Our boy
December 21st 2008 02:16
Our boy's name is Scratchy. His dad was a champion racing greyhound in Ireland and his mum was a champion racing greyhound in Australia. He was one of a litter of eight and his seven brothers and sisters are successful racing greyhounds. Scratchy won one race, but it wasn't a big one. It was in a small country town before a crowd comprising mainly dust and flies. We don't know how many starters there were in the race. Possibly one. Not long after that Scratchy was retired, and then he came to live with us.
Our boy is a greyhound with tiger stripes. The technical name is brindle but our little neighbour Jake calls him a tiger and we like to think of him like that too. His roar is definitely worse than his bite though.
Our boy is gentle. All greyhounds are gentle, but Scratchy takes it to new levels. When he walks up and lowers his head and asks for a scratch in that special place at the base of his ears, he does it with all the force of a growing mushroom.
Our boy is a softy. Greyhounds are pack animals and it is important for humans to establish pack leadership. After that, it is up to the dogs to sort themselves out for the minor placings. Daisy, our second greyhound, established authority over Scratchy about three minutes after arriving in our house, but she didn't have to try very hard. About the only thing that disturbs his equanimity is if Daisy tries to muscle in on an ear scratch.
Greyhounds are the second-fastest land animals on Earth. Scratchy likes to run occasionally, and when he does it is beautiful to watch. But most of the time, if he has to move at all, he does so at a pace rivalled only by some of the slower tectonic plates.
Except in matters of food. When it is dinner time, Scratchy can move from sofa to dog bowl at the speed of thought, passing cheetahs, Ferraris and F18 Hornets on the way.
Our boy has epilepsy. He was started on one phenobarbital tablet twice a day, but the dose has had to be raised to two tablets twice a day. The incidence of seizures is reduced, but he still has them. We try to tell ourselves, when it is happening, that he is not in pain, but epileptic fits are distressing things to watch. We just try to keep him away from anything he could hurt himself on, and we wait, and afterwards we care for him with infinite tenderness as the fog slowly clears and our boy comes back to us.
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Comment by HoundChef
Comment by Chris Champion
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Comment by Nigel, Sola & Co.
Comment by Chris Champion
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Thanks for the wishes. That's a great blog you have here.
I wish you all the best with Truffles.
Best wishes for 2009,
Chris