Read All About It: The Bark & Read Greyhound

Crufts is over for another year and away from the dramas of the show ring (and this year there was plenty of drama with a number of high profile breeds failing the newly introduced independent vet checks), there is much more to discover about dogs than whether they conform to the Best of Breed, Best in Group or Best in Show.

If you've visited my blog before you'll know that I'm a greyhound fanatic. If this is your first visit, first of all - hello - and secondly be prepared for lots of posts about greyhounds!  This post is no exception to the rule and the subject of this post is a truly remarkable hound who is making a difference to children in schools across the country.

Tony & Danny take a break at Crufts

So, who is this greyt hound you may ask? Well, his name is Danny - a beautiful, blue and white greyhound who was found wandering the streets of Cork and was rescued by Tony Nevett.  In my opinion, all greyhounds are special, but what makes Danny even more special is that he is a listening dog and helps children improve their reading skills.  He's also one of the first Bark & Read Foundation dogs, which is an initiative supported by the Kennel Club.

I caught up with Tony and Danny on the Bark & Read stand at Crufts, where Tony told me more about Danny's work and his up and coming adventures:

listen to ‘Crufts Interview with Danny, the amazing Bark & Read greyhound ’ on Audioboo

Tony & Danny with Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary

Danny's next adventure is a trip stateside to Iowa. In August this year, Danny and Tony are off to work with Corridor Therapy Dogs - a dog therapy organisation that works with local libraries and authors.  They will help show the 'greyt' help that dogs can be helping people learn to and enjoy reading.

If you'd like to find out more about Danny's trip and how you can support his American adventure, you can visit Danny's facebook page - Danny on Tour.

Crufts Catch-up with the Retired Greyhound Trust

One of the 'greyt' things about Crufts is the chance you have to meet up with fellow dog lovers and find out more about them and their passions.

One such person is Peter Laurie, the new Chief Executive of the Retired Greyhound Trust (RGT). Peter is a greyhound lover through and through and became CEO of the RGT on 4 July 2011.

He took some time out of his busy diary to chat to me about why greyhounds make such good pets and what the charity's plans are for the coming year.

You can listen to the interview below, or for more interviews check out my audioboo channel: http://audioboo.fm/sukesu

listen to ‘Crufts Interview with Peter Laurie, CEO of RGT’ on Audioboo

The RGT is a national charity which, as its name suggests,  helps rehome retired racing greyhounds once their racing days are over. The RGT rehomes hounds through its network of around 70 branches, all of which are staffed by volunteers.  The cost of rehoming hounds doesn't come cheap and although the racing industry makes a contribution to the RGT, the charity still needs to supplement this to help rehome all the dogs in its care.

Some of the ways the charity does this are through events such as the Great Greyhound Gathering (you can read my blog post about last year's Gathering here) or the Greyhound Extravaganza.

This year, the Greyhound Extravaganza is taking place on Sunday 27 May at the Animal Health Trust, nr Newmarket. It promises to be a 'greyt' day out for humans and hounds alike.  Unfortunately, it's a tad too far for me, Mina, Stevie and Jasper however, all is not lost as we have the Great Greyhound Gathering in September to look forward to.




The Great Greyhound Gathering is happening on Saturday 15 September at Nottingham Racecourse.  This is a little nearer for us, so is an event we'll definitely be attending.

The Great Greyhound Gathering, or GGG as its known, is a fabulous day for greyhound fans and is not to be missed.