Before she was "Mila"...

One thing I love about owning an ex-racing Greyhound is all of the information about our dog and her history that comes with it.

I have already told the story about Mila’s racing DVD and her fortuitous appearance on the podium in third place. Having access to that kind of thing is a whole heap of fun. 

Oddly enough, the dog does not show any interest in watching herself race on the telly (lucky there is no barking involved in those races, otherwise we would be beside ourselves with excitement!)

Another thing I love is having access to websites with her history as a racer – with information about all of Mila’s races, including dates, venues, distances, placing, race weight, and winnings.

All of Mila’s race info can be found at this site: http://www.thedogs.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx. Her race name was Bronze for Macos. As a side note, does anyone know how racing names are chosen?! There are some fantastic ones out there!

It's not quite racing, ma - but it's fun all the same!!

Mila’s last race was 10 July 2011 (so we might have a little 1-year retirement party) and she came to us in October, which is a pretty good turn around. She raced 26 times – which I am told is a lot for a dog that isn’t winning or placing. If I know Mila, she must have at least had the enthusiasm to give it a go each time – and I am proud to say that she only came last once. Based on the information on the website (and my non-existent knowledge and understanding of greyhound racing), I can see that she was carrying a little bit of extra weight for that race (it was December after all, and the excesses of Christmas season can be forgiven) and that tends to slow down even the best of us!!

The other site that absolutely fascinates me, is one called “Greyhound Data” where you can research the family history of your hound – see here: http://www.greyhound-data.com. There I found Mila’s family tree dating as far back as 1820 on her father’s side and the 1780’s on her mother’s side to her 47x great grandmother “Hansome” who was born in the UK. Mila’s mum’s side of the family shifted from the UK to Australia in the 1870s and then to NZ in about 2003. She has a brother and a sister born on the same day as her – and six half brothers and a half sister (6 of whom were apparently born on the same day in sunny December 2007 – poor mum!!) The site is full of information about all of Mila’s rellies through the centuries (!!!) – including birth dates, sex, colour and where they were born. I could seriously spend days on that site without getting bored. If I had that much information about my own family – then it might start to explain a few things!!

So, there is my interpretation of the information available on my doggie – admittedly, through the eyes of a human (of course, I do appreciate that 6 puppies in a litter is not a terribly dramatic thing to have happen). The moral of the story is that having access to that kind of information and painting myself a mental picture of the type of racer my dog was, is a whole heap of fun (and a fantastic way to waste a day!!) and having everything recorded in such detail is great – even if the real meaning of it all is largely lost on someone like me!  

Any other interesting stories out there about bloodlines or race histories? There must be some lucrative racers out there who are now spending their days relaxing in their loving “retirement homes”…

2 months in...

Mila Grey has been with us for two months now and has completely changed our lives in that time. While I had done a whole heap of research into greyhounds before deciding to adopt one from GAP in October, and I knew that dog ownership requires commitment (and patience!!), nothing really prepared me for what was ahead. 

Greyhounds have a reputation as calm, relaxed and almost lazy dogs. I like to think of them as the Cheetahs of the canine world - up for a sprint one minute, but perfectly content with spending the rest of the day asleep on a couch, or in a corner, oblivious to what is going on around them. They are also very self-motivated. If you want them to do something for you, there needs to be something in it for them - be it a treat, a pat or a run around the park. Mila, our 3-yr old, 30 kg, black girl can be just like that when she wants to be but tends not to stick to the traditional greyhound mould too closely. 

First off, she is big for a female greyhound. She stands taller than many of her female companions (and some males) - and she knows it. In unfamiliar situations, she will draw up to her full height, extend her neck and straighten her legs in an attempt to overshadow anything in her path. Not particularly difficult when that thing is a sparrow or a leaf!

She is also a bit slow. And by that, I mean "not fast" rather than "a bit dim". While there is absolutely no question that she could outrun me, her racing career was a bit less of a success. During her career on the track, she raced 26 times in Cambridge, Auckland and Wanganui (ending in July 2011) - with a string of fourths to her name and her best showing a third placing in November 2010. How did she manage third, you ask? Not by outright speed but by barging the dog in front of her out of the way with her broad shoulders and cutting him off on the home straight. I have seen the DVD evidence and that is exactly how it went down. But anyway, a Place is a Place in my book! Unfortunately, she paid no dividends as there were only 5 other dogs in the field, a factor which probably also contributed to her third placing.

Mila makes short work of one of her favourite soft toys!

Finally, Mila doesn't appear to be a huge fan of sleep. She is up and about at all hours of the day, trotting behind us, exploring the house/washing basket/bench top/Christmas tree/bathroom. We both work full-time during the week, so we don't know exactly what she gets up to while we are away during the day (we would love to install a web cam to record a day of her journey around the house!!), but there are constant signs of rummaging, lick marks, torn boxes, open doors and squeaky toys hidden all over the show which suggest that the Cheetah is actually more inquisitive than we originally thought she might be. It is a learning curve for all of us, and while she does not usually chew things that aren't hers and is not a destructive dog, coming home to find a box of tea bags strewn about the lounge, complete with the bags shredded to pieces and tea leaves all over the place always makes for an interesting afternoon...