'd where I was. Unfortunately I was in the sitting room at the time, and Auntie was Not Impressed. 
_Lily: _Well, you did wee on the carpet. And FM did not shout, she was just Seriously Unimpressed and told you that you know better than that. And you were not in as much trouble as I was when I stole her bread bun off her tray, which was on the kitchen worktop at the time. 
_FM: _One of those days... meanwhile I have an interview on Monday, I can hardly get into my only suit and I can't find one of the documents they want me to take with me, so I'm stressed out.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Oh bless you @tyg'smum am sure everything will go well for the interview. As for the hounds, they seem a joy to have around to be honest.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Oh bless you @tyg'smum am sure everything will go well for the interview. As for the hounds, they seem a joy to have around to be honest.


Not such a joy when I was scrubbing wee out of the carpet (which fortunately is (a) old and (b) patterned, and if there's only stains they don't show), but still ...

Tommy is very contrite at the moment, so I hope we don't have any repeat performances.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _FM is Not Happy. She sez she trudged all the way to her interview on Monday in the snow to discover that the office had no heating or lighting so the interviews were cancelled. They are supposed to be rescheduling them but so far she has heard Nothing.

Yesterday we went for a walk and because it was not Snowing we went all the way to the pub. One marquee had blown down in the storm, so there were a Lot of people in the other one, and there was some Live Music. I quite enjoyed myself but Tommy was Not Very Happy.

_Tommy: _I was Good though! I did not howl or try to pull away, I just stood close close close to Auntie FM and leaned on her and let her love me up.

_FM: _A group of local folk musicians were practicing some pieces. It was not very loud (all acoustic) and they're good. But I don't think either hound had been in that situation before. Tommy was wary, but calm - Lily made friends with a boxer called Moose. Coco the Pomski-Thing was a damn nuisance as usual until the pub cat shouted at her.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

My sympathies for the fruitless trudge through the snow, I hope when you do eventually get to an interview the weather is kinder for you.
It might have been a different story with different music though.  Sounds like Tommy is fitting in nicely with you.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> My sympathies for the fruitless trudge through the snow, I hope when you do eventually get to an interview the weather is kinder for you.
> It might have been a different story with different music though.  Sounds like Tommy is fitting in nicely with you.


I wouldn't have taken the hounds if I'd known there was live music: although the folkies usually rehearse inside the pub, they were outside yesterday. However, it was a new experience for both hounds, and they didn't react other than clearly thinking "That's new - Haven't heard/seen that before".


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

I'm loving catching up with the two noble hounds. Its all soundng pretty good to me. For some reason my BT emails are playing up, I'm not receiving a lot that even friends n family are sending, which is very annoying, hence no updates when the noble hounds do a review! I shall have to start checking in on here daily.
Tommy my Emma loves everything n everybody, but the minute other dogs get barky even at play she hates it! So your not alone at disliking it boy.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> My sympathies for the fruitless trudge through the snow, I hope when you do eventually get to an interview the weather is kinder for you.
> It might have been a different story with different music though.  Sounds like Tommy is fitting in nicely with you.


The assessments/interview is now to take place over the internet in a week's time. I doubt that the hounds will give me a moment's peace wherever I shut myself away!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Well, today was Interesting. We went for a Long Walk, and then we met Oscar the Cockapoo and Monty the Spaniel, who were very nice - and then we went to the pub for coffee and biscuits. And it was Very Cold outside in the marquee, and the Landlord said Well, Why Don't You Bring The Dogs Inside Where It Is Warm, and Unka Twit said We Will Give It A Try But For Some Reason Lily Refuses To Walk Through The Door. So Auntie FM and I went first, and we walked straight in and Lily followed us! And Unka found a nice table in the corner and we had bikkies and treats and coffee froth, and Lily and I lay down and went to sleep and then I woke up and told Auntie I needed a Big Wee and we went out, and when we came back I went back to sleep again. And Auntie and Unka were Very Impressed and the Landlord said we were Very Brave and Good Hounds and could go inside any time.

_Lily: _Weren't we _*Brave*_?


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2021)

Well done Lily & Tommy


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Well done Very Special noble hounds. Seems to me you are both learning off each each other which is excellent news.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Well, yesterday was interesting. I had an appointment in town, and it was freezing cold. As I was donning most of my winter wardrobe in order to perform my wellknown impersonation of the Michelin Man, Lily decided it was Walk Time and leapt up at me in excitement.

Unfortunately (a) she caught the big vein on the back of my hand with a rough bit of claw (b) I bleed like a stuck pig. In a hurry, I wrapped my hand in several layers of kitchen paper and mumphed off to the bus stop.

By the time I got there, the improvised dressing was soaked thought and gore was dripping from my finder tips. Fortunately there's a chemist right by the bus stop: I staggered through the door, explained the problem and the nice pharmacist cleaned the wound (which is all of 4mm across) and applied the biggest plaster I have ever seen - it wraps the whole way round my hand. And he wasn't going to charge me for the plaster until I insisted. Nor was he going to let me out of the door until I reassured him that I do have up-to-date tetanus shots.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

I hope you are better this morning. What bad timingLily! I hope you made your appointment.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> I hope you are better this morning. What bad timingLily! I hope you made your appointment.


I was slightly late, but the person I needed to speak to (normally an officious little Jobsworth) was wrong-footed by the size of the dressing and the traces of dried blood on my fingers...


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## Sarah H (Jan 18, 2014)

Oh dear! What an eventful day!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Sarah H said:


> Oh dear! What an eventful day!


It's not getting any better today - I've just discovered a very large poo in the middle of the kitchen floor...


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Not the best start to the day for you or for Lily (or who ever left the BP on the kitchen floor) Hopefully the day will get better for all concerned, tho not necessarily for the officious little Jobsworth.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Not the best start to the day for you or for Lily (or who ever left the PB on the kitchen floor) Hopefully the day will get better for all concerned, tho not necessarily for the officious little Jobsworth.


Ah, the culprit must have been Tommy Two-Stroke: far too big for Lily! But their diet has changed slightly, and Things Unmentionable are somewhat firmer than they were...


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Ah, the culprit must have been Tommy Two-Stroke: far too big for Lily! But their diet has changed slightly, and Things Unmentionable are somewhat firmer than they were...


:Jawdrop


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## Guest (Dec 12, 2021)

@tyg'smum 
How was the weekend for you, the Noble Hounds and the Twit? Sorry, to read of the accident with your hand.
Hope all doing well.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

J. Dawson said:


> @tyg'smum
> How was the weekend for you, the Noble Hounds and the Twit? Sorry, to read of the accident with your hand.
> Hope all doing well.


A cold weekend, which the Twit is exploiting by trying out the excuse that the cold will affect his jaw - the Noble Huonds and I are having none of it, and have done five miles each day. And the hand is healing nicely.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I haz gone naturist! I came down early for Secret Breakfast and Sofa Snuggles, and Fat Mum was cuddling me up and suddenly realised that I haz not got my house collar on! And she said Gor Blimey Two Stroke What Have You Done With It? but I iz Not Saying. All I iz saying iz that I was wearing it when she went to bed last night.
Aren't I _clever_?

_Lily: _Wait a minute - what is this Secret Breakfast? Why was I not told about Secret Breakfast?

_Harrassed Fat Mum: _It's neither secret nor breakfast - it's just the handful of kibble that Two Stroke gets before you deign to come down in the morning. Otherwise if you get fed at different times you muscle in on each other's grub.

_Lily: _So if I get up when Tommy does, will I get Secret Breakfast too?

_FM: _No, you'll both just get breakfast.

_Lily: _If I get up before Tommy, will I get Secret Breakfast then? Are you going to get up early and wake me for Secret Breakfast?

_FM: _Lily, I get up at 5.30 as it is. If I get up any earlier, it'll hardly be worth going to bed!

_Lily: _We could call it Secret Supper. Or Secret Midnight Feasts.

_FM: _sigh...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We haz been Brave. We haz been to the Pub and met Peggy the nervous greyhound and her people. This was the first time Tommy had met them, and he liked Peggy - who is also a Lot Braver than she was - but did not want to say Hello to her people. He would not have any treats from them, but I did! And I let them fuss me up and mugged Peggy's Dad for some of his jacket potato.
_Tommy: _But on the way home we met Auntie Ann and Auntie Wendy, who are Bethany The Corgi's people, and I let them fuss me up, and I was so Brave I chittered at Auntie Wendy, and FM had to explain that chittering is something we Noble Hounds do when we are Happy. And we had Steak Pie Filling and Cheese and Broccoli Bake for our lunch and coffee froth and Posh Biscuit for afters...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Today Twit of Twits was busy working on the car, which failed its MOT earlier in the week. Lily is very Twit-obsessed at the moment, and was Not Happy at being abandoned with only me and Tommy for company.

About 4.30 this afternoon - just as the light was failing - Tommy decided he needed to go out for a wee, and Lily followed him. I wasn't worried, as the garden is fully fenced, with tall hedges in front of the fences. Well, not worried until I realised Two Stroke had come back in, but Lily hadn't.

There was no sign of her in the garden. I called and called, with no success - in the end I wriggled past the back of the woodshed, and found her - behind the wire fencing in the garden which backs onto ours. There was no sign of how she could have got there, and no gaps in that boundary. 

Panicing wildly, I squeezed back round the shed and galloped into the house for the wire cutters and a reel of wire. When I got back to where I'd seen her, she was still there - a few snips and she was back in the garden, and I was wiring the fencing back in place. 

Tomorrow I shall be beating the bounds until I find - and fix - the gap she must have got through. In the meantime, the Twit is not happy because I have dropped the wire cutters somewhere, Lily is still frightened because she got stuck somewhere she couldn't get out of, I am still frightened because she found a way out of the garden (and knowing her, now she's found a gap she can get through, she'll do it again), the fence needs a better repair where I cut it, and the only one of us in a good mood is Tommy, who is full of tea and farting happily.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Today Twit of Twits was busy working on the car, which failed its MOT earlier in the week. Lily is very Twit-obsessed at the moment, and was Not Happy at being abandoned with only me and Tommy for company.
> 
> About 4.30 this afternoon - just as the light was failing - Tommy decided he needed to go out for a wee, and Lily followed him. I wasn't worried, as the garden is fully fenced, with tall hedges in front of the fences. Well, not worried until I realised Two Stroke had come back in, but Lily hadn't.
> 
> ...


Oh Lily!  Why do these dogs wait until it's dark/cold/wet to make a break for freedom! (Loki, have you been giving her tips) At least little Tommy is content in the warmth of your home at the moment. You'll find the wirecutters (you'll need them when she makes her next bid for freedom) and all will be well again ..........(until next time)........


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## Guest (Dec 18, 2021)

I wonder if this bid for freedom was in search of the Twit?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

J. Dawson said:


> I wonder if this bid for freedom was in search of the Twit?


It could well have been, although she has been through a different part of that fence before, when we first had her. On that occasion we strengthened the weak part with a wrought-iron garden gate which one of the neighbours had left out for the scrap dealer (now there's recycling for you!) and that part is still intact. I think it was more along the lines of "sod you, I'm off". Rather like me when I was a little one and Mum found me trying to leg it over the fence after she'd told me off for something. Apparently I told her that I was running away and the fairies would look after me ...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _There is somefink 'citing in the larder. The somefink smells even more 'citing than usual. I keep going up to the door and Being Interested In 'Sploring, but FM keeps fending me off. But iz a 'citing smell...
_Lily: _Iz Crispmouse. FM keeps our Santa pressies in there so we do not Get Tempted to open them early. But she will tell Santa where they are, so we get them on Crispmouse Day. She's just keeping them safe for Santa.
_Tommy: _Oh oh oh. Will Santa know where I am? Will he know where to bring my pressies, or will he take them to my old home? Will I get any pressies?
_Lily: _Fat Mum has told Santa you live here now. I heard her tell you that last night. Fat Mum doesn't tell fibs, 'cept about Noble Hounds not liking chocolate or mince pies. And I sneaked a look and we have a stocking each.
_Tommy: _Promise?
_Lily: _Promise. And there will be Steak for Crispmouse lunch and Chicking for New Year. Promise.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

You are both very lucky Noble Hounds, but make sure you both stay good as Santa knows when your not!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

We iz being Very Good. We iz cuddled up together on the sofa waiting for Santa and sharing Mrs Christmas Tree Ted, who was one of Lily's presents last year. We iz too 'cited to go to sleep. Honest, Santa, we have been good little hounds all year...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Santa has been!! And he _did _know where I live now! We have both had stockings, with lots of packets of treats in them, and a toy each! I am not bothered about toys. so I let Lily play with mine, and she loved it so much that Fat Mum said Gor Blimey I Do Not Know Why They Put Bobbles On Dog Toys The First Thing Lily Does Is Chew Them Off. And we have had a Nice Walk, and Santa also bought us some hotdogs which we are having for our tea. Is a Lovely Crispmouse!
_Lily: _Santa also brung me some Greyhound PJs, which I am Not Certain About. If I decide I do not like them, I might let Tommy have them in exchange for his toy.

Hairy Crispmouse, everyone!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

you two as ad a gud day, a very hairy crispmus. I as ad to elp with washin up, them bowls an plates won't lick themselves clean, I elp unwrap presunts too. I did get loads of fuss though as my big hooman bruvvas did visit I luvs em as they is big an airy an give big fusses an belly rubs an let me sit on em, they even plays tuggy on the floor! I's well tired when they go an went to sleep straight away. Happy crispmus to one an all doggos and hoomans. Luv from Dan (and his hoomum)


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## Guest (Dec 27, 2021)

Glad you had a lovely Crispmouse ⛄❄


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I iz having Special Cuddles with Mum. Lily is still in bed with Daddy Twit, but we iz on the sofa having Special Cuddles. I have had a lovely Crispmouse and only got a little bit Sad on Christmas Day and Mum said O Poor Tommy Iz I Missing His Old Dad and held me tight and rubbed my ears until Mr Sad went away. Yesterday we had Normal Food because Mum said she could not be arsed (but she had sardine paste on toast, so me and Lily had sardiney paste toast corners) but there will be Stew today and we can have some too because Daddy Twit cannot eat onions either so it will be safe for us. And he does not like dried fruit, so we do Not Bother with Chrispmouse Cake but there was a spicy Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese on the top and we was allowed a little bit of that. 
We iz glad to hear that Dan Walker helps with the washing up because we do as well. Mum sez some hoomans say O That Is Disgusting Fancy Letting The Dog Eat Off Your Plate but she says well her cooking iz not that bad.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _O O O, I Iz Good Boy Well Done Tommy! I had my breakfast before Lily came down, and when she deigned to come down, I had a handful of kibble while she had her Weetiebangs. But I finished first because it was a Very Little Handful and so I went to see what Lily had got and if she would share it. FM took hold of my collar and said No Tommy Come With Me, and I walked away with her back into the sitting room without any treats to tempt me, just a hand on my collar. And FM loved me up and said I am Good Boy Well Done Kind Boy and loved me up!

_FM: _And of course there were treats for being a good boy - but I was amazed. Tommy is on the small side for a male greyhound, but still pretty strong, and if he'd decided he didn't want to move, there wouldn't have been a lot I could have done.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Tommy & Lily Most Noble Hounds, is there room for me, Emma, to move in with you?? Im like a small version of a Noble Greyhound & a very very good girl (My mum says so every day) Please do not tell my mum I asked tho. I only ask because it seems to me there are a lot of nice meals and treats going around in your house (& trips to a pub) & if there were a little over then I would be able to help clean up the plates with you?
Happy Healthy 2022 to you both and to your FM & DW


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Tommy & Lily Most Noble Hounds, is there room for me, Emma, to move in with you?? Im like a small version of a Noble Greyhound & a very very good girl (My mum says so every day) Please do not tell my mum I asked tho. I only ask because it seems to me there are a lot of nice meals and treats going around in your house (& trips to a pub) & if there were a little over then I would be able to help clean up the plates with you?
> Happy Healthy 2022 to you both and to your FM & DW


Deer Emma, we fink your Mum would miss you too much for you to move in wiv uz. And we has to admit that we do not always get a lot of pub lunch and when we do we get less tea because FM sez we would get Fat and Noble Hounds have to watch their weight. But if there is anyfink left over when we have finished we will send it to you. 
FM and TF send Crispmouse love to you and your Mum


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Yesterday I wagged my tail! You may not think that this is anything much to boast about, but it was the first time FM and TF have seen my waggy tail since I came here! It was really because I wanted to go for a wee, but I went waggy waggy and chased my tail and went waggy waggy again and FM burst into tears and said O Tommy You Are So _Good _and loved me up. And Lily and I both had _biskits_...

_FM: _Lily is a helicopter-tail girl - Tommy either has his tail tucked right up against his belly (when unsure or distressed) or straight down (default position) with the occasional swing from side to side ("this is a nice walk" position). But yesterday he had a bouncy moment with a wildly waggy tail and a circular zoomie. We hope this is his true character coming out. And I was indeed so happy that I cried.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily sez: _Happy New Ears! I do not know why FM sez that, becos me and Tommy haz lovely ears, but she said it and kissed our snoots. Perhaps she meant it for TF, who she sez iz Selectively Deaf when she sez things like How About You Do The Bloody Washing Up For A Change or When Are You Going To Fix That Bloody Leak.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Happy New Ears to you and your family Noble Hounds X


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Happy New ears to FM TF and the noble hounds Tommy and Lily luv an woofs from Dan and his hoomum x


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily sez: _Today I was Very Good Girl Lily, although They did not deserve it after yesterday. Today we went to the pub, and I let Fat Mum know I needed a wee even though we were outside in the marquee and I could have weed on the floor in there that used to be the car park. So she took my lead and Tommy's and said to the Twit I Shall Try To Take Them Outside Even Though Our Lil Flatly Refuses To Go Anywhere With Just Me. And Tommy and I both had a Big Wee and then we walked all the way the way through the beer garden and round the marquee until we found Twit Features again and I did not whimper or freeze. So there were _biskits, 
_
Yesterday FM and TF were horrid though. In the evening she brought out a big box of chocolates and she and Twit only went and sat down in front of us and ate _hundreds _of them and did not give any to Tommy or me even though we lay on the hearthrug and Looked Appealing. _She _sez chocolate is Not Good for Noble Hounds, but I think she and Twit wanted them all to themselves.

_Tommy: _Tell everyone about me today! Tell them about me!

_Lily: _Humph. _She _discovered Tommy has been something called Clicker Trained. I have not been playing Clicker Training because I could not be bothered, but she tried with Tommy today and when she went _Click! _Tommy looked at her and she said Oh Good Boy and gave him a treat, And I thought O Iz That What It Iz About so the next time she went _Click! _I stopped what I was doing and looked at her as well, and I got a treat too. It seems a waste of time to me but if it means treats I shall do it more often.

_Tommy: Clicker! _Mr Clicker means fuss and Good Boy and treats! I love Mr Clicker!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily sez: _This morning FM was getting our bags ready for our walk amd making sure that we had plenty of treats and poobags, and she said O Gawd I Must Have Left Their Mugs At The Pub Yesterday. We have our own mugs for drinking coffee froth and water out of, and our own bowls for when we have lunch because Mummy says it is Not Nice for Other People to think that we have eaten and drunk from cups and plates that they are given, no matter what we do at home. But she forgot to bring our mugs home again! So we simply had to stop off at the pub in case they had still got them, and when Mummy went to the bar, before she could say anything Steve the barman grinned and said I Have Something For You and it was our mugs! And they had realised they were ours! And they had washed them up for us, and Steve gave us a special biskit each!

_Tommy: _And we were Good and had crisps and coffee froth!


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

You pair of Noble Hounds are defiantly 'living the dream' and so you should. 
But do realise how very lucky you both are to have such a good 'mum & dad' who love you both so much.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> You pair of Noble Hounds are defiantly 'living the dream' and so you should.
> But do realise how very lucky you both are to have such a good 'mum & dad' who love you both so much.


I'm sure Tommy does: he's very eager to please. Lily, on the other hand, is in the "demanding" phase...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily sez: _Last night I wore my new pyjamas that Santa bought me! They iz nice and colourful, and snuggly and warm and I _love _them! They only have sleeves at the front, so I can go to the loo easily, and a nice roll neck to keep me snug. I was Good Girl Lily when TF and FM put them on me, and I wore them all night and did not try to chew at them. I wore them when I had my breakfast and they are so snuggly warm that I have gone back to bed in them. I shall tell FM she needs to let you see a photo of me wearing them!

_Tommy sez: _I do not have jimjams. Why do I not have jimjams, Fat Mum? Could I have jimjams please?

_Fat Mum: _I shall measure you up for jimjams, darling, and order some. They has better be a different pattern to Lily's, because you are bigger then she is. Would you like to have a cuddle and look at patterns with me?

_Tommy: _Hmm. I'd sooner have a _biskit....

FM: _Sigh.

Here is Lily in her nightware: ready for bed, as you can tell by the Big Yawn:


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

Tommy’s fostering sounds doomed to fail - his paws sound like they are firmly under the carpet …


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

JoanneF said:


> Tommy's fostering sounds doomed to fail - his paws sound like they are firmly under the carpet …


Well, I can't treat Lily to something and leave him out, can I??

However, we're having a bit of problem with Tommy Two-Stroke - "inappropriate urination", as I once heard it described. In layman's terms, he's started widdling inside.

The occasional little accident is fair enough: I'm prepared to think that we haven't heard/seen him wanting to go out. But yesterday was the third time that he's widdled inside when he could have gone outside. The first time he stood up and widdled on the sitting room carpet while we were sitting in there with him: the second time he cocked his leg up against the settee (which TF was sitting on at the time): the third time was yesterday, when he wandered into the hall and - before we could go and see if he wanted to go out - let go an absolute torrent on the hall carpet.

It's not every time: he needs to go: he still asks to go out for a wee or a poo the majority of the time, and he has no reluctance when we go for a walk And he .hasn't - so far - done this overnight. But I don't want this to become a habit - apart from anything else, if we don't keep him (or if for some reason we can't), this could be offputting for any potential adopters. So we're going back to basics - watch him like a hawk, hoick him outside at regular intervals, plenty of praises and treats when he does perform. Which means that Lily also has to have treats when she has a wee...


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily sez: _Last night I wore my new pyjamas that Santa bought me! They iz nice and colourful, and snuggly and warm and I _love _them! They only have sleeves at the front, so I can go to the loo easily, and a nice roll neck to keep me snug. I was Good Girl Lily when TF and FM put them on me, and I wore them all night and did not try to chew at them. I wore them when I had my breakfast and they are so snuggly warm that I have gone back to bed in them. I shall tell FM she needs to let you see a photo of me wearing them!
> 
> _Tommy sez: _I do not have jimjams. Why do I not have jimjams, Fat Mum? Could I have jimjams please?
> 
> ...


Beautiful pyjamas Lily x


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Beautiful pyjamas Lily x


_Tommy sez: _And I have been measured for jimjams and they iz ordered! They will take agesnages becoz they iz made to measure, but they iz ordered. And they iz a Suitable Pattern for a Big Beautiful Boy. Iz called Black Watch Tartan and Fat Mum keeps saying Och Aye The Noo and singing Glasgae Belongs Tae Me.

I think the excitment is too much for her.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Tommy sez: _And I have been measured for jimjams and they iz ordered! They will take agesnages becoz they iz made to measure, but they iz ordered. And they iz a Suitable Pattern for a Big Beautiful Boy. Iz called Black Watch Tartan and Fat Mum keeps saying Och Aye The Noo and singing Glasgae Belongs Tae Me.
> 
> I think the excitment is too much for her.


Tommy, my hoomum is egsited wen I gets noo fings too,  Er lets me open the parsels, do you fink FM will let you open yours? I bet you will be appee an cozee too.
luv Dan xx


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Tommy, my hoomum is egsited wen I gets noo fings too,  Er lets me open the parsels, do you fink FM will let you open yours? I bet you will be appee an cozee too.
> luv Dan xx


_Tommy: _I iz Not Too Bothered 'bout Opening Things, but Lily will probably have a go. Last night was very chilly, so FM popped Lily's fleece jacket on me. It covers the top of my bum, but does not have legs. But I was Comfy Cozy all night.

We haz had Breakfast and iz dozing on the sofa. I still have the fleece on and Lily iz still in her jimjams and we have our fleecy blankets tucked round us. FM is hogging the fire and sez Gawd Blimey It Iz Brass Monkeys In Here Gawd Only Knows How Cold It Iz Outside and TF has not yet Arisen From His Pit.

_Lily: _Iz cold cold cold. I might not go out today.

_Fat Mum: _I've got news for you, lady....


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

I as been dragged out for peemail  flipppin hoomans! It so wet ere an orrible outside
Hooum: man up Dan you've got your coat on go get your peemail


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We haz had a pedicure! We went back to the kennels and Unka John clipped our claws and we were Good! And FM sez tonight we will take it in turn to have sofa cuddles and she will use the Paw Balm to get our pads nice and smooth and soft!

_Fat Mum: _We are still working on getting Tommy's claws to an acceptable length, but we're getting there.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _I iz in Disgrace. When we go to the kennels, Fat Mum puts a muzzle on Tommy. She sez it iz because of the Trust's insurance and that while Tommy is still a fosterhound he has to wear a muzzle when we go out.

I do not like muzzles. I do not like them, and I bit through the strap of mine when I first came here, and Fat Mum sed O Well She Does Not Need To Wear One Anyway. But when we came back from kennels today it was Wet Wet Rainy and FM took Tommy's muzzle off and put it on the hall table and forgot to put it away.

So I thought I would do Tommy a Big Favour, and I took it off the hall table and chewed it to pieces. But when I took a big bit into the sitting room to show Tommy that he wouldn't be able to wear it any more, FM and TF were Not Amused and told me off! And they have just ordered him a new one.
And I am in Disgrace and FM sez No More Treats Until The New Muzzle Iz Paid For, Lady (but I do not think she means it).


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily: _I iz in Disgrace. When we go to the kennels, Fat Mum puts a muzzle on Tommy. She sez it iz because of the Trust's insurance and that while Tommy is still a fosterhound he has to wear a muzzle when we go out.
> 
> I do not like muzzles. I do not like them, and I bit through the strap of mine when I fist came here, and Fat Mum sed O Well She Does Not Need To Wear One Anyway. But when we came back from kennels today it was Wet Wet Rainy and FM took Tommy's muzzle off and put it on the hall table and forgot to put it away.
> 
> ...


 oh Lily!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Lily cannot be in too much Disgrace because after we had our tea last nice FM and TF had fishychips and there was fish and chips and mushy pea scraps for both of us and there is cod for our teas tonight.

I was Good Boy Tommy Brave Boy when I had my nails clipped and walking iz much easier even though Unka John sed I was a Drama Queen when he did my poorly foot and decided I could only walk on three feet until I had a treat. Fat Mum sez I was Putting It On and she would do the same if there was any chance of a treat from her chiropodist.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We iz Good and Well Behaved Noble Hounds. Today on our walk we met Small Snappy Terrier again - the first time for ages and ages - and FM told us to be calm, and although SST simply Yelled at us, Tommy and I put our well bred snoots in the air and strolled past him as if we were completely unconcerned.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily sez: _Humph,. We - me and Tommy - are not impressed.

Today was our day to go and help out at the kennels, and we always go for lunch at the Saturday Pub after we go to kennels.. And FM had ordered a Big Box of our favourite chews from Unka Lee at the pet shop and she was going to pick them up on out way to the pub. But the Twit did not feel well this morning, so we did not go in the car to the kennels. Instead we went for a walk through the Horses Fields and had a lunch at the Usual Pub, and TF had steak pie and FM had scampi and they both had chips and peas and we had some of each and then we had coffee froth and it was Very Yum and we swapped bowls when we had finished to see if the other one had left any Yum. And we were much better behaved than the two shouty Labradors who were in there and the lady from the Tattoo Parlour gave us a bit of her cheese sandwich.

But FM and TF chatted away to the other people in the pub for _hours_, so it was was late afternoon when we got home, and of course you can see where this is going - FM opened the larder to get us a chew each and said Oh My Good Gawd, We'll Have The Ar Ess Pea Sea Ay Onto Us, We Forgot The Sodding Dog Chews And Lee's Shop Is Shut Now.

There were only two little chews left, so we had one each and went off to sulk on the sofa. FM sez she will buy us some chews when the corner shop opens tomorrow, but they only sell Dentasticks, not the Buffalo Tails or Whimzies which we usually have, and Unka Lee's shop will not be open until Monday.

Iz Not Good Enough.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _It seems to me that it does not matter how hard a girl tries to be helpful, she is always in Big Trouble.

Take self-catering, for example. Today we had morning coffee at the pub, and Fat Mum went to the loo, leaving me and Tommy looking after Twit Features and also her bag. Now, I happen to know that FM keeps _treats _in her bag, and I also happened to know that the Twit was too busy looking at his phone to notice what I was doing.

I was up to my elegant little ears in FM's bag, happily munching treats to my heart's content when FM came back from the loo and saw what I was doing. And she took her bag away from me and clipped the Twit round the ear with her scarf and said Honestly Can You Not Put That Sodding Thing Down And Look After The Hounds For Five Minutes You Are Not A Bloody Teenager Honestly Sometimes I Could Just Scream.

_Fat Mum: _You weren't in trouble, Lily: I know the temptation was too much to resist. Twit Features, on the other hand, had a strict talking to....

_Tommy: _I didn't steal any treats!

_Lily: _You were supposed to be on lookout. Boys! I ask you!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _My new pjs arrived today! They iz something called Black Watch Tartan and they iz comfy cozy warm and I shall ask FM to take a picture of me wearing them so all my friends can see how handsome I look in them.

That was the Good Bit. After I had tried them on we went for a walk, and although it was Good at first it went downhill. It was Good until we were walking past the last paddock where there is a big dapple grey horse (FM sez he is only a pony, but he iz Much Bigger than us) and Lily stopped for a poo in the gateway. Big Dapple Grey Horse was very interested and came over to see what she was doing, and FM got out the poo bags ready to clean up. And when Lily had finished she kicked some leaves and grass about a bit as usual and suddenly Big Dapple Grey Horse neighed loudly and kicked his heels in the air and ran away fast fast fast and startled us! FM said he was startled by Lily doing the Fandango and it was Nothing To Worry About, but it frightened us and we forgot how the kissing gate worked.

We went for coffee and were Good Good Good, but then FM said she was going for a Big Wee, and she walked out and we were worried that the horse had frightened her so much that she had Run Away. Lily got on her hind legs to look out of the window, and I tried to do that too, but I got it Wrong and knocked her coffee cup over and spilt coffee all over the table. I did not mean to. Our Twit went and got a cloth to clear it up, and Steve the Barman said These Things Happen, It's Not As Bad As When Kids Spill Fizzy Pop All Over The Seats And Their Sodding Parents Don't Bother To Tell Us And Someone Else Sits In It, and by the time FM reappeared it was all cleared up and she had a fresh coffee and I was hiding under the table because I was Ashamed.

I got loved up and a biskit to prove All Was Forgiven, but I was frightened I would be Sent Away and got the Sads. And on the way home Lily and I did not want to walk past the paddocks again and had to be tempted with biskits lots of times, and scampered past the gateway where Lily had had her poo, and FM said I Know What's Up With Them, They're Still Frightened By Mister Horse. So we were Loved Up Again and FM said Mister Horse was probably just as frightened by Lily's dance as we were by him (but he can't have been!) and we went home and had Sardines for tea because Noble Hounds Who Have A Bad Day get nice treats and FM sez No One Iz Going To Send Me Away.

And now Lily and I both have our pjs on and are curled up on the sofa, and it iz Bath Night For Twits and FM is sitting in the dog bed typing this for me.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _I iz confused. Last night after Tommy and I had had our tea, and tasted some of TF and FM's, and we were lying in front of the fire when Tommy suddenly stood up and threw his head back and sang Roo-oo-oo-oo! And TF said Gawd Blimey Strike Me Pink and Tommy sang Roo-oo-oo-oo again and FM hugged him and cuddled him and said O Tommy I am So _Happy _and then she cuddled me too and said One Of These Days. And I have no idea what was happening.
_Tommy: _I was Happy! I was singing The Song Of Our People!
_FM: _Tommy's song is what is known in greyhound circles as "rooing" - some greyhounds roo when they are happy/content. We had never heard Tommy roo before, and Lily has never done it.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy TwoStroke: _I haz had my Biggest Adventure Yet! We went in the car, and I was wearing my new purple fleece, which FM has taken a photo of me wearing, and Lily was wearing her pink fleece and we went to the Heath and the Forest! And we were there hoursandhours, and there were lots of paths and Interesting Sniffs! And we had been exploring for about half an hour when FM said Well It's Now Or Never, and she clipped a long line to my harness and took my collar and lead off, and I walked on my long line! And I was Good Boy Tommy and came when I was called, and Lily was on her long line too and showed me what to do and she was Good Girl Lily Kind Girl. And we met a very little greyhound called Tess and said hello and then we had coffee froth and _biscuits _and when we got home it was kibble and tomatoes and yoghurt for tea and FM and TF had burgers and we helped them eat burger and bun and chipsies.

_Lily: _Yesterday FM had salad with her tea and I stole a cherry tomato from her plate and eated it all up. I will not eat cherry tomatoes if she offers them to me, but it is Different if I can steal them.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Mummy has been talking elsewhere about me and Resource Guarding, and I do not want to talk about it here. What I do want to tell you is that we went to the heath and forest yesterday - it is still a New Place for me! - and I had a Lovely Time. Lily and I were on our long lines and went sploring and there were lots of New Sniffs. And we did same recall training, but I could not really see the point of it. FM says it is Something Else We Will Work On.

We went to the Usual Pub afterwards, and I was Good Boy Tommy in the car and Good Boy Calm Boy in the pub where we had _biskits _and coffee froth. And I nearly forgot to tell you! There was a nicecream van at the heath and we all had nicecreams! All to ourselves! And nicecream licks from FM and TF's tubs when they had finished as well!

But there was a man in the forest who I thought was my First Dad and I went to say Hello! Where Have You Been?? but it was not him, and I had the Sads. And then in the pub there was another man who I thought might be Him, but he was not my Man either, and Mr Sad came back and FM had to sit on the floor with me and love me up until Mr Sad went away again.

_FM: _Tommy is attracted to a certain type of elderly man - always with grey hair and heavy-framed glasses. I really think that when he sees one, he believes him to be his first owner. And he is so _miserable_ when it isn't...


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

I luvs anicecreme too Tommy! My hoomum has speshul bowl just for me, but I only likes spensive one! (Hoomum - Lidl's finest vanilla gelato )
It sad you not find first dad yet but you has nice home with FM and TF and your sister Lily you is lucky doggo and much luvved, in time Iis hope Mr Sad will go away and not come back, licks and kisses from Dan xx


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> I luvs anicecreme too Tommy! My hoomum has speshul bowl just for me, but I only likes spensive one! (Hoomum - Lidl's finest vanilla gelato )
> It sad you not find first dad yet but you has nice home with FM and TF and your sister Lily you is lucky doggo and much luvved, in time Iis hope Mr Sad will go away and not come back, licks and kisses from Dan xx


_[Tommy]: _Fank you, Dan. I love FM and TF and Lily very much and I know they loves me, and I do try to be Good Boy Tommy, but sometimes Mr Sad comes along and spoils things. But FM sat on the floor with me and cuddled me and told me all about how Mr Sad will go away eventually and all about how I should tell her when he comes to visit and I felt so much better that we played Roly Poly Mummy and the people in the pub laughed but not at me, FM said they laughed because they were happy to see us playing.

_[FM]: _Roly Poly Mummy is a game with very few rules: I sit cross-legged on the floor, Tommy puts his muzzle under my hand or arm and pushes, and I rock backwards and then forwards far enough to kiss the top of his head. And then we start again until I get pins and needles.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _[Tommy]: _Fank you, Dan. I love FM and TF and Lily very much and I know they loves me, and I do try to be Good Boy Tommy, but sometimes Mr Sad comes along and spoils things. But FM sat on the floor with me and cuddled me and told me all about how Mr Sad will go away eventually and all about how I should tell her when he comes to visit and I felt so much better that we played Roly Poly Mummy and the people in the pub laughed but not at me, FM said they laughed because they were happy to see us playing.
> 
> _[FM]: _Roly Poly Mummy is a game with very few rules: I sit cross-legged on the floor, Tommy puts his muzzle under my hand or arm and pushes, and I rock backwards and then forwards far enough to kiss the top of his head. And then we start again until I get pins and needles.


 aww that sounds like a gud gamex


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> aww that sounds like a gud gamex


Our Usual Pub has a nice little corner - just by the fire exit - which is just the right size for two hounds to lie down in without getting in anyone's way - and, indeed, games of Roly Poly Mummy.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Our Usual Pub has a nice little corner - just by the fire exit - which is just the right size for two hounds to lie down in without getting in anyone's way - and, indeed, games of Roly Poly Mummy.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Tommy has asked FM not to talk about this, so I thought I'd let you all know - this is our third day without any Issues. We haz been Good and Well Behaved Not At All Growly Hounds and have Not Wound Each Other Up.


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## Sawitch (Aug 25, 2021)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily: _Tommy has asked FM not to talk about this, so I thought I'd let you all know - this is our third day without any Issues. We haz been Good and Well Behaved Not At All Growly Hounds and have Not Wound Each Other Up.


Good girl Lily, good boy Tommy. You is very well behaved hounds


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy : _We have had another Big Adventure! Yesterday we got in the car early early and TF drove us to a place where there were simply hundreds and greyhounds and their people! And we all went a long walk - at first we had to walk by a busy busy road, calm Tommy calm Lilly good hounds, and we were _good _and then we went into a big park for a sniffari and a nice stroll round! And then we went back to where we had left the car, and there was a little building and we all went in, and there was a _party! _We greyhounds all said hello and then there were _sossidges! _and our people had coffee and FM spent a fortune on chews for us. And suddenly a voice said Hello Tommy! and it was my first foster people! They chatted to FM and TF and said how happy I was and that they cried when they had to let me go, and I licked their fingers (which still smelled of sossidges) to let them know that there were No Hard Feelings. They were very happy to hear that I am going to live with FM and TF forever. And then we went to the Usual Pub and Lily and I were so zortsted after our exciting morning that we lay down in the corner and slept so soundly that we snored. 
_Lily: _It was the Trust's branch walk. There is always sossidges afterwards. I did not like walking by the main road but I stuck like glue to TF. Tommy was Not Bothered. And Tommy got a bit overexcited in the hall and forgot to ask to go out and FM had to mop the floor because he had a Very Big Wee.
_Tommy: _You promised not to tell!!
_Lily: _It does not matter. You were not the only one. And FM sez it was her fault for Not Spotting The Signs. Anyway, you have not told about your Poorly Foot.
_Tommy: _Oh yes. When I came up to bed last night one of my front paws got silly and turned over at the wrist and I said OUCH and limped for a bit. But Mummy Love made it better. The only problem is I have split a claw which is a bit Ouch sometimes, but Mummy says we are seeing the vet this week and they will sort it out.
_FM: _Just a little sliver at the side - nothing drastic. We had a touch of the Drama Queens when it happened which had to be soothed away with _biskitts._ And we have heard that Tommy's first owner didn't recover, so adoption is on the horizon.


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

I’m sorry to hear Tommy’s owner didn’t recover, but glad he will be staying with you.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

JoanneF said:


> I'm sorry to hear Tommy's owner didn't recover, but glad he will be staying with you.


We couldn't possibly let him go! We love him too much. He may have a few issues,It but we can cope with those - and, from Tommy's point of view, being moved on again isn't going to help.

To be honest, we'd decided within hours that if Tommy couldn't go home again, we'd be his forever home.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

So happy you decided to keep Tommy, I look forward to hearing more aventures. 
Dan says "you is lucky doggo Tommy"


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> So happy you decided to keep Tommy, I look forward to hearing more aventures.
> Dan says "you is lucky doggo Tommy"


Let's face it, it's been obvious for some time that he's not going anywhere!

We still have some things that need sorting out by the vet, and the Trust won't sign him over until those are sorted out/identified, but once they are, it's all systems go...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _Tommy has been so loving and happy today that I'm sure he knows that something's in the pipeline.

Mind you, that might have something to do with sardines for tea...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _Tommy has fallen out with me - I hope temporarily. While the Twit was at the local medical drop-in centre (of which more in a moment), Lily and I were on the sofa and Tommy was hogging the hearthrug. He suddenly got up, wagged his tail (usually a sign that he needs to go out) and started to squat. I said "Tommy!" not loudly, but in my "George, don't do that" voice - and he looked at me in horror, went to his bed in the corner and squatted again before he lay down with his back to me. It was clear that when he squatted the first time, it was the first step in lying down, but I've never seen him do this before: normally he playbows and gets down from there. I talked to him soothingly, but it was clear that I am a Nasty Mummy who tells him off when he isn't doing anything wrong. I was _Simply Horrid.
_
He ignored all my efforts to love him up until the Twit returned and then told him all about it. I am still in Disgrace and I needn't think bribing him with biscuits makes it any better.

Back to the Twit, who two days ago mananged to shut his thumb between the iron latch and the latchplate on the pub door. The thumb has swollen up and the entire nail is an interesting shade of black with pale blue overtones. The drop-in centre think he has broken his thumb and have advised him to arive at A&E at crack of sparrow cough tomorrow morning for an X-ray, muttering things about it probably needs to be pinned. He and Tommy have taken themselves off to bed, I am doing an unconvincing impersonation of a ministering angel, and Lily has decided she wants an evening walk (it is pitch dark and raining).


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _Update. Tommy is now speaking to me, TF's thumb is not broken, but very badly bruised (and he is expected to lose the nail) and Lily is miffed because he is still not back yet. But there will snossidge rolls at lunchtime, little ones...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Hello friends. Tommy and I have not been able to speak to you for agesandages because FM's internet connection thingy was bust, and we had to have a man round to fix it and he was Very Busy in the hall doing something called Changing Corroded Switch Boxes and FM said But They Were New When My Mum Moved In and TF said That Was Thirty Years Ago and FM said Gor Blimey and I looked in the Man's tool box and he rubbed my ears and said how beautiful I am and then of course Tommy had to be loved up too. And the Nice Man had a cup of tea and the internet thingy started working again and FM said Hurrah Let's Go To The Pub (which means a nice long walk). We peeked through lots of fences which had holes in them because of storms and FM sez we are not going for a walk tomorrow because we will be Blown Away.

So that is why we have not let you know what is happening. And it iz Very Cold Indeed and we iz all going to snuggle up in bed with tea and _biskits._ And Tommy sez I must tell you we had a new Yum at lunchtime coz FM had prawnsis and jacket potato and we looked pleadingly until we had some too.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _FM and TF had boiledy eggells for tea, and we had a boiledy eggell each and some toastie soldiers! They were Yum!!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Well, yesterday's walk was Most Disappointing. We got as far as the path to the woods, and FM took one look at the mud and standing water and said No Way Kiddos, so we walked down the little path to the cart track and past where the smallholding used to be until the land owner who FM calls The Bane Of The Neighbourhood terminated the lease and down past the turning to where the cattery used to be until The Bane Of The Neighbourhood terminated their lease too, and then past where the livery stables used to be (and guess what happened to them?) and down to the kissing gate. But we could not go any further, because The Bane Of The Neighbourhood moved the line of the footpath some years ago, and now it lies across where a pond used to be and it is wet and muddy at the best of times but yesterday FM sunk in over the top of her boots and said Oh Yuk My Socks Have Got All Soggy It Is Sodding Impossible and so we turned round and walked home (actually FM squelched home muttering about something called Trench Foot) and so we could not go to the pub or to the common. And today we are just doing road walking, which is not as much fun

_FM: _The Bane Of The Neighbourhood owns a vast amount of the valley which is classified as Green Belt , and has tried on several occasions to obtain planning permission for housing development. The land now seems to be going to waste, and there is a rumour going round that he intends to use the old livery yard for industrial storage and vehicle repairs with the intention that this will turn it from greenfield into brownfield. So far the local council have resisted...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Oh dear. We have taken a step backwards. 

After an exciting day when all four of us went to the usual National Trust property and then for a chippie tea, both hounds settled down nicely. Until the early hours of the morning, when Lily needed to go for a wee. Tommy was snoozing happily - but when she got back on the bed, he woke up, lunged at her and bit her.

No damage - he didn't break the skin - but there was no apparent reason. Today he has forgotten all about it, but Lily hasn't - if they're in the same room she whimpers, and won't get on the sofa with him.

Fingers crossed this is a one-off, please.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Fingers crossed for you.

How's Tommy's eye sight? That could be a trigger if he's not seeing properly and got spooked.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

lullabydream said:


> Fingers crossed for you.
> 
> How's Tommy's eye sight? That could be a trigger if he's not seeing properly and got spooked.


I think his sight's okay, but that's something else we'll ask the vet to check (honestly, it's a never-ending list...). Lily was nowhere near his poorly paw (which is quite okay, but he remembers that it hurt a few weeks ago, and still doesn't like it touched). However, a few hours earlier there'd been an earthquake in Birmingham, and we felt the tremors of it over here: they were both disturbed by it, so his behaviour may have been connected to that if he woke suddenly, I guess.


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

Sleep startle maybe?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

JoanneF said:


> Sleep startle maybe?


Greyhounds are prone to sleep startle, but this was the first time we've seen any indication.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Oh dear! Poor Lily, I hope the status quo can be restored soon.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Oh dear! Poor Lily, I hope the status quo can be restored soon.


We (they) settled down to sweetness and light by lunchtime.

Tommy seems to have phases when he's testing the boundaries. First we had the weeing and pooing indoors (which seems to be resolved); then there was the resource guarding of the sofa; then the resource guarding of the Twit; and now this. He seems to need to know that there are rules, and that there are consequences when he oversteps the mark.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

And another thing. After tea last night, Tommy went out in the garden for a wee, and suddenly screamed (granted greyhounds are drama queens, but the Greyhound Scream of Death is enough to make the blood run cold). He was okay when he came in, but about an hour later we noticed that he's not walking properly - his rear right leg isn't working properly. And of course as he's a foster, we have to sort out vet's visits etc through the Trust - and it was Sunday night...

To cut to the chase, we are waiting for the Trust to call back and confirm a vet's appointment so that we can find out (hopefully) what's going on. If it's a trapped nerve, it can be sorted out in kennels. But at the moment we don't know.

Ths invalid is very sorry for himself - but he's had his breakfast (and some of mine) and been out in the garden again. Lily is very subdued, the Twit is laying down (having spent the night sleeping on the sitting room floor with the hounds) and I am terrified that it's something major that we've missed the signs of.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> And another thing. After tea last night, Tommy went out in the garden for a wee, and suddenly screamed (granted greyhounds are drama queens, but the Greyhound Scream of Death is enough to make the blood run cold). He was okay when he came in, but about an hour later we noticed that he's not walking properly - his rear right leg isn't working properly. And of course as he's a foster, we have to sort out vet's visits etc through the Trust - and it was Sunday night...
> 
> To cut to the chase, we are waiting for the Trust to call back and confirm a vet's appointment so that we can find out (hopefully) what's going on. If it's a trapped nerve, it can be sorted out in kennels. But at the moment we don't know.
> 
> Ths invalid is very sorry for himself - but he's had his breakfast (and some of mine) and been out in the garden again. Lily is very subdued, the Twit is laying down (having spent the night sleeping on the sitting room floor with the hounds) and I am terrified that it's something major that we've missed the signs of.


Oh poor Tommy, hope it's something that's easily sorted.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Oh poor Tommy, hope it's something that's easily sorted.


Nothing yet about a vet's appointment, but we are at kennels tomorrow for a check over. Meanwhile me laddo is a bit brighter and moving a little more easily.

I may - I hope - be worrying over nothing, but greys have such light and delicate bones (and are prone to osteosarcoma) that it's hard not to panic. And it's not yet two years since poor Tyg lost his life to a thrombosis.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Try not to overthink things. As you say they are such drama queens, Emma only has to get a bit of grass or a twig on her legs or feet and the will not move, just whimpers & stands there until it is removed ! Seems to be a Grey/Whippet thing. He may well have just stood on a stone & bruised a pad which can really hurt. Hopefully he will be ok


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I iz Good Boy Tommy Brave Boy Sharp For A Minute. I have been checked over and there is nothing wrong with my back leg and I must have strained it. But while I was there I had a check up and I had some scratches in my groin which have probably come from brambles and they have been washed and cleaned Just In Case. And I had broken a dewclaw which has been removed and my nasty twisted claw cut back further. And I was a Good Boy and did not growl or whimper and Lily was Good Kind Girl Nurse Lily and stayed close close close all the while. And Mummy has been given some antibiotics to give me to stop where my dewclaw was getting Nasty.

_FM: _Feeling like a nasty neglectful foster mummy for not realising Tommy had broken his dewclaw. The kennels used something called Spray Plaster to stop the dewclaw bleeding as they use it in preference to bandaging, and I have managed to find it online and ordered some. And - a plus - while I was looking for something else entirely I found Lily's vaccination certificate, which I mislaid aftre her booster jab last October. So panic over (although it will be road walks rather than nice muddy field walks until the dewclaw heals). And the nasty twisted claw has been a matter of concern ever since Tommy came here (his feet seem to have been neglected for some time) but is now back to a more acceptable length.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Wonderful news for both Good Brave Boy Tommy & Excellent Nurse Lily. You are both very lucky to have such a good hooman family to love you both. X


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy is much happier today: he went upstairs to bed last night without a problem, lets me touch his paws and had a 45 minute walk on hard surfaces today with no problems - in fact he simply trotted along!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

He must be feeling better after getting his nails sorted, and scratches bathed bless him.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> He must be feeling better after getting his nails sorted, and scratches bathed bless him.


He's been very loving today - even more so than usual. Tomorrow is our "pub lunch with friends and their greyhound" day, and we've decided not to walk there, in case he gets mud from the fields onto the open wound from the broken dewclaw: we'll drive there and have a good walk over the golf course paths before (and possibly after) lunch.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Good idea, you don't want an infection in that nail. I'm not a fan of muddy walks, and neither is Dan, as it usually results in a bath for him! We have some nice off road paths within a short distance of home.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

And he's managed to hurt the same rear paw again: this time he slipped off the car seat in his eagerness to get out and see what was happening, and managed to damage the web between his toes. The back seat of the car and his bed look like the aftermath of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but the invalid is happily snoozing by the fire.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _I am being very Good Girl Nurse Lily for my poor Bruv. And FM sez a week tomorrow will be my fourth birthday and we shall have a Special Lunch to celebrate. She looked at the children's menu at the pub today and sez Tommy and me can share snossidge and chips and peas and she will mash the peas up in the hope that we digest them. And our Twit says he will have steak pie so we can have some pie filling as well. So Tommy has something to look forward to which will cheer him up.
_Tommy: _My paw iz poorly again!
_FM: _Poor Tommy is really in the wars at the moment. Everything is healing nicely (even if the antibiotics are having an unfortunate effect on his poos - I had (literally) to wipe the grass clean on the golf course this morning!) and then, in his excitement to get out of the car and into the house, he slipped off the seat and tore the web between his toes. On the leg which caused him so much trouble last week, of course...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I have been back to kennels. I have broken another nail which has had to be removed, but I was Good Boy Tommy Brave Boy What A Very Good Boy. And I cannot go on long walk for the next few days. But when we got home me and Nurse Lily both had a buffalo tail and a cheese and tomato twist each. And the kennels told FM that they know she is not a Nasty Neglectful Mummy because as soon as there is anything wrong she lets them know and takes me up for it to be sorted out.

Auntie Jo at the kennels sez I have damaged my nails in the past and this is why some of them grow back thick and twisty and at funny angles. And the antibiotics give me Runny Bum, but that should sort itself out soon. Mummy sez there might be scambled eggles with tea, and that should Firm Me Up a bit.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I iz Much Better today, and we have had a little walk. And then we shared FM and TF's pub lunch. We had snossidge and chippies and little tomatoes and cheese and broccoli bake, and then we had coffee froth. And I have my last antibiotic tonight, but then I have a flea and worm tablet to take (and so does Lily). FM says it iz just as well she only has to hide our tablets in a bit of yoghurt in our teas and we eats them all up.

_Lily: _FM sez Tommy is walking as if he never hurt his feets in the first place, and we can get back to long and exciting walks next week. She has put the Spray-On Plaster in the bag she takes with her when we go for walks Just In Case and she always has a water bottle and a cloth with her so we should be Okay For All Emergencies. And in the pub we met a tiny little sable whippet pup called Darcy who is a bit shy, but I loved her up and told her I Am Auntie Lily And I Will Make Sure No One Frightens You, and Tommy and I taught her how to mug FM for _biskits._ And now we are snoozing with Mummy while Daddy does the shopping.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _We haz only had boring old road walks today, but we met Auntie Wendy and Bethany the Pemboke Corgi who are great friends of ours. And Auntie Wendy sez when the weather is better we will all go to the pub for coffee froth and biscuits because although Bethany only has little legs she Can't Half Shift. And our tea was extra Yum because FM made us scrambled eggels to Firm Me Up and they was Very Yum Indeed.

_FM: _We have yet to discover anything that isn't Very Yum, with the sole exception of Harringtons.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _'Citing Day! We got in the car and we went to Wightwick Manor, a National Trust property quite near to us (Fat Mum sez she is a Mean Old Trout and took us there because she can get in for nothing on account of being a Volunteer with the Trust). I had been there before but Tommy hadn't. We had a good modge round the grounds and the woods (but we couldn't go over the footbridge to the woods because it is damaged, and we couldn't go round the lake because the footpath is closed off at the moment) and then Tommy and I shared a sossinge roll while FM and TF had cake and coffee (and saved some for us!) And when we got home we was Simply Zorsted and slept like two good little hounds.

_Tommy: _And I was Brave Boy Tommy! We met FM's friend Janet, and I had not met her before, but she asked all about my poorly feet and tickled me behind my ears and I loved her up and leant against her so hard that she said Blimey Tommy We'll Both End Up On The Ground If You Carry On Like This. It was a new walk for me with plenty of exciting sniffs and FM says when the weather is better we will take a picnic and spend all day there and have our picnic in the little summerhouse which is just the right size for two pwople and their hounds.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Tomorrow is my burfday, and I will be a big grown up 4!
_FM: _I'll believe the grown up bit when I see it, lady.
_Lily: _'Scuse me, who's writing this? As I was about to say, I had my burfday lunch today even though it was a day early. We went to the pub and FM ordered snossidge and chips for us to share, and TF saved us some steak pie and broccoli and gravy, and FM saved us some rice from her vegetable chilli and the cherry tomato from her salad. And we had coffee froth and Posh Biscuit, and FM said we had to stay there for a bit after we finished coz otherwise we might get Bloat but I think she only said that so she could have some Beer. But it was a lovely burfday lunch.
_Tommy: _And we had a lovely long walk there and I shared all of Lily's burfday lunch!


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

Happy birthday Lily!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Happy birthday Lily, brave, kind noble hound. Wishing you lots of yums and loads of extra fusses from your humans.


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

Happy birthday from us too


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Thank you for your burfday wishes. I haz a box of _biskits _from Auntie Wendy and Bethany the Corgi and FM sez I must share them with Tommy. As if I need telling! And there iz buffalo tails in the larder. And we might go for a long walk later, if the Twit arises from his pit in time.

We do not know when Tommy's birthday iz, but FM sez we will celebrate his coming-as-a-foster day, and if we do not find out his actual burfday, we will have a special day for him in September, when there are no burfdays or anniversaries to celebrate.

FM's burfday is at the end of the month so we will have a special meal then as well!


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Very Happy Birthday, Most Noble of Hounds, Lily X


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We has had a _fab _day. We got in TF's car and went to the heath, and walked for hoursanhoursanhours and found plenty of interesting sniffs and said hello to some nice dogs. Then we found the nicecream van and had nicecreams each, and then we went to the pub and had crisps and posh _biskits _and coffee froth.

And we are so tired that we are snoozing through our usual teatime...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _We haz had our feets done again! Unka Craig clipped Lily's claws and said she was Good Girl Nice Quiet Girl (and FM said Gawd Strewth She Fights Like A Dozen Tigers If I Try It) and then he looked at my claws that were silly and norty a few weeks ago and said They Are Growing Back Nicely, No Worries So Far and clipped the rest of my claws so they are much shorter and it is much easier to stand and walk and I was What A Good Boy Tommy There's A Good Patient Hound. I have to go back in a month's time because they are not as short as he would like to get them.

_FM: _Vast improvement! Apparently Tommo's feet had been neglected for some considerable time and before he was placed with us Craig had to do some serious nail clipping, as they were so long that they were beginning to curl under. Hence all the issues with them. Poor baby!

_Lily: _I was Good Girl!

_FM: _Yes you were, darling, and I am Very Proud of you.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

It struck me this morning that it's just over 4 months since Tommy arrived. We've had our ups and downs - and recently more than a few scares! - but we haven't regretted having him for a moment. And, as Lily is definitely a Daddy's Girl, it's very comforting that he's decided to be a Mummy's Boy.

Two hounds enjoying the pub with their Fat Mum:










_Edited to add: what appears to be a most unhoundlike furry tail is in fact the trim on my parka..._


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

I very much enjoy the Lily and Tommy adventures. They are very lucky to have found such a caring home with you (FM) and TF, and each other of course.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> I very much enjoy the Lily and Tommy adventures. They are very lucky to have found such a caring home with you (FM) and TF, and each other of course.


More adventures to come, of course. We need to work more on long-line recall (Tommy is a sweetie, and comes for a fuss when called, but Lily is easily distracted. I might try an idea I saw on one of the televised Crufts episode, using a dog whistle. The idea is that the dog doesn't think of it as "Come" - the dog thinks of it as *"*_*Chicken!" *_So every time the whistle is blown and the dog recalls, there's a piece of chicken - and I guess it might be a good idea to do the reverse - chicken only when the whistle is blown.)

Otherwise SA is still problematical with Lily (which I freely admit is down to us, because we don't go out together unless we can take the hounds). So we'll be building that up slowly.

Very proud of them yesterday - we were exercising hounds at the kennels, and didn't know that one hound was reactive to other, smaller, dogs. And of course we met one, not leashed, who wombled up to say "hello" - before I could slip my fingers through Jimmy's collar to restrain him, all hell broke loose. I held tight to the leash and managed to grab the collar, and Jimmy was muzzled anyway, but his owner became hysterical, which of course spurred the other dog on.... and Lily and Tommy stood very quietly and took no notice. So - two unmuzzled hounds causing no problem at all, one muzzled hound raising Cain - and "all hounds are dangerous".


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Both perfect good Hounds. 
All my dogs have been trained on the whistle since the first rescue I got was deaf so that decided me to train from start in case any of them did become hard of hearing. 
I always start with meal time food, they do not see or hear their food being prepared but when it is I shake & show food at the same time as blowing the whistle - whistle equals food. I realise this is not realistic for you now. 
But you can start as you are intending - its works well same principle, food only on return. So let Lily wander a fair way, call her and immediately blow the whistle, on return much silly FM praise and a very tasty tip bit. Continue like that for a few days then now and again drop the name call and just use the whistle, eventually you can drop the name call altogether & just use the whistle, it does become automatic eventually & boy does it look & feel amazing when your dog is actually playing with a ball or another dog & you do it and get an immediate recall !
You can get ACME whistles on Amazon & get 2 as you will at some point loose one of them ! Just make sure they are both the same tone or it gets confusing if not. 
Good luck look forward to hearing how you get on.


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

And be very careful if passing a football or rugby match. We found that out the hard way when T nearly did a beautiful recall to a referee ...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

JoanneF said:


> And be very careful if passing a football or rugby match. We found that out the hard way when T nearly did a beautiful recall to a referee ...


That could be - er -_ fun_....


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

JoanneF said:


> And be very careful if passing a football or rugby match. We found that out the hard way when T nearly did a beautiful recall to a referee ...


:Jawdrop


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Something else that I'm not too certain how to solve: Lily's non-too-endearing habit of ensuring that bits of her harness etc are rendered completely useless! In the last 18 months she has chewed through the handle part of her lead (mended with rivets, which now ensures that at least we can tell which lead belongs to which hound, and protected from further damage by being stored in a bag behind the larder door when not in use); chewed two muzzles into small pieces (now replaced, and new ones kept in the same bag as the leads); removed her metal ID tag from her house collar and hidden it somewhere I know not where (but no damage to the collar); bitten the plastic key tag I was using as an emergency ID tag in half; and this morning biting through her harness while wearing it (the third harness she has destroyed: after the first we kept replacements in the bag in the larder and only put her harness on immediately before taking her for a walk). 

And I thought it was the insurance that was costing me an arm and a leg....


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Something else that I'm not too certain how to solve: Lily's non-too-endearing habit of ensuring that bits of her harness etc are rendered completely useless! In the last 18 months she has chewed through the handle part of her lead (mended with rivets, which now ensures that at least we can tell which lead belongs to which hound, and protected from further damage by being stored in a bag behind the larder door when not in use); chewed two muzzles into small pieces (now replaced, and new ones kept in the same bag as the leads); removed her metal ID tag from her house collar and hidden it somewhere I know not where (but no damage to the collar); bitten the plastic key tag I was using as an emergency ID tag in half; and this morning biting through her harness while wearing it (the third harness she has destroyed: after the first we kept replacements in the bag in the larder and only put her harness on immediately before taking her for a walk).
> 
> And I thought it was the insurance that was costing me an arm and a leg....


*Grannick's Bitter Apple Chew Deterrent - available at [email protected], Amazon & pet shops. Stopped Emma as a pup chewing the corner of a little coffee table.*


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

DaisyBluebell said:


> *Grannick's Bitter Apple Chew Deterrent - available at [email protected], Amazon & pet shops. Stopped Emma as a pup chewing the corner of a little coffee table.*


We used this for Dan when he was a pup, he liked to lick the base of our bed for some reason.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> *Grannick's Bitter Apple Chew Deterrent - available at [email protected], Amazon & pet shops. Stopped Emma as a pup chewing the corner of a little coffee table.*


Ooh - too late for the dresser in the hall, I fear (Madam rendered one of the turned wooden knobs to large splinters), but worth a tilt - would it work on soft surfaces, I wonder?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> We used this for Dan when he was a pup, he liked to lick the base of our bed for some reason.


There may be hope for the sofa yet! It's Tommy who's obsessed with that - there seems to be something very comforting about licking it. I started covering it with a throw, thinking that at least the throw was washable, but to be quite honest the sofa - old but very comfortable - is probably worth less than the throw....

He also bit a hole in his blankie, but that was because he'd found a bit of his chew stuck firmly to it and got to it before I could. He may be an older boy, but he's still faster on his feet than a little fat mum is!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> There may be hope for the sofa yet! It's Tommy who's obsessed with that - there seems to be something very comforting about licking it. I started covering it with a throw, thinking that at least the throw was washable, but to be quite honest the sofa - old but very comfortable - is probably worth less than the throw....
> 
> He also bit a hole in his blankie, but that was because he'd found a bit of his chew stuck firmly to it and got to it before I could. He may be an older boy, but he's still faster on his feet than a little fat mum is!


My bed is an old fashioned material covered divan, it took a few sprays but he eventually got the message,  or grew out of it maybe . Dan also does the blanket licking thing, he also likes to lick the throw cushions on the sofa sometimes, I've not used anything to stop him, just move him and wash the cushion cover, I hate getting a soggy cushion when I sit down to watch telly. What is it with dogs and the compulsion to lick soft furnishing?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _I haz a new tag for my collar. FM sez No Doubt The Old One Will Now Turn Up And How Long Will It Take For Madam To Lose The New One. TF sez Well I Don't Know Where It Iz Perhaps It Iz Under All That Rubbish On The Floor Of My Workshop. Then FM threatened him with Violence and sed I Will Sodding Swing For You One Of These Days Have You Never Heard Of A Broom.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily: _I haz a new tag for my collar. FM sez No Doubt The Old One Will Now Turn Up And How Long Will It Take For Madam To Lose The New One. TF sez Well I Don't Know Where It Iz Perhaps It Iz Under All That Rubbish On The Floor Of My Workshop. Then FM threatened him with Violence and sed I Will Sodding Swing For You One Of These Days Have You Never Heard Of A Broom.


 men!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> men!


I am sitting here wondering why there is a car jack at the side of the sofa. Not to mention the pile of railway CDs and model engine on my sewing table...


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> I am sitting here wondering why there is a car jack at the side of the sofa. Not to mention the pile of railway CDs and model engine on my sewing table...


!a car jack? 
I thought I had it bad with potatoes chitting on my spare bedroom windowsill, at least they are there for a purpose I suppose. again, men!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> !a car jack?
> I thought I had it bad with potatoes chitting on my spare bedroom windowsill, at least they are there for a purpose I suppose. again, men!


Apparently it's there so that he can find it again when he needs it. Or so he says. Little Fat Mum has other ideas...


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Apparently it's there so that he can find it again when he needs it. Or so he says. Little Fat Mum has other ideas...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


>


Fat Mum is tempted to put it where he'll have great difficulty finding it again...


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Fat Mum is tempted to put it where he'll have great difficulty finding it again...


:Jawdrop  runTF run!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> :Jawdrop  runTF run!


 Are you a Tog, by any chance??


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _What an exciting day! We walked through the woods and down the cart track to the pub for coffee froth and posh _biskits! _and when we came out FM said we could walk across the golf course. And when we got to the little road that goes through the common, instead of turning round we walked up the little road (which was not very busy) and had a rest by the church and then walked along the roads to home. We walked for hours an hours and it was simply _miles! _[_FM: _about 4.5 miles] See! Miles and miles! And we were walking nicely on the pavement while cars went zoom zoom on the road when suddenly there was a Moron. He drove past us and just as he was level with us he stuck his head out of the window and shouted YAAH! at the top of his voice. FM said he was an Idiot who wanted to startle us to make us run fast fast fast, but we were having none of it. Tommy flicked an ear distainfully and I took no notice at all. FM cursed fluently in her native Black Country dialect, and TF swore in three different languages and made the sort of gestures that aren't taught in BSL classes. So we had _biskits _and fuss for being good unflappable hounds.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Are you a Tog, by any chance??


guilty as charged!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> guilty as charged!


In a previous existence I was Iva ToyBoy!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> In a previous existence I was Iva ToyBoy!


brilliant!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _My new harness has arrived! It is pink, and Tommy has a new one too (so far he has had my old cast offs, or at least the ones that were still fit to wear) but now he one of his very own and his is blue. FM says she is not Gender Stereotyping, we are different sizes and this way it is easy to see whose is whose. And we wore them today when we went to walk Other Hounds at kennels, and I have not bitten mine (yet!) and we were Good Good Good with the Kennel Kids. And FM says she is Broke Till Payday Kids, It Is bread And Scrape Until Then so if we are Good we might go to the common and have a picnic.
_Tommy: _I haz a harness all of my very own! And it haz reflective bands so that if we are out and it iz dark dark dark I will be safe safe safe! FM sez I am her big beautiful sable Midnight Boy, and Lily is her feisty little stripey TigerLily Girl!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We forgot to tell you how clever Tommy was today!
_Tommy: _Yes I was!! We were both walking with FM while Our Twit was walking one of the Kennel Kids, and FM had had to swap our leads from one hand to another in order to fish a poo bag out of her pocket, and after she had cleared everything up, she swapped leads back again. And we were sploring the woods, and I was behind FM and Lily was in front, when FM suddenly realised she had not, as she thought, got Lily's lead handle and a loop of my lead - she had the handle and a loop of Lily's lead and none of mine at all!! And she said O My Gawd and turned round and I was right behind her strolling along like the Good Boy Tommy I Am with the lead trailing behind me. Wasn't I Good and Clever??


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _I've just realised it's almost a year since this thread began with the tale of Twit Features dropping Lily's line - and we've come full circle with the tale of Fat Mum dropping Tommy's. When it started, we'd never heard of Tommy - there's been a lot of Excellent Days and Houndie Adventures in the meantime!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _FM: _I've just realised it's almost a year since this thread began with the tale of Twit Features dropping Lily's line - and we've come full circle with the tale of Fat Mum dropping Tommy's. When it started, we'd never heard of Tommy - there's been a lot of Excellent Days and Houndie Adventures in the meantime!


....and we have really enjoyed the adventures of Lily FM and TF and her new bruvver Tommy too, maybe it should be renamed (Llily and Tommy's excellent adventures? lol) .


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

I feel a photo should be forthcoming of the two Amazing Hounds in their relevant new Harnesses ????

I too have really enjoyed the Adventures of the Hounds over the past year & look forward to more


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> I feel a photo should be forthcoming of the two Amazing Hounds in their relevant new Harnesses ????
> 
> I too have really enjoyed the Adventures of the Hounds over the past year & look forward to more


_Lily: _We haz told TF that he needs to photograph us in our nice new harnesses. We already had colour coded long lines, so we look Extra Smart now! We haz been for a walk in them today, even though we could not play the recall game becuase the horses were in two of the fields and there were shouty children in the other one, but we played Hunt The Fat Mum in the woods and once she had hidden she blew her whistle loud loud loud to let us know she was hidden and that there would be Special Treats when we found her.

And we saw a big cock pheasant in the woods, and he ran away from us in that funny way that pheasants do, but although we both saw him we did not react but just looked on with Great Interest. Fat Mum also saw some buzzards and a kestrel and a red kite, but we did not see them. We saw a yellowhammer at the kennels yesterday, though.


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> _FM: _I've just realised it's almost a year since this thread began with the tale of Twit Features dropping Lily's line - and we've come full circle with the tale of Fat Mum dropping Tommy's. When it started, we'd never heard of Tommy - there's been a lot of Excellent Days and Houndie Adventures in the meantime!


Another here who's enjoyed your Houndie Adventures. So much so that I went back to your intro post this morning and read the first 10 pages. Intend to read the rest later


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Hopefully TF will get his equipment out (no pun intended) on your next fantastic adventure & we will get to see you two amazing Hounds in your beautiful new harnesses with accompanying long lines. I am truly impressed with your responses to your whistle training


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We haz had another Excellent Day! We walked through the woods and across the horses field, and we played the recall game three times with the whistle. And I got it right every time and went running back to FM and TF for treats!
_Tommy: _And every time I heard the whistle I stopped and looked back at whoever had blown it. I did not run back for treats until they called my name, but FM said Near Enough, That'll Do For Me. And then we walked over the golf course and onto the common, and we did not use the whistle there, but FM used Mr Clicker instead and Lily ran back and I stopped and looked back until my name was called again. So there were treats then as well! And then Lily got frightened, but FM loved her up.
_FM: _We were doing ever so well walking past golfers and their silly little trolleys, and then one golfer came up close to Lily and put his hand out to her very quickly - before I could tell him not to. But I was very impressed - I didn't know she _could _run backwards...
_Lily: _He startled me! But FM and TF loved me up, and everything was all right again. And then we walked back to the pub and FM said We Had Better Stop Here For The Hounds To Cool Down (honest, the excuses she comes up with!) and then we walked home and played recall with Mr Clicker again. And a man in the pub said we were the most beautiful hounds he had ever seen.
_Tommy: _And on the way home we saw a man who looked a bit like my First Man, and I chittered at him. But he was not the One. But Mr Sad did not turn up and spoil things and I am Good Brave Boy Tommy. We walked miles and miles and miles!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

This is us in our new harnesses in the pub!


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Oh fab looking harnesses, you do look amazingly beautiful Noble Hounds!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

You two do look very dapper in your new harnesses.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Yesterday was Fat Mum's birthday, which Tommy and I helped her celebrate by getting her up earlier than usual to make our breakfasts. Then we all had a nice long walk and guess where we ended up? The pub, of course! Fat Mum had cheese and broccoli bake and saved some for us (and the cherry tomato from her salad) and the Twit had Snossidge baguette and chips, and saved us some, and Tommy and I shared fish fingers and chips. And Fat Mum had two Big glasses of wobbly juice, but was not too wobbly to play recall and Find The Twit on the way home. And when we got home it was nearly teatime! And we had a Very Little Bit of Mummy's birthday cake after tea.

We enjoyed celebrating Mummy's birthday for her.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily: _Yesterday was Fat Mum's birthday, which Tommy and I helped her celebrate by getting her up earlier than usual to make our breakfasts. Then we all had a nice long walk and guess where we ended up? The pub, of course! Fat Mum had cheese and broccoli bake and saved some for us (and the cherry tomato from her salad) and the Twit had Snossidge baguette and chips, and saved us some, and Tommy and I shared fish fingers and chips. And Fat Mum had two Big glasses of wobbly juice, but was not too wobbly to play recall and Find The Twit on the way home. And when we got home it was nearly teatime! And we had a Very Little Bit of Mummy's birthday cake after tea.
> 
> We enjoyed celebrating Mummy's birthday for her.


A belated Happy birthday FM from Dan and his Hoomum, sounds like a perfect day was had by all


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Very Happy Belated Birthday FM from myself and Emma X


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Where has the nice weather gone?? We got wet wet soggy on our lunchtime walk! If Our Twit can fix the car, why doesn't he get his spanners out and fix the sky to stop it leaking??


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Tommy: _Where has the nice weather gone?? We got wet wet soggy on our lunchtime walk! If Our Twit can fix the car, why doesn't he get his spanners out and fix the sky to stop it leaking??


It is snowing ere, an it as gon cold cold cold, brrr.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

DanWalkersmum said:


> It is snowing ere, an it as gon cold cold cold, brrr.


Snow here in Nottinghamshire too, then sunshine, then sleet, then snow & round and round it goes, but the wind is very very cold


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _It was cold cold on our walk today, and the sky was coming down in lumpy bits (FM says it was sleet, but I know lumpy bits when I see them!) I turned from a Midnight Hound into a Starlight Boy - or at least the bits of me that my big warm coat doesn't cover did!

Auntie Ann - who is Mum to Bethany the Pembroke Corgi - has fallen over and broken her leg. FM says we will have to be helpful and offer to do her shopping and things for her until she is better. We might even have to take Bethany for a walk!

And next door are having their Roof Done. FM says she has One Of Her Heads, because every time they start going Hammer Hammer Hammer Lily starts barking, and they go Hammer Hammer Hammer a lot: she also says Gawd Knows Our Front Garden Would Not Win A Best Kept Garden Competition But The Last Time She Looked It Wasn't Full Of Old Slates And Ridge Tiles And If The Men Don't Clear It Up When They Finish There Will Be Trouble.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _I iz Clever Girl Lily Well Done!

We played Hunt The Fat Mum in the woods, and she went and hid, and instead of Our Twit counting to a hundred, she blew her whistle when she was hidden, and when I heard it I simply galumphed along the path to find her! And tonight I went into the garden for a Big Wee and a modge about sniffing the bushes, and FM usually has to walk up the path shaking the treat jar and calling my name before I finish modging about and deign to come in. But tonight she blew the whistle and I galumphed down the path straight away.

Mr Whistle means _treats! _Why did no-one tell me this before??


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

So glad that Mr. Whistle is working well for all concerned. The faster you come to Mr. Whistle the better the treat is, is Emma's thinking & she has been right today, as special treat day, as she came so fast at one point she shot straight past my Treat Held Out hand !!!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

I'm amazed how quickly Lily has taken to this - I only mentioned whistle training on the 20th March!


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> I'm amazed how quickly Lily has taken to this - I only mentioned whistle training on the 20th March!


People think its so difficult to train on the whistle but its no different than shouting 'come' or your dogs name, its the consistency & of course the treats that makes it work. Even now I will whistle call Emma just to remind her, even if I don't actually need her for any reason . I started using the whistle as my first rescue was deaf (didn't know that when we rescued him). I vowed thereafter that every dog I had would be trained to the whistle as well as a call in case they ever went deaf in old age but could still here a high pitched whistle. I find it also helps if they disappear after a squirrel in the woods & you need them to know where you are if you carry on walking letting them have a bit of freedom for a while. A whistle is also preferable to them hearing the utter panic in your voice if you cant see them!


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## Linda Weasel (Mar 5, 2014)

DaisyBluebell said:


> People think its so difficult to train on the whistle but its no different than shouting 'come' or your dogs name, its the consistency & of course the treats that makes it work. Even now I will whistle call Emma just to remind her, even if I don't actually need her for any reason . I started using the whistle as my first rescue was deaf (didn't know that when we rescued him). I vowed thereafter that every dog I had would be trained to the whistle as well as a call in case they ever went deaf in old age but could still here a high pitched whistle. I find it also helps if they disappear after a squirrel in the woods & you need them to know where you are if you carry on walking letting them have a bit of freedom for a while. A whistle is also preferable to them hearing the utter panic in your voice if you cant see them!


You're so right about the panic.

I've whistled Tod back from chasing deer; I know that if I'd only had my voice it would have been a pathetic horrified squealing.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Linda Weasel said:


> You're so right about the panic.
> 
> I've whistled Tod back from chasing deer; I know that if I'd only had my voice it would have been a pathetic horrified squealing.


Yes done it myself when I have left the whistle at home, knowing full well that dog couldn't even hear me !


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Mummy has discovered that Lily and me iz related! She sed that we have to be, coz all racing greyhounds are descended from a famous greyhound called King Cob who was born in 1838 (and of course from his grandad, who was called Pilot and was born in 1820.) That is 35 generations ago for Lily and 33 for me!

But we is more recently related than that! Lily's great grandma was called Sobbin' Sal (who was also her great great grandma), and Sobbin' Sal was my grandma on one side and my great grandma on another side!

Mummy has also found out my birthday, and my racing name, which was Stunning Tommy, and has found some videos of me racing!


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Oh that's fantastic news for ALL concerned. Well done to FM, great detective work


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Guess who has been been Good And Well Behaved Noble Hounds again?

We went on the group greyhound walk with _simply thousands _of other hounds (_FM: _68, but I agree that is lots and lots) and were well behaved, and afterwards there was a party for us hounds with a bran tub to pick a treat out of, and _snossisges _and FM had won £5 and a Lucky Dip on the lottery so she spent that on treats for us. Including chicken feets! And the local vet was there and she weighed us (and we iz Just The Right Size) and looked at our feet (and said my feets are fine and Tommy's are Much Improved Keep Up The Good Work) and our teefs. My teefs are Spotless, but Tommy has some Plaque and FM has bought some stuff which she has to rub on once a day to make his teefs better.

And she won a chopping board in the raffle which has a greyhound carton on it, which made her Very Happy and she says that it is a Special Chopping Board for chopping up our snossisges and cheese on.

And then I was Very Good Girl Kind Girl Lily. Auntie Clare who helps run the trust has a daughter called Jess, who has Downs Syndrome. Jess loves greyhounds and always wants me to speak to her, but I have always been Shy And Retiring. Until today - Jess came over to say Hello and I sniffed her hand and loved her up. And Jess was so happy that she laughed! And FM was so happy that she burst into tears!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily: _Guess who has been been Good And Well Behaved Noble Hounds again?
> 
> We went on the group greyhound walk with _simply thousands _of other hounds (_FM: _68, but I agree that is lots and lots) and were well behaved, and afterwards there was a party for us hounds with a bran tub to pick a treat out of, and _snossisges _and FM had won £5 and a Lucky Dip on the lottery so she spent that on treats for us. Including chicken feets! And the local vet was there and she weighed us (and we iz Just The Right Size) and looked at our feet (and said my feets are fine and Tommy's are Much Improved Keep Up The Good Work) and out teefs. My teefs are Spotless, but Tommy has some Plaque and FM has bought some stuff which she has to rub on once a day to make his teefs better.
> 
> ...


That sounds like a perfect day Lily, well done!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _The chopping board: to my amazement it was one of the last prizes to be chosen! It catches the goofy expressions of my two when determined on food perfectly:


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _FM: _The chopping board: to my amazement it was one of the last prizes to be chosen! It catches the goofy expressions of my two when determined on food perfectly:


That's a really nice non boring chopping board, 'twould cheer up the dullest day! I love it!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> That's a really nice non boring chopping board, 'twould cheer up the dullest day! I love it!


I know - I really couldn't believe no one else had chosen it, considering we were all greyhound owners!

I love Rich Skipworth's cartoons. He catches the idiocy of the needle nosed twerp so beautifully:


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> I know - I really couldn't believe no one else had chosen it, considering we were all greyhound owners!
> 
> I love Rich Skipworth's cartoons. He catches the idiocy of the needle nosed twerp so beautifully:


Very witty!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Very witty!


I can't find a copy of my favourite - "Greypoling" (greyhound maypole dancing) in which Rich draws himself wrapped round and round with the long lines as his two hounds circle him again and again. This is so familiar, especially as the hounds are a small brindle and a slightly larger black - just like Lily and Tommy.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> I can't find a copy of my favourite - "Greypoling" (greyhound maypole dancing) in which Rich draws himself wrapped round and round with the long lines as his two hounds circle him again and again. This is so familiar, especially as the hounds are a small brindle and a slightly larger black - just like Lily and Tommy.












YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED FM !!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

DaisyBluebell said:


> View attachment 486885
> 
> 
> YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED FM !!


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

My personal fav as this is Emma should a small twig attach itself to any part of her !


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _This training malarky's quite easy once you put your mind to it.

F'r instance: coming in from the garden. Time was, when I went out for a wee in the middle of the night, I'd modge about for a bit until Fat Mum came to the end of the path and dragged me in. She'd call me until she was hoarse, but I wouldn't come in until I'd finished modging.

Then she discovered Mr Whistle, and when I came to the whistle she'd give me a biscuit.

Now I've started coming in as soon as I've finished my wee, before she gets the whistle out - but I make sure she has enough time to get my biscuit.

See? Training's quite easy! I've nearly got her fully trained.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _I iz Big Independent Grown Up Girl! Usually I sleep with the Twit, but last night I decided to sleep downstairs on the sofa. TF was a bit worried, and came downstairs to check on me several times, but I was comfy comfy, especially when he put his dressing gown over me to keep me toasty warm. FM was concerned this morning, but after I mugged her for toast corners and my breakfast she said Fair Enough Our Lil.

I like keeping my people on their toes!

_FM: _This is the first time she's slept downstairs on her own in the eighteen months we've had her - hence the concern. But she's as fit as a fiddle, so I really think she just couldn't be bothered to go to bed!

_Tommy: _There was lots of room for me and the Twit in the bed!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Dan 'ere, sometimes it too tiring to go upstairs Lily, or Hoomum is moving about too much disturbing me, so I likes to sleep on sofa. 
Hoomum - it's a worry because he has been known to sit silently by the back door because he needs to go out and can result in an avoidable accident, so I always have to check.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _Madam is unusually quiet this morning, so I'm keeping a weather eye on her, but she's interested in food (of course she is!) so I think she's just having a duvet day.

When she first came here, she wouldn't sleep upstairs at all, so we took it in turns to sleep downstairs with her (otherwise she was stressed out and crying all night) for what we _thought _would be a couple of nights.

The "couple of nights" turned out to be ten bloody weeks - then one night when TF went upstairs to take his medication she galloped up behind him, leapt on the bed and settled down for the night. And that's been the routine ever since, although sometimes she now stays downstairs for up to an hour before joining him. So last night was far from the norm.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Hope she's ok and it's a one off, a simple case of can't be botheredness.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Hope she's ok and it's a one off, a simple case of can't be botheredness.


Her temperature and pulse are normal, and she's not in any obvious distress - at the moment we're having Girly Cuddles on the sofa.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Her temperature and pulse are normal, and she's not in any obvious distress - at the moment we're having Girly Cuddles on the sofa.


That's a good way to pass the morning, we're just off to the country park for a quick stroll hoping that it will be quiet so a quick run on the field is possible. Have a good day


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> That's a good way to pass the morning, we're just off to the country park for a quick stroll hoping that it will be quiet so a quick run on the field is possible. Have a good day


_FM: _Madam livened up at lunchtime and we had a Very Good And Interesting Walk. Clearly she was just in an idle mood this morning - I know the feeling well!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _FM: _Madam livened up at lunchtime and we had a Very Good And Interesting Walk. Clearly she was just in an idle mood this morning - I know the feeling well!


Me too!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Well, that was a nice day, even if it wasn't what was planned! FM and Lily and me thought we were going to an open day for a local animal rescue which included a dog show - though FM said she wasn't going to enter us, she wanted to see what it was like for Future Times. And TF had saved the details on his phone, but when we were in the car and he went to set Hex (which is what FM calls the sat nav because Hex sends us in all sorts of Unexpected Directions and we once had a five mile detour for No Apparent Reason) he realised that the open day is next Sunday and not today! So we went to the heath and had a nice modge about - though there were lots of planes from the local airfield doing Bumps and Grinds -

_FM: _No, darling, they were doing Circuits and Bumps. Bumps and Grinds is something quite different, and a well-behaved little boy like you shouldn't know about such things...

_Tommy: _Oh. Anyway, they were Very Noisy and startled me. But the heath was nice, and we met two whippets, and FM rescued a little Frenchie who had escaped from her people and was tearing through the wood trailing her lead behind her and heading at a rate of knots towards the pond. And then we had icecreams!

_Lily: _And you ran away!

_Tommy: _Did not! TF dropped my lead while FM went to buy the iceceam, and I went to keep her company! I may have trotted off, but I followed her and caught up with her and she took my lead and said Oh You Want To Make Sure I Am Getting Some For You, Do You? And then we went to a Different Pub which has a nice walled beer garden and smells like it does good Sunday lunches and FM said We Shall Come Here For Sunday Lunch Sometime But Not Today, and Lily looked pleadingly so FM bought us crisps. And FM says when I am offered crisps I go Adoringly Cross-Eyed With Anticipation But She Could Do Without Me Drooling All Over Her Trousers. So it was a nice day anyway.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Hex :Hilarious! Sounds like a good day Tommy!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Hex :Hilarious! Sounds like a good day Tommy!


_Lily: _We also met two Very Big Horses being taken for a walk on leads (FM says they were on leading reins, but they looked like leads to me) and FM saw some Red Kites. It was warm and sunny and we ran about on our long lines but FM said we had to be Careful In Case Of Adders.

I know she can't do maths, but I did not realise we had to be careful to avoid people who can.

_Tommy: _I know what we haven't said! Before we got in the car, FM said she had to go to the Hole In The Wall machine and ask the Magic Gnomes who live in it to magic up some money for her. The Hole In The Wall Machine is on the other side on the main road which was busy busy. So we all walked down to the corner of our road and FM said to the Twit You Stop Here With Them And I'll Be Back In A Tick. But we wanted to know where she was! And when she turned round from talking to the Gnomes, there we were behind her! We had been Good Quiet Hounds and walked nicely for our Twit and waited patiently at the lights until they went Bleep Bleep Bleep Safe To Cross.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _Tommy was booked into the vet's tomorrow morning for a general check up (including a scrape and polish) and an opinion on the wart-like growth on his inner thigh. It's extremely likely that he'll need a GA and needless to say in view of his age I am worrying myself sick.

We had a phone call late this afternoon to ask us if we were okay for the appointment to be moved to the day afer tomorrow, as the vet will be carrying out emergency surgery on a labador bitch with a badly infected womb tomorrow - poor little soul, I just hope she's going to be okay.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _Tommy was at the vet's at 10.00 am sharp this morning: I was given the usual warning about senior dogs and GA, which is enough to send anyone into a deep depression (having said that, I quite understand why they have to do this).

But good news! He's round and okay - clear bill of health, other than the fact that four front incisors have had to come out - but his back teeth are much improved from when the vet had a look at them 10 days ago. He's had a scrape and polish, and the lump on his leg is nothing to worry about - it's a fluid filled cyst, which has been drained, but which is starting to fill up again. One of my cats had a similar problem, and having the cyst drained caused her more stress than the cyst intelf did, so this is nothing for us to get worried about.

All that we're waiting on now is the result of his blood tests - I'm a bit concerned over the amount of water he drinks, but only the result of the test will tell whether it is an indication of anything else.

So - we fetch him home in an hour's time. In the meantime, we took Lily for a walk round the village and bumped into Tommy's first fosterers, who were concerned at first that he wasn't with us - I promised to let them know what the vet said.

And the vet nurse said Tommy was an absolute sweetheart and they love him to pieces.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Update: the lad is home and a little whoozy ("Who are you and what have you done with my FatMum?"). We have a followup appointment on Saturday just to check his gums are okay. And the blood test results are in and show nothing to worry about at all. It seems that he just drinks a lot (as might I if I get much more stress!)


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I am Not Certain what happened yesterday - I went to meet some new ladies, and they said Hello Splendid Tommy, What A Lovely Boy and took me into a different room and then I went to sleep.

And when I woke up I was Very Woozy and someone had stolen four of my teefs! But the nice ladies loved me up and said Your Mum Will Be Here Soon Sweetheart, and gave me some special soft food to eat.

And when Mummy fetched me home she loved me up and gently cuddled me up and at tea time gave my some more of the special food. And she and I slept downstairs all night because my legs were still a bit wobbly and she said Stairs Are Not A Good Idea.

I feel a lot better today although my mouth is sore and I want to sleep a lot. But Mummy says as I is eight and nearly a half, and I have not had any teeth stolen before I iz doing Pretty Well.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Tommy is back to being my bruv again! He was still confused earlier, cos the vets called him Stunning Tommy, which was his racing name, (he told you it was Splendid Tommy but FM sez that was because he was still a bit whoozy) but we iz Back To Normal now. We had a little walk at lunchtime because he was still a bit tired but after he had a little zizz he got very wuffy and bouncy and FM sed Well, He's A Different Dog, Those Nasty Teefs Must Have Really Been Giving Him Gyp. And then we had a couple of scuffles about who was going to hog the sofa which FM sorted out by turfing us both off and hogging it all herself. And they had Pie And Mash for tea and let us have a taster.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy_: We had a Nice Walk around the village and beside the brook today, and then we found a bench and had a picnic! FM and TF had sangwitches, and Lily and I had a special peanut butter sangwitch and cheeeese and _snosidjis!_ And then we went back to the Vet! I did not want to go into the insulting room with the nurse (FM sez I mean consulting room, but I know what I mean) so the Twit took me in, and Lily stayed outside with FM and simply _howled_ till I came out again.

But the nurse said my gums have healed beautifully, and I can have nice hard biscuits and yummy buffalo tails again. And she gave TF a lovely big hard treat for me for being Good Boy and one for Lily for missing me. And they were Yum!

And then we went to a new pub, and because it was hot hot hot we went inside in the shade and I went to sleep in the fireplace.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Harrassed Fat Mum: _Blimey, if it isn't one thing it's another - Tommy managed to stand on some stinging nettles today and was Not Amused when his paw hurt. Fortunately I always carry a water bottle and some kitchen paper, so I was able to clean the offending paw quite easily, but he developed a fearsome limp for a few moments, and sulked tremendously over lunch...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Today's walk was not as much fun as usual. We went to the cornfields through the woods and down the woodland path, and there were plenty of sniffs and we played the Mr Clicker game. We were going to walk back though the horsesis fields and play the recall game, so we walked up the little lane to the stile and hound gate where the footpath starts. But when we got there the way was blocked by lots and lots of rubbish! There was loads of binbags full of stuff, and some big broken toys and FM sed Gawd Knows What Else, Bloody Fly Tippers Have To Ruin Everything and our Twit got his phone out and took some photos and sent them to the council.

So we had to walk back the way we had come. Which is okay, but it is not as much fun when we can't modge about in the fields because someone has had to spoil it for everyone else.

_Tommy: _But we did have an Unexpected Treat! When we got to the top of our road the Meals On Wheels lady had just pulled up, and we went to say Hello. And she said Sorry, I Haven't Got Any Free Samples But Just Wait A Sec. And she opened the back of the van and furkled about in a packet and gave Lily and me a nice chewy treat each! So that put us both in a Very Good Mood.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

Bloody Fly-tippers makes my blood boil - I would happily put them inside without hesitation if caught - disgusting people. Makes me wonder what their homes are like !


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We iz having a rotten day. We had an early walk and then Our Twit had to go out a long long way in the car and he iz not back yet. Fat Mum tried to take us for another walk before tea, but we did not want to go very far. But we have been Good, and I have not cried much and Tommy has not cried at all, and we have played in the garden and FM gave us a special tea. She is Very Sad because she is having to sell the house her Mummy left her because they cannot afford to use it for holidays any more and she says it is only tiny and Not Suitable For Great Big Hounds Like Us and TF has gone to bring some Special Ornaments home and dispose of the furniture. So we have been Very Loving because we do not like to see a Sad FM.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

You are good hounds to look after your FM, I'm sure she will feel much better having you to care for her and give extra snuggles. Sending human hugs and sympathies to you FM.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> You are good hounds to look after your FM, I'm sure she will feel much better having you to care for her and give extra snuggles. Sending human hugs and sympathies to you FM.


Thanks. These things have to be done, however: we can't afford to keep it any longer, and we've had two breakins in the last 12 months (would you believe the theiving swine took the copper canopy over the fireplace??). So all the things I want to keep - Mum's china and some ornaments, and a Victorian hanging bookshelf - have now been brought home. And the hounds were very good indeed - Lily came in from the garden without me even calling her, and Tommy has been a cuddlebug all day.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Great heavens. Lily and Tommy must have taken some Brave Pills yesterday.have 

We usually have a pub lunch with our friends Catherine and Jim and their greyhound Peggy on Thursdays. However, we decided not to meet them yesterday; I'd given a talk to a local Family History group the previous evening, the Twit had driven me there and taken the hounds for an evening walk and we got home past their bedtime, so they were pretty zonked the next morning. 

We went for a short(ish) walk after lunch. First of all we met Auntie Wendy and Bethany The Corgi and Tommy was most insistent on loving Wendy up, despite the fact that there was a most interesting looking cat on the wall opposite, which until then he'd been fixated on; and then a car pulled up and a voice shouted "Hello!". It was our friends and Peggy. And Lily dragged the Twit to the car, reared up on her hind legs and loved up Catherine through the open window, tail helicoptering wildly and trying to get though the window and into the back of the car to say hello to Peggy.

I swear they have a better social life than we do.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Harrassed Fat Mum: _ And today I learned a new skill: how to remove chewing gum from between Lily's toes.

It must have been on the pavement - it was still sticky in places, stuck to the hairs between her pads as well as the pads themselves, and Madam did not enjoy having it removed _at all.
_
And Tommy has fleas again.


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## lullabydream (Jun 25, 2013)

tyg'smum said:


> _Harrassed Fat Mum: _ And today I learned a new skill: how to remove chewing gum from between Lily's toes.
> 
> It must have been on the pavement - it was still sticky in places, stuck to the hairs between her pads as well as the pads themselves, and Madam did not enjoy having it removed _at all.
> _
> And Tommy has fleas again.


Oh no poor Tommy and you!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Harrassed Fat Mum: _ And today I learned a new skill: how to remove chewing gum from between Lily's toes.
> 
> It must have been on the pavement - it was still sticky in places, stuck to the hairs between her pads as well as the pads themselves, and Madam did not enjoy having it removed _at all.
> _
> And Tommy has fleas again.


Poor Lily. Awful stuff. Dan had a blob stuck to the hairs inbetween his pads, nightmare to get to it, he hates his paws being touched, grazed my knuckles with the points of his teeth:Hurting. Hope you get rid of poor Tommy's fleas so they don't spread


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Poor Lily. Awful stuff. Dan had a blob stuck to the hairs inbetween his pads, nightmare to get to it, he hates his paws being touched, grazed my knuckles with the points of his teeth:Hurting. Hope you get rid of poor Tommy's fleas so they don't spread


Lily doesn't mind her paws being touched, though she did take offence at my having to trim the hair between her pads with my nail scissors. This quite probably explains why later in the evening we discovered that she had managed to open a drawer of the dresser (how??) and was busy scoffing half a bar of white chocolate.

Tommy has been deflead. I have more grey hairs.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Today we went sploring! We went to a place called Kinver Edge, and the Twit could not park in the place he usually parks, so he parked in the National Trust car park. I had not been there before, so I did not know this.

We walked miles and miles and miles through the woods, and then we went up to something called an Iron Age Hill Fort (but FM would not let us play there because of Adders) and then down to some caves where people hollowed out the sandstone and made holes for windows and doors and lived in them! And this was not thousands of years and years and years ago cos FM says there were still people living in them when she was a little girl! And then we had tea and _bikkies _at the tea room and slept in the car all the way home.

_Lily: _The Twit got us lost several times and FM said O For Gawds Sake Give Me The Bloody Map and TF said I Have Not Got The Map I Thought I Would Rely On The GPS On My Phone and FM said Well Sodding Well Rely On It Then and he said I Cannot Get A Signal.

That is when we learned some Interesting New Words. FM says it is as well she has a good sense of direction otherwise we would be there still.

Oh, and when we had our picnic we heard the cuckoos. TF thought they were wood pigeons but FM said Nothing Like, Sunbeam, Thems Iz Cuckoos.

And when we got home I rolled onto my back and TF said Gawd Strewth Has She Got Measles? but FM said No It Is Fly Bites And They Look Worse Than They Are. They do not itch though, so I am Not Bothered.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Your hoomans is very entertaining, they sounds like loads of fun - bit exsorstin tho


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily, momentarily distracted from the picnic:









and Tommy having a good sniff:


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

And we saw a dog-cart on the road!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We did not have a very excellent day today. It was raining Very Hard all morning and FM sed Fair Enough Kiddos I Don't Fancy Going For A Walk Either, so we did not go out until the afternoon. And we were sploodging moodily through the woods and not really enjoying ourselves very much when our Twit slipped on a tree root and skidded and twisted his back. So we limped home through the mud and FM made a Comforting Tea of bread and cheese and hot buttered crumpets and then the Twit went upstairs to rest and we could hear him groaning from downstairs.

And now we are all lying down on the beds and he has a hottle water bottle against his back and we are taking it in turns to lean gently on him so we can feel the hottle bottle as well, and FM has decamped to the spare room to watch the telly because she has to get up early tomorrow and Needs Her Sleep Never Mind Playing Florence Nightingale.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

......FM has decamped to the spare room to watch the telly because she has to get up early tomorrow and Needs Her Sleep Never Mind Playing Florence Nightingale.
Made me chuckle 
I hope TF is feeling better tomorrow


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I iz Not Happy. I haz something called Chewy Gum stuck to my paw and FM keeps trying to get it off, and as you all know I Do Not Like having my feet touched. I gave FM my Big Boy Warning Growl and touched my teefs Very Hard to her hand (but did not bite) and she gave up for a bit. But then she asked the Twit to muzzle me and hold me tight while she tried again and I wriggled and pulled and growled so loud that Lily started barking at FM to make her leave me Alone.

And I was so Not Happy that I headbutted FM in the face with my muzzle on.

The Chewy Gum does not bother me, but FM says It Must Come Off What If It Has Xylitol In It O My God and she has contacted the kennels and said Help If It Is Not One Thing It Is Another.

[_FM: _Poor Tommy! I do try to keep an eye out for chewing gum on pavements, but it's so easily missed. And I was actually frightened when he growled and snarled and grabbed my hand.]


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

I hope you get rid of the gum - awful stuff - it sounds like you are in need of the professionals for help removing it. They don't like their paws being messed with do they?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> I hope you get rid of the gum - awful stuff - it sounds like you are in need of the professionals for help removing it. They don't like their paws being messed with do they?


Lily is not too bothered about paws (though she won't let me clip her nails - but although Tommy will let me wash his paws with a soft cloth, and usually allows me to hold his paws, he doesn't like anything beyond that. I have their nails sorted out at kennels (where they are as good as gold providing they can have a cuddle).

I'm waiting to hear from kennels whether they'll sort it out or whether they'll make a booking at the vet's (the downside of fostering: waiting for agreement!)


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Fat Mum is Not Impressed. Neither is the Twit, and nor are Tommy and I.

We had an early early walk this morning, and it was not as long as usual because The Twit was going out to look at some steam trains and FM had to stop in to wait for a parcel.

We had yoghurt and peanut butters pots to calm us down when TF went out, and we were settled down for a nice zizz on the settee when FM decided she'd take us for another walk. However, when she opened the front door we said No, We Are Not Going Anywhere Without Our Twit, so we all sat down again. And then we heard a noise at the door and FM sed Hurrah, It Iz The Parcel but it was TF, in a Very Bad Mood because the silly old car was playing up and he needs to take it to pieces. But he said he might as well wait until the parcel arrives because it is something else the car needs and he might as well get it all fixed at once.

So we all lay around waiting. And we waited and waited and waited. And then we waited some more. And some more. And FM sed Well It Can't Be Much Sodding Longer. And then at 4 o'clock the phone went _Ping! _and Our Twit looked at it and sed Rude Words.

Because it was a message from the people bringing the parcel saying they would deliver it sometime between 6 and 8 tonight. And if they had known that before, we wouldn't have wasted a nice afternoon but we could have gone for a lovely long walk in the fields and the Twit would have enjoyed it even though he didn't manage to look at his steam trains.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Twit's parcel arrived at five to eight last night. TF and FM only knew it had arrived because Lily and I have sharp hearing and ran to the door when we heard the porch door open. By the time we got there, the parcel man had gone - he didn't even ring the bell and we learnt some Interesting New Words from Our Twit.

Today TF must fix the car and FM has to go out, so we're not going to get much of a walk today either. And tomorrow he really really really wants to go and look at the steam trains he didn't get to look at yesterday, so it will be ages and ages and ages before all four of us have a lovely really lovely long walk again.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _I haz been Clever Big Brave Girl Lily Good Girl Kissie Kissie! We all went for a walk early this morning, and then the Twit went off to look at his steam trains leaving Tommy and me all alone and abandoned 'cept for FM. I whinged a bit, so we had peanut and yoghurt pots to calm us down, and then we all just mumphed round the house, just like we did when he went out the other day. But halfway through the afternoon FM filled her pockets with treats and poo bags and fished our leads out of the cupboard and sed Come On Kids, It Iz Too Nice To Hang About Inside. And we trotted up the road and through the paddock and up past the cottages and down the hill and back into the paddock and home again, FM sez this was about a mile and this is longer than she has got me to walk without the Twit being with us for well over a year. So we had chews when we got home, and slept until teatime and when the Twit came home we told him All About It.

_Tommy: _I like going for a walk with both my people or with just one of them: I don't know why Lily insists on both every time! It was nice today with FM and I was Good Boy Tommy Helpful Boy Helping Lily Be Brave.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _We had both our people on our walk today, but it was very Odd. We started on our usual circular route through the woods and the first horses' field and played the recall game in the first field. But when we were getting close to the stile into the second horses' field, FM said There Is Something Odd, Look! and the horses were all crowded down by the stile and there was a boxer-type dog tied up to the fence by the stile and two men just standing there. We walked on slowly and then the men climbed over the fence and put on some boxing gloves and went Thwack Thwack Thwack! and FM sez that was called Sparring. She also said that she did not think it was a good idea with the horses being there and also the tied up dog, so we turned round and came away.
FM said she did not think the farmer who owns the fields and the horses knew about the Sparring Men, so she phoned the pub and asked them to pop next door to the farmhouse to let them know, and they said of course they would, it sounded Very Odd indeed, and dangerous if the horses got spooked.
So we modged through the woods, and we did not go up the High Woods path because there were some runners coming down, and FM said Oh Blimey If They Go Through The Horses Field It Could Be Carnage, but they went on down through the woods. And when we got to the bit where the path divides and then joins up again a bit later, Lily did not want to follow me and the Twit, but dragged FM along the other path until the bit where the path meets again and waited for me and the Twit to get there. And Fm said Good Gawd, She Is Playing Hunt the Twit Of Her Own Accord and there were _biskits._


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy; _I iz Houdini Hound. I haz astounded FM and TF. We went to the pub for lunch, and FM noticed that I had my head down and that my house collar was about to slip over my ears. So she got up to push it back, and sed Gaw Blimey O'Riley We Have An Escapologist.

Because although my lead was still fixed to my harness, and the buckles of my harness were still fastened, I was Not Wearing my harness! It was on the floor behind me _and they have no idea how I did it!_


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We iz Not Happy Hounds. When we was guzzling our beakfasts, FM snuck up on us from behind and did that thing with the flea treatment. We does not like the flea treatment.

_Tommy: _But afterwards we had a special yummy treat! It was beefy Yum and it was fab!

_Lily: _It was a worming tablet, idiot brother!

_Tommy: _I iz not Idiot Brother! I know beefy tasting Yum when I eat it!

_Lily: _It was Yum, I grant you that. But it was still Meddy Sun.

_Tommy: _FM said it was Strengthening Meddy Sun!

_Lily: _Yes well, she's odd like that.


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

tyg'smum said:


> We does not like the flea treatment


Ask FM to warm it to body temperature next time, by carrying it around tucked into a pocket or her waistband for 15 minutes before she uses it. You won't even notice it!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _The Terrible Twosome are so miffed about flea treatment that they forgot to tell their friends how clever they were yesterday. We played Hunt The Twit,Llittle Fat Mum in charge of the brace of hounds: and they hunted as a pair. There was not much wind, so the scent lay well: Tommy walked along scenting the air, while Lily looked around her for any clues. They raced along the paths, FM bouncing along behind them, and found their Twit in record time.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> _FM: _The Terrible Twosome are so miffed about flea treatment that they forgot to tell their friends how clever they were yesterday. We played Hunt The Twit,Llittle Fat Mum in charge of the brace of hounds: and they hunted as a pair. There was not much wind, so the scent lay well: Tommy walked along scenting the air, while Lily looked around her for any clues. They raced along the paths, FM bouncing along behind them, and found their Twit in record time.


Dam clever hounds these two - hows the whistle training going??


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Dam clever hounds these two - hows the whistle training going??


Pretty good: Lily comes every time, even if she's busy investigating an Interesting Smell: Tommy, however, tends eiither to look up hopefully at whoever he's standing next to (ie not the person who's just whistled) or just to turn and look at the Whistling Human until he's called (except if the whistling is part of the Hunt the Twit/Fat Mum game.) Either way he stops whatever it is that he's doing, which is fair enough by me. Lily will race back at full pelt, Tommy just saunters.

Today they were very good - we had a walk round the village on leads, and apart from Tommy showing in interest in wanting to go into every open doorway, they were Good and Obedient Hounds. It was an Exciting Day - they went to see Lee in the pet shop first, had a good wander in the fields as well as on the roads, said Hello to Tommy's first foster mum, who we bumped into on the car park, made friends with a Staffie and - unsurprisingly - ended up at the pub.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _I iz in Disgrace. I was Good Girl Lily Clever Girl until Very Nearly Teatime.

When Fat Mum got up from watching the magic picture box to make our teas, I was so cited that I jumped up at her - only a little bit, but enough to scratch her leg. Fortunately she had trousis on so I didn't break the skin, but she went Ouch Ouch No Lily Four On Floor. But it was Wait A Minute Hound I Am Just Getting Your Tea Time then, and I was still cited, so I jumped up again and this time I scratched her arm and this time I did break the skin and she said NO Lily Four On Floor. And then she went to get my bowl and I was so Very Very Cited I jumped up again again and this time I very nearly caught her face. And she was Not Happy with me and said Right Lady We Are Going To Work On This. And the Twit said What On Earth Is The Matter and she said If You Would Give Me A Sodding Hand Like I Asked Instead Of Sitting There Listening To The Bloody Test Match You Might Have Found Out And Now You Have Got Your Bum Off The Sofa Make Yourself Useful And Put A Plaster On My Arm Before The Floor Looks Like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Tommy and I have had our teas and are sitting with the Twit and Fat Mum has gone upstairs for a Good Sulk.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Oh oh oh. I have made Mummy go Ouch.

I did not mean to make her go Ouch - we were having sofa cuddles and she was brushing my tum and everything was all blissful and nice, but then she caught a tangled bit of my coat with the brush, and I was so comfy I had dozed off, and she hadn't noticed and the brush tugged gently and I was so startled that I did something Very Norty before I had properly woked up.

_I bit her! _I did not mean to bite her, and I did not break the skin, but she went Ouch Ouch Ouchie. Then she apologised to me and then Mr Sad came along.

Mummy does not like Mr Sad visiting, so I had a _biskit _to make sure I was really awake and then some more cuddles and there will be no more Mr Brush today. So I iz not really in trouble, but I know I should not have bitten. Sorry, Mummy!

_FM: _My fault entirely - I didn't notice he'd dropped off. No damage, other than a fine crop of bruises across my fingers, but when a big strong dog like Tommy lets you know he's not happy, you certainly know about it! On the plus side, he's finally let me get the last remaining bit of chewing gum off his paw, so the bruises were worth it!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _Poor Tommy is off colour today. He didn't want his breakfast. has completely ignored a biscuit and has a gurgley tummy. A worried little Fat Mum is keeping a weather eye on him.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _FM: _Poor Tommy is off colour today. He didn't want his breakfast. has completely ignored a biscuit and has a gurgley tummy. A worried little Fat Mum is keeping a weather eye on him.


Poor Tommy, I hope he's feeling better soon.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Poor Tommy, I hope he's feeling better soon.


He's a bit perkier now: interested in bikkies, had a nice long walk and no more tummy gurgles for some hours. It would seem to be something he ate, but Lord only knows what - they didn't have anything different last night. But their poos are a bit runny today (even by greyhound standards) and on the dark side, so I think it may be a touch of GI.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _It haz been an Interesting Day. First of all it was wet at lunchtime when we went for our pub lunch with Peggy The Even Littler Than Me greyhound, so we wore our Big Raincoats. Mine iz Bright Yellow with a black stripe down the back and Fat Mum said Gor Blimey Look At That Sexy Wiggle, You Will Have To Take A Video Of her Doing That (but of course The Twit had not got his Twitphone with him). And He had steak pie and peas and chipsies for his lunch and saved us some and Fat Mum had Cheezy Broccoli Bake what has no Nonions in it, so we can have have some of that as well. And she had a side salad and gave us the little tomatoes. And I was fed up waiting for ours to go cool enough for us to eat and whined and stole a piece of something called Cucumber of her plate. And She said She'll Spit It Out In a Second, but I didn't! I went Crunch! and it was Yum! So I asked for some more, and they gave Tommy some too, and he agreed it was Yum.

And then tonight we had a Parcel (which I helped unwrap) and it was something called a Hammock for the back of the car so Tommy and I do not try to fall off the back seat. Fat Mum said (doubtfully) that we will love it, but I shall make my own mind up about that!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily: _It haz been an Interesting Day. First of all it was wet at lunchtime when we went for our pub lunch with Peggy The Even Littler Than Me greyhound, so we wore our Big Raincoats. Mine iz Bright Yellow with a black stripe down the back and Fat Mum said Gor Blimey Look At That Sexy Wiggle, You Will Have To Take A Video Of her Doing That (but of course The Twit had not got his Twitphone with him). And He had steak pie and peas and chipsies for his lunch and saved us some and Fat Mum had Cheezy Broccoli Bake what has no Nonions in it, so we can have have some of that as well. And she had a side salad and gave us the little tomatoes. And I was fed up waiting for ours to go cool enough for us to eat and whined and stole a piece of something called Cucumber of her plate. And She said She'll Spit It Out In a Second, but I didn't! I went Crunch! and it was Yum! So I asked for some more, and they gave Tommy some too, and he agreed it was Yum.
> 
> And then tonight we had a Parcel (which I helped unwrap) and it was something called a Hammock for the back of the car so Tommy and I do not try to fall off the back seat. Fat Mum said (doubtfully) that we will love it, but I shall make my own mind up about that!


I hope you like the hammock.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> I hope you like the hammock.


A touch of the curate's egg. I think we need to take this in very easy, baby steps for Tommy.

Lily loved it- popped in straight away (with the help of a few treats) - Tommy wasn't certain At All. We finally persuaded him in, but he insisted on lying on Lily - she wasn't struck on that, but put up with it. Me laddo was all right for the first couple of miles, and then started to get restive - and then I realised he'd managed to do Houdini Hound again and had somehow slipped out of his harness (which was still buckled up and attached to the seat belt) - he was completely free and was trying to climb into the front of the car. Fortunately we were at a point where we could pull into a layby, take him out, reharness him, take Lily out of the car, remove the hammock and pop both hounds on the back seat, me in the middle, resecure them and continue on our merry way.

I have more grey hairs and am tempted to hit the bottle...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Today has been a Special 'Citing Day, and we has had Pub Lunch to celebrate! But I shall let Tommy my brother tell you all about it, because it iz even more 'citing for him. 
_Tommy: _We went to kennels today to see our friends and take them for walks and sniffs. But that was not the 'citing bit! Auntie Debs at the kennels told Mummy I have a Clean Bill of Health and then they went into the office and when they came out Mummy had a folder full of papers and Auntie Debs took my muzzle off and said Well, You Won't Have To Wear That Again and gave me a treat - _and I iz adopted! Mummy haz filled out the paperwork and I am living with them for ever and ever!!_
And then we went to the pub and Lily - who is really really my sister now - and I had fishy fingers and peas, and Daddy saved us some snosidge and Mummy saved us some jacket potato and prawnsis and cherry tomato and cucumber! And now we are home and I have dragged my bedding in front of the magic picture box because I can do that now I reallyreally live here and am snoozing happily. It haz been a Pawsome Day!


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## JoanneF (Feb 1, 2016)

Oooh, happy Gotcha Day Tommy!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Today was pawsome as well! We went on a group greyhound walk round the Country Park, and there were lotsandlotsandlots of other greyhounds (_FM: _40 of us in total!) and although it was not our usual branch walk but another one, my first foster people were there with my first foster brothers and sisters and I ran up to them with my tail wagging and sais Hello! I Iz Adopted Now! and they were really happy for me, and then we went on a nice long walk. And I was Good and slowed down when Fat Mum asked me to because of her Trick Knee (I am still waiting to see what tricks it does).

And then there were _snossidges _and they were proper snossidges! And we had two each! Fat Mum broke them into little bits because Lily iz a Guts and would swallow them whole (_Lily: _Hey! I heard that! I iz not a Guts! I just have a Healthy Appetite] and so we licked her fingers because they still smelled of Yum.

And then FM and TF had a picnic lunch and there were peanut butter sangwidges just for us!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_FM: _Despite regular combings and monthly flea treatments, both Lily and Tommy still have fleas: Tommy more so.

Last night we discovered that Tommy has a Special Friend. At 3 am, after his early hours wee, Tommy brought his Special Friend inside to see meet us.

Tommy's Special Friend is a fully grown hedgehog, which was lovingly deposited in the middle of Tommy's bed. Mr Hedgehog was unharmed (he was taken outside on the bed) and Tommy mouth has no sign of any damage from prickles. He must be very soft mouthed.

All is now revealed....


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _FM: _Despite regular combings and monthly flea treatments, both Lily and Tommy still have fleas: Tommy more so.
> 
> Last night we discovered that Tommy has a Special Friend. At 3 am, after his early hours wee, Tommy brought his Special Friend inside to see meet us.
> 
> ...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


>


Tell you, we live in a permanent state of glee and excitement here!


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## Linda Weasel (Mar 5, 2014)

tyg'smum said:


> _FM: _Despite regular combings and monthly flea treatments, both Lily and Tommy still have fleas: Tommy more so.
> 
> Last night we discovered that Tommy has a Special Friend. At 3 am, after his early hours wee, Tommy brought his Special Friend inside to see meet us.
> 
> ...


Is that the possible source of your fleas?

edit: sorry missed the last bit of your post.
I once had a massive flea invasion from a dead rabbit hidden in the garden.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Tell you, we live in a permanent state of glee and excitement here!


You certainly do!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Linda Weasel said:


> I once had a massive flea invasion from a dead rabbit hidden in the garden.


They found a dead squirrel today, but fortunately I managed to drag them away before they got too close. Needless to say I was Horrid fat Mum who never lets innocent little hounds have any fun...

And Tommy has taken an aversion to the flea comb.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

And, as usual, we stagger from disaster to disaster.

This morning Tommy was happily engaged chasing a skyraisin when he slipped on the settee and tore another claw. The claw was still attached to his toe, but at a terrifying 90 degree angle - and the sofa was covered with blood.

I grabbed a teatowel, soaked it in cold water and used it as a cold compress while the Twit phoned the kennels. After a brief discussion as to whether or not we wanted to try to pull it off (answer: no chance!) we bundled both hounds into the car, Tommy muzzled in case he caught his foot and snapped at me and very unhappy (I suspect because in the ensuing panic the first muzzle that came to hand was Lily's, and Big Beautiful Sable Midnight Hounds do not wear Girly Pink) and me clutching his poorly paw, still wrapped in the teatowel in a poo bag.

By the time we got to kennels. the offending claw had fallen off, leaving a frightening long sharp shard. Nice Auntie Jo clipped the shard away, washed poorly paw and wrapped in up in cottonwool and Vetwrap. And Tommy was so good - not a whimper, never mind a growl, and leant on her while she checked the rest of his claws and trimmed a few. Lily stood by, offering a comforting presence and clearly worried.

So - no long walk today, but plenty of treats. And my dog-walking trousers have a bloodstain in a Most Unfortunate place.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> And, as usual, we stagger from disaster to disaster.
> 
> This morning Tommy was happily engaged chasing a skyraisin when he slipped on the settee and tore another claw. The claw was still attached to his toe, but at a terrifying 90 degree angle - and the sofa was covered with blood.
> 
> ...


:Nurse:Nurse Oh Tommy your poor hooman, you know how to keep her busy!
I hope he can stay out of trouble for a while, he's the Frank Spencer of Noble Hounds isn't he?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> :Nurse:Nurse Oh Tommy your poor hooman, you know how to keep her busy!
> I hope he can stay out of trouble for a while, he's the Frank Spencer of Noble Hounds isn't he?


He's so beautiful and so accident prone (Tommy, I mean!) At the moment he's decided to sleep on the landing, right in front of the loo door - sod the expense, the light's going have to stop on all night!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Too hot and sticky for Noble Hounds, who are playing Flopsy Bunny on the landing. Last night Tommy decided that the only place he could sleep was in the upstairs loo (a fact I discovered at 2am...)


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Ouch. And that's putting it mildly.

I have been lying down for most of the day, nursing a fine crop of bumps and bruises caused by Lily managing to push me headfirst down the stairs. I'm just relieved it wasn't worse - for one awful moment I thought I was going to go headfirst into the cast-iron radiator - but boy, do I ache!

Tommy has been Very Worried (I wonder whether First Dad fell down the stairs when he had his stroke?) and Lily is very, very contrite.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> Ouch. And that's putting it mildly.
> 
> I have been lying down for most of the day, nursing a fine crop of bumps and bruises caused by Lily managing to push me headfirst down the stairs. I'm just relieved it wasn't worse - for one awful moment I thought I was going to go headfirst into the cast-iron radiator - but boy, do I ache!
> 
> Tommy has been Very Worried (I wonder whether First Dad fell down the stairs when he had his stroke?) and Lily is very, very contrite.


Crikey!!!! You need to start wearing protective clothing and a crash helmet! :Nurse:Nurse:Nurse
Seriously though, I hope the bruising is just superficial. Please take care, and a speedy recovery.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Today I found Lily in the hall with the remains of a juvenile pigeon - still warm. Revolting little sod!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Iz hot. Too hot for walks. We went across the paddock and then home, and we haz spent all day trying to sleep and complaining we iz Too Hot. And Rotten Ol' Fat Mum will not let me play in the garden because I keep trying to go up to the pidgin's nest and Look In!. Was not my fault Little Pidgin did not want to play!
_Hot and Sticky Fat Mum: _I;m not surprised he didn't want to play after you bit his head off, revolting creature!
_Tommy: _Can I go and play with the hedgehogs? Pretty please?
_Harrassed Hot and Sricky Fat Mum: _NO!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

9 o'clock is walkies time for Dan whilst this heatwave continues. He had an early morning walk and a quick dash round the field at 10 ish followed by a rub down with a wet flannel but has been lolling about hogging the fan most of the day, too hot for his royal hairiness😁 not to mention his loyal servants, we have been snoozing the day away. So glad we don't have pigeons and hedgehogs to contend with though 😉 - sympathy with FM and TF. Rain has been forecast for tomorrow, hope it's enough to fill the water butt......


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _The Fat Mum is still being Mean. Last night we decided to tell her at Dear God Hounds It Is Three In The Sodding Morning Okay Okay I Am Coming Stop Bloody Barking O'Clock that we needed a wee.

When she opened the back door Quick Quick Please Hounds, she discovered that we were playing a Trick. We did not need a wee - we wanted to play with the hedgehogs. There was a little hedgehog mumphing around the patio, but he did not want to play Fun Games but rolled himself into a Prickly Ball and She dragged us both back inside before we could try to persuade him to play.

And when She got us back inside she said No It Is Not Time For Breakfast and went back to bed!!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily: _The Fat Mum is still being Mean. Last night we decided to tell her at Dear God Hounds It Is Three In The Sodding Morning Okay Okay I Am Coming Stop Bloody Barking O'Clock that we needed a wee.
> 
> When she opened the back door Quick Quick Please Hounds, she discovered that we were playing a Trick. We did not need a wee - we wanted to play with the hedgehogs. There was a little hedgehog mumphing around the patio, but he did not want to play Fun Games but rolled himself into a Prickly Ball and She dragged us both back inside before we could try to persuade him to play.
> 
> And when She got us back inside she said No It Is Not Time For Breakfast and went back to bed!!


 Poor FM, not fun for her!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _A parcel arrived for Tommy and Me today, but iz not very 'citing. FM sez it iz a Furst Ade Kit and Iz Essential. It looks like a Very Expensive Torturer's toolkit to uz. She sez if we iz Very Careful she may never need to open it.
_FM: _We went on a group walk recently and one of the hounds started to hyperventilate and then collapsed. Fortunately the kennel's vet had joined us - it turned out that the poor hound had been stung by a wasp in his mouth and was having an allergic reaction. I'm pleased to say that after antihistamine had been administered the poorly hound recovered. So we ordered a dog first aid kit - to which I've added spray plaster and, Tommy's nails being a constant problem, a cloth to use for a cold compress - and I am going to ask kennels if they might consider running a first aid course.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Me and Lily took our people on a new walk today! We found it ourselves! We decided we wanted to walk down the path to the cart track rather than go through the woods to the track (and Fat Mum said Thank Goodness, The Nettles On The Path From The Woods Are Shoulder High And I Have Short Sleeves On) and when we got to the bit where we normally turn right I said the bit that goes straight on (which is usually very muddy) looks interesting, so we walked down there and past the school and then we got to a bit that was Very Muddy Indeed. But there were woods on one side and Lily saw that there were paths in the woods (and no giant nettles!) so we went 'sploring though the wood and suddenly we were in the country! It was sunny and warm and fab and FM said Next Time We Will Bring A Picnic. And when it was time to go home we got lost in the wood and came out in a different place, but FM sed I Can See The Old Colliery Chimney And All Saints Church Spire So I Know Which Way We Need To Head and the Twit sed Gawd Blimey, Practical Geography Strikes Again (but FM did not deign to reply) and we ended up in a road not far from where we live called Rosemary Avenue which FM sez sounds much more bucolic than it really iz.

_Lily: _Weren't we _*clever *??_


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We haz been Big Brave Hounds Well Done Lily Well Done Tommy! We haz been to something called A Carnival and it was hours and hours and hours and lots of noise and crowds and we were Good Hounds and said Hello to lots of people and were not frightened At All! And we had Picnic Lunch and have just had Tea and Tommy is Sleeping The Sleep Of The Righteous and I am about to join him. Nightie night all!

_FM: _Local village carnival and show which TF and I both had to attend in our roles as ChairTwit and Hon Sec of the history group. It was a very long day indeed - set up at 8.30 this morning and breakdown at 4.00 - not worth coming home after setup as it's impossible to find anywhere to park on Carnival Day after 10.00! Lots of floats,crowds of people, live music and over-excited kids, and the hounds behaved beautifully and showed what loving and well behaved pets retired greyhounds can be. And I won a nice pair of earrings on the WI raffle. Very proud of both of them.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Iz too hot for hounds, specially Sable Midnight Boys. We have not wanted to go out at all at all today and FM said Fair Enough Kids, It Won't Hurt You To Stop In For Once. And Our Twit haz a Poorly Tummy os we haz been lying down with him for most of the day.
FM went out at lunchtime to but some air freshener and disinfectant (it iz That Sort of Poorly Tummy) and came back hot and bothered and sed Gawd Blimey I Only Went To The Corner Shop And It Haz Nearly Corpsed Me. So we decided to stay where we are, and shared the Twit's Special Tummy Settling Tea, which was Scrambled Eggies and Bread And Butter,


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Get well soon TF!
Is even 'otter wiv a load of fluff like me. Hoomum even gave me baff and a 'aicut, but I's still too 'ott an I ad to get up befor I was waked up proper cos bob sez its too hot for me later!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Get well soon TF!
> Is even 'otter wiv a load of fluff like me. Hoomum even gave me baff and a 'aicut, but I's still too 'ott an I ad to get up befor I was waked up proper cos bob sez its too hot for me later!


_FM: _I was unwell for a couple of days this week, but not the same symptoms: I was freezing cold, despite the temperature, weak and wobbly and very headachy, but no tummy upsets - I think I'd had too much sun. But yesterday we Indorexed the house (the dreaded flea problem is still with us) and I wouldn't be in the least surprised if Idiot Twit had managed to inhale some. He's feeling a little better now, if still somewhat pungent. 

Lily and Tommy are so fine coated that temperature's always a problem with them - so easy for them to get over heated or over cold. But fortunately they've decided to become 45 mph couch potatoes in the heat. Nurse Lily is at the moment sleeping with her Beloved Twit, I'm in the spare room and Tommy has decided to be a Big Independent Boy and sleep downstairs on the sofa,


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

I hope the indorex has done the trick! 
Sorry to hear you were poorly, are you and TF taking turns ! Good job the hounds are also lethargic due to the heat.. Stay as cool as you can doggie cool mats are good for us humans too (cheaper than the human version)


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

And we're back to the old problem - Tommy has managed to tear yet another claw out. This time we've done our best to sort it ourselves: cold compress, soft wound pad, spray plaster and Vetwrap. He was Not Amused, and Lily was snarling and growling at us because we were obviously mistreating her Bruv. And I have scrubbed the lounge carpet for the second time today (the first time was due to Someone spilling their coffee all over it).


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

So sorry Tommy having a problem again. You 3 are having problems! Good job you have nurse Lily to look after you all. Get well soon all if you 🙏


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

I am back to being Nice Mummy Good Mummy 'Nother Biskit Please Mummy. 

I found the broken nail on the pavers, and it is at least a quarter of an inch thick: how he managed to break it I have no idea. But the lad is speaking to me again, after ignoring me all day yesterday save when I looked even vaguely as though I might want to touch his paw (when he let me know exactly what he thought of me in no uncertain terms).

He never seems too bothered about the actual breakages, but when I try to clean and dress his paw he decides that he's being tortured and it's all my fault.

Following the advice from another site about holding dressings in place without causing too much distress, I bought some baby socks from the local pound shop today. Or rather the Twit bought them while he was doing some shopping. Quite what Tommy will think about wearing Disney socks (or sock) with Tinkerbell on them is another matter.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

I'm sure he'll look beautiful x


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> I'm sure he'll look beautiful x


Well, he'll have a choice between white with sparkly Tinkerbell, pink with non-sparkly Tinkerbell but golden yellow fairy dust or eau-de-nil with yellow and red stars. The Twit says he thought they looked less girly than the ones with little lace cuffs.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Two hot and hyperactive hounds this last week due to the weather: they were so happy to have a decent walk today that they forgot to complain about the fact that they got rained on.

On the negative side, Tommy has got very touchy about his feet: he'll let me clean back feet gently with cool water and cotton buds (and it's surprsing quite how many cotton buds it takes to clean a greyhound's feet!) but won't let me near his front paws at all. He managed to knock the scab off the site of his latest injury this afternoon and had to be muzzled and restrained by the Twit before he'd let me dab it with the styptic pencil. And the screams of horror when I did had to be heard to be believed.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _On Saturday it was two whole years since I met my people for the first time and let them know that I intended to adopt them! I was very clever about this: I hid behind my foster mum until the Twit and Fat Mum hove into view, cowering away from all the other people and whimpering, and then when my people came up I wandered out and very nobly licked their fingers and let them scritch my head. I made sure I had my special worried-looking expression, and then I leaned on the Twit and looked up his nose to let him know he was The One.

And ten days later he was Mine! And I had a Fat Mum too! So because it was two years ago we went to the pub early and had Breakfast, and the Twit had Full English and Fat Mum had something called Black Country Toast that was a sort of Small English on toast with extra black pudding, and Tommy and I had some of the Yum. And the pub hadn't got any of the special coffee biscuits for us, and so the landlady said we would have a sossidge instead, and when she bought it out it was not a sossidge: it was three sossidges! And Fat Mum said Blimey They Will Be Sick (which is a Foul Calumny) so they put the sossidges in a box and we took them home and had them for our tea.

It was a lovely day!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

That's a lovely memory Lily, happy gotcha day, and congratulations on securing a home with TF and FM x


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> That's a lovely memory Lily, happy gotcha day, and congratulations on securing a home with TF and FM x


Madam made it quite clear that we were the ones (and that we had no choice in the matter - in fact only that morning we had expressed the view that much though we liked dogs, we weren't really dog people!)

On her adoption day she came for a trial walk with us with no fuss at all and never looked back at her foster mum when she left. The biggest problem we had that day was in showing her how to get into the back seat of the car, and that was only because up until then she'd travelled either in a crate in a van or in the back of a hatchback. Once we'd got her into the car, she lay down with her head on my lap and went to sleep.

We sometimes tell her a bedtime story about how when she was a puppy she asked her furry Mum "How can I find a Big Hairy Twit of my own?" and her Mummy told her exactly how to go about it.


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> We sometimes tell her a bedtime story about how when she was a puppy she asked her furry Mum "How can I find a Big Hairy Twit of my own?" and her Mummy told her exactly how to go about it.


😅


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Oh my God.

Tommy had a cat today.

He's normally okay with cats - interested and wants to look at them, but will walk on when told to. But today we popped to our lunchtime mid-walk pub, and Rantipole (the pub cat) was sunbathing on the pavers outside. Before I could stop him, Tommy bounded forward and grabbed Ranti in his jaws, growling fearfully.

I caught Tommy a good hard slap across his bum, which startled him enough to make him let go, and Ranti legged it to the back yard, swearing like a good 'un.

I explained what had happened to the staff, apologised profusely and said that if there was any injury, I'd foot the vet's bill. They were okay about it - Rantipole apparently appeared in the kitchen later, demanding food and didn't have a mark on him. I asked them to have him checked over anyway.

I think we're going to have to muzzle Tommy when we're anywhere there are likely to be cats - i can't bear the thought of what might have happened.

I'm still shaking.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

That must given you an awful fright! Good job no harm was done, dogs are unpredictable creatures, just when you think it's ok to relax they pull a stunt like that!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> That must given you an awful fright! Good job no harm was done, dogs are unpredictable creatures, just when you think it's ok to relax they pull a stunt like that!


It can have only taken seconds, if that, but it seemed to last an awfully long time. And Tommy grabbed Rantipole round his middle, which could potentially have caused a lot of internal damage.

Ranti did get his own back - there was an inch long scratch on Tommy's leg, which I cleaned up with an antiseptic wipe and a dab of the styptic pencil: not a murmer from Matey, who knew he was in disgrace.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

I so well remember when Lily original adopted you both & also Tommy. We all loved that you were able to take on two such noble hounds & LOVE hearing all their & your tales - long may they continue.
As for Rantipole, well it was his fault for laying comatose in the sunshine in the first place, I daresay Tommy just thought it was an extra toy to play with? I'm glad he was ok tho & that Tommy was not badly hurt either


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I haz been Much Better Behaved and am Good Boy Two Stroke again.

Yesterday we went to the pub and Auntie Liz the landlady said Rantipole was Perfectly Fine and Nothing To Worry About and gave Lily and me head scritches and said we were Good Hounds. And Today we went along the raillway walk and down the little footpath at the side, and there was a little rustling in the undergrowth and I stopped to have a Good Look at what was rustling.

Fat Mum shortened my lead Just In Case, but she let me Look, and Lily had a Look, and it was a little field mousie who was going Quiver Quiver. And Fat Mum touched my lead gently and said Walk On Tommy Good Boy so I did (and so did Lily). So we had a Big Fuss and were told how proud of us our people were.

And then we went to the vets because FM says she is Fed Up with Battling Fleasis and the stuff she buys us from [email protected] has no effect at all, and she signed us up to something called a Pet Health Club which doesn't cost much more than she was spending on stuff that doesn't work, and the vet said Come In On Wednesday And We Will Do A Full Health Check And We'll Soon Have Their Itchy Little Problem Sorted Out And Do You Know We Will Do Annual Jabs And Tick And Worm Treatment And Anal Glands And Feet And A Six Month Full Heath Check All In and FM said Gor Strewth Have I Been P***ing My Money Up The Wall and the vet said Fraid So and gave us both a Treat.

And then we went to a different pub and had Treats (and our people had Wobble Juice) and a little boy asked if Lily was a Kangaroo.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Tommy: _I haz been Much Better Behaved and am Good Boy Two Stroke again.
> 
> Yesterday we went to the pub and Auntie Liz the landlady said Rantipole was Perfectly Fine and Nothing To Worry About and gave Lily and me head scritches and said we were Good Hounds. And Today we went along the raillway walk and down the little footpath at the side, and there was a little rustling in the undergrowth and I stopped to have a Good Look at what was rustling.
> 
> ...


We've done this plan from Dan being a pup, we don't miss the payment, never had any flea or worm problems and I know I can drop in for nail clips and anal glands if needs be, so it's been well worth it for us. I think you also get a reduction on other things too, a percentage off vet fees/ neutering/bloodwork? I hope you find it good value too and the flea problem is sorted.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> We've done this plan from Dan being a pup, we don't miss the payment, never had any flea or worm problems and I know I can drop in for nail clips and anal glands if needs be, so it's been well worth it for us. I think you also get a reduction on other things too, a percentage off vet fees/ neutering/bloodwork? I hope you find it good value too and the flea problem is sorted.


It's a whole £1.20 a month more than we were paying just for treatment that didn't work, so it's got to be worth it!

I am sick to the hind teeth with frantically flea combing every day only to discover that if anything there are more than there were the day before (honestly, the number on Tommy's groin today were reminiscent of the migration of wildebeest across the Kalahari!) so any lessening in number will be a cause for celebrations Chez Fat Mum.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Well, yesterday we went for a walk in the forest - and Twit Features got us lost. Fat Mum was not amused, because she told him three times we were going round in circles and before she could say it again he said "You know, I think we're going round in circles" and Tommy and I learned some Very Interesting New Words.

But we found our way back to the car park eventually, and the ice cream man was there, so we had a Nice Cream each, and then FM took us to a little village pub because she said she'd Bloody Well Earned It, According To The Pedometer We've Done Nearly Six Miles, and they had wobble juice and hot meat sangwidjes and we had biscuits and crisps and bits of cooled down hot meat sandwidjes. And there were some nice dogs there who we said Hello to, and we let a lot of people love us up. And the landlady laughed when Tommy tried to get up on one of the long seats and said It's Okay Love, Everyone Who Comes Here Loves Dogs Let Him Get Up If He Wants To. And when we went home (because it was time for our tea) she said Come Back Anytime And Bring Your Beautiful Dogs. And she gave us a _biskit _each!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Today is my second Gotcha Day! We celebrated with a Nice Walk (not as long as yesterday's!) and a special Gotcha Day Meal, which I let Tommy share. We had sossidje and peas and chipsies and a bit of the Twit's steak pie and some of FM's cheeeze and broccoli bake. And we met a sable greyhound called Rosie, who lives near the pub and who looks so much like Tommy that we wonder if they are related.

It was a lovely Gotcha Day celebration!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Happy 2nd gotcha day Lily!🎂😙


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Yesterday we had snardinzis for tea! It was a Nextra Special Tea because we had been to the vets for a nose to tail health check and the vet said other than fleazies we iz in Tip Top Condition and our teefs is good (even mine!) and then FM sed Will You Have A Look At Tommy's Feet Because He Has Awful Nails And Does Not Like Me Touching His Feets. And the vet said FM and TF and Lily should go out of the Insulting Room because she thinks I might associate FM and TF with Hurty Feet, and FM said Best Of Luck I'll Pop His Muzzle On. And the vet trimmed back my nails and said Oh Poor Boy What A Shame and took me to where FM and TF (and Lily) were waiting and told them I had been As Good As Gold I Wish All My Patients Were As Calm As Tommy Good Boy Tommy! And she said my nails are very brittle and won't ever grow not twisty and broken claws will always be a problem because they had been neglected for Too Long (but not by FM and TF).

Then Lily and I played No I Do Not Want To Stand On The Scales for a bit (but in the end we did and our weight is Spot On) and we came away with a new flea treatment.

And then it was home for Extra Special Tea. And FM and TF had a Nice Cream Lolly each and let us have the last little bit and Lily tried to eat the stick.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Our new fleasies treatment iz fab! TF sprayed the house with Indorex and FM did that spot-on thing, and all the fleasies woke up for a bit and went run run run and made us itch, but they has nearly all gone away now and FM sez the few she haz found are On Their Last Legs! Fank Roo, Missus Vet!


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## Little paws (7 mo ago)

Thank you lovely Lilly and Tommy for your stories. I have only just discovered them and enjoyed reading them. They make me laugh so much! 😂


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily: _Our new fleasies treatment iz fab! TF sprayed the house with Indorex and FM did that spot-on thing, and all the fleasies woke up for a bit and went run run run and made us itch, but they has nearly all gone away now and FM sez the few she haz found are On Their Last Legs! Fank Roo, Missus Vet!


Good news!  Good riddance to the pesky fleasand no more itchies.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

More worries for the Fat Mum (though thankfully easily resolved).

On our way back from our morning walk, down the little public footpath which the Council are supposed to maintain (it being their land) but never seem to get round to, Tommy was modging happily through last autumn's leaves when he suddenly limped, lurched sideways and came to a halt, holding his nearside forepaw above the ground and clearly Not A Happy Boy At All.

After a brief altercation with the Twit ("It's his nearside fore" "No, it's his nearside rear"), and FM being Simply Beastly When It Comes To Feet, the Twit had a quick furkle at the forepaw and discovered poor little Two Stroke had a dry holly leaf stuck in his paw. Leaf removed and treat administered, we tried to walk on, but no joy: this time it was the rear paw hovering in the air. TF investigated again, and removed - with some difficulty - a small and rock-hard bullace plum which had lodged in the space between the main pad and the toes. * 

Another treat administered to a Brave And Calm Boy (and also to Lily, who didn't see why she should miss out) and Tommy walked on happily as if nothing had happened.

And yet if normally I try to touch his forepaws, it's the Greyhound Scream Of Death and people come out of their houses to see who's being murdered.

* If there is a technical term for this bit, FM is unaware of it but would be pleased to learn.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _ Iz Hot. Iz too Hot.

We had Early Morning walk and then lay around the house (making sure we were Cunningly Placed so we were in the way of FM and TF) and moaned and grumbled.

And FM sez it will be just as too Hot tomorrow. Iz not fair!


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Too hot today for hoomans too! Many sympathies Lily from a fellow sufferer. Dan x Please be kind to your hoomans it's not their fault it's hot hot hot  they is doing their best.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Iz still too hot for uz to go out, and so we haz no New Ventures to report. Lily is doing Flopsy Bunny on the landing and I iz doing Salvadore Dali Melting Hound from the sofa.

But we does have something to report. We usually haz Weetabix for our breakfast and a handful of oats mixed in with our tea because FM sez Oats Iz Good For Coats. But she has found a new breakfast called Oatibix, so we iz having that instead, and it is Very Yum!


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## oliviarussian (Sep 2, 2010)

Tommy you really do need to tell FM and TF that they need to get the thread title changed to include Tommy, good boy Tommy!!!!!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Iz cooler! We haz been for Nice Long Walk and coffee froth and biscuits! We iz Much Happier Houndsiz!

_Tommy: _FM sed we waz not going Too Far because I iz an Older Boy and we haz not been for a walk for agesanagesanages. But I had Other Ideas, and it was Fab! There were lots of New Sniffs!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

oliviarussian said:


> Tommy you really do need to tell FM and TF that they need to get the thread title changed to include Tommy, good boy Tommy!!!!!


And the lovely Susie Rainbow has changed it for me.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _We only had a pavement walk today because another of my norty nails haz broken off, and FM said as it had been raining she did not want me to tread in anything muddy. So we went down the road and up the next road and across to where our friend Bethany the Corgi lives, and along the path past the little cottages and down past where our friend Narla lives and then turned back and went down the hill to home. It was a good long walk and because we do not go that way very often there were plenty of Sniffs to investigate. And Lily got Overexcited when she found a dead pigeon, but FM would not let her play with it.

_Lily: _FM never lets me play with dead pigeons, and they are great fun! But she had to go out this afternoon to meet a friend for a wobble juice or two and couldn't take us because she was meeting her friend in town which is Busy Busy Not Nice For Noble But Nervy Hounds, and when she came home there was a Big Bag of Treats for us! So I forgave her for the pigeon (but if it is still there tomorrow I shall have another go at playing with it). And at Gawd Strewth Hounds Do You Have To Go For A Wee At This Time In The Sodding Morning O'Clock there was Something going Grunt Grunt at the bottom of the garden.

_FM: _I have no idea what the gunting thing was: badgers? Muntjac??


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _I iz O What A Big Brave Girl Well Done Lily!

Yesterday we went to the next village but one and had a good explore along the canal towpath, and FM and TF took us to the Nice Pub where we had Hot Meat Sangwitchijs a few weeks ago, and FM looked at the menu and said Gor Strewth Lets Have Lunch and they had roastie dinners and then found out there are free puds and we had a bit of everything and then Eric The Barman gave me and Tommy a gravy bone each.

But that is not why I was What A Big Brave Girl Well Done Lily. While TF was gobbling his pud, I got a bit O O O Need A Wee, and FM said I Will Try and Get Her Onto The Carpark But You Know What She Is Like With Just Me and we went out and I splored the car park until I found just the right spot for weeing, and then FM and I had a little walk down the road and splored where the village well used to be, and I wanted to walk further and it took Mr Clicker and a Treat before I agreed to go back to where our Twit was. And that was not because I was Being Skittish but because I was having Fun with Fat Mum.

And today we had our Usual Walk and while TF and FM were having coffee I went O O O again and FM said Well It Worked Yesterday and we splored the beer garden and twice round the car park (and I did not need a wee) and had Girlie Fun together before we rejoined Tommy and Our Twit.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

A very strange encounter today.

We were wandering along the little windy path through the woods, which is very narrow in places with huge nettles at either side. I had Tommy, who was insistent on bounding ahead, and Lily and TF were some yards behind us.

We were just negotiating a twisty bit of path when I saw, not very far in front, a tall thin figure (by the height I presumed it was a man) wearing a hoodie and walking very slowly indeed. Now, I don't tend to judge by appearances, but there was something about this person that made me feel very uneasy indeed. I made Tommy halt, waited until TF and Lily had caught up with us, and explained very quietly that I felt that we ought to stick closely together.

We paused for a few minutes in the copse by the Danger Pool, and then carried on. Hounds were quite happy to walk on enjoying their sniffs, Tommy and I in the lead again.

We rounded another bend, where the path widens a little, and there, coming towards us, was a young man, very tall and thin and wearing a hoodie. He walked right up to me (if I'd put my arm out I could have touched him) and stood still, just staring at me. As TF was right behind me, I asked the stranger if he could take a step to one side and we could pass him. He said nothing, just kept staring at me - no other expression on his face at all. I asked again - nothing.

By this point I was very uneasy, and the hounds were not happy. I turned and said to TF "I suppose we'll have to turn round", and we walked back to the Danger Pool and the copse. The man walked past me without speaking, but as he passed TF said to him "Thank you".

We walked back up the path and home without further incident, but the hounds were very quiet - unusually so - and didn't even show any interest in a treat for crossing roads nicely (usually they remind us that this is what Good Hounds get, just in case we forget) until we met their friend from the tattoo parlour and his husky.

I'm just relieved that I wasn't by myself.


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> A very strange encounter today.
> 
> We were wandering along the little windy path through the woods, which is very narrow in places with huge nettles at either side. I had Tommy, who was insistent on bounding ahead, and Lily and TF were some yards behind us.
> 
> ...


Is that wood haunted, do you know?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

SbanR said:


> Is that wood haunted, do you know?


I've never heard that it is, but the Danger Pool must be called that for a good reason!

I must admit I'd not thought of a spectral encounter!


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> I've never heard that it is, but the Danger Pool must be called that for a good reason!
> 
> I must admit I'd not thought of a spectral encounter!


Will it put you off walking that path again?


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

SbanR said:


> Will it put you off walking that path again?


Probably not: it's an interesting walk through where the Victorian brickworks used ti be, and much easier than the path at the end of the woods, which is much steeper. 

I don't think I'd walk it by myself, though - one thought that came to mind is that I'm an old woman, with two expensive-looking dogs!


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> Probably not: it's an interesting walk through where the Victorian brickworks used ti be, and much easier than the path at the end of the woods, which is much steeper.
> 
> I don't think I'd walk it by myself, though - one thought that came to mind is that I'm an old woman, with two expensive-looking dogs!


Please do not go there again, without or without TF, that is not a good encounter and had I read it earlier I would have advised you report it to the police just to get the incident logged. You so often hear of something happening to someone in incidents that you described and suddenly there are several reports saying 'oh yes, similar happened to us there' or 'oh we saw someone lurking about there a few days before too'......


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> Please do not go there again, without or without TF, that is not a good encounter and had I read it earlier I would have advised you report it to the police just to get the incident logged. You so often hear of something happening to someone in incidents that you described and suddenly there are several reports saying 'oh yes, similar happened to us there' or 'oh we saw someone lurking about there a few days before too'......


I have actually informed the police, after a friend suggested that the young man may have been druggged up to the eyeballs and told me that there had been more than a suspicion that drug dealers were plying their trade at the entrance to the woods. The police are interested, mainly because it's close to a local school and the children often go to that area.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Me and my bruv haz had a Most 'Citing Day! We got in the car and the Twit drove for agesanagesanages much further than we haz ever been in the car before and we stopped at a place called Wall (which I thought was a silly name because you do not have places with names like Door or Window) and it was a little village! We went for a walk on the Village Heritage Trail and it was nearly all country and not much road and lots of sniffs and we had plenty of time to sniff because they was reading the history bits and directions in the walk leaflet. And Tommy had a wee up the side of an old telephone box that has been turned into a sort of library and FM said Blimey You Can Tell This Is A Nice Area, Try That Round OIur Way And The Local Kids Would Be Widdling On The Books And Then Settling Fire To Them. And there was a box thing on the side of the kiosk that had free poos bags for people to use (I mean for the people to use to clean up after their dogs!) and TF said What A Good Idea.

And then we had a picnic! Tommy and I had peanut butter sangwidjis and cheese and little sausages, and our people had porkie pie and ham sangwidjis and we had bits of that too! And after our lunch we walked up an old road called Watling Street for a bit and turned into a field and I found out why it is called Wall. The field had lots and lots of dwarf walls! I said it must be the National Dwarf Wall Collection but FM said no, it was the remains of a Roman Settlement (but I did not see it roaming, it stayed where it was). So we walked round there for a bit and then got back in the car and went sploring again!

_Tommy: _We went to a place called Lichfield, which is a City. Cities are usually Big and Noisy and Busy Busy, but this one was small and quiet because it was Half Day Closing. And we went for a splore in a Big park,and then crossed a busy road into a nice grassy bit by the Cathedral, and TF and FM took it in turns to walk us while the other one popped into shops. 

And then we went into a pub which was all right until some women came in who were all shouty screechy (but Lily and I lay under the table and ignored them) and TF said This Is Doing My Head In Let's Go and FM said Gor Strewth It Is Past Hounds Tea Time And It Will Take Us An Hour To Get Home.

Actually it took us longer because it was Rush Hour (which is a silly name because no one can rush about during it) but we were Good Hounds Well Done and slept all the way back.

FM says we have been Good Brave Hounds today because we have faced a lot of different things today that we had not done before (including the lift in the multi-storey car park, which we did not like much but we were Good Calm Hounds) and she is Very Pleased with us.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

WOW I wish I had been on that day out with you (apart form the pub with shouty women). What a fantastic day you all had.
I have a friend who was born in Wall & he said you were lucky not to have seen or heard some very strange & unexplainable things while there!!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> WOW I wish I had been on that day out with you (apart form the pub with shouty women). What a fantastic day you all had.
> I have a friend who was born in Wall & he said you were lucky not to have seen or heard some very strange & unexplainable things while there!!


We managed on the whole to balance new experiences (including things they weren't fond of, like the lifts and the shopping bit) with fun and fuss and treats, and it all seemed to work well. So we'll work on reinforcing these new experiences before we add anything else. TF is thinking perhaps of a trip over to Bridgnorth once the Bank Holiday is out of the way.

L & T seem to be getting into the habit of looking at us for reassurance in new situations, which is a big step for both of them.

The pub we went to is dog-friendly and usually quite peaceful - or at least it used to be, but we haven't been there since before lockdown. I'm not certain whether it may have changed hands. The shouty women were the sort who are apparently so important that everyone has to hear their conversation.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We haz been Good Hounds What Brave Hounds Bikkie Time For Clever Hounds!

We haz been to an Animal Sanctuary where there were lots and lots of different animals that had been Rescued From Unfortunate Circumstances. There waz sheeps and goats and birds and horses and piggies and a donkey and a foxie! 
We walked round and looked at all of them and said Hello (and I drooled at a bunny but I do not think FM noticed) and then we went to work. It was a Special Day with a Dog Show and lots of stalls, and we helped our friends from the Greyhound Trust show how special us Hounds are and to persuade people that they wanted to be adopted by a greyhound. We were there all day and helped raise lots and lots of money for the Sanctuary and the Trust and we were Brave and let people fuss us, and a nice lady from the Committee gave us a big bag of treats and an even bigger one for the hounds still at the Trust who the Hound Fairy hasn't found the right people for yet. 

We did not enter any of the Dog Show classes, but FM had a look and said Perhaps Next Time, I Am Sure Lily Could Win Prettiest Bitch And Tommy Could Have A Go At The Seniors. And we looked at the Agility Display where some of the dogs had their own ideas about which way they went round the course and one stopped on the top of the A frame and had a Big Wee and FM said I Wonder If Lily Would Like To Try That so they are going to have a Good Think about it.

And Tommy lay in front of the Greyhound stall and went to sleep and everyone said O Bless.

The treats were Yum (although FM would not let us eat all of them at once) and we stopped for Sangwidjis and Wobble Juice on the way home. And a little boy asked if I was a reindeer.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Mummy, iz I in Trouble? Did I do something wrong? Yesterday when we went to the pub my favourite bench was free, but you wouldn't let me sit on it no matter how nicely I asked. And when I tried to get up on it, you said we'd better sit outside. But it is my Very Favourite Bench, Mummy...

_FM: _You are not in trouble, darling. And I know it is your Favourite, but yesterday the pub was busy busy, and the table was reserved for some people who'd booked and were due to arrive shortly after we did. I know if there had already been people sitting there, you would have found another bench, but there wasn't anyone on Favourite Bench at the time, and you didn't understand "Reserved". You were a very Good Boy outside, and I love you very much. Iz all all right.

_Tommy: _Nice Mummy. Love you too, Mummy. 'Nother biskit please Mummy.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy's Favourite Bench:


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Well, it haz been a mixed sort of week.

First of all, FM's computer got hacked, which is why she hasn't told you about our adventures until it got unhacked again. Then last week I was happily zizzing next to the Twit's bed when he needed to go for a pee - and, being the Twittist of Twits, he only went and trod on my tail! My Tail! I said Ouch Ouch and he apologised and loved me up, but why did he want to go and do that?

Then Lily got silly and bouncy with FM and pushed her over. FM fell face first onto the sofa, which would have been okay if I hadn't been zizzing on the sofa at the time, and FM landed on me. I waz Very Good Boy and didn't snap or bite - I was Very Startled, but just jumped over the arm of the sofa and went and sulked in the kitchen. FM sed Good Job He Doesn't Have Sleep Startle, I Might Have Had No Face and fussed me up and there were _biskits _for being What A Big Calm Boy.

On Sunday we went for a group walk with 69 other greyhounds, and I walked nicely with FM (and Lily walked nicely with TF) and aftewards there was _sossidjis!_

Yesterday we went for a walk on the heath, and ended up at the not-the-usual pub where out people had a cooked lunch and we shared some of the Twit's (but not FMs because she had liver and onions, and not only iz onions Not Good For Hounds but liver makes Lily's farts even worse than usual and FM sez she would like to go back there rather than be banned for Noxious Niffs making the place uninhabitable). I like that pub because it has a Favourite Bench in there too.

And on Saturday we iz going to have our nails done again.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We did not have our nailsis done on Saturday: there was an Emergency at the vets. We are going this afternoon.

Sunday was Different. We had breakfast and got in the car and our Twit drove milesandmilesandmiles - even further then when we went to Lichfield! - and we ended up in a little carpark in the countryside. Tommy had a Very Big Wee and FM praised him up because he had Held On in the car, and we had a _biskit _each.

And then things went a bit scary. Daddy had brought us to somewhere called the Severn Valley Railway, and 
just as we were heading towards a little gate, there were Loud Whistlings and Screechings and a Big steam train came rattling past going fastfastfast! I was quite interested, because I could see there was a gate between me and the screechy rattley train and I was safe, but Tommy did not like it At All and dragged me and FM across the other side of the car park while TF took some photographs.

When the train had gone, we went over the crossing and onto a little path which went through some woods by the side of the railway, This bit was Fab, because we were far enough from the trains not to be scared, even when they went past, and we had not been there before so there were lots of Different Sniffs! But after a few miles we came to a little station, and I did not like that At All!

_Tommy: _Our Twit insisted on taking us onto the platform (FM did not think that was a Good Idea at all!) and there were two Big Trains there making hissy noises and there was lots of steam. But we went into the little Waiting Room, and there were Benches all the way round, and I jumped up onto a beanch next to FM and went to sleep. It was Lily who was Not Happy this time - but the trains went away, and we had a Picnic (we Noble Hounds had Peanut Butter and Ham!) and then we walked back to the car. Lily cheered up after the Big Trains went away and made friends with a man who said he had a nervous lurcher. He certainly smelled of lurcher! Mummy says this is called Furfume, and it is the nicest smell in the whole world!

And then we walked back to the car, and we saw two sparrowhawks, and swans and ducks on the river, and a Big Foxie crossed the path just ahead of us! Then TF drove us to Bridgnorth for a chip supper, but the fishingchip shop was closed so we had a walk round the town and met two friends of our People, called Unka Pete and Auntie Lin, and they loved us up and we are going for a drink with them tonight. And then we went home and FM made us a tea with snardines and let us finish off her boiled eggs to make up for the chippy being shut.

_FM: _I was not happy with TF insisting on taking the hounds so close to the trains, but they calmed down once the trains had gone. But it was a longer car journey than they've had before, and a New Experience. And although Bridgnorth was still quite busy - the Sunday market had only just finished - they weren't fazed by all the people and had a nice modge along the Castle Walk.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Well, we have had our pedicures. Tommy was a Good Boy and did not complain even when the vet nurse handled his norty paws, but I was feeling skiitish and hid under the table and did the Greyhound Scream Of Death twice and the nurse said O Jeez Did I Catch Her? and FM said No, She Is Being Drama Queen. We both had treats for being Good Hounds, though.

And then later we went out to a Different Pub to meet Unka Pete and Auntie Lin. Tommy said he likes that pub because they have free _biskits _and there were benches he could zizz on, and I was O Brave Lily Well Done because I let quite a lot of people fuss me up.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _I haz a New Game! Lily does not play it, and so it is my Very Own Game.

I get up on the sofa next to Mummy and turn round once (and she says Gawd Blimey Two Stroke There's Not Much Room On Here With You Galumphing About) and then I jump off the sofa and go and drag my duvet off my bed and trundle it until it is a Big Soft Lump and then I jump back on the sofa and turn round three times, and then I go back to my bed and turn round three times and then I lie down on it for a few moments until I decide to jump back on the sofa . . . and so the game goes on until I decide to snuggle up next to Mummy and have a zizz.

Iz a Very Good Game because it makes Mummy laugh.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _This morning I haz been Very Good Brave Boy Tommy and let Mummy loose with the nail file on my norty nail. She has managed to get a bit more off it, and now it doesn't touch the floor when I stand up.

I was Very Relaxed And Patient while she did it.

And then there were _biskits._


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We iz going out for a posh lunch! It is the posh lunch for the Local History Society (which TF is the Honorary Chairtwit of) and FM, in her role as Secretary of Historical Twits, has booked a table at the posh canalside pub. FM says we must be on Best Behaviour and not Mug People For Food, and Tommy will not be able to sit on the seats. But FM is taking our bowls and some hound meal and there will be bits of TF's Ham Dinner and bits of FM's Posh Fish A La Something Or Other and so we will not be Left Out.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Well, we iz back from Posh Lunch, and we waz not on Best Behaviours: we waz on Excellent Behaviours What Good Hounds Wish My Dogs Were Half As Good!

We had a lovely walk on the canal towpath as far as the lock keeper's cottage at a place called Bumble Hole, and came back through a field where there were lovely sniffs. And then it was time to have pre-lunch drinks.

I lay under the table for a bit, and then I went and loved up Auntie Janet (who is FM's distant cousin) and then I went and leaned against Dave because he looks a bit like my First Daddy did, but I did not get the Sads at all. And Lily said Hello to Auntie Janet because AJ gave her a Treat. So I had a Treat as well.

And we had bits of Posh Fish A La Wotsit, and Ham and Chipsies and Tomatoes and Eggle and a bit of AJ's jacket potato skin, and biskits, and FM said Short Commons Tonight Kids (which is FM speak for not much tea) and then we lay down and went to sleep.

Was lovely Posh Lunch.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _Today was Really Fab! We had the excellentest Excellent Adventure ever!!

First of all we went to kennels. But instead of taking other hounds for a walk as usual, we got into the Trust's big van. Tommy and I snuggled up in the big space in the middle where there were lots of comfy duvets, and Ted (the hound who has Problems if he sees any dog that isn't a greyhound) got in the back, and TF drove off, and we hounds wondered where we were going.

TF didn't drive us very far, and Mummy had to keep getting in and out of the van because there were Gates, but when we stopped and let us out we were in a Big Big Field. And we all had a walk round the edges of the field, and then Ted had his collar and lead taken off, and he ran up and down the field for a bit all by himself and then had a modge about.

We could not run with Ted because he is a bit of an Uncertain Quantity, so we had a walk up the little lane with FM, and then went back to the van. But when we got there, Ted decided he didn't want to run about anymore, he wanted to talk to us. Which was fine, but we thought it would have been nice for us to have a run!

But we all got in the van and went back to kennels, and dropped a tired Ted off for his lunch and got back in our car. But we did not go home straight away and we did not go to the pub: we went back to the field and this time me and Tommy were off our leads so we could run fast fast fast! And we ran about a bit and then Mummy played recall with Mr Whistle and we got it right nearly every time! We have never done the recall game without a long line before, and there was lots of fuss and praise and Good Girl Lily Good Boy Tommy and _biskits._

FM says if the weather is fine we can go there every week after hound walking! And here are some photos the Twit took: the first one is of Ted.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Happy doggoes!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Happy doggoes!


It was breathtaking to see Lily at full speed! Tommy had a few little sprints, but, being an older boy, preferred just to trot round. Ted had a couple of good zoomies and then stood by the van - he's getting too institutionalised, I fear. And we can't let him run free with our two because of the insurance implications. 

I was really impressed with L & T's off-lead recall - I thought that they might be too excited with running to respond, but no - even though I'd forgotten the high-value treats (which were still in the fridge!) There were one or two occasions when they were too interested in having a sniff to listen, but on the whole they answered (and anyway, the whole idea was to let them run free). 

We'll definitely be back there next week if the weather's good - no one else uses the field at weekends. And we don't have to pay for the use of it, so on a nice weekend we'll take a picnic and make an afternoon of it.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

There's nothing like seeing your dog running at full pelt enjoying life off leash is there? It sounds like the field is just the outlet for your two to let off some steam - and of course it's a bonus that it comes FOC.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> There's nothing like seeing your dog running at full pelt enjoying life off leash is there? It sounds like the field is just the outlet for your two to let off some steam - and of course it's a bonus that it comes FOC.


It's nice and secluded, other than the little estate at the far end of the field: the surrounding fields are rented to a dog trainer/boarding kennels, but the ones either side are not used at weekends. I was worried at first that Lily could clear the wire fences if she were so minded, but she didn't show any interest in trying to escape. We were there about an hour, and two Noble Hounds were so tired that we had to wake them up to give them their tea.

I can't actually see any downside to it, other than the fact that we can't let our two exercise when we have one of the kennel kids running free!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Lily: _We only had a little walk today, because it was rainingwet. Was not fair! And then FM went into town (which was Unfair, because why should she go out when it iz too rainywet for us?) and when she came back she had a jar of Special Yum for us, but she says we can only have about a teaspoonful each day!

_Tommy: _Was Very Yum Indeed! I licked the spoon and then FM rubbed her hands all over my back and did the same to Lily. We did not understand that bit!

_FM:_ Coconut oil. Noble Hounds are both a bit scurfy, and a fellow Hound Slave suggested we use coconut oil - rub it into their coats and also feed them a little. They certainly enjoy eating it!


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> _Lily: _We only had a little walk today, because it was rainingwet. Was not fair! And then FM went into town (which was Unfair, because why should she go out when it iz too rainywet for us?) and when she came back she had a jar of Special Yum for us, but she says we can only have about a teaspoonful each day!
> 
> _Tommy: _Was Very Yum Indeed! I licked the spoon and then FM rubbed her hands all over my back and did the same to Lily. We did not understand that bit!
> 
> _FM:_ Coconut oil. Noble Hounds are both a bit scurfy, and a fellow Hound Slave suggested we use coconut oil - rub it into their coats and also feed them a little. They certainly enjoy eating it!


Coconut oil is delish but very fattening!😋


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

SbanR said:


> Coconut oil is delish but very fattening!😋


All I need now is to find out what to do with the pack of creamed coconut which the Twit bought in mistake for the cocunut oil - I forsee a lot of curries on the horizon!


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

tyg'smum said:


> All I need now is to find out what to do with the pack of creamed coconut which the Twit bought in mistake for the cocunut oil - I forsee a lot of curries on the horizon!


Try spreading some on your toast 😋 😸


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

@tyg'smum this old brain was thinking of coconut cream 🙄


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _We haz had a fab weekend! Yesterday we went to the Big Field again with Ted The Reactive Hound and ran about and played Recall and found a trail where a bunny had run and tracked that, and had Big Bikkies for being Good Hounds. And then we went to the pub by the canal and helped TF and FM eat hot meat sangwidjis and said Hello to a cockerpoo.

_Lily: _And today we went on our circular walk and very nearly didn't go to the pub by the common because it was the last day of their beer festival, but there weren't many people there, so we had crispies and met a brindle greyhound called Heidi, and TF and FM had Rather A Lot of Wobble Juice and are having to lie down. But we made them give us our tea before they did!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

_Tommy: _Brr! Iz very cold! So cold that FM says we can sleep in our fleecies. This means that our peoples do not see our nice shiney coats until the house warms up a bit, and our coats are very nice and shiney thanks to Yummy coconut oil!

We went for a long walk yesterday because it was Lunch With Peggy The Even Littler Than Lily Greyhound, so we went to the pub. But Peggy's dad has a nasty cold, so he and Peggy did not go. 

TF had a Steak Pie with chipsies and peas and carrots, and FM had chicken and mushroom pie with the same veggies, and they saved us a bit of everything except the mushrooms and so our bowls were full of Yum. And we ate outside in the marquee because we were waiting for Peggy (who does not like going inside) and anyway there were some noisy human pups in the pub. But after we had finished eating, the noisy human pups and their people went home and it got a bit chilly outside, so our people went inside to finish their drinks.

I popped up on Favourite Bench and Lily lay down by TF's feet, and after a bit two men we didn't know came over and said Do You Know Your Dogs Are Better Behaved Than Those Bloody Kids Who Were In Here Earlier They Are A Credit To You and John the barman agreed and gave us some crisps.

So was Good Day.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily: Well, what a rotten few days for FM! Yesterday she had a nappointment to have her eyes tested, and she waited hoursanhoursanhours and came home in a Very Bad Mood and said Well I Am Changing My Opticians That Bunch Of Mutter Mutter Ain't Getting A Penny Piece Out Of Me.

FM: I was ten minutes early - after an hour and a half waiting, the receptionist told me that they were running late. I said that I'd rather gathered that, as she'd told a man waiting for his appointment and he'd very kindly told me, seeing as she hadn't. After another 20 minutes I said that I really had to go as I had another appointment and I'd rebook At this point she sort of apologised (not very convincingly) and tried to justify the delay by telling me that two of the opticians were busy dealing with "private patients" who paid for their eye tests. I said (a) in which case they shouldn't have taken my booking and (b) don't bother, I'll go elsewhere.

Tommy: And today there was The Badly Behaved Beagle Of All Time in the pub. We only went in for coffee and posh bikkes, and I popped up on the bench by the door because Favourite Bench was taken, and Lily lay down under the table. And we were being Good Hounds when the door opened and the Badly Behaved Beagle came in with his people and Shouted at us! And his people umphed a bit and said Well We Suppose We'd Better Sit At The Back in a Very Nasty tone of voice, and FM said very quietly "I think they think we ought to go - tough, let's have another coffee" and all the time the Shouty Beagle was shouting. And all his people did was tell him off in a loud voice and even when he quietened down for a few moments they told him off, so he started off again (and FM said Well, You Can't Blame Him For That, Why Don't They Tell Him Good Boy When He's Quiet) and we all put up with this for another ten minutes until one of the men sitting at Favourite Bench said Can You Please Either Quieten Him Down Or Take Him Outside?
And then it all went Ballistic.

Beagle's mum told the man at Favourite Bench to Shut The Eff Up, Clearly He Knew Nothing About Dogs and he said Don't Talk To Me Like That Madam, And For Your Information I Have Bred Collies For 30 Years And None Of Them Would Even Think About Behaving Like That (and FM whispered to TF Hold Onto Your Hat and told us that we were Calm Hounds Good Hounds).

And the Horrid Woman told the man at FB to mind his own business and another man said Just Go Away And Take Your Untrained Dog With You and Horrid Woman's husband pointed at FM and said It Is All Her Fault Bringing Her Dogs In Here and FM said What? My Hounds Are Behaving Perfectly (and we were!) and another another man said Just Sod Off Some Of Us Have Come For A Quiet Lunch and Horrid Woman said None Of You Understand Dogs They Are Not Robots And Each Has Their Own Personality and FM said Why Don't You Speak To Your Dog When He Behaving Well and Horrid Woman made a Big Mistake. She told FM to Eff Off!! And FM said O How Nice To Meet A Real Lady and Horrid Woman made another Big Mistake. She threatened FM with her walking stick! and said I'll Knock Your Effing Lights Out and that's when TF stood up (and he is Very Tall!) and said You Speak To My Partner Like That Again And It'll Be The Last Thing You Do.

And that's when Steve The Landlord came in (we learnt later that John The Barman had run upstairs to fetch him) and threw some money on the table and said I've Cancelled Your Food Order And Here's Your Money Back Now Go Home Before I Call The Police And Don't Even Think About Coming Back and Horrid Woman's husband started to bluster and said they had been threatened first and Steve said O That's Interesting I'll Ask The Police To Look At My CCTV Tapes and the Horrid People walked out with Shouty Beagle (who had been shouting all the time) and slammed the door behind them. And then Horrid Man had to come back in again because he'd left his jacket on the chair and everyone else just laughed at him.

Lily: And all the time we were Good Quiet Not Reacting At All Hounds!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Our people found a pub named after us! And it was dog friendly, and we went into a lovely comfy room and had coffee froth and biskits and crispies!

Edited to add: I've been trying to upload a photo of two greyhounds outside "The Greyhound", but for some unaccountable reason the site won't let me. We'd originally been to a country pub we hadn't been to since pre-Covid (and indeed pre-greyhound) days: sadly it's changed hands, and is no longer dog-friendly. The only places we could sit were outside (and all the benches were wet) or in the bar, which has all the warmth and friendliness of an unpopular 1960s working men's club, and where the barman appeared to be unable to tell the difference between bitter and pale ale.

So we got back in the car and drove on to The Greyhound, which also only allows dogs in the beer garden or the bar, but the bar is warm, with comfy chairs and benches and rugs on the floor (and lots of statues and paintings of greyhounds!) And the staff know what they're selling and greeted the Noble Hounds with cries of joy.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy: This week we haz met a big sighthound called Gypsy! Her mummy said she was a lurcher, but she looked just like a big, chunky brindle greyhound to us! And we all loved each other up like Good Hounds Here's A Bikkie For Being Good Hounds. We also met a little excitable terrier who tried to climb up me, our friend Perry the sighthound and a nasty barky little collie whose owners thought it was all our fault for daring to walk along the same narrow path as them. FM said things would have been a lot better if they'd tried to calm the collie down rather than just shouting at it, even after we'd got past them and the collie had shut up.

I decided to zizz on the landing on Wednesday night, and FM did not know I was there when she staggered to the loo in the Early Hours. She trod on me and I went Scream Scream, but she apologised with bikkies (which is the best sort of apology) and we iz All Freinds again now.

And I have been living here nearly a year! I came here as a foster hound on November the 11th and FM says we will have a Big Celebration because my birthday is on the 5th and Our Twit's birthday is at the end of the month. She says we will have a Pub Lunch and Lily and I can have snossidjes as well as some of their lunch. And then we will celebrate my 'Doption Day next June. Lily was not a foster hound, but she will celebrate her birthday with FM's in March, and then her 'Doption Day in August. All these dates are on the calendar together with strange messages like "Feet" and "Fleasiz".


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

Aw happy 1 year gotcha day Tommy!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily: Well, yesterday was a bit of a bore! We we woken up early early and had breakfast and were bundled into the car - which was full of boxes and bags - down to the next village where TF and FM were holding an exhibition for the Local History society. We had to hang about for agesandages while they put tables up and put chairs out and stuck things on tables and on boards before we could have a decent walk. And we went back to the hall and were there All Day! FM had made us a picnic lunch with peanut butter and ham sangwidhis and bits of cheese and little snossidjis, and there were yummy hard biskits as well. There were lots of people who came to look at the boring old history bits, but we were Good and Brave Hounds and so a lot of the visitors were more interested in us! And then we had another walk round with TF while FM packed everything away muttering This Is No Job For A Woman.

And then we went to the pub because FM said Strewth We Have Earned A Skinful After Today, and we had crispies and some of TF's chipsies and finished off the nice hard biskits and went home for tea.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy: Iz my burfday! I iz Nine! I iz Big Brave Beautiful Sable Velvet Midnight Hound Growed Up Boy!

We went for a walk this morning, but was wet and blowy and me and Our Lily did not want to walk very far, so we just went through the Paddock and round past the little cottages and down the hill via the shop where FM bought us some treats (cos Lily has to share my burfday treats) and home, where we have been cuddling in front of the fire all day. And then there was Special Burfday Tea with Snardines and TF and FM had soup and toast and we helped them eat up the toastie corners.

We are going to go out for a Special Meal next Wednesday because that will be halfway between my Burfday and my Coming Here As A Foster Day. I hope it will be snossidjis.

Tonight iz all bangy flashy lights night, but they do not bother us Noble Hounds. Nevertheless us Hounds are cuddling up our Humans just in case they get frightened.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Happy Birfday Tommy xx Love from Dan and his Hoomumx


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## Ellie&cats (Aug 8, 2020)

Belated Happy Birthday wishes Tommy! 😍


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

Happy belated birthday Tommy!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily: I had a Bad Experience today. We went for our walk and I was modging along happily dragging the Twit through a pile of leaves when I suddenly smelled Yum. So I grabbed the Yum, and the Twit said No Lily Drop It. But I could not do Drop It because I could not open or close my mouth. 

Mummy grabbed my nose and peered inside my mouth and said Jesus Sodding Christ On A Bike And Covered In Chocolate and stuck her hand in my mouth and had a little furkle about and came out with a Very Big bit of Bone. It was sideways in my mouth and when I tried to crunch it with my strong back teeth it got wedged in my mouth. She did not hurt me when she took it out and she put it in the waste bin and told me it was Not My Fault and I was Good Gentle Calm Girl Good Girl Lily.

FM: It was a bloody great ox tail bone (cooked), wedged between her back teeth. Thank the gods it was sideways - if she'd bitten a great lump off and swallowed it, it could have had seriously dire consequences. Lily was frightened that she couldn't move her mouth, but she didn't panic and stood quietly while I furked around.

There was a fly-tipping incident last week when someone dumped a pile of domestic waste on the green, and I can only think it came from there (although there are a couple of roads between the green and where Lily found the bone). All those hours spent teaching her that it's okay for me to take things away from her paid off (as did the hours working on Calm Girl and trust and having her mouth opened and touched).


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## Linda Weasel (Mar 5, 2014)

one of my Spaniels got a piece of bone wedged between his very back teeth. It was quite scary because initially I didn’t know why he was coughing and drooling . I tried to move it (he was very good) but it was stuck solid.

The Vet hoicked it out with some hook thing and it took a lot of effort on his part.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Linda Weasel said:


> one of my Spaniels got a piece of bone wedged between his very back teeth. It was quite scary because initially I didn’t know why he was coughing and drooling . I tried to move it (he was very good) but it was stuck solid.
> 
> The Vet hoicked it out with some hook thing and it took a lot of effort on his part.


I think I was nearly as frightened as Lily, but one of us had to appear calm and it certainly wasn't Lily or the Twit...

Madam is a dreadful scavenger, which is why we never scatter feed her - if we need to distract her at home by chucking her a biscuit, we always give her cue first. Normally we keep an eye out on walks for rubbish (food or otherwise), loose dogs, cats, squirrels etc, but there was no sign of the bone...


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## O2.0 (May 23, 2018)

Oh good girl Lily! Glad she let you deal with it!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

O2.0 said:


> Oh good girl Lily! Glad she let you deal with it!


I managed to swivel it round a tad - just enough to be able to retrieve it lengthways without hurting her. But I was very proud of a calm little girl, especially considering how skittish she can be sometimes. She did fancy having a go at ferreting it out of the bin, but I managed to dissuade her otherwise.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy: Today was my burfday lunch, and there were snossidjis, just like I'd hoped for! We also had some chipsies and peas, and some of FM's jacket potato and prawnsies and tomato and cucumber from her salad!

We had a nice long 'sploring walk before lunch and then we met an English Bull Terrier called Badger (our people liked him but we were Not Struck) and our friend Harley with her Special Person who is called Jack.

Mummy mentioned in the pub that it was my burfday lunch and Tom in the kitchen gave us an extra snossidje each!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy: I iz Magic Disappearing Hound! Mummy sez either that or I have a Tardis!

I got up this morning and told her I needed a Big Wee. While I was busy, she got my breakfast ready.

When she was drinking her coffee, she realised that the back door was still open, and my breakfast was untouched! She called and called, blew Mr Whistle, and mumphed down the garden to find me, but she couldn't find me!

She went upstairs to tell Our Twit he was needed on HoundSearch - and there I was, curled up on the bed with him! She hadn't heard me come back in or walk through the kitchen, or go up the stairs! She says I must have levitated!

FM: 32kg of fully grown greyhound had walked over the quarry tiles and the kitchen lino, and I'd not heard the click of little nails on the floor. Either I need my hearing tested or the hard work on his nails is paying off. Or he may indeed be magic.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily: Mummy is furious, but not with us (but I am calling her Mummy in full today, just to make sure we keep on her good side!). She is mumphing round the house muttering about Some Bloody People and Thoughtless Bloody Woman.

This is about yesterday, when we went to kennels to walk the other hounds. We have not been for a couple of weeks, and there have been a few changes. The first one is that there are now some kittensies who live there: they are going to help to keep the mousies out of the feed store and also will help to check which hounds are cat-safe (as Tommy proved, not all greyhounds are!). They were safe safe safe in a Big crate in the feed store, and I was taken in to see them (and behaved myself) but it was decided not to try Tommy! Mummy went all soppy and said "Ooo, Kittensies!" and loved them up.

She says that I must tell you that they are only in their crate - which is their Safe Place - while hounds are milling about and that houndsies do not normally go in the feed store, otherwise we go self catering. And they are warm and as fat as butter.

That was not what made Mummy angry. When she went down to the kennels to bring a hound out for his walk, there was a cry of "Loose Hound!" and she grabbed the collar of a big stripy hound as he tried to shoot past. (He could not have got out of the kennel block because there is a door to the kennel block itself: he had shouldered his way out of his kennel as his kennel mate was being brought out). 

Anyway, Mummy caught him and said "Looks Like You Want A Good Walk, Huh?" and then she looked at him again and said "Great Heavens It's Tiger, Are You On Your Holibobs?" because Tiger was adopted and went to his forever home a fortnight ago. 

And Auntie Debs came out and was very upset and said He Has Been Returned And It Was Not His Fault. Tiger went to home with a HooDad and a HooMum and a little Hoosister who is autistic, and it was the HooMum who wanted him. And after a week the HooDad brought him back and he was in tears and said that Tiger was a Good Boy and so gentle, and clean in the house and they hadn't had a minute's trouble with him. And HooDad and the little HooSister loved him to pieces and were so happy to think that he was theirs. But at the end of the week, HooMum said she had changed her mind, she didn't want a dog after all and Tiger would have to go. 

You can imagine how angry Mummy was! So we took Tiger on a long walk to the park and he walked perfectly on the lead with no pulling, and stopped and listened when we got to the road and we all had a good snoot about and had Treats. So today she is doing admin stuff for the Trust and is trying to get a really forever home for Tiger, but she says it is always difficult when you have to say that a hound has been returned even when it was nothing they'd done. But I was returned by the silly people who thought they were going to be my Forever People, and as you all know I iz 'Dopted and in my Forever Home (even if Mummy has a habit of telling me that she's going to wrap me up in brown paper and leave me out for the dustman). 

Poor Tiger. I shall ask Santa to ask the Hound Fairy to find him a Very Special Forever Home.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy: We waz Very Good Hounds on our walk yesterday. When we set out, there was a cat on the other side of the road, and Lily and I both saw her, but we just turned our heads to look and walked on nicely with our people. Which mean Bikkies!

And then when we were in the big field, a squiggle ran across our path only a few steps ahead, and we stopped and watched it. So there were more Bikkies!

FM said Gor Blimey So Much For Prey Instinct. She said ruder words to Lily when they had an altercation about Lily wanting to eat horse poo, but FM won in the end and the Twit said Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad.

And there were snossidjis and peas and carrots and mash at teatime.

Was Good Day.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily: Has anyone have the number for HoundLine? I am being illtreated and cruelled and Something Should Be Done About It.

Instead of our usual local walk this morning we got in the TwitMobile and the Twit drove us to the village. We have Nice Walks when we go to the village, and I was really looking forward to a 'Citing Sniffari.

It started off okay, and then we were walking along the path by the brook when I smelled Yum. I was on it in a trice, but the Twit was quicker than I thought and before I could munch up the Yum he opened my jaws and stole my Yum! And he said Flipping Heck (or words to that effect) Its A Sodding Chocolate Doughnut and gave it to Fat Mum who said She Hasn't Taken A Bite Out Of It - and only went and put it in an empty poobag and threw it in the bin!! My Yum, what I had tracked down all by myself! And Tommy was no help, of course!

Anyway, we walked on (I kept freezing and refusing to walk on and had to be persuaded with treats, because I was having a Good Sulk) and we ended up at the vets. i thought we were going to have our feets done, but no!

We went in and played No I Do Not Want To Stand On The Scales for a bit, and then we went in to the Insulting Room. Or rather me and the Twit did, FM and Tommy stayed outside and talked to some spaniels. The vet asked the Twit to take my nice warm fleece off, and ran her hands down my sides and over my belly and said Nice Condition And What A Nice Tight Tummy and said I was pretty and I thought Well This Is Not Too Bad and the Twit told her all about the Doughnut and she said Bloody Kids, If She Hadn't Taken A Bite Then No Harm Done. And I was just about to tell the Twit it was time to go when the vet attacked me!! She stuck a needle in my neck and blew something up my nose! And I shouted, and the vet said OK Drama Queen That's It For Another Year.

I sulked all the way home. Iz Not Fair to torture poor innocent little hounds.

[FM: annual jabs and her Kennel Cough vaccination. She was not amused (though she only screamed when it was all over and TF was putting the fleece back on her. I haven't dare tell her it's nail-clipping time of Thursday...]


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily: Iz getting worse! We got in the car today and it wasn't adventures: it was the vet again! We had our feets done, and I did not want mine done and went wiggle wiggle and tried to get away. But my Cruel People held me tight while the vet nurse went Clip Clip on my nails!

And afterwards it rained and was Not Fit for a walk.

The Twit twisted his ankle on the way back to the car and said Ouch and is lying down, and I have joined him for a Good Sulk.

Tommy: I was Good Boy and let the nice lady get my nails Short Short Short and did not wiggle at all! I iz cuddling Mummy and letting her put Paw Balm on my feets.

Lily: Lickspittle!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily: I haz taken a dislike to GSDs. This started in my early days with Fat Mum and The Twit, when we met a young GSD who was straining at the end of her lead to get to me and growling. I was a skittish little girl then, but I very sensibly went and stood behind my people. Then the GSD's owner said "You will have to let my dog say Hello to yours otherwise she will start to bark" and FM said I Don't Bloody Think So and we walked on. We have seen Shouty GSD several times since and she is just the same - and not just with us, she shouts and growls at every dog she sees. Last time we had to turn round and take a different path because the GSD is now so strong that she pulled her owner halfway across the road, and Our Twit said (very nicely) You Really Need To Take Her To Training Classes and GSD's owner said It Is Your Fault For Having Two Dogs and TF said What??

And now we sometimes encounter another bad tempered GSD. This one is a boy, and we Hate him. The local landowner who is the Bane Of The Neighbourhood has started renting out one of his fields as an enclosed field for dogs to exercise in. It is next to the path and only has a four-foot wire fence and a strand of barbed wire across the top, and FM says No Way Would I Hire That Not Only Is It Fifty Quid A Month But That Fence Is Not Adequate. And a man goes down there with his GSD Alan (we know his name because the man is always shouting at him but Alan takes no notice) who only has to see another dog walking down the path and he kicks off. He jumps up on his hind legs and tries to get over the fence and snarls at us and FM says Walk On Kids. But yesterday Tommy and I had Had Enough, so we stood stock still and growled very loudly back at him. We growled so loudly that our necks swelled up! And FM and Our Twit had to drag us up the path. 

And all this explains why when we met another GSD who FM says sat very nicely by her Mum's feet to let us pass I started to bark and growl very loudly and FM said O Strewth We Are Going To Have To Work On Reactivity.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

I don't suppose there is any regulation for fence height etc for "secure" dog fields?
Dan says he knows how you feel! Enough is enough with gobby doggoes! He hates the leggy hound that lives across the road who gobbs off at him (and every other dog) so he's started to let him know he's out of order 😕. Sadly every similar looking dog is eyed with caution now because of this dog


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy: Today we haz been Good Hounds Clever Hounds O I Am So Proud Of You.

We walked through the woods today, and the only dogs we met were Oscar The Cockapoo and Big Poodle and Little Poodle who we always say Hello to even though we have never found out what their names are and Oscar The Labrador - there are a lot of dogs round here called Oscar! - and had a gravybone each from Unka Alan who lives next door to Bethany The Pembroke Corgi.

And then we walked though the horsesis fields in the mist and it was all mystic and there were lots of squirrels running across the fields and every time we saw one we stopped to look at them. But we were Good Hounds and only looked and so we were fussed up and praised.

We went for coffee at the pub and met a lady we had met before and her Mum (who we hadn't met) and the lady who we had met introduced us to her Mum who said O Aren't They Beautiful And Would They Like A Biscuit and we took the bikkies very gently and let her rub our heads.

Then on the way home we went up the path past the field where Alan-Come-Here-I-Really-Mean-It the nasty shouty GSD was yesterday, and we really didn't want to walk past it but A-C-H-I-R-M-I was not there today and FM and TF talked to us with Soothing Words until we had got past the field and then there were more fusses and praise and treats.

And coming back through the woods it was really exciting! Suddenly two muntjac burst through the bushes and bounced across the path right in front of us! We were Good Hounds again and stood and looked at where they had gone for a bit and then walked on Very Nicely.

And when we got home there was a letter for FM with a Big Cheque in it and she said Well I Don't Know What I've Done To Deserve That But That's Crispmouse Sorted.

[FM: For some reason my Broadband provider has sent me a cheque "as discussed". I have not discussed anything with them, but as Broadband has been more than a bit dodgy in this area recently, it seems to be some sort of refund. I shall pay it in tomorrow and hope they don't ask for it back!]

Tommy: Mummy, we saw Muntjac!

FM: I know, darling, I was with you!

Tommy: There were Muntjac!

FM: I know, sweetheart.

Tommy: Muntjac!

[FM feels that this could go on all night]

Tommy: Did you know we saw Muntjac?

FM sighs...


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

FM: Oh dear. Tommy has been a bit off-colour for a few days: lethargic (which I put down to the weather: once he can be bothered to get his furry little bum off the bed he's enjoying his walks) and even more windy than usual, which I put down to some dried tripe he had last week.

I was out today: Twit Features discovered that he (Tommy) has worms. After half an hour's interrogation of the Twit I ascertained that they were roundworms (TF appearing to think that the question "What did they look like?" could be satisfactorily answered with the single word "Revolting"..)

Worming tablets have been administered. Tomorrow I shall treat both hounds to some rabbits' ears.


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Poor Tommy! My OH thinks it's disgusting that I inspect Dan's poo as I pick it up too, even though I've explained why - numerous times! Hope the worming works.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Poor Tommy! My OH thinks it's disgusting that I inspect Dan's poo as I pick it up too, even though I've explained why - numerous times! Hope the worming works.


No evidence of worms today, but he's managed to break a nail: the first one in months.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

And now I've managed to ruin a perfectly good, if somewhat disreputable, pair of dog-walking trousers by standing too close to the fire.


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## DaisyBluebell (Apr 14, 2017)

So love reading about the Noble Hounds


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

DaisyBluebell said:


> So love reading about the Noble Hounds


No new adventures to report, I'm sorry to say: in this weather they've been asleep by the fire for much of the day, stirring themselves only for toilet breaks and food!


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Lily: Today we went for a Long Walk! The first one in agesandagesandages!!

There were lots of lovely sniffs, (which we managed to enjoy despite Fat Mum muttering Do Get A Move On It's Bloody Cold Standing In The Middle Of The Field) and went to the pub for coffee froth and biskits.

There was a Horrid Man in the pub. I thought at first he might be a Nice Man, so I summoned up all my Brave and took a little step towards him to see if he wanted to say Hello.

But he did not want to say Hello. Instead he tried to swat my nose and told me to Go Away! Fortunately he was not close enough to actually touch me, and the Twit told him that there was no need to behave like that, all he had to do was to tell my people nicely that he didn't like dogs and my people would have made sure we were well away from him.

Horrid Man tried to complain to the staff, and they told him that they run a dog-friendly pub and if he doesn't like dogs he could go and sit in the lounge and they would ask people with dogs not to go in there while he was in there. But instead Horrid Man decided to take his drink outside where it was cold cold cold and we sat inside in the Warm. So, as Fat Mum said afterwards, Ya Boo Sucks to him!

Then we met Hattie, who is a very loving little Pomeranian and who was rescued from a puppy farm where she was used for breeding. When Hattie's Mum first met her, Hattie had never been outside and didn't know what wind was, or sunshine, or how nice grass is to walk on. But now she is adopted, and her Mum and she are inseparable and bestest friends. And she was a Brave Girl and said Hello to me and Our Tommy and to our people and took a treat Very Nicely. And Fat Mum told Hattie's Mum what a lovely woman she was to give a poor little girl a loving home. Our Christmas Wish is that all poor little unwanted animals find loving homes.


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## tyg'smum (Aug 14, 2018)

Tommy: Iz Very Nearly CrispMouse! The fridge and the larder are full of Yum, and Lily and me have helped FM wrap the Twit's pressies (there was a lot of paper with holes in it after we had finished helping) and Lily fought the sellotape and won.

We iz Very Excited and FM keeps having to tell us how many Long Sleeps we have to go until Santa comes. 

We have had some Good News. We told you about our friend Tiger a few weeks ago - he thought he had found his forever home but was sent back to kennels after a week because the silly woman who said she wanted him suddenly changed her mind. Anyway, he has a really really new home now! He has been there two weeks and his new Mum loves him to pieces and says he is the bestest boy in the world. And Ruby, who is a very naughty girl* (and another friend of ours) is having a Home Experience over Christmas and so far all is sweetness and light and her foster mum says her worst habit is stealing shoes and hiding them in her bed. So perhaps our Crispmouse Wish has come true.

*Ruby once fell out with her kennel mate and started a fight. She caused £4,000 pounds worth of vet's bills to the other hound. FM says Ruby is a beautiful girl but she wouldn't trust her as far as she could throw a grand piano uphill with the wind against her. We don't know if she has ever tried this.


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## Tyg'sMum2 (2 d ago)

We iz back! We hazn't really been anywhere, but FatMum's laptop went Bang! and stopped working just before CrispMouse and took all her passwords and links and things with it, and she has only just got a new one. And she is locked out of her emails and cannot remember her password for this site so she has had to give herself a New Name.

Anyway, here we iz. We had a super CrispMouse, and Santa bought us posh new fleeces as well as treats and toys, but it iz so wet and miserable that we hazn't wanted to go out except for wees and poos. And the Twit needs to work on the car because it iz due for an MOT so it iz off the road until the bits arrive and it looks as though the bits have been Lost In The Post, so he has been saying Rude Words quite a lot.

FatMum haz not yet found a copy of her original profile picture or any of her pictures of us to use instead but she has told Twit Features to Sort It.


Lily and Tommy


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## DanWalkersmum (Mar 21, 2019)

Welcome back, we missed you Lily and Tommy, (and FM and TF).  FM I hope you get your accounts and passwords sorted and you haven't lost anything too important. 
I use a chromebook (don't need anything other than internet) so when I needed to replace it magically the google ID thingy (don't ask how I don't think I could do it again)migrated quite easily, it's something to do with clouds?


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## Tyg'sMum2 (2 d ago)

DanWalkersmum said:


> Welcome back, we missed you Lily and Tommy, (and FM and TF).  FM I hope you get your accounts and passwords sorted and you haven't lost anything too important.
> I use a chromebook (don't need anything other than internet) so when I needed to replace it magically the google ID thingy (don't ask how I don't think I could do it again)migrated quite easily, it's something to do with clouds?


It's annoying/time consuming rather than anything else (fortunately some of the more important passwords were written down) but FB in particular is being a right pain in the bum: the powers that be seem to think that I'm trying to clone myself and that I'm a mad hacker (strange because when someone tried to clone me last year they showed not a blind bit of notice!)

The Cloud? I'm with Joni Mitchell on this: "I really don't know clouds at all".


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## SbanR (Jun 16, 2017)

Welcome back Most Noble Hounds!
I was thinking only this morning you'd been AWOL for such a long time, and I missed reading of your adventures.
Iz Spring now Lily and Tommy. Perhaps you will have more outdoor adventures soon.


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## Tyg'sMum2 (2 d ago)

SbanR said:


> Welcome back Most Noble Hounds!
> I was thinking only this morning you'd been AWOL for such a long time, and I missed reading of your adventures.
> Iz Spring now Lily and Tommy. Perhaps you will have more outdoor adventures soon.


_Tommy: _FM haz promised uz that as soon as the car is better we will go to the Heath again, and to the Roman ruins and if it iz a really nice day we will have an All Day Adventure with a picnic. And she is Seriously Thinking about the next dog show because they have a class for Prettiest Bitch which Lily could have a go at if she is in the mood and not being skittish, and there is a class for Best Senior which I could do.

But at the moment she is busy emailing the local councillor because the stile to the horses' field has been removed and a three-foot fence has been put up instead and it is a public footpath. So it iz All Go here.


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