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. 

The First Snow of Winter

It's true - us Brits like nothing more than to talk about the weather.  As we live on an island where extremes of weather are fairly rare, any type of weather that is either too cold or too hot tends to make headlines.  This year, we've had very early snowfall in November meaning the roads grind to a halt, schools close, children dust off wellies and under-used sledges and us adults don our best snow-garb and get out there with the other 'big kids' and our dogs!

The hounds' favourite playing field

The hounds also seem to like the snow and the early snowfall this year has coincided with Mina becoming cone-free after the tail incident (see: previous post - Mina the canine catastrophe).

We've only had a few inches of snow, so it's not too deep for the hounds and they can enjoy a bit of a run and frolic in the snow.  I always worry that deep snow and icy pavements could mean broken bones, so I'm very careful where I let them walk and run.

I still want to enjoy the cold weather and want the hounds to enjoy their walks too, so here are my top tips for keeping the hounds safe and warm on winter walks:

Well wrapped-up against the cold

Coats -  Greyhounds have thin skin, very little fur and very little body fat and tend to feel extremes of temperature, so make sure that they have a waterproof, warm, fleecy winter coat to keep them protected from the elements. I like the coats that have a turn up to protect the neck. Alternatively a greyhound snood helps keep their necks warm.

Salty paws - Rock salt and grit may keep the paths and roads snow and ice-free but left on our pets' paws it can be a real irritant. When I get home I wash and dry the hounds' paws to make sure no grit has got stuck and that they can't lick anything that might be toxic.

A happy & cone-free Mina, enjoying the snow

Deep snow - Greyhounds have fairly delicate bones (in rescue we often come across cases where an owner has let their hound run free over uneven ground and the poor hound has ended up wtih a broken leg), so running in deep snow and on icy surfaces could be a recipe for disaster.

Dark nights - The old addage "Seen and be seen" really does ring true for winter walks - both for me and the hounds. I wear a reflective jacket and carry a torch. The hounds each have an Ancol Safety Halo (available from £3.99 at PetPlanet ) although I am saving up for the rather fab Leuchtie LED light collars available exclusively from Collarways 

Steaming hot mug of tea and open fire - When the walk's over, there's nothing better than putting my feet up with a good mug of tea and watching the hounds snooze by the open fire.

So, time to put my feet up and enjoy that cup of tea. Wherever you may be when you read this, I hope that you're safe and warm with your dogs at your side.