Update from Swift (Thrilling Swift)

Thursday, September 30, 2010
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Swift at a GAP greyhound run in Otaki
John and Swift (Thrilling Swift) have lived together since October last year. I just got some gorgeous pictures from John, and an update below:

Swift really loves her monthly day out at Otaki and mixes very well with other hounds and people, Robyn commented on the last Sunday there on how much energy Swift had.
Swift is gentle , sweet girl, interested in exploring and walkies but nervous in a new situation. Apart from being sometimes easily spooked by loud noises and strangers (which comes from her general lack of confidence), she is a beautiful, good mannered, well behaved hound.
When I had visitors she would hide away till they left, she has now overcome this as you can see from the photo below. I recently had my sister, her husband and my sister's friend Pip to dinner, Swift decided that Pip was ok! :-)
Pip and Swift :-)
And of course, like a greyhound she is, she LOVES her car :)
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Update from Rosie (Flyby Rose Maree)

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I just got an update from Linda and Ray, who have adopted Rosie (Flyby Rose Maree) in July this year. They wrote:
Rosie the hound has settled happily into life on Wellington's South Coast. Overall she's been adaptable - a city girl who can hang out at cafes but isn't afraid to get down and dirty on the sporting field.
Somethings have been a steep learning curve such as Rosie discovering the hard way greyhounds CANNOT run on water when chasing seagulls. And as we then found out she does not swim very well. Climbing steps was a challenge she quickly mastered and now Rosie has a favourite walking route up and down steps and along Island Bay ridgelines. Rain, shine or wind - Rosie is out there twice a day. She also likes a good flat piece of sandy beach to stretch out and run on and she will do that as long as she's not distracted by the enticing smell of rotting seaweed.

Rosie in the mud puddle!!!
In fact, Rosie's favourite hobby appears to be sniffing things - doesn't matter what we are doing - that nose appears. Doing up shoe laces before going 'walkies' - Rosie's snout will be there, sitting on the couch - voila - Rosie's snout appears over the back and snorts in the nearest ear. In the garden evey flower is snuffled, and out walking every blade of grass, or piece of seaweed needs to be checked out. Her other hobbies are sleeping (usually in inelegant positions), gnawing bones and chasing tennis balls.

Here she is with her toys - the draught stop snake and her gorilla :-)
Rosie has quickly become known on the neighbourhood walking circuit with young and old asking about her or to pat her. Encouragingly many people show an awareness of GAP and its work.
We did consider changing Rosie's name as a friend's daughter is also called Rosie, but the two Rosies met, and the 'original' teenage Rosie felt that the canine version was cool enough to share a name with, so Rosie she has remained. :-)
We have declined requests for Rosie to have her own Facebook page (she has to share mine with a weekly 'Rosie update'). We have a list of people willing to dog-sit her in our absence and in fact the only 'person' Rosie has failed to win over so far is Thomas the cat! (But she's working on changing that).
Rosie neatly eating her bone off her outdoor 'table':-)
Overall Rosie is a settled, confident, and well-behaved hound with a sense of humour who appears to be happy with her lot in life.

Ashley's foster greyhound Woody (Yakcam)

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Cute Woody
 Ashley's foster boy Woody is in GAP and ready for adoption :-) This gorgeous boy retired at 3yrs old due to minor injury.
He was fostered by Ashley for just under a month - he shared her home with  Ashley's two retired racers, 4 cats and a litter of greyhound puppies :-)

Ashley wrote this about Woody:
Woody was our second foster dog, although a little shy at first he soon became a confident boy that loves cuddles. If you are sitting on the couch he will come up and lay his head on you, then slowly lift his paws up untill his fron legs are standing on the couch blocking the tv so he can have all the cuddles. :-)
Woody loves his bed and teddies, especially ones that squeak!
He loves going for walks, having cuddles with the cats and eating his dinner!

Woody is stunning looking boy, pure white with a pair of blue patches on his face and a heart-shaped blue patch on his side:

Can you believe this? :-)
Woody with Spider, Ashley's retired greyhound
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Our cute foster girl Shannon (Moon Dancer)

Tuesday, September 28, 2010
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Our latest foster, Shannon (Moon Dancer), arrived only on Saturday and is just gorgeous - she is a tiny blue  girl with the most amazing ears :-) She is not too confident dog and is a bit stressed with all the changes, so we have kept her quiet and gave her lots of space. She is doing well -sleeps through the night, eats well, and is a quick learner! Very responsive girl, eager to please and loves the rules-she is a type of a dog who will bond strongly to her new owner. She is a real sweetheart :-)
She is lovely on a lead too .
We took her to the dog club last night, where she met all sorts of dogs, and she loved them all despite being a bit scared of some of them (especially when she saw this HUGE Alaskan Malamute)! She made great friends with a miniature poodle though-she was her favourite! :)
We took her for her first walk too, with her new friend Snuffles (Baileys Dream)  who is also up for adoption:

Sue with Shannon and Snuffles
Today I took some pictures of Shannon, our other foster greyhound Cilla and Lucy and Louie:-)
Shannon and Cilla

Come on Shannon, lets play! Lucy, Cilla and Shannon

Surely...you would want to play..? You have to!

If we try harder, I am sure she will play with us...?
Lucy and Cilla have been trying to make Shannon play with them, but it is a bit too much and too soon for her, so  Lucy and Cilla had their own little party:
Check out Cilla's smile (you can click on the photo for bigger size)




Update 05/10/2010:

Shannon is just lovely! She started playing with Lucy and Cilla, and Louie (who does not believe in playing!) loves her too. She has fitted beautifully in the pack here -we usually have only one foster greyhound (altogether three greyhounds in the house), but Shannon has been no trouble at all, despite being the fourth. And yes, the house looks a bit like a kennel! :-)
Shannon is lovely in the house, very clean dog, very responsive and polite. Shannon is not suitable for homes with cats, but she has met our cat Mitzi and learned to pretty much leave her alone. She is very trainable and so eager to please! Like all greyhounds, she HATES being told off!
When i let her off the lead in the dog club or velodrome she has a bit of a run with the other three and then when i call her, gallops back to me, with a huge smile on her face! :-)
Lucy, Cilla and her have been having these massive jaw wrestling and tugs of war competitions! :-)

Shannon, Cilla and the turtle :-)

Don't ask me what Cilla is doing....



A little break with Lucy :-)



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HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Miss Google Magoo !

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Gorgeous Google (Google Magoo) has turned 4 last weekend  and sent us this cute posey photo :-)

Cute pictures from Billy (Billy Ma's Tip)

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Cute and playful Billy is one of our foster greyhounds - he now lives in Auckland with Kim and her 10yr old son Orson.
Kim just sent me a few cutest pictures (I love the one of Orson's and Billy's bedroom!)
Orson and Billy :-)

Billy looking beautiful

Billy's and Orson's bedroom (on the left hand side, you can see Billy sleeping upside-down in his crate !!!)

GAP in "Herald On Sunday" :-)

Monday, September 20, 2010
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Lynda (GAP North Regional Coordinator) was interviewed by 'Herald On Sunday' as a leadup to Pet Expo held last weekend. Wonderful article and great work by Lynda -lets hope this inspires more people to adopt one of our precious hounds :-)

Click on the picture below to see larger scanned article:
PS: watch this space as I am just compiling all the pictures from the Expo too :-)
And , although totally unrelated to the post, I cant resist posting this 'awwww picture' of Bonnie (Iteru Kefa) and her Dad Tony :-) :-)
Bonnie and her Dad

Our gorgeous foster girl Cilla

Saturday, September 18, 2010
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Cilla has been with us for a few weeks now and she is a true pet dog now :-)
She is a stunning looking black brindle girl, she could have had a great career as show dog we think!

She loves other dogs and is great with Louie and Lucy. She is also great with our bossy cat :)
She is totally housetrained, sleeps through the night, is so affectionate and could have cuddles for hours :-)
Cilla LOVES her toys and plays with them for hours too :-)
Cilla (with red collar) with Louie and Lucy
She would be the best to go to a home with another dog (she is very social and slightly less confident at the same time -she will need another dog in the household, to lean on and have as a leader). Cilla simply follows Louie and Lucy -whatever they do, she does, she models their behaviour, she is delightful :-) We love all our foster dogs - but we will really miss Cilla when she goes to her forever home.
She ADORES children too :-)

Cilla with Lucy
Cilla is a dog who wants to please -she tries to do everything right, it is quite heart-warming actually :-)
We taught her recall -she is PERFECT in that, we call her to us and she comes galloping through the park, quite an amazing sight! Despite the fact that Cilla did not make it as a racer -she is VERY fast, and quite a sight when running!
Check her out running with Beryl (Winsome Deluxe) and Lucy in the park the last week:

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Cilla with Beryl (Winsome Deluxe)
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Big "GAP Spring Clean" fundraiser

Thursday, September 16, 2010
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In the mood for a spring clean? We can help you! Let us sell your unwanted items and donate the proceeds to our hounds!
I have volunteered to list the items on Trade Me and run the auctions. All you need to do is send us the photos and arrange the post or pick up once they're sold.
To donate your items just send photos and a brief description to springclean@greyhoundsaspets.org.nz and we'll do the rest!

ANYTHING goes: home goods, building materials, clothing, car stuff (including cars LOL!), sports equipment, doggie stuff etc...

Any questions do contact me any time!

All proceeds of course going to GAP kennels. These are our listings at the moment:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=3327022
(the lovely whippet print was donated by Jacqui (GAP Programme Director) -thanks Jacqui! )

Check out Ashley's gorgeous greyhound pups :-)

Tuesday, September 14, 2010
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Berlin with her pups :-)
I have written about Ashley Bradshaw before: she is a greyhound lover,  greyhound trainer extraordinaire, and a great photographer. She works for Canterbury trainer Gary Cleeve and fosters his retired racers while they wait for their entry to GAP.
Ashley also has two retired greyhounds herself : Berlin (Twirly Berly) and Spider (Chile Time), who are enjoying retirement with Ashley and her family. Berlin has recently has a litter of pups, whom will be trained for racing by Ashley (we are looking forward to it -and we will be cheering for them! :-))
She also has a blog where she blogs about her precious pups and posts cutest photos of them, do check it out here:
http://twirlyberly.blogspot.com/

One of the puppies, cute and cheeky Lily :-)

'Battle for Timona Park' on Sue's blog !

Saturday, September 11, 2010
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Timona Park is a huge park is in Feilding where our greyhounds (and Frankie) run like lunatics most days :-) Today Sue (Beryl's Mum) took some gorgeous photos and posted them on her blog, check out the post here :
http://greyhoundscansit.blogspot.com/2010/09/battle-for-timona-park.html

(picture below is a preview -and in case you are wondering, no Photoshop was used! :-)

Picture of the day: Lucy in Timona Park

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Our cute Lucy :-)

Gorgeous twins up for adoption: Speed and Skip

Sunday, September 5, 2010
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Hey there, my name is Speed and this is Skip to my right. We are litter brothers. We grew up together and have never been separated; I think we are twins actually as that's how bonded we are. We do everything together and at the same time... We sleep together too!!!!! I promised my Dad (our trainer) I would always look out for my brother and even though Skip is a bit more confident than I am, for some reason he looks up to me for guidance. Because we are still young (we are only 2!) we like to run around a fair bit so we are looking for a home with a decent sized yard for during the day and a bed for us to curl up on together at night. PLEASE can we stay together, please? We will love you forever!
I have to say we are very cute and waggy, I am black with a little Tui-like white patch on my chest, and Skip is black with white markings. We both have same hazel eyes :-)
We sometimes use each other as a headrest

Yes, we are synchronized :-)

and we love each other ...

Here is a video of us running with Irene:



And another video of us running with our new friends Beryl, Lucy, Louie and Cilla (watch out for the incredible jump by Speed!):

Foxton beach and forrest run :-)

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FUN!!!! Lucy, Bart and Beryl
Yesterday was a gorgeous spring day so we took greyhounds and Frankie to Foxton forrest and beach. They had an absolute blast! :-)
The team:
Beryl (Winsome Deluxe),
our cute foster greyhound Bart.
Lucy and Louie (Charlston State),
and of course -Frankie!
Bart and Beryl
Beryl and Louie

Lucy : Are they still behind that dune?
Greyhound heaven (two black dots are Lucy and Louie :-)
Beryl and Bart

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Frankie and Bart

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Bart and Louie :-)

Beryl and Bart

Bart loves water too :-)

Lucy and Beryl again :-)

BFFs - Lucy and Beryl

Tired doggies on the way back



My gorgeous Louie kept scanning the area for rabbits :-)
 Isn't he the most beautiful creature? :-)
Beryl's Mum Sue took some amazing pictures aswell and posted them on her blog, do have a look here:
http://greyhoundscansit.blogspot.com/2010/09/greyhound-heaven-saturday-blog-hop.html