Robbie and his past

Hi

We have had our two greys now for nearly three months and they have really settled and come out of themselves with us so much.

When one of our friends come round, Lady loves him and is all over him but Robbie won't go near him. Our friend has never done anything to upset him but we think we have realised why. I was brushing Robbie the other day and started counting up his scars and realised that under his fur he has little round scars, only about 1/2 cm in diameter and the penny dropped with us. We think that wherever he has been in the past, he was burnt with a cigarette, and when our friend comes round, we sometimes sit in the garden talking and he has a couple of cigs. Whether Robbie thinks that he is going to hurt him, we are not sure but it all adds up. The same friend came round last night and sat in the living room and Robbie, very slowly, went to him and sniffed his trousers all the time watching our friend's face to see what he was doing.

So hopefully this shows that he is learning to trust, not only us, but anyone who we let in the house.

It is lovely to see him coming out of himself and enjoying life - especially when we took them out in the rain last night on a secure field and let them off to run madly for 5 minutes. Hopefully it will be raining again tonight so no-one else will be on the field and they can have another run.

Karen

Poor Robby - it sounds very likely that the scars are cigarette burns. Your friend will probably smell of cigarettes so even if he's not smoking at the time, Robby would've recognised the smell.

I'm so glad to hear that he is coming out of his shell and learning to trust not only you but others too - its such a rewarding feeling isn't it

Ah that is so sad about the cigarettes poor lad;-(
It islovely to see them when they start to come out of themselves. We could never stroke the top of Blues head...he used to duck away and flinch...but he is fine now.

And theres nothing better than seeing a grey have a good run is there? They are so funny!!

It is a rewarding feeling - he has gone from not playing at all to charging round the house with his favourite cuddly bear in his mouth, and his personality is really coming through.

If he lies down and won't get up, gently tugging on his collar makes him whimper and almost scream so we have to clip his lead on and he gets up fine. Must have been dragged by his collar in the past.

We are taking them away for the weekend on Friday to Bargrennan, near Newton Stewart, Dumfries and can't wait. We have so many walks planned for them, they will be glad to go home next Monday!

Karen

I cant "pull" Blue either. I have to put him on a long lead and call him to move him....cant "take" him anywhere. Must have been from when they got dragged into the racing boxes. Sad isnt it?

Hi Honeysmummy

I agree, it is so funny (and thrilling) watching them run - Lady is so fast and Robbie struggles to catch up. After their first initial run, she slows down and Robbie runs next to her trying to bite her neck to get her play, and she ends up barking at him to get him off. They usually end up covered in dog spit from playing and need wiping down afterwards. They only need to run for 5 mins and then go and stand at the gate ready to go home!

Karen

It is quite upsetting to think about their past and what has happened to them. Sometimes we wish they could speak and tell us but then we think that we would be so angry as to how people could be so cruel!

To be honest, having our two has put us off greyhound racing for life. The rescue centre we got them from has 114 dogs in needing homes that have just been dumped or handed in when they are not needed for racing anymore.

Poor Robbie, at least he is safe from harm now though and it sounds like he is beginning to trust again bless him. xx

My two have both had "issues" in the past but appear to be fine now. Wizard my big boy can't be pulled either only by his lead or he totally freaks out. I hate to think what may have happened to him in the past, i try not to think about it to be honest, he is well loved now and thats the main thing. All we can do is support greyhound rescues where we can and keep signing the petitions etc for the dogs that don't have homes and hope that soon the regulations for greyhound racing will change. Fingers crossed xxxxx

my old lurcher came to me with a whole heap of issues. if i so much as scratched my head, he would wince and flinch. it was awful. it took a while and a whole heap of love and he blossomed into a confidant, happy boy.

the rewards for taking on rescue dogs are immense. it's wonderful to hear that robbie is learning that people are his friends now. x

Oh the joys and heartbreak of owning a rescue greyhound!

My old girl and many I have fostered have had issues escpecially with being pulled and also with people approaching them from behind, especially my Wills.

Its fairly obvious that they have been abused whilst training to rip the traps as quickly as possible - one way they get scars from cig burns etc.

There is also a barbaric practise called called firing! This involves the use ofa hot metal iron to deliberately produce scar tissue in tendons to make them stronger.

Of course it has now been outlawed by the RoyalCollege of Veterinary Surgeons) but hey lets not let that stop 'some' people involved in this industry

It is wonderful to watch them come out of themselves, I remember the first time Willow played - I wept to see this nervous wreck of a dog suddenly realise she was now for the first time in her life allowed to be a dog and to have fun.

It sounds like all your good work is working and another greyhound is getting the life they deserve but so very few ever get.