Got My New Whippet....it's Only Taken Four Years!

And it was all completely unplanned! (w00t)

This morning STARTED off pretty normal. Neil came home from nightshift at 7am and was complaining, once he was in bed, about not being able to warm up.....said he was going to put the electric blanket back on the bed until *and this is where he made his first mistake!* we once more had a whippet in the bed to warm him up.

I got up later on and had my usual shower and breakfast and switched the pooter on to catch up on various odds and ends. I was then naughty and did a bit of 'window shopping' Typed in 'whippets' on the Ad Trader site and *cough* found this!

I rang the number *Bad BAD Gill!!!* and the bitch was sold but the guy still had the dog. My first thought was ''No, Neil will kill me if I bring a boy home'' but then, as I chatted to the guy and heard the background to the dog I thought.....why not? I could always just go and look, couldn't I? What possible harm could that do? o

An hour later I found the house and sat down to a cup of tea and a chat with David. The dog was born on 1st January 2012 and was originally owned by an old lady who called him Demba Ba after the Newcastle Utd player She had him living in a shed in a garden and being fed on one tin of Chappie a day :rant: So Davy, who's had racing whippets since the 50's bought the dog for just £20 and got him fed up as he was pretty thin. Changed his name to Spot (the pics below explain why ) and had all his vaccinations done. The only reason he was selling his black bitch and Spot is because he's moving into a council place soon and they'll only let him have one dog so he's keeping his 10yo border collie. All he wanted was a good home and the price of the vaccinations so I got my gorgeous new boy for just £60 :thumbsup:

We had a lovely chat about dogs in general and Northumberland as he often goes fishing up this way.

It was a good 20 minutes or so of chatting before he decided to bring the dogs in (I must have passed the first test ) and the second I saw Spot I just fell in love!!! He's long and leggy, daft as a brush and reminded me SO MUCH of my darling Tina I'd been completely honest and upfront about what had happened to Tina but he was ok with that.....accidents happen and, as I said to him, I learnt a VERY hard lesson that day about letting dogs off lead near fast-flowing rivers

After another hour or so of chatting away about dogs we put Spot into the car and I drove off. Got completely lost *as usual* but eventually found the sign for Gosforth and once I was there I knew my way onto the A1. Spot was great - just curled up on the passenger seat and went to sleep.

Got home and took Spot upstairs, telling him to be quiet and not bark and that was when Neil walked out of the bedroom to go to the loo *whoops* Spot just looked at him and wagged his tail and Neil just looked bemused LOL I said ''You said you were cold.....I got you some heating'' Neil just laughed and said ''He's gorgeous'' and gave Spot a big hug.

I then took Spot out for a short walk to toilet and he was great - doesn't pull at all and I had some treats in my pocket to practise recalls (don't worry - he WAS on a long line) and he seems pretty good at that too

He's now asleep on a blanket next to my chair. I'm still not sure if the name Spot will stay....any ideas guys? Typically I can think of lots of lovely names fopr girls but nothing for a boy! >_<

I'm soooooooooooo happy......I GOT A DOGGIE

We went out at 7.20pm and had a lovely walk along the grassy cliffs above Boulmer beach. I had him on a long line and being a daft puppy he had a tickle in his feet and, on the way back to the car, decided he'd had enough sniffing around and digging at rabbit burrows and wanted to run instead It was like having a flighty wee colt on the end of the line He wasn't pulling though.....just being a whippet and trying to go from 0 to 40mph in a split second Luckily I remember the days of Tina trying to do the same so I was ready for him and distracted him with treats and cuddles. I've told him he can get off the lead for a run once he's proven he knows what a recall is.....so a few weeks yet. Davy said he was good with him but I'm still a complete stranger so I won't be rushing anything.

It was LOVELY to be out in the fresh air.....even if it was raining and windy and the tide was out so the smell of seaweed was very strong.....it was just HEAVEN! It took seconds to wipe Spot dry with a towel and he settled down on the back seat like a little angel. He's now had a light supper and is flat out asleep on his blankets at my feet I rang Davy up earlier to let him know he's settling and said I'll ring him again in a few days.

I just cannot stop SMILING!!!!!! I'm so happy it hurts!!!!!!! I've got my dog and I just feel SO complete and content now

 

Whoops.....forgot the pics :> Not fantastic as the wee monkey keeps moving (w00t) He'll soon realise that he has to stay still when Mummy gets that metal box-thing out and points it at him o

 

Yes, those ears ARE pretty amazing (w00t) He looked absolutely stunning on the beach this morning when a guy passed by about 100yds away with his briard. Spot stood watching the other dog so alertly with those big sky dish lugs and reminded me SO much of the statues of Anubis We got to a sheltered spot so let him have a little gallop and he loved that - was charging around us in circles then coming back as soon as we whistled (Davy taught him basic manners really well in the short time he had him) and getting all ambitious and dragging bits of seaweed along that were nearly as big as him (w00t) He's not quite as graceful as Tina was in the gallop but perhaps that's just because he's still a baby really. He's flat out asleep now :wub: I just feel SO happy and content now that I have a dog once more.....easily pleased is me :> :lol:

Still working on the name....Dumbo and radar have both been suggested (w00t) I was thinking of Merlin but Neil's not so keen >_<

 

I'll bear that in mind :thumbsup: we are taking him shopping tomorrow anyway as he needs a proper whippet collar and a car harness as he has many years ahead of him of travelling and going on holidays with us :huggles: He settles down no problem on the back seat but I'd like a proper harness, like Tina had, just for safety. Determned that NOTHING is going to go wrong with this wee man >_<

 

He nearly went back to Davy this morning......ooooh he was being a little s*o*d!!!

Last night I went to bed and read my book for a bit and he settled down quite happily on his bed on the floor. I popped to the loo before lights out and whilst I was in the bathroom Spot peed on our bed!!!! Right through the sheets and into the mattress So I had to strip the bed, put some Simple Solution onto the mattress and dig out some blankets from the wardrobe and sleep on the sofa. I didn't tell him off though because I hadn't caught him in the act.

This morning he somehow managed to slip his collar whilst on Silver Sands beach and run off to play with a spaniel and a labrador further along. Of course only having had him a few days he wasn't going to respond to my calls so I had to leg it after him, cursing the other dogs' owner as she just kept marching along! You would think she would have used some common sense and seen that my dog was loose and stopped and waited until I caught up.....but no, just kept walking she did! By the time I did catch up I was boiling hot and really fed up and then when I tried to get hold of Spot he thought it was all one fab game and kept dodging out of the way But I DID eventually catch the little monkey and put his collar on a hole tighter, give him a cuddle and some cooked sausage as a treat and walked back to the car.

Then as I left for work at 1.30pm he came charging down the stairs barking at me not to go So I took him back upstairs and told him to go to bed in the bedroom (Neil works nights so is in during the day) and Neil said he whined for a few minutes but then went to sleep ok.

So I was pretty fed up after this morning and wondering why on earth I had gotten myself a dog!!!! The common sense side of my brain said he's still a puppy (though probably coming up to the dreaded puberty stage!!!), he's in a new house with new people and become an only dog (he lived with two others at Davy's) and that his 'problems' where just little things which could quite easily be sorted out with a bit of consistent training

So what I'm going to do is not get despondent if we have a 'backwards' day but instead to just keep plugging away with praise and titbits and I've also sent an email off to the trainer of a local dog club to see if I can get my Spotty Monster enrolled in a basic course. Most of it is stuff which I could quite easily teach him at home but being at a dog club surrounded by loads of other dogs will get him socialised better and teach him to ignore other dogs. We are certainly not going to give up so easily on him.....I haven't had a dog for nearly 4 years so perhaps it's just been a shock to my system (w00t)

On this evenings walk he was an absolute saint o

 

He's been a sweetheart overnight

Had a lovely walk at dusk last night and saw a barn owl hunting Then he settled down on his blankets on my bedroom floor and didn't try to climb up next to me. I didn't hear a peep from him all night (probably because he was wrapped up in a soft furry blanket....spoilt? ) until 6.30am when he poked me in the face with a wet nose. I got up, chucked some clothes on and we went for a 20 minute walk so he could toilet and when we got back he settled back down on his bed. Neil was home from nightshift by then and had a cuppa ready for me

He's now fast asleep on his pile of blankets next to my desk. They start off as a neat bed of three blankets but by the time he scratches them around and makes them in a comfortable den for himself it looks like we've just plonked them down on the floor

We are taking him shopping this morning for a proper whippet collar (would you believe NOBODY in Alnwick had one!!!!) as he has a temporary blue fabric one on at the moment which he can NOT slip out of And a bed to put his blankets into so when we go to stay at friends' houses he will know where he's sleeping.

Thanks for the reassuring advice :huggles: It's good to know his naughtiness yesterday was just 'normal' (w00t) Neil and I are already very attached to The Spotmeister so are determined to do everything we can to help him relax and realise HE is stuck with us for life :-