Greyhound Fashion Show

Raincoat and snood

I used to balk at the idea of dressing up a large dog in clothing. Won't it look silly? Little outfits that might look weirdly cute on a lapdog would look wrong on a 60 lb dog. But once I learned that it is a necessity for this low body fat, thin coated breed my prejudices relented. I excitedly shop for vendors who will make cool raincoats, jammies and loungewear for my dog! It's almost like guilt free clothes shopping. "Oh, it's not for me, it's for my dear cold greyhound."

Yeh. So far I have had a good raincoat and polar fleece fall/winter coat custom made for Daisy. They have become staples in her wardrobe. Also, our dear fellow greyhound owner gave us her grey fleece greyhound light jacket that no longer fits Dash. (One of D's friends). Daisy has worn that to bed on a few of these colder fall nights.

All greyhound coat wardrobes should include a good thick polar fleece coat for those cold fall/winter walks. I ordered one made from Sewing Cats and Dogs. It is reversible fleece with an embroidered greyhound on it. I chose dark blue and light pink for the colors.

 

Reversible fleece coat: pink side

Dark blue side

This upcoming winter is supposed to be a cold, wet La Nina winter. Probably snow. So I want to be prepared. Daisy doesn't do well with having blankets thrown on her at night. She usually gets up several times a night to reposition so a blanket just gets bunched up on her bedding. Solution: PJs. There are quite a few styles available, 2-legged, 4 legged, robe-type. I opted for the simple wrap around robe type. Check out the pattern! Yes, Daisy is her mother's daughter. I love pink & crowns ala Juicy Couture. That should arrive in about two weeks.

Diva print for PJs

It has been fun to look for these greyhound fashions online. (What would life be like without the Internet?!) My dog has custom made clothing yet I have to buy "off the rack." Sigh.

15 Minutes of Fame

Back in July, I mentioned winning a raffle for a free dog portrait. This is what came of that, a beautiful portrait of Daisy-girl in reds and purples. Stephanie of Wiggle Nose Art came over and took photos of my darling dog. Then she used a few of them to paint this like-ness of her. How fun is that? I currenty hang it over my mantle in the living room.

Crowd Control

Bored now. Can we go yet?

Sigh.

We had a great outing at the Fremont Farmer's Market. It started off overcast and chilly but quickly turned to warm and sunny! What a great surprise. Daisy has been to this market once before, but this time there were more people and we spent more time at the stalls. She was a dream! Well, aside from her pokey nose exploring some small tippy ceramics, she did pretty well. Daisy stayed very close to me at one point when it was super crowded. I was looking at some antique jewelry cases on tables, Daisy was behind me leaning so hard that she was practically pushing me into the tables. My dog was crowding ME! As I walked sideways down the tables to look, she just slowly walked backwards while still sticking to me like glue, pinning me against the tables. There were so many people in that small area that she couldn't turn herself around. Daisy was so patient when I browsed and shopped at other booths. One vendor commented on how sweet and mellow she was. She mentioned other dogs have been terrors, even peeing on the merchandise!

Tales from the dark side (adoption groups)

The wonderful folks at Greyhound Pets, Inc are responsible for hauling my Daisy out to Washington state for adoption. I am impressed by their love of what they do. Recently a member shared an article written by GPI's founder, John Hern. It talks about how some run "adoption groups" as a business and cherry pick their greyhounds; only taking in the young, pretty and uninjured. I had no idea, but it doesn't surprise me. Here is the excerpt:

"There are differences between Greyhound Pets, as a rescue organization, and
"adoption" groups that I have seen over the years. When the track was open
in Coeur d'Alene, as many as three or four groups were taking dogs for
adoption. Many times the available dogs would be "picked over" for young,
pretty females, leaving older dogs and brindles or blacks, or injured dogs,
waiting for homes. Greyhound Pets always took dogs on a first-come
first-serve basis. Our statistics during the final years of the track were
60% older males, while some of the other groups were taking 80% young
females. Did this make it harder for us to find homes? Of course! But, you
know what? A few years later, after the other groups without our dedication
to the dogs had ceased operation, we were finding homes for those same
pretty young females, though of course, they were now older. Greyhound Pets
does not care where a Greyhound came from, we are here to help everyone we
can, young and pretty - or old and blind. We are even re-placing dogs from
another now defunct group on the coast. During their time of operation, they
were very vocal critics of our operations. Greyhound Pets has been one of
the most successful Greyhound organizations because we do not "pick" the
dogs we help. We help everyone we can. We do not get involved in political
issues, but concentrate on the dogs. We avoid personality matters and remind
our volunteers that we are here for the dogs, and no other reason."

Adoption. Who chooses whom?

Misty aka "Mist Ya"

Out of curiosity, I checked out the available greyhounds on the GPI web site. Two of the four greyhounds that were shown to me are still available. Actually, there are still a couple greyhounds still there that were part of the same load that Daisy was in. Here are the two greys still available. Misty is 8 years old and was a brood mom. She had a successful racing career but to be honest, I was put off by her age. Money is not exactly flowing at this household and I was worried about vet bills. Sorry, dear Misty! The other dog is Alpern, look at that color and those eyes. She is such a shy girl that I almost think she was afraid of me. I thought she was sweet but we didn't have much of a connection. Alpern is 1.5 and has no registered racing name. GPI does a great job so I'm sure they will all find their forever homes, hopefully soon!

Alpern

Don't tell Daisy, but it wasn't love at first sight with her. I was neutral. I just wasn't sure about another black pet, since I had owned a black cat, Ninja, for years. I wanted to shake it up a bit! But the more time we spent together, the more I saw that she had already made the decision. I was her human! Daisy responded well to me and often came back for attention. The adoption reps noticed it too. A week later I brought her home! Here we are, three months later. Happy as can be.

Who knew orange could be so stylish?

Even though we've been having beautiful summer weather lately, I am already thinking about Fall coats for Daisy. After all, these dogs have little body fat. They get cold! I am inspired by the old racing silks. At one time, I believe these were the regulation color/number combinations for greyhound racing. How cool would it be to have a greyhound walking down the street with one of these on? Of course, it has to be practical. So I am designing a longer coat that will cover more of Daisy's body. The orange "5" is my favorite so I'm going to have one made from orange fleece, then have a "5" sewn on the side. Despite how I feel about the greyhound racing industry, it is where my dog's roots are. So this is a nod to her past.

The Family

Daisy (Margo to Win)

Trudy to Win

Thanks to greyhound-data.com, I found pictures and information about some of Daisy's family members. For those who follow Daisy's tweets, you know that her sister, Trudy, is up for adoption. The family resemblance is strong. Both Trudy and Daisy have the white blaze on the front and adorable assymetrical white coloring around the nose. The chest coloring is identical. Both of them have never officially raced, so they are both technically undefeated! If there was a second greyhound in my immediate future it would definitely be Trudy. I bet she is as sweet as my girl is.

Trent Lee

As for the rest of the immediate family, no photos are currently available of Marissa to Win (mom) or Lennox to Win (brother). Lennox seems to be a strong racer and is still in the biz. The father, Trent Lee, is a black greyhound with white markings. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is where the kids got their coloring from.

Daisy's Fashion Wishlist

Coach skull & crossbone

Coach rockstar

Gucci metallic

I have a morbid curiosity of how much a Burberry dog coat would cost. I'm not even sure if they make one but on my Internet search for dog accessories, I stumbled across some really cool designer collars. These would look SO great on my dog! However, as much as I appreciate high quality Coach leather, I don't want to spend $100 on a dog collar. Besides, these are regular dog collars, not martingales*. Daisy would slip her slender head out in no time. Goodbye, $300 Gucci collar!

*Martingales are the collars of choice for sighthound owners. They are designed for dogs whose necks are bigger than their heads.

The dog loves fashion

When I first met Daisy (formerly Margo to Win) at the kennel, she was awfully interested in my gold Coach purse. Constantly sniffing and poking around. She continues to seek out the finer things in life, which is a detriment to me.

Latest casualty: one pair of pink cashmere gloves. Daisy's attempt to make fingerless gloves for me? I shudder to think that the fingers are most likely ingested into her greyhound tummy. Other items that survived the wrath of Daisy's muzzle are 1) a small Tiffany's suede bag used to hold a necklace. Only a few tears. But now I can access the necklace from not only the top, but the bottom AND side as well. 2) New pair of Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Citizen's jeans dragged through the house. No apparent damage, which is LUCKY FOR HER!! As that is my favorite sale bargain this year.

Interestingly enough, Daisy is now feeling special because some Nordstrom staffers are following her on twitter.

Wiggle Nose Art raffle-WINNER!

A few weekends ago Daisy and I attended an art show benefiting Greyhound Pets, Inc. Stephanie, also a greyhound owner,  paints really great portraits of dogs using bright vibrant colors. (See sidebar for link to her site.) Needless to say, beer was consumed and raffle tickets were purchased. I am now the proud winner of either a painting of my choice or a portrait of Daisy. As tempting it is to choose an existing portrait...particularly the one with the yellow dog and blue background, I'm going for a portrait of Miss Daisy. After all, how could I hang a portrait of someone else's dog on my wall? Daisy would never forgive me!

Hot dog!

Corny joke, but so appropriate. With the hot temps this past week it has been tough keeping my black doggy cow cool. Someone recommended a cooling vest. Basically a terry cloth cover that you wet down and wrap around your dog's body. Another fun suggestion was to freeze a bowl of water, that way the dog can lick it for hours while it melts. Anyway, by Sunday it had cooled down enough for Daisy to enjoy her weekly greyhound meetup at the dog park. Owners have noticed that she has changed so much. Daisy now trots around as soon as we come in, greets the other hounds and even shows interest in the other breeds. While she still keeps tabs on me, she no longer sticks to my side constantly. OK, she does a little but not nearly as much as she used to. During the visit, I turned around and noticed that Daisy had plunked herself down in the kiddie pool. It was so adorable, wish I was able to capture it. By the time I got over there she had already stood up. (By the way, notice the other dog with her. Doesn't it look like he is grinning ear to ear?!)

Mischievous Daisy & the 4th of July

Daisy is SOOO coming out of her shell. That is a good and bad thing. Last weekend she found and ate: 1 lb bag of bulk treats, 1/2 cup peanut butter treats, 4 cookies and tore open a practically new 40 lb bag of dog food. She also enjoys chewing headbands, eating paper and relocating all my footwear. Fourth of July evening, she stretched her lanky frame and managed to grab my purse off the dining room table (it was near the center, not the edge) and emptied all the contents out. Must really dog proof the home now! She had lulled me into a false sense of security.

As for fireworks, my neighborhood was full of loud fireworks sounds and booms. Daisy seemed totally unaffected by them. Either she's deaf, seriously calm or was exposed to horrendously loud sounds at the racetrack. Maybe a combo of all three? Hoping it is her non-chalant nature, because of it, I can be at work all day with minimal separation anxiety. I am very lucky.

"Enough watching, I want to run too!"

Had a great time at the dog park yesterday. I was wondering if Daisy would be bored with no greyhounds there but she ended up having fun anyway. After sticking to me like glue for awhile she got more comfortable in the park and started venturing off. She was fascinated by a great dane and quickly went to check him out. Probably because he was the closest shaped dog to her. But obviously, he was huge and made Daisy look like a lap dog. Later she started playing (yes, playing!!!) with another medium sized red dog. He came up to her and they did the stare down stance thing. The owner assured me they weren't being aggressive. Pretty soon the dog took off with Daisy running after him. They did a couple circles around the park with Daisy almost knocking someone over that was in her path. My dog is fast and I loved seeing her run and enjoying herself. Hopefully this is the start of many more happy park visits.

Greyt Walks

Daisy and I have been out enjoying the great warmer weather and sunshine. Today we went for two long walks and saw some interesting things. In the morning, we wandered down to the Aurora bridge where the Rock and Roll marathon was happening. The streets were closed to traffic. It was also the "turnaround point" for the runners who then headed back into downtown. They had cheerleaders cheering the people who made it there and music was playing on loudspeakers. As a greyhound, Daisy was probably thinking "awe, humans are so cute when they try to run." Actually, at this point, no one was running. Everyone was at a slow jog or walk. They must have been exhausted! One couple admired Daisy while I admired their choice of running attire: matching tutus!

Later in the day it was off to the GPI sponsored meetup at Greenlake. 22 hounds and their owners were there. At different times during the walk, we spotted 1 Superman, 2 Incredibles, 1 Green Hornet, 2 bumble bees, 1 pig and a couple other characters pass by on bikes. Odd yet humorous. It was nice to meet other greyhound owners and to enjoy the sunny and warm day!

Egyptian Daisy

Guess who has finally achieved the "down" sphinx position?! (The photo is a placeholder until I can get the real thing.) Yes, after 4 weeks of obedience classes Daisy was able to get fully down into this position. She did it three times! Next step is to get her to do it without the guidance of going under a chair and using treats. Today was a great class for her as she made a lot of progress. She also learned to "leave it", "come", and walked effortlessly on leash around cones. I'm so proud of my girl!

Play Command. Check.

About a week ago, Daisy finally discovered that stuffed toys were fun to play with. She now frantically chases, shakes and chews her bunny, monkey and green/purple jacks toy. It is great to see her personality continue to come out. She is no longer stoic docile Daisy. She is becoming playful, sometimes mischievous Daisy.

Notice that she is almost in the sit position (see hind legs)! It is week 3 of obedience training and she is gradually learning to get low enough for a "down" command. (Which is greyhound equivalent to "sit".) Although all the other dogs can sit, stay, down and recall, Daisy is doing her own thing (or on the slow track depending on how you look at it) and can only "touch" your hand while waiting for a treat. Oh yes, and she also shows off her envied leash walking. Daisy is very good at walking with a loose leash!

Tastes like chicken.

It has been interesting to see Daisy's prey drive start to kick in. I can only imagine that it isn't very strong since she was retired at an early age. She also tested as cat-safe at the adoption kennel. On our walks I have noticed that she reacts differently to different animals. So far, here are the results:
Cats = no interest
Crows = worth a look and quick jump
Squirrels = hit and miss. If they are running across the road she is interested, otherwise not.
Chickens = loves chickens. A neighbor had about 5 of them hanging out in the yard. Daisy ran up the side of the yard and lunged at them. They scattered and fled into other yards. Will have to remember not to walk by there again. Although I found it secretly entertaining. My bad.

Congratulations, Fern!

Daisy and I were at the local pet store's meet and greet, hosted by GPI. Quite a few people stopped by the booth to learn about how greyt these dogs can be as pets. I loved showing off my sweet girl. There was a good variety of greyhound colors there.

While many of Daisy's racetrack friends have already been adopted, there are some dogs from the same Oklahoma "load" that are still available. Fern is one of these available dogs who was at the meet and greet. Sure enough, the owner of the pet store fell in love! He already has two dogs but really bonded with Fern. Pretty soon he was filling out an application. See what happens when you least expect it? Behold the power of the greyhound!

Teaching a New Dog Old Tricks

Earlier this week, Daisy and I attended the first Basic Obedience class of six. Many of the dogs were about one year old and all of them already knew how to sit and lie down! Sheesh, Daisy barely knows her name. Luckily the owner of this establishment knows greyhounds very well and gave her trainers tips on how to train Daisy. Since it is anatomically awkward for greys to sit, they are having her learn to first lie down (sphinx style) and eventually raise her front end until she achieves a sit. She was able to get a bit lower but never got low enough to lie down. Other things we worked on was getting your dog to look at you when you call its name. This was done by holding a treat in front of your nose and saying the dog's name. When they look at YOU, you give them the treat. Of course, Daisy's focus was transfixed on the treat. Things aren't lookin' good so far!

Greyhound Gangs

There is something enduring about how greyhounds automatically flock together when they are in each others' company. I recently drove Miss Daisy to a greyhound meetup at a dog park. We came late so there were only a few left roaming around. Sure enough, as soon as they spotted Daisy all of them quickly came trotting up. They were so cute with their muzzles on, eager to check out the "new girl." Before I could even get Daisy through the second gate, all four greyhounds had swarmed around sniffing her excitedly. All the non-greyhound dog owners stopped and watched in awe as this happened. Not sure if they understood what all the fuss was about, but the other greyhound owners knew and weren't surprised one bit. Daisy was a little scared at first but took everything in stride. She soon felt comfortable enough to hang out and follow the other hounds around the park for a bit. We will definitely be back to this weekly meetup.

"Finally! Someone that looks like me!"

Last weekend, Daisy got her first canine visitor. When she saw that there was another greyhound in the house she practically ran down the stairs to greet him. A good friend came over with her handsome dog, Dash. He made himself right at home and showed Daisy how easy hardwood stairs could be. Daisy did one round up/down but then decided that was enough. (See previous post). Dash's mom brought a wonderful care package for Daisy. Canned pumpkin, Adopting the Racing Greyhound, a beautiful black/silver patterned martingale collar and a soft flannel jacket for those cold morning walks. How lucky we are to have such a thoughtful friend!

"Where the heck am I?!"

It has been a little over a week since Daisy came home and she is doing very well. Her adjustment to mirrors and windows were not a big deal. However, slippery hardwood floors are still a little tricky—when she gets excited she tends to slip and her limbs start flailing like octopus arms. Daisy's biggest obstacle has been the stairs. There are two sets in the home. The carpeted stairs took a little coaxing but she conquered them within an hour. However, the second set was an entirely different story. They were hardwood and a bit slippery. Daisy refused to use them even after carpet was installed. With some more patience and coaxing (and treats!) she did eventually get over her fear and darted up the stairs to be with me. It was such a huge relief and a big milestone for her! Previously, she got very anxious whenever I went upstairs. Now she has no excuse not to join me.

Doggy Cow?

Went out to the greyhound kennel today and chose my new furry friend. Actually, she seemed to choose me too as she responded well and wasn't shy around me. "Margo to Win" is a two year old, black and white dog who has never raced. Margo is very calm for her age and loved to explore when we were outside. She also liked my gold Coach purse, so she's got style. Very easy to walk and seemed to tolerate my awkward inexperience with dogs well. I am so excited to bring her home later in the week!

As a nod to her black and white cow coloring, Margo will now be known as "Daisy". Hey, it beats naming her Buttercup.

From Oklahoma Racetrack to Urban Home

Rescue a greyhound from imminent death!! This was the message I got from a casual meet and greet at the local Petco. Well, not really. But I did fall in love with this gentle, sweet breed of dog. I was hooked and wanted to adopt my very own retired racer. Experience with me the challenges of helping a racing dog transition to a household environment and become a beloved pet. In my lifetime, I have only raised cats and have had minimal exposure to dogs. This should be interesting, for me AND the dog...