Sunday, June 15, 2008

An Afternoon at Jerry Green

There's a Jerry Green sanctuary at Thirsk, not far from us, and we went along this afternoon for their annual dog show. I always take family, so they can talk me out of coming home with a wonky dog or three. Today's favourite "wonky dog" was Grace, a black and white lurcher bitch, minus most of her tail, and with a sore nose from pushing her face through the wire. Unfortunately the card on her run says she doesn't get on well with other dogs, and needs to be homed as an only dog. Oh well.

I won some dog treats and a dog frisbee in their tombola, and we managed (just) not to be rained on, so it was a good afternoon. The thing that always makes me sad about lurchers and greyhounds in rescues is that they have such thin, pipe-cleaner-y tails. Once they've been in a home for a while, their tails build up muscles from wagging. You can see immediately if a sighthound has had much of a life.

Herbie picked up remarkably on Monday, with the cooler weather, and ran away when I tried to take him to the vets. He's done this before, and I need to learn to distinguish between "I'm hot, leave me alone" and "I'm dying here". In Terry Pratchett's novels, one of the three witches was found lying with a sign pinned to her chest saying "I ATEN'T DEAD" (for when she'd gone on her mental travels, borrowing animals' minds), and if Herbie could write I'm sure he'd have something similar. Though possibly better spelled - he's a fastidious dog.

6 comments:

Yang-May Ooi said...

Re Tails - a friend has a skipperkij and their tails are traditionally clipped so it's strange to see this little cute dog wagless. It's a small thing but just seems such a mean tradition.

Lesley Rigby said...

Thank goodness Herbie is alright! Prince seemed to overheat so easily and I did think at the time it could be the hot weather with Herbie. It's a good job you can find things to laugh at.........
I visited Newby Hall last Saturday. If the housing market wasn't so bad I would be moving to Yorkshire fast! You are So LUCKY.

Fiona said...

I cannot tell you how pleased and relieved I am to read your post. Made me laugh too :o).

Anonymous said...

So good to hear that Herbie has been doing well! I finished "Merle's Door" and absolutely loved it -- so glad you mentioned it on your blog. Take care. We'll be thinking about you this week.

xo,
Teresa and Bridget (and Cole)

Anonymous said...

So glad to hear Herbie is doing okay--my dog does not like heat either. Interesting thing to note about the tails. This explains why my rescued Grey, rescued at three months, has such the fat tail.

Thanks for keeping us updated.

Thinking of you and Herbie.

Sula (and Stella)

HandH said...

Hi, YM - if it's any comfort, it's illegal now to dock most dogs' tails - only a few hunting breeds are exempt, so in future schipperkes in the UK should have tails. Lesley, you sure travel! Newby Hall's only an hour or so from me. Thanks all for the kind thoughts.