Meet a very special pair: Bridgette and Lilly

By Fatima |

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

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Bridgette and Lilly

Bridgette and Lilly are two delightful mature ladies, who have suffered a traumatic change of life. Together since baby puppy Lilly was brought home to meet the boisterous young Bridgette, these beautiful girls have lived together all their lives.
After short racing careers, they became the prized pets of their beloved Nelson trainer. But a few short weeks ago they were sadly uprooted from their lifelong home by his unexpected death.

(you can click on pictures to see full size)

Although they are obviously missing their trainer, these two wonderful girls have packed their bags and are ready to face the world. They're anything but quitters! Bridgette is 9 years young, and Lilly is 7.

The one constant in their lives has been each other. The most devoted of adopted sisters, Lilly and Bridgette do everything together. They are looking for a new home together too - it would be heartbreaking to expect them to separate at this stage in their lives.

Picking the girls up from the ferry in Wellington

When I picked them up from the ferry, I found them in a single kennel. Being apart for the length of time it took to cross Cook Strait was not an option. Although nervous in such strange new surroundings, Bridgette was quick to take charge and determine I was someone worthy of trust! After that, it was tail-wags and licks, followed by a lovely long sleep, curled up together in the GAP van on the trip to the kennels and the first step in their new life.Prettily-marked Bridgette is confident and assertive, and quite determined to 'look after' little sister Lilly.

Lilly is a sweet, friendly girl who always looks to Bridgette for reassurance and for guidance.

Bridgette and Lilly are looking for a special new family to call their own -- the type of people with big hearts (and a great big dog bed!) just made for two lonely, loving sisters. Friendly, gentle and beginning to be playful again, Lilly and Bridgette still have so much love to give.

Could they be the special dogs you have been waiting for? Could yours be the caring forever home they need?

If you think you can help Bridgette and Lilly, whether as members of your own family or by supporting them as they find their new home, please call GAP Sanson

(website: www.greyhoundsaspets.org.nz,

email address: sonja@greyhoundsaspets.org.nz ,

phone: (06) 329 3787 )

Picture of the day : Sarge (Sergeant Scream)

By Fatima | 0 comments

She's tough work staying up watching the Olympics... :)

First 'Licious' greyhound arrives to GAP !

By Fatima |

Sunday, July 29, 2012

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Lady (Ladylicious) with Ellie, greyhound trainer extraordinaire

A few months ago, TV3's Campbell Live had a great segment on a greyhound race in Wanganui, where all dogs were littermates, and had 'interesting names': their names ended in '-licious' :)

Race commentator had a tricky job (and I have to say, performed perfectly!).  Here is the link to the results of that race:
http://www.thedogs.co.nz/catch-the-action/10265/77328/result-detail.aspx

These doggies (raised and trained by Foxton trainer Paul Freeman and his family) are just under 2 years old now, so we thought they had a few more years to race. However, one of them , Ladylicious, was a bit too slow on the track, so she arrived to GAP last week.

Sonja took some gorgeous pictures (you can click on them to see full size). Lady certainly has THE BIGGEST greyhound smile I have ever seen! :)

We all know greyhounds smile a lot. But have you ever seen anything like THIS????.

Lady is just a puppy - she is only 1 yrs old , turning 2 at the end of August. She is way more energetic than a seasoned retired racer, and will need more exercise and stimulation (ie. having retired from racing very early, she will need another job for at least a few years). 
Lady is no couch potato at this stage - she would do so well in agility, Rally Obedience, flyball and similar classes. Lure coursing too. She is a small girl too  - making her very suitable for agility. She has a good toy drive and needless to say, big play drive too :)

Lovely young greyhound handler Courtney (who helps handling Freeman greyhounds) wrote a bit about Lady (thanks a million Courtney!):
Lady is stunning, playful yet gentle, and has the cutest personality, besides being famous! She will walk by your side, jump up for cuddles if you request, and love you forever. She has a lot of energy, being merely a puppy, but she does love to relax. She gets along with people all ages, and loves attention and affection.
 My mum Angela and me brought the Licious litter up, Paul helped too. They were sometimes cheeky and naughty as pups, stealing mum's socks when she wasn't looking :)  But pups will be pups!
Lady is retired now and deserves a loving home with people who will love her, look after her, and care for her. She will be an awesome pet!

Update from gorgeous Rex (Dark Fancy)

By Fatima |

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

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Our foster boy Rexy (Dark Fancy) now lives in Wanganui with his new Dad Richard, who just sent us an update and these CUTE photos:

Rex has appeared to have settled in. All of my friends adore him and must be sick of me talking about him by now. I have had to modify my eating habits to make sure that I don’t leave any food unattended – he has learnt the difference between cold coffee and hot coffee. He is quite a hoon and loves his toys and food. 

Sparrow watching... :)
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Update from Leroy (Soho Prince)

By Fatima |

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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Cute boy Leroy (Soho Prince) now lives with Ernie and her hubby in Wellington. Ernie just sent us an update:

Leroy has adapted to life with us well, save for a few initial hiccups with toileting which worked itself out. He is a very "aim to please" dog. We go on heaps of walks and runs in his favourite parks. He is a legend on a lead, and when let off, always sticks close by. We have become fast friends, and I couldn't imagine a life without him now. He is definetely integrated into a part of our family. I love him to bits.
When he just arrived, I introduced him to the rest of the family, including Charley the cat. For the first few weeks, they pretty much steered clear of each other, but now Leroy is trying to get Charley to play, which he's not too keen on. But as soon as I tell Leroy "off the cat" he backs right off. My husband initally was not too keen on getting a greyhound, but even he has succumbed to Leroy's charms.
I have just signed Leroy up for Canine Friend Pet Therapy which is an organization that matches well behaved pets with the elderly. His personality, very outgoing and friendly yet calm is a perfect match for this and I'm excited to get started.
I am looking forward to many happy days with our dog and couldn't be happier with the decision to go with a retired racing greyhound. I would also like to say how supportive everyone has been at GAP; everyone has time for questions and I am very appreciative of this.

Update from Amber (Harajuku Girl)

By Fatima |

Sunday, July 15, 2012

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Pretty Amber (Harajuku Girl) was adopted by Selina, Matt, their little girls Maia and Tarah, and their two cats Shiseido and Mishka on 8 May this year.

We just got an update from them (you can click on photos to see full size):

Our family consists of Mum, Dad (Selina and Matt), our 2 girls Maia (6 yrs) and Tarah (4 years) and our 2 cats Shiseido and Mishka. Sadly we lost our gorgeous greyhound Falcon in April. He was such a treasured part of our family and we were all devastated at this loss - particularly our 6 year old who sobbed every night in bed for 3 weeks after we lost him. We visited GAP in the hope of finding another lovely greyhound to fill this hole and along came our beautiful Amber! Our daughter still greatly misses Falcon but hasn't cried once since we got Amber. She is just a perfect part of our family and we all adore her :-)

Amber settled into home life so quickly. She sleeps on an elevated bed in the lounge on big fluffy pillow like bedding. She rarely goes out during the night for the toilet - much prefering to stay warm and cosy inside (and I don't complain about not having to get up in the middle of the night :-)) She is so good!
She knows not to go down the hallway and that she is only allowed in the lounge and dining room and totally obeys this rule (lol).
She is SO patient and polite with her food. We don't even have to tell her to "wait" and then "eat" like we did with Falcon…she waits back until we have completely finished dishing it up and even when we say eat, waits for a little bit before gently tucking in.

She LOVES going up to the huge fenced area at Manfield Park in Feilding and having a good blat off the lead - although always comes back totally pooped!! She is good friends with my in laws labrador and they play so well together. She has even had a sleep over there when we went away and they said she was so easy to look after they will have her any time!

She does have her quirks though… In about week three of having her, I washed her bed and it hadn't completely dried by bedtime so we left her happily sleeping on the floor. In the middle of the night she obviously decided this was not a good arrangement and that if she didn't have her bed, she would have to settle for the next best - the couch! When we got up in the morning, she was happily curled up in a ball on the end of the couch - very funny but she was growled and hasn't done it since. We know better than to deprive her of her bed!!

We also think she may have OCD!!! She hates anything being in the back porch area including shoes, gumboots, toys and even her bed! Anything left in this area for even 2 minutes is gently picked up and taken to the back lawn, where it is then dropped and left so the porch is clutter free! Go figure! She never chews or even leaves the slightest of marks on anything - just moves it! It is very funny.

We are hoping to start the Canine Good Citizen classes with her this term to add even more positive aspects to her awesome nature.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to love Amber (Viv) and have her as a part of our family!

Many thanks

  The McKenna's

Selina, Matt, Maia, Tarah, Shiseido, Mishka and Amber

Spot the boss in our house in the this photo (it's not Amber)

Update from foster care : Lindy (Dream on Cyrus)

By Fatima | 0 comments

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Beautiful Lindy (Dream on Cyrus) went to foster care only yesterday -and already is more than settled in!!!

Picture of the day: Cortez (Hailey's Agent)

By Fatima |

Saturday, July 14, 2012

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Amazing ex-racer Cortez (Hailey's Agent) relaxing at home near the fire, on his VIP bed with his fav toy. What better way to spend retirement. Love that smile :)

Our greyhounds in 'Barely There Vet Calendar'

By Fatima |

Monday, July 9, 2012

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The 'Barely There Vet Calendar' has been a traditional event for the Massey University vet students over the last seven years. It began as a fundraising project for the 3rd years’ half way day where students celebrate being half way through their five year degree with skydiving, white-water rafting or relaxing at a spa.

Some 10 percent of all proceeds go towards a charitable cause. This year it is the New Zealand Wildlife Health Centre.

One of GAP foster carers, Stacey, is a vet student who participated in this calendar this year. She organized a photoshoot with our lovely hounds.

Stacey sent me these pictures below (these do not include the actual photo being used in the calendar). You can click on each picture to see full size:

Girls with (left to right) Roache (Awesome Enforcer), Cobby (Cawbourne Snowy), Lucy (The Ferret) on the swing, Louie (Charlston State), Ritchie (Thrilling Tear) and Reggie (Regent Hurricane). Stacey is a blonde on the far right :)
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Calendar can be purchased at www.vetcalendar.co.nz 

I have just received my free copy from  Stacey -thanks a million Stacey for all you have done for our lovely hounds! 

Update from foster care : Alex (Know Need)

By Fatima |

Friday, July 6, 2012

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Jaimee from Wellington just sent us an update on her lovely foster greyhound Alex (Know Need) , and some amazing photos! Thanks a million Jaimee!

Where to begin with this fella, Alex has slotted into pet life AMAZINGLY. He is a joy around the house, so relaxed, adores cuddles and naturally enjoys being in your presence. Alex unquestionably loves going for walks and rides in the car! (Even if its just a short ride to the supermarket – fun times).

He is gentle on the lead, happy to meet everyone – especially kids as they give lots of cuddles and generally a very happy go lucky boy! He is very interested in meeting other dogs and socially improving every day!

Patient, a quick learner and great with boundaries around the house – he sticks to them even when I’m out! Alex enjoys his toys and is a bit of a hoarder hehe, but is very happy to give them back to you.

Recently while I have been out with exams, he has been happy to laze around the day until I get back without putting a foot wrong! So willing to please and cuddle this cutie will adapt to any situation! Alex has been with me for two months now and can’t wait for someone to snap him up and start a new adventure!!! J

Modelling his new snood :)

Postcards from Lace

By Fatima | 0 comments

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Gorgeous 10 year old Lace is staying with us for a few weeks, while her Mum and Dad are visiting friends in England. I thought to post some pictures of her here, so that her parents can see how their precious girl is doing :)
Today, Lace insisted on dictating a post to me again, so here goes:

Hello Mum and Dad!
I just heard you are on your way back! I am very excited and cannot wait to see you again!
I am having a great time here - I love living in a pack! We keep having new foster greyhounds too - they keep coming and going?! Every week we have another dog arrive! Very strange but very interesting too :)
 At the moment we have two new foster greyhounds - I have made friends with them already (one is quite obsessed with me and wants to follow me everywhere!).

I daresay I have let them all know in no uncertain terms that I like finer things in life, and I have also taken over the doggie couch:

I like to hang off the doggie couch, it is a very relaxing pose!

Alas, sometimes Cobby insists on joining me and uses me as a pillow!!! I dont mind :)

And he shares blankies with me too -on the same couch:

And I have to post pictures of myself with one of my absolutely favourite meals - a venison neck chop (my other favourite meal while here is a chicken frame for breakfast YUM).
Check me out (I cannot resist posting a few pictures of me dining on this culinary delight):

YUM!

Yes it is messy as! Not easy to put away a game chop like this one without a bit of a mess HA HA!
Fatima and Rachel have an entire system for this: they put covers on our beds while we eat, and when  we finish these covers are taken away and washed. It is an entire operation -what with 6 of us! No wonder their washing machine goes non stop :)

Also, we got snoods. I was at first incredulous at this contraption  -well I dont need it in our house do I (these hounds here have no idea of underfloor heating concept and I have given up trying to explain it to them). Well anyway, back to snoods: they are supposed to keep our neck and ears warm:

Me modelling a snood :)
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Lucy :)
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Cobby :)

Oh and we had a small earthquake and also chased a hedgehog in the garden right afterwards! Apparently hedgehogs were supposed to hibernate at this time of the year, but not this one! Mind you , maybe it was 'woken up' by an earthquake...?  In any case -we found it -and chased it into the bushes , it was awesome! :)
Until next time , Lace xxxx