Jet's Furkid Palace

Bikejoring Greyhounds!

2015-09-08T11:12:00.000+08:00

I have been so bad at keeping this blog up to date as there has been so much going on at the Furkid Palace!

The sledding season is over for the year and so maybe I will have more time to write. I am now trying to train Mouse up for bikejoring. Hopefully WA Sleddog Sports Association will offer a bikejoring class in at least some races next season. We are heading interstate to compete in some other races next year, so if it turns out that Mouse is a keen bikejoring dog we will enter some races.

Mouse and I competing in canicross at the last race of the season, the Jarrahwood Jaunt

Mouse has been bikejoring twice so far, and the second video shows the improvement she has made. Running canicross with her in that harness connected to a waist belt has helped her get the idea of pulling, though being a little greyhound with a high centre of gravity she still can't pull very hard.

Mouse and Jim (first time bikejoring)

Mouse running alone (second time bikejoring)

Bender is still running short tracks as a veteran but I am not sure he will still be up to it next year. He will be 10 years old in March and he really is mellowing out. He may just go into retirement.

Lure coursing for Mouse will continue on through summer. She is only one qualifying score away from becoming an ACLA Field Champion. I am also aiming to enter Mouse in another Dances With Dogs trial in December. Hopefully we will be able to make time for some more dog shows for Barbie, as she is the show pony of the Palace. She is turning 8 very soon and she still shapes up pretty well despite a few grey hairs on her face.

Mouse & I have also gotten back to obedience classes now that it is getting a bit warm for sled training. We are still working our way up the ranks but if I can schedule it in we will enter some Rally-O trials before the end of the year.

What have we been up to! A lot!

2015-06-04T14:54:00.002+08:00

This winter I decided to give Bender a go at dryland dog sledding. I joined West Australia Sleddog Sports Association (WASSA) and we entered our first race, the Hampton Hoon, last weekend. I have been well and truly bitten by the bug. Without Nic's steady influence I think I would have gotten a sled puppy to train up for next year already!

I have decided that our team will be called "Team Planet Express" - as Bender is always going to be my very first sleddog. I have ordered a sticker for the car and the scooter, as well as an iron on patch for Bender's dog coat!

Bender and I at the mock race at beginner's camp

I also took a friend's dog along (Poppy), as her mother and aunty are certainly good sleddogs. Mouse came to participate in the canicross and I was just hoping that we wouldn't win the Red Lantern (the red lantern is the prize you get for coming last - you can read about the tradition of the red lantern here).

Poppy and I starting our first race!

It was a quite a drive out to the Hamptonview Homestead where the race was held, but it's beautiful country out there. It seemed perhaps a little dry, and in fact, it was so dry that there was no condensation at all on my tent in the mornings. This made for very pleasant camping despite the cold temperatures (which are a necessity for the sport), and the very early starts.

I decided that I would buy myself a new airbed for the trip. Well that was a mistake. It was great on the first night but sometime on Sunday it sprung a leak and so it was useless on Sunday night. I ended up stealing Mouse's bed and making her share it with me and Bender.

As for the racing, well it went as well as I expected. Bender's an old man and he ran pretty well in Novice - he definitely had the idea it was a race by the second heat and he even vocalised a bit on the start line when he was being revved up by Vanessa who was handling him for me. We finished 8th overall in Novice with an average speed over the two, 2 km heats of 14.09 kph.

He pulled up really well and this video is of his second heat. He was certainly tired after the weekend and wanted to eat more so I'd say that is a good sign. I have to complete two races as a novice before I can enter him in any other classes but I plan to move to veteran with him when I am eligible.

Poppy is a pup, almost a year old but a large mixed breed so a long way from being a mature dog. She ran in puppy class and she ran *like* a puppy! I think she probably ran an extra kilometre from all the zig zagging she did all over the track! Poppy and I finished 5th out of 6 dogs, so this was the closest I got to getting the red lantern. Her average speed was 11.5kph. Her litter sister Lily won the red lantern instead.

Hampton Hoon 2015 - Puppy Edit Heat 1 from Jet Ska on Vimeo.
Mouse ran better than expected in the canicross. By the end of 4 heats of racing with Poppy and Bender as well as the 6k walk I did with Mouse on the Saturday to keep her happy, my feet were killing me, so I think I held us back a bit. We ran the 2 kilometres at 9.78 kph and Mouse trotted the whole way, finishing 15th. We could definitely improve in canicross as a team.

The next race is at the end of the month. I'm not sure if I will be taking Poppy along or not but I will definitely post about how we go.

Ben & Jerry's Outdoor Cinema - Date Night with the Mouser

2015-04-27T08:54:00.002+08:00

We took Mouse to Ben & Jerry's Outdoor cinema a year ago to watch 'the Wolf of Wall Street'. We went on a weeknight which was a little bit difficult to coordinate as I went straight from work and Nic had to bring the dog in to town. This time we picked the cute animated feature 'Home' and went on a Sunday so things would be less rushed.

The other advantage of Sunday is that you get free ice cream! There were two flavours on offer and I think my favourite was the 'fish food' - the other was a salted caramel type flavour and I found it a bit bland after the chocolate overload of fish food.

Mouse seemed pretty happy when we got there as people were interested and said hello but weren't too full on in their interactions of affections.

There was one other dog there that we saw, and it was a small Chihuahua type. The people sitting in front of us started patting Mouse and since she is super soft at the moment because I bathed her with very expensive shampoo, they couldn't stop. We got quizzed about greyhounds. They seemed like the kind of family who would really suit a greyhound, with three girls who seemed very gentle and lovely.

Mouse settled in pretty much straight away, and wasn't annoying at all around the food. It was a huge improvement from last year and just goes to show how far she has come. She has become a very well mannered and socially acceptable dog. She was a little bit wary of all the kids running around, most of them running through very close to where we were lying. There were no kids at the Wolf of Wall Street, and these kids were all hopped-up on free ice cream. Once Mouse realised she wasn't going to be trampled upon she looked less alarmed as the kids ran past, or jumped over us!

We had her in her Muttrugs oilskin coat and that kept her nice and toasty. She also snuggled up against us for the whole movie.

Next time we need to remember to bring pillows. Everyone else seemed to have pillows and sleeping bags and they seemed very nice and cosy. Of course they missed out not having a nice warm dog to snuggle with.

The Mad Dog

2015-03-26T08:01:00.001+08:00

Getting old should be no barrier to participating or doing stuff for a dog. I guess people might say that 9 years old isn't actually old, but that depends on the genetic makeup of the dog. We don't actually know what mishmash of breeds make a Bender - but he's on the large side, 33 kilograms with long legs. He's not exactly a giant breed but he may have some of that in him!

Bender may be the oldest dog here but he's the most enthusiastic to throw himself in to new things. If he was a human, he would be that granny who is keen to jump out of a plane for the first time on her 60th birthday.

I bought a lightweight agility tunnel and it got delivered yesterday. When I got home I unpacked it, and Bender was convinced he should be biting it or head butting it.

I set it out in a long straight line (it only just fit in the living room) and showed him what it was actually for. Bender doesn't need much encouragement to try new things if they are not that scary, so he did it, and then told us how much he enjoyed it afterwards.

Mouse had a go too but she did not give it nearly as much panache as the crazy boofahead. I think she may have been a little bit intimidated by the way he was carrying on!

GreyhoundAngels promo work

2015-03-23T07:56:00.000+08:00

Well it's been a long time between updates. Everything here has been rattling along nicely. Mouse has been progressing at obedience training, and we are aiming to enter a Dancing With Dogs (freestyle) trial in a couple of months time to show off her tricks.

There's also a dog show coming up on the 3 May with the Sighthound & Italian Greyhound club where they have specifically created a 'race-type greyhound' section which is open to all ex-racing greyhounds. I'm planning to enter both of my guys and it should be interesting to see how they are judged as they come in all shapes and sizes once they are retired. I'm hoping Mouse does well due to her nice body condition, but she is on the small side for a racing type standard. Barbie looks good too, but it depends on whether or not the judge penalises for lack of teeth!

Mouse has also been lure coursing as the season has started up again. The Fastest Dog in Australia competition will be running again this year and there will be multiple heats with the two WA clubs, so it will be interesting to see how Mouse goes this time around.

Lure Coursers Anonymous, 15 March 2015. Photo credit: Amy Joy (Studio Joy)

Barbie and Bender have been pottering along. Barbie really hasn't slowed down much but we do have to keep an eye on Bender and his activity levels. He loves to run and play but he looks miserable afterwards if he over-does it.

I am still having a go at Public Relations for GreyhoundAngels, and as a part of my role I've been looking at what I can do to get more air time for greyhounds in the social media space. I have been trying to make some videos of available dogs when I manage to spend some time with them, and I also made this little ad - hope you enjoy it!

The Joys of Getting Older....

2015-01-07T18:38:00.002+08:00

Bender turns 9 in human years in March. His muzzle is greying and his bad knee is gives him trouble after he tries to run too hard. It's hard to know how well he is travelling in comparison to other dogs with similar genetic origins because we honestly have no idea what breeds combined to create him. If he is compared to a Mastiff or a Labrador, he is going OK. If he's compared to a staffy or other smaller boofa, then he's probably below average.

Bender still gets right in to the action.

Barbie is 7 and her back is starting to stiffen up on her. She loves to run flat out and push herself to race around with Mouse and her younger friends, but her spine is not as supple as it once was. She had also been a bit more delicate than usual, yipping when Mouse collided with her in the house, and not wanting many cuddles.

Barbie doing her thing.....

I came across Julie Edwards at Wellness Centre for Dogs during my work with GreyhoundAngels after she offered her services to the foster dogs. She uses Bowen therapy among other techniques to help dogs be more comfortable. I thought that Barbie in particular could benefit for some treatment, so I got her to come around the weekend after Christmas to have a look at the oldies. She did a lot of work on Barbie's neck and a bit on her back. Her neck was really tight and I could feel the difference before and after treatment.

She did as much as she could with Bender as well. He is an anxious kind of dog but he was as co-operative as I expected he would be. Julie doesn't push the dogs or force them to accept being treated, though we did use treats while she worked on his back legs. Of course the oldies took 'breaks' and when they did, Mouse came over and positioned herself in front of Julie, saying 'ok, now do me!'

Mouse chasing her friend Daisy

Mouse had a tight right hip flexor and she has some sub-scapular weakness still which causes her elbows to turn out. It's noticeable when she sits, and sometimes in her lure coursing photos, but it has improved a lot since we got her. We got given some homework, to work on front and rear paw targetting and to get them all to stand on one of those physio wobbly boards. The hounds both front-paw target a pillow now though it is taking Bender longer the 'get it'.

I could tell Barbie felt better a few hours after her treatment. The next day she was doing zoomies around the lounge and initiating games of bitey face with the others. It had been a couple of months since I had seen that behaviour from her.

The other thing I thought was worth trying was swimming. Bender is a strong swimmer and he has been since he was very young. It is part of the reason we suspect there may be some labrador in his genes, as he loves to swim and retrieve.

The problem with Bender is that he gets to the river or the beach and does a lot of running around before he gets to the water. When he runs and jumps he ends up sore. We dose him with metacam for three days afterwards to help with the inflammation and pain but he does do the three legged bunny hop when he has been still for too long.

There is a dog swimming pool in the kennel zone about half an hour's drive away from us at the Furkidz Resort. You can book it out for an hour or half an hour and it's just you and your dogs in the pool house.

Last time we tried to get Bender into a swimming pool was during a New Years Eve celebration a very long time ago. He was a very young dog then, and he refused, because he was scared about getting in and out. I was hoping that his memories of that had faded and that the moulded ramp in the pool as well as it being long and narrow would give him the confidence to get in and out.

The water is a bit gross, there's dog hair and it smells like dog, but for Bender the outing was a great success. The first couple of times he had to be lifted in but after that he was swimming and retrieving his ball on his own accord with no running around or competing with other dogs. The aim is to go regularly for a few weeks and see if it helps the muscle tone on his back end and in his lower back, so hopefully when he runs around off leash everything 'holds together' a little better.

As you can see in the video, swimming is not a favorite hobby for the greyhounds. Barbie is a fairly strong swimmer but she spent the whole time trying to swim to the side to try and haul herself out.

Mouse just trusts you are going to hold her up so barely bothers to kick her legs. We decided not to use life jackets as I had tried one with Mouse previously and got the same 'limp dog' effect. I think Barbie may prefer to have a life jacket on but Mouse needs to learn to swim without one otherwise she is just going to float around the pool doing nothing. We might get them the 'head donut' style swim aids that keep the water out of their ears as other greyhound owners have recommended them to us.

We are booked in again on Sunday so we will see how it goes!!!

Fun on the water - kayaking with the hounds

2014-11-28T18:57:00.000+08:00

I have posted about kayaking before. I spend a fair bit of time acclimating Mouse to the kayak while it was sitting in the back yard. The first time I tried to take her out she was far too obsessed with water fowl and I had to hang on to her leash the whole time. This time we went out and she surprised me by being very patient and awesome in the boat. We paddled for half an hour or so, got out for a picnic, and then for an hour more.

This is a great picnic spot, Servant.

Of course, she was a little bit annoyed with me that I forgot to put the camping mat down on the bottom of the boat for her comfort. I didn't really think she would want it because I didn't think she would cooperate and allow us to go out for so long.

what pelican? I don't see no pelican

Turns out she actually loves it! I think all the time in the bike trailer helped her get used to balancing when things are moving underneath her feet.

We took Barbie out later on and she isn't as happy in the kayak, but she sure does better than Bender who does his best to tip you out and then jumping out and swimming to shore!

It's funny how Mouse can be so highly strung in some situations and so mellow and easy going in others. She doesn't need a bribe to 'trailer up' or to get into the kayak. Barbie is yet to go in the bike trailer, but I will wear her down.....

We are now finally muzzle free!

2014-11-12T21:32:00.001+08:00

I think I already posted about Barbie getting her Green collar which allows her to be muzzle free in public. Recently Mouse went to the GAP kennel to be assessed and surprising NOBODY, she passed with flying colours.

The test is pretty simple. The greyhound has to stay in the GAP kennel and is repeatedly introduced to a French Bulldog. If the greyhound doesn't show an inappropriate prey response, then it passes the test.

This is what Mouse had to say about 'Green Collar Camp':

"It wasn't that exciting really, we stayed in this little kennel, got let out into a little pen to bounce and toilet.... and around lunch time every day I got to play with a little French Bulldog.

Really I ignored her because she was a bit uncouth with all her snorting and squeaking and scooting around. My mum Bronwyn and her foster brother Junior were in at the same time and I was next door to mum in the kennel. She was a bit sad about being in the kennel so I tried to cheer her up by telling her stories about the cats I live with. She thought it was a bit weird that I would live with cats and tried to tell me I should chase them. I tried that when I got home but the Servant told me off so I stopped."

She was so cute when I picked her up - she had clearly not had her usual amount of exercise and stimulation so she was a little bit crazy. She bounced on the end of the leash all the way to the car.

The rest of the pack were pretty sad without her here. It was very quiet. It was all worth it in the end though! Now we can go to obedience class without looking over our shoulder!

Halloween - MWAH HA HA HAAAR

2014-11-02T17:14:00.000+08:00

Here in Australia Halloween is getting more and more popular. There was a market happening a few suburbs away and they were encouraging children, dogs and adults to come along and get dressed up for the occassion.

I bought an adult sized costume vampire cape from a discount store, and lucked out because I was charged less than it was marked for and it was $12!

It was 140 cm long so clearly too big for the Mouser. Mouser wasn't home last week because she was away going for her Green Collar (more about that next week), and Barbie refused to get up for measuring purposes. Bender ended up being the model, and it fit him pretty well.

I picked Mouser up on Thursday night and tried it on quickly. It seemed like it would do, and I added to the outfit with a medallion (which was from a bike ride I did in 2011). Then on the day I added some eyebrows.

There were a lot of other dogs there who were dressed up too, but they all admired Mouse's cape. It turned out to be just a little bit too long for her so I had to make sure she didn't stand on it as we made our way through the crowds.

We also rode there, so I decided that I should take the GoPro and make a video. I ordered a crepe and sat down on a park bench to share it with Mouse. Then I dug into my pocket to pull out the camera, and .... it was gone!

The mozzies were biting and it was dark so after a brief search I gave up and went home. My phone number is on the back of the case so I figured that the chances were good I'd get it back if an honest person found it.

At about 5pm on Saturday I got a phone call from a strange number, so I leapt across the room to answer it. It was a lovely lady who had found it in the park! I drove there and grabbed it off her straight away. So glad and lucky to get it back!!!!

Here is the video:

Dunsborough weekend : Bender's GoPro Video

2014-10-23T07:38:00.001+08:00

It turns out that Bender is quite a keen cinematographer. The only problem is that, being a boofhead boy, he is very rough on the camera. I only let him wear my old GoPro Hero 2 as the 3 is a little too precious to me.

I cut this video together for him and he told me he approves.

GoPro Fetch harness @ the Riverside Ramble and Dutchfield Dog Survival

2014-10-20T19:56:00.000+08:00

I promised that I would post some videos from Mouser's back using the GoPro Fetch harness that we just bought.

Mouse has worn it two weekends in a row now. The first outing was to a big open day called the 'Riverside Ramble' being held by the City of Swan. The West Coast Dog sports team were running a very short lure course, and Mouse's daycare (Pawpals) had a stall right next to it. The Italian Greyhound Club of WA did a lot of promoting on Facebook and invited Mouse personally.

As you can see the camera didn't hold at Mouse's top speed. It was also moving way too much to get a good image when she was running. I decided I would try it out on a couple of other PawPals dogs - but the second one didn't want to run with the harness on as she doesn't usually wear one, so she chased the lure, then stopped, then chased. When her mum took the harness off she ran the course normally!

The second event we took the GoPro to was Dutchfield Dog survival - it was a 5 kilometre cross country race with 15 obstacles the dog and owner had to negotiate. We got most of the obstacles on video, though the cargo net was a real GoPro killer - I had to take it off Mouse so we could get underneath it.

Mouse and I entered the competitive section, whilst all the other hounds were in 'recreational'. Mouse and I came dead last, but she did 13 of the 15 obstacles so I was proud of her. I think her favorite obstacle was the dark maze, she seemed all happy and bouncy when we popped out the other end!

We didn't have any opportunity to practice the obstacles as we didn't know what they would be. Now that my video is out there they might have to come up with some new mystery obstacles for next year to stop people from preparing! A lot of the dogs were naturals at it though!

photo credit: Paul from Cheeky Monkey Photos

Nic entered the non-competitive section with Barbie. They completed all 15 obstacles but that was because the rules were a little bit relaxed for recreational and so Nic carried Barbie over the A-frame and over the log. I think running on the gravel was a bit hard for Barbie but she tried hard. It seemed like Nic felt more bonded with Barbie after the experience.

photo credit: Paul from Cheeky Monkey Photos

Bender made his own GoPro video last weekend too, mainly involving long walks on the beach. His big wide shoulders make for a bit more of a stable platform, but he also tried his best at destroying the camera. That video, plus some more photos from the Riverside Ramble, are coming soon!!!

Visiting sister Olive and her housemates....

2014-10-08T15:18:00.000+08:00

Cheeky sisters

Mouse's sister Olive lives on an orchard with another greyhound, and a cat. They have also been fostering Angus for GreyhoundAngels of Western Australia for quite a while now.

We have taken Mouse to visit twice. It was really nice to see Olive's new family and get cuddles from all the furry kids. Olive and Mouse are similar in many ways - they both chatter their teeth A LOT when they are happy, and have similar mannerisms.

Olive really does have an awesome home with her very own orchard to romp in!

It is kind of funny to watch Olive and Mouse push each other around. They may grizzle at each other but they do spend a lot of time pottering around together. I'm not sure if it is just that Olive is keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't get in to any mischief.

They certainly don't grizzle at each other when they have a chance to romp in the orchard with Cody and Angus.

On our second visit they didn't get to run in the orchard, so they had to make do with the backyard. The only time they really had some words were when Mouse was using Olive's mumma's bed as a trampoline. Cody and Angus seemed to enjoy having visitors, though I think they were all more interested in the humans than Mouse.

Cody is like a big fluffy panda. He sheds more hair than I have ever seen come off a greyhound.

Angus is a lovely boy and I am really surprised that he hasn't had much interest from potential families. He is a black dog, unfortunately that makes him difficult to photograph. We did have a go though, and he posed for this lovely portrait.

adopt me ?

He does have a pretty good life at his foster home and has adapted to home life really well. He's not skinny any more, either. He's not a huge boy though he does have a very long nose. The photos don't really show his cute long schnoz but it's always the first thing I notice about him when he's sidling up for scritches.

pleaaase ?

I think it's pretty cool that we get to visit Mouse's litter sister. I also enjoy seeing Mouse & Olive's mumma Bronwyn when we go on GreyhoundAngels walks.

sister bums

Fun n Games with the Gopro Hero3

2014-10-06T14:13:00.000+08:00

I got a new GoPro this year, and I have been playing a little bit with the 'burst' photo mode and the dogs. It is quite fun to take a burst photo and then recreate it into an animated GIF like this one, which illustrates Mouse's weird bouncy running style.

The advantage over N's DSLR is that it's small, waterproof and fits easily in my pocket. I got the black version which also can run a WIFI connection to your phone or tablet.

Of course the image quality isn't always quite there, as you can see in this shot of Mouse's 'whiplash tuck' stage of her run. As always though the camera is quicker than the eye and gets some weird positions that you don't actually see in real time.

Sometimes Mouse and I like to go to a local tennis court for some off leash time. It is a good place for training because there are not many distractions, but it also makes for some nice colourful photos. The fisheye wide angle effect of the Gopro is particularly evident in this shot (look at the fence line).

Of course the most scenic place for photos is the beach, where we don't have to worry about flying sand and salt water.

I am not sure if Mouse and Barbie are discussing the latest in toenail fashion, or which collar they might like to be purchased for them next. One thing is for sure, they are enjoying the beach in winter when there are a lot less people and dogs around.

Not much beats this shot though! I do love the GoPro and use it to make all the videos on the blog, but I do have a couple of very pricey items on the wish list. The cheapest is the new GoPro Fetch harness which provides a rigid, and stable as possible platform for the camera either on the dog's back or on his/her chest. I've always wanted to know what it would be like to ride a greyhound. Unfortunately I lack the technology to shrink myself to an appropriate size, so I think the GoPro is as close as I can get. I'm planning on picking up a harness very soon, so stay tuned for the resulting videos.

The other thing I would LOVE to have in my GoPro armoury is a Phantom II drone. Really your imagination is the limit in terms of applications for this little camera.

Mouse's Lure Coursing Season (who was the Fastest Dog in Australia)

2014-10-03T21:22:00.000+08:00

The sport of lure coursing is really in it's infancy in Australia. There are two clubs in Western Australia, Lure Coursers Anonymous and West Coast Dog Sports. I posted before about Mouse's exploits at the WCDS fun runs, but there have been a few meets since then.

There was a fun little contest being run called 'Fastest Dog in Australia'. Both clubs ran trials, LCA had one down south in a paddock, and another in Rockingham (Naval Base). Coursing is not serious at all yet here, and the Fastest dog was a 120m straight track which got people involved and excited, without requiring judges.

Through coursing we have met aspiring photographer Amy Joy, who has been at almost every event taking photos of the dogs. The photos have been almost the best part of coursing, after of course, the thrill of watching the dogs do what they love.

Photo by Amy Joy of Studio Joy

The LCA run in the paddock was the first time that I'd timed Mouse on a run. She didn't have a lot of competition, there were whippets, salukis and 3 other greyhounds. The greyhounds were Barbie, Rosie and Jim. Barbie was not interested in the lure at all - she wouldn't even look at it, so she didn't record a time. Jim decided to visit the people in the timing tent on his run, and Rosie didn't really 'get' it either.

As a result, Mouse won her first two trophies ever - fastest Greyhound and fastest dog on the day. Jim won the 'slowest greyhound cup'.

WCDS ran their own heats, and Mouse only got to run one of her two runs as we had to leave early for another Energetic Composition painting session at Billy's Daycare for Dogs. She ran a very similar time to her first LCA time, though it was human timed instead of with timing gates. I think she was actually very slightly faster on the nice smooth grass instead of the rough paddock.

She was the fastest dog on the day at WCDS as well, and this time she beat at least one serious greyhound, maybe a couple.

There was a lot of buzz and hype building around the competition, and the LCA crew teamed up with K9 Rescue and Beagle rescue people to hold the Rockingham event. There were a lot more greyhounds and we knew the competition would be very stiff. Mouse's uncle Miles had his first go ever, and he loved it.

Photo courtesy of Amy Joy of Studio Joy

I was feeling like death warmed up because I was coming down with the flu. Mouse didn't care, all she wanted to do was chase the lure. Of course Miles, being the big softy that he is, made sure that he looked after me.

Photo courtesy of Miles' mumma

A few people were having trouble keeping their dogs on their leashes. There were quite a few escapees as we watched the runs. After Mouse had finished her first run, a black greyhound in a coat joined her on the field romping around with a huge smile on her face (she is on the video at the end of this post). I caught Mouse and was thankful that it happened after Mouse had recorded her time.

Photo courtesy of Amy Joy, Studio Joy

I found out later that the escaped hound's name was Abigail. She ran really well and I thought that we certainly had some competition for the fastest dog title. Abigail's mum was really nice and though she lives on the other side of town I'm sure we will organise some doggie dates in future so they can have a proper play together.

Abigail, courtesy of Amy Joy of Studio Joy

Seeing greyhound after greyhound run, I had no idea who was fastest. I knew that it would come down to fractions of a second. Mouse was really naughty and trashed her soft crate to try and get out after the lure. I can't blame her, it was a pretty stimulating environment for all the dogs.

LCA all fired up from Jet Ska on Vimeo. After all the dogs had run we stuck around waiting for the results. It was harder than it should have been for me, as I sat bundled up and curled up in my camp chair. When the names were read out, Mouse was only third fastest. We were expecting the best times to all come out of this heat with a smooth paddock and electronic timing, so I knew that Mouse probably didn't win the Fastest Dog in Australia title. Abigail was the fastest dog on the day. We all waited on Facebook the night the Australia wide results were to come out with our fingers crossed that Western Australia would come out on top. With all the hot competition I thought we would.... and I was right! Abigail received the title. Mouse came third with the fastest Queensland greyhound coming after her. The biggest winners out of this were Miles and Mouse, discovering how much they love each other!

Can you see the family resemblance?

Cuddles time!

The Princess Pawdicure

2014-09-29T19:02:00.000+08:00

Many years ago I bought some dog nail polish from the RSPCA online store. I tried it on Barbie, but she really freaked out as soon as I opened the bottle. It's a quick dry formula and it smells worse than any human nail polish I have used!

For some reason I decided that I would try to paint Mouse's nails. Not only are her nails a pretty white, but she is so tolerant she lets me get away with just about anything.

The first time I did it, I only did the front two paws. She obviously didn't like the smell but she stood nicely for me and let me put it on. She then went and rubbed her face on the couch as if that would get rid of it.

I did a training session with some yummy treats to distract her and she was fine when it had fully dried. Of course she posed nicely for a few photos.

The second time I did it was because a friend of mine who is moving away gave me all her nail polish. I did mine blue and Mouser's again with the pink nail polish. She didn't seem as bothered by the smell the second time, so I did all four paws. It was a great hit at daycare the next day!

The nail polish doesn't last forever, but it's pretty good considering! Mouse has more nail polish on her nails now than I do left on mine and she runs around on hers!

A hike at Bell's Rapids

2014-09-27T18:43:00.000+08:00

Winter and spring are the best times to go hiking here in Perth. Once we get past November many places get too hot and inhospitable. One of these places is Bell's Rapids, located in quite a steep little valley. We have had some good rain lately and the rapids were pumping when we were there. It was Mouse's first time but she really seemed to enjoy walking up the steepish trails with loose rocks.

Mouse is very agile and sometimes it's hard to keep up with her. Bender is great off leash in the bush and never goes far, so I walked both the hounds while N could take photos. Bender just enjoyed trotting along with us at his own pace. When we take his leash off he looks with a look on his face that says 'really? are you sure? wow! awesome!"

Bender took the opportunity to sniff and pee on everything. Mouse likes to pee on stuff too, but Bender really takes it to an extreme.

Even though it was a fairly mild day, Barbie sought out water wherever possible. She took sips out of every puddle we walked past, and then she discovered a small stream near the trail. She tried to convince us we should follow the stream instead of walking on the rocky, hot trail.

After we climbed up the hill we had a rest. They all found a flat spot to lie on. Mouse, as usual, had to be as close as possible to her sister.

We came across some horses on the trail, they are not Mouse's favorite creatures. I heard their riders chatting to each other first, so we put Bender back on the leash. I took Mouse far off the trail and made her sit and wait for them to go by. She let them go past and was really good until they got further down the trail, then she barked at them a couple of times. Mouse always has to shout. We are still working on it.

Some of the trail was quite overgrown and I wondered what the horses thought of pushing through this kind of vegetation. The dogs didn't seem to mind. Of course everyone had to be checked over for ticks when we got home!

I hope we make it back to Bells for a couple more hikes before the weather gets too hot for it. The dogs were nicely exhausted afterwards and it's one of my favorite winter places.

Everything is Awesome!

2014-09-26T09:58:00.003+08:00

Hello all, It's been a long time since I have updated the blog, so I'm not sure if we have any followers left!!! I have been very busy with Mouse, Barbie and Bender. We are fast approaching Mouse's first 'gotcha day', but the next celebration is Barbie's birthday in a couple of weeks. I will make an effort to get back to updating the blog, but in the meantime, here's a summary of Mouse's life with us so far...

More bike trailer shennanigans!

2014-04-29T20:46:00.000+08:00

Now Bender is a little older, he can't walk as far as he used to. He is also not allowed to go to the park and be off leash when other dogs are fetching toys, as he will run too hard and hurt his bad knee. He has had x-rays and has been diagnosed with arthritis. He has had a course of Cartrophen injections and they have helped, but he can not push himself or he will be sore.

Our solution this weekend was to take him for a ride to a random, small suburban park in an area where not many people have dogs. I knew there wouldn't be any other dogs there playing.

Bender enjoyed wandering around the park and having a good old sniff. We practiced his recall a little, as it has become apparent that he has the worst recall of the pack!

It was raining and I didn't want the trailer get wet for Bender, so we were a bit naughty, and parked the bikes and trailer at the train station park n ride facility. It's a big no no to make use of this and not catch the train, but there weren't many other bikes around as it is the weekend after all. Bender appreciated it when we got back to the trailer and it was nice and dry.

We managed to get to the very last night of the Maylands Hawkers Markets on Saturday night. Thanks to the Doggyride bike trailer Mouse got to join us. The only thing that was slightly unpleasant was the drizzly rain. We made it home before the worst of it hit. Here's the video.

Mouse, meet Beach!

2014-04-27T16:38:00.000+08:00

I don't particularly like the beach in summer. The sand burns your feet and you have to share with everyone else who thought visiting the water was a good idea. As we are heading in to winter, and half of Perth's population seems to be away due to the magical combination of public holidays and school holidays, we decided that it would be a good idea to try Mouse at the beach again.

ooooo yeah

Mouse has been to the beach a few times. When we took her down to Esperance she was on leash only, much to her frustration. We had only just adopted her and I didn't trust her to stay with the 'pack'. The last time we took her to the beach I let her off leash a couple of times, but they were both only short periods, as she immediately sprinted up to people and other dogs and then harrassed them by running tight circles around them. People don't like being tripped over by strange dogs. I retrieved her and she went back on the leash.

This time we saw a huge improvement! She did scare a big standard-poodle cross type dog but she left him alone when I asked her to. She didn't try to head up into the dunes, and she mainly just played with Bender and Barbie.

Mouse making sure she doesn't outrun Bender by too much

I recalled her to me a few times, and she was great. The first recall we did, I said her name and when she looked at me I started mumbling praise. She then started walking towards me and I praised her louder. She broke into a sprint, aimed right at my legs, and I told her to slow down. She came to a complete stop and a sit right in front of me. It was beautiful. Of course she was rewarded with her favorite treat - chunks of cheddar cheese.

A quick game of chasey is always fun!

Barbie is just perfect off leash at the beach now. She mainly just wanders along just behind me, and when she does zoomies she tends to do tight circles around me rather than disappearing down the beach, like she used to. I believe Mouse will be just as perfect some time in the near future.

crazy Bender causing trouble!

The only time Mouse got into trouble was when Bender spotted a lady throwing a ball for her dog. He took off, and Mouse took off after him. Nic tried to tell Bender to stop but he was using his selective hearing. I said Mouse's name once, and she stopped for a while and looked at me as I walked towards her, but I took too long and she turned tail to join Bender running around the lady with the ball. I don't think the lady would have minded, but Bender got her dog's ball and wouldn't give it back. I had to fish it out of his mouth for her and put him on the leash. If only Bender would play fair.

having the time of her life!

I'm looking forward to many more future beach visits with the hounds - there are a few other dog beaches I would like to visit in the next few months. I expect there will be plenty more beach pictures to come!

A hike in the bush & dog trailer fascinations

2014-04-20T13:25:00.000+08:00

The dogs must LOVE public holidays, as over the Easter long weekend they have been the centre of attention every day. Mouse has been to run and play with her friends at the local fenced dog park a couple of times, and rode with me to the airport to pick up N.

We also went for an 8 kilometre hike around The Spectacles which are located in suburbia well South of Perth, off Anketell Road. The Spectacles are supposed to be lakes but it's very dry there at the moment and we didn't see any water. The hiking trails are a bit confusing and we ended up walking a bit further than planned, but they are mainly flat and easy. There were some people there doing some 'bush care' work, and one of them patted Barbie and said 'greyhounds, my favorite type of dog!'

They all decided to poop very early on in the walk, and I didn't want to carry it, so I double bagged the girls poops and tied them onto one of the side d-rings on Mouse's harness. She didn't even seem to notice as she was having such a great time looking for bunnies and other small things that hop around in the bushes.

The walk was a little bit long for the two oldies, and Barbie decided she would have a short rest on a sandy patch in the shade. Mouse was still going strong though. I think I really need to get her a backpack so she can carry water for everyone and perhaps a supply of poo bags.

We had another strange encounter this weekend. For those not familiar with greyhound racing, the dogs are transported to the track, or wherever else they need to go in these trailers. They vary wildly in size to fit four to eight dogs, but they are all made of that white corrugated metal with little whirlybird ventilators on top.

To me they look like caravans for midgets. When I went to pick up Mouse she was locked up in one as we were coming late in the day and the trainer didn't want to disturb all the other dogs in the kennel. Once she had been in the car, with it's glorious glass windows and padded couch like seats, I didn't think she would ever consider getting into one of these again!

Lately I've noticed a really small dog trailer parked on the verge of a rental townhouse two doors up. They seem to be visiting as they are not there all the time. We walked past with the dogs for the first time last night, and their reactions were fascinating.

Bender didn't show any interest at all but the two greyhounds went crazy taking deep whiffs through the vents on the doors. Then Mouse dug her paws in and refused to continue on the walk, with exactly the same look on her face as when I'm trying to drag her away from the car. I managed to convince her that she wasn't going in the trailer and she begrudgingly continued on. The same thing happened when we walked back past the trailer on our way home.

While our dogs live in the moment, they never really forget their past.

if we want to race, we'll race at the dog park!

An Energetic Composition - take two - Barbie and Mouse get a turn

2014-04-14T20:41:00.001+08:00

I took Bender for his first painting class as part of An Energetic Composition a couple of weeks ago, and I enjoyed it so much I decided I needed to take the greyhounds to have a turn.

Barbie had just been stitched up from her little incident on Friday, but she was really excited to be able to come out with us. She loves Billy's and she worked really hard on the big community painting. She added some very straight, strong criss-crossing scratch marks.

They even worked together on the community piece as neither wanted to be left out at the start. Barbie was keen and threw all kinds of tricks, but when she was tired, she just kept giving me 'play dead'. Anyone who thinks greyhounds are smart needs to meet her, she did such a good job of communicating her wishes through her tricks!

We bought a bed in for Barbie and when she had enough she went and lie down of it in the corner. She is so comfortable at Billy's now that she can just take a nap while all the other dogs and humans are working.

Mouse kept at it, and somehow managed to get the paint all over her head. A few people complimented her on her new hair colour. She would paint for a bit, then run over to other people for cuddles, then paint a bit more. I am glad I bought super stinky tuna fillet treats because she was a bit bored of the liver treats. In fact she chose pats and cuddles over liver treats!

The greyhounds were a lot easier to keep contained on to the drop sheets so they didn't leave too many painty footprints everywhere like Bender did.

Mouse proudly posed with her picture before we let the doggies have playtime in the other pens. Barbie and I stayed in the far pen so that Barbie wouldn't run around and stretch or tear her stitches. They were both exhausted when we got home. A weekend outing well done!

Ben & Jerry's Open Air Cinema - Dog friendly viewing!

2014-04-12T12:43:00.002+08:00

Last night we took Mouse along to a screening of 'Wolf of Wall Street' ! Taking your dog to the movies, what could be better?

I first saw an ad on Facebook that said this particular open air cinema was dog friendly. The problem was that the screenings were limited, and I had to pick one that Nic was home for so that she could bring a doggie in to town. I held off on seeing 'The Wolf of Wall Street' especially for the open air cinema experience with a dog.

It was a toss up on who to bring. We were initially going to bring Barbie, but that day she managed to injure her delicate skin and had to have a few stitches at the vet. Mouse got to come as a stand-in.

She did remarkably well considering it was a very long movie (3 hours) and there were people all around us eating pizza and ice cream. Every now and then we could hear the ducks in the nearby lakes making a racket and Mouse stuck her head up to listen to them.

She got up a few times when people around us walked around. We were on the grass with a picnic blanket and Nic bought a nice little bed for her, but a couple of times she decided she just wanted to lie draped across my legs.

The movie was a little bit dull, the best parts were the physical comedy parts where the Wolf is completely drugged up. It was hilarious watching Leonard Di Caprio thrashing around on the ground. None of the characters were likable at all so it was cool to be able to cuddle up with Mouse when I was bored with the screen. She was also nice and warm as the night cooled down.

She got a bit of attention, but not too much. One of the guys at the entrance told us a story about a racing greyhound his family had bought in the 1970s. The hound was in the Perth Cup, big prize money, was 6 lengths in front, but the Aunt was there at the final bend cheering dog on. The dog jumped the fence and went to his Aunt. Just goes to show plenty of hounds would rather be loved on and spoilt than chasing a lure!

It was a late night and Mouse didn't really sleep much at the movie. We had a bit of a walk back through the city to get to the car and Mouse seemed really happy to be in new surroundings, until a car full of young yobbos screamed at us from their car window. That scared her a bit. Fortunately we were close to the safe haven of the car at that point and she happily jumped in and settled for a nap.

Today she is catching up on her sleep with her creepo eyes on. She did really well and I am a bit sad that we only managed to go once before the season ended. Hopefully they set up again next year!

West Coast Dog Sports - Lure Coursing in WA!

2014-04-09T07:59:00.001+08:00

Finally there is a lure coursing club in Perth, and it's Mouse's new favorite sport. We have been two 'fun days' so far with a new lure coursing club, West Coast Dog Sports. Mouse has shown a lot of keen enthusiasm. The lure is just a bunch of yellow plastic dog poo bags with a weight on a line which is driven by an electric machine. Greyhounds here are often trained to race with plastic bags so I didn't have to explain anything to Mouse.

Mouse in her new harness

After that very first run, she tried to run off after the lure every time it went past while we were waiting in line. I even got her a new harness with a single buckle and a handle on the back for lure coursing. I use the handle whilst waiting in line, and the single buckle is great when getting her harness off at the start and back on at the end of a run.

Photo courtesy of West Coast Dog Sports

So far we have only done 100 metre straight runs. Mouse goes a bit crazy when the lure disappears though and goes running around looking for it. On the first fun day she ran off twice after the lure disappeared. She escaped out of the run area and I had to sneak up on her to grab her. They run naked so that makes it a bit harder as well. Good thing Mouse loves being touched so much that as soon as I get my hands on her she stops.

Photo courtesy of West Coast Dog Sports

On the second fun day she did a crazy zoomie after her first run, but on the second and third runs she stopped and let me catch her.

Photo courtesy of West Coast Dog Sports

All sorts of dogs have been attending the fun days, and the committee seem to all be in to their Rhodesian Ridgebacks. There have been a lot of sight hounds including Greyhounds, Salukies, Whippets and Italian Greyhounds as well as Afghan and Pharoah hounds. There was also a West Highland White Terrier called Angus who really loves the lure. He is so adorable springing after it with his white locks streaming behind him!

This is a video of Mouse and her greyhound buddy Sam doing their runs on the very first fun day.

West Coast Dog Sports are having a full run set up on the 17 of May and I can't wait to see Mouse tackle a course with corners.

I have also just become aware of another club in the countryside south of Perth called Lure Coursers Anonymous. They are holding a 120 m Canine Sprint event in May so we are trying to get down there for that. I think it would be a fun weekend away and Mouse would love to have a go at getting the title 'Fastest Dog in Australia'. I expect the competition will be stiff, especially as she isn't actually a fast greyhound, but I will be interested to know how quick she actually is over a straight 120 metres. She is such a good traveller that I know she will love the whole thing, and Barbie and Bender will come along for the ride.

If you aren't getting enough Mouse news in your day, Mouse now has a Facebook page, which has daily photo updates. If you would like to follow her go 'like' her here.

Bender's 8th Birthday and An Energetic Composition

2014-03-26T08:05:00.000+08:00

Bender is becoming an old man. Of course I made him a cake for his birthday using the recipe I worked on for Mouse's birthday. This time I added a bit of honey, and whilst the cake tasted good to me, I don't think the dogs needed the extra sugar. It left them bouncing around a bit more than normal.

Waiting patiently, tolerating birthday hats

I topped the cake with ricotta cheese that was a bit past it's used by date. It doesn't give as nice a surface as cream cheese but the dogs didn't mind one little bit.

can I eat this NAOW?

They all very much enjoyed the cake and the quick rendition of 'happy birthday' that I sang to Bender. That was not his whole birthday celebration, however. I had a little weekend surprise for him. We went in to our favorite training venue, Billy's Daycare for Dogs, to take part in an art workshop where he got to create his own masterpiece.

An Energetic Composition is a series of art workshops which will in the end culminate in an exhibition, raising money for people with Lyme disease. At the workshop we worked on small piece to take home and a larger 'community piece' which many dogs contribute to.

Bender's artwork

Some of the dogs delicately paw target the artwork, whilst others have their own 'style'. Bender didn't really want to paw target, so I got him to commando crawl and spin on the canvas. He did go at it with his face a couple of times, and took a big slurp of the blue paint. Good thing it is non-toxic. Apparently all the dogs who have tasted the paint so far have gone for the blue paint. I wonder what is with that?

Then when I put the big community canvas down for him he bit at it and then dug as hard as he could. That canvas board is tougher than I imagined. The scratch marks looked really good and provided a 'finished' look to the big piece. The only problem was that Bender tried to pick it up and carry it away. I had to quickly get it out of his mouth before he damaged the board that everyone else had been working on!

Bender is proud

I got him to use the same technique on his smaller board then and it added some great texture to the piece I think.

All in all it was a very enjoyable thing for Bender. He was pretty tired afterwards. When bought his piece home the girls were very interested in it, giving it a great big sniff. Next time I will take one of them to try it out.

Doggie Daycare @ Pawpals

2014-03-20T18:54:00.000+08:00

There is a new doggie daycare near us called PawPals. At this stage they are only open two days a week but I thought it would be good for Mouse to go and play with other dogs instead of trying to get Bender and Barbie to play with her all day.

On her first day she was a bit reserved. She watched all of the play around her and didn't really push herself into the doggy games. In her second week, all that reserve dropped away and she selected her favorite playmate, Lockie the Corgi.

The place is fairly small and has ramps, a sand pit and a paddling pool. Mouse is the oldest dog there at the moment at 3 years old, and sometimes the puppies get a bit much for her. When she has had enough, she waits by the gate to the 'quiet' area to be let in for a nap. When she is ready to come back out she waits at the gate again.

She seems pretty happy and relaxed when she comes home from daycare, and the advantage is that I don't have to take her on a super long epic walk that night, like I try to every other night. Hopefully more dogs will start going so that she has more playmates, and so that they can open full time.

They put photos on Facebook during the day so you can see what your puppy has been up to. I think Mouse is plotting something.... we will find out eventually I guess what her plan is!

The Pawpals Facebook page is here.