It’s day seven of the A to Z Blog Challenge. The letter of the day is
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If Heathcliff had been a dog person, I’m sure greyhounds would have been his canine of choice. Spindly and spidery, greyhounds are almost ghost-like. Regal, silent, and stoic, they are the perfect dogs of the moor (except for the fact that if you let them loose on the moors, you’ll probably never see them again).
Greyhounds can reach forty-five miles per hour in three strides. And they’re sighthounds, so their preferred sense is vision, not smell.
Greyhounds are also big slugabeds. Do not ask them to jog alongside you while you train for your marathon. They don’t jog. Greys are sprinters, bred for the forty-five second haul around the track.
They can be stubborn in their own way, but mostly greys are docile and eager to please. They cannot stand big, noisy parties or fireworks, and if you yell at them they will deflate like a balloon. They are ultra-sensitive.
When we adopted our first greyhound in 2012, one of the volunteers told us that greyhounds have emotions like humans. Six years later, I have to say I totally agree. Our retired racer is the most intuitive guy I’ve ever met. If I or my husband is angry (never at him, of course), he knows it, and he will promptly (and silently) convey to us, “I’ve had enough of this. I’m going upstairs.” On the other hand, if we have people over for dinner, he gets so excited you’d think we were having a party for him.
And when you look into his eyes, it’s like you’re conversing with the wisest being on earth. Soulful, almond-shaped eyes stare back at you and say, “It is well.”
What’s your favorite breed of dog?
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I agree about Heathcliff and the greyhound and of course all animals have feelings and acute instincts. I’ve had several dogs. I loved Jacky, especially. She was a Japanese Spin, really friendly and cuddly. I don’t like to live with big dogs, because I don’t like to feel I can’t ‘handle’ them in an emergency, if they run/pull away during a walk etc.
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I’m not familiar with the Japenese Spin. I will look that one up. Chase (our greyhound) was my first big dog (75 pounds). I was raised with Chihuahuas and pugs. We also have a rescued Italian grehound (and she’s twelve pounds). Leading Chase around is like leading a mule. Ha! Trinity is the spaz on walks.
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I tend to like mutts best, cuz they’re often sweeter natured. But that stance may well have been influenced by the little cockapoo of my childhood…
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Mutts are fantastic! My previous dog was a cross between a dachshund and a terrier of some sort. She was the sweetest dog ever…
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I knew that about greyhounds – the laziest of dogs, and yet the fastest too. I once made a programme about dogs featuring a greyhound display team – it was very amusing, they weren’t interested at all!
https://iainkellywriting.com/2018/04/07/g-is-for-glasgow-great-britain/
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Chase still likes to run even though he’s an old guy. He’s definitely more energetic than most greys. On the programmer you made, were the dogs displaying their running skills?
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Not on this one it was like a display team going in and out of sticks, through hoops, over bridges. Even the dogs thought it was all a bit silly 🙂
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Lol! I can just imagine their faces!
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Beautiful photos 🙂 I love rottweilers 😉
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I love all dogs. They are wonderful creatures!
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