Special Josie Whippet Needs A Home.

[Kare]

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Hi all, I posted about this girl on the whippet forum and was also pointed over here too. I'm not affiliated with this rescue but Bristol DAWG has a very special little girl in that I just love and so wish she would get a home. I've watched her progress as it were since she was in stray kennels in durham months ago, and now at Bristol DAWG she is still looking. She's a funny looking little girl and no one seemed to know her cross- but they have now stated she is in fact a double muscled whippet, which has caused deformity in her face/ shoulders e.t.c. Seeing as they've now worked out what she is this seemed an appropriate place to advertise her. She is the most endearing little thing and sounds like a complete darling. They say her deformity gives her cramps in her shoulders e.t.c and she may have health issues in the future. But good with dogs big and small and loves people. Please someone consider her or spread the word! Here's a link: http://southwestdawg...-needing-homes/ I've attached her pics from the website too. She looks like a poppet and so deserves a home!

 

[Vicky]

I've looked at the website and the second pic, I actually don't think her body looks to be that much affected, she's not "that" bully imo.

The writeup sound really sweet - i so this lovely girl gets a lovely home soon.

JOSIE

This is our very special little girl Josie. She is what is known as a “bully whippet”. This is a pure whippet who sadly has a genetic disorder which causes her to be double muscled. Josie has much larger muscles than normal whippets, especially in her thighs and shoulders. Because of this disorder Josie often gets muscle cramps and may suffer witth other health problems in the future.

Josie is the sweetest little girl who has bags of character and the cutest face and curliest tail of all our hounds. You cant help but smile whenever you see Josie

Josie is currently in a foster home with 11 other dogs, large and small and gets on great with all of them. She walks well on and off lead but prefers a harness. She loves children but we dont think she would live with cats.

 

[Kare]

I agree, she's not that bad, it's mainly her shoulders/neck/head affected. Bless her she has such a characterful face, look at that smile! I suppose maybe people are worried about possible future health issues, maybe understandably, but I wouldn't care, I'd just take her and take whatever happens :b She seems so lovely. And sorry, didn't realise what I'd done with the pics! Can't seem to edit the post so here's the other pic:

 

[nicky12]

:wub: aww my word she is gorgeous :wub: how old is she that little face just melts your heart doesnt it :wub:

 

[jinnyfizz]

There are so, so many dogs needing new forever homes but this little girl is one of the most deserving of a new home that I have seen in a while, having been in other rescues before the Bristol home and not being "perfect" which so many people require

Bless her, so cute :wub: :wub: ....... I want to know how old she is too, so I shall ring them up today :thumbsup:

 

[Rebecca Claire]

Oh bless her little heart, she looks utterly adorable :wub: :wub: I truly hope she finds the very special home she deserves :huggles:

 

[jinnyfizz]

Little Josie is around 4 years old

 

[jinnyfizz]

I decided to investigate rehoming Josie as she has been in rescue for so long and who could deny that pretty little face a new forever home?? :wub:

At first, the rescue wanted me to come and see her with ALL my other dogs!!!! Obviously this is just not possible (one car does not fit all :lol: ) so I explained and wished them luck with homing Josie. I received a reply immediately, asking if I would still come to meet Josie with just one or two of my dogs - ok, no problem there.

So I filled in the application form and suggested a date to meet Josie.

I was pretty surprised to receive this email back from the rescue ............

Hi Jane,

 

thanks for returning the application form.

 

Im afraid that Josie is not cat friendly and so would not be able to

live with 4 cats, you hadn't mentioned that you had them before.

 

It is also our policy not to rehome dogs where the resident dogs are

used for working or racing, so regardless of the cats we would not be

able to rehome her with you anyway Im afraid becuase of that reason.

 

I know that some rescues do home to working homes, including "Lurcher

Link" so you may be able to find a suitable dog there.

 

Im really sorry about that and am very grateful for your interest in

Josie. Im sure we will find something suitable for her soon.

 

Many thanks and best wishes

Whilst I do have cats, and I believe that all species can live together with the right controls and care in place, there is no way that I could be considered a "working" or "racing" home Yes, I take them lurecoursing when I can as they love it so much and yes, I let them catch rabbits on my own land, once again because they love it and it's what they were bred to do!! I gave this information on the application form.

There are so many dogs in rescue and yet, when offered the chance of a lovely home, it gets turned down :angry:

I suppose it's my fault for answering honestly on the application form - but I never imagined that anyone could deny a whippet it's birthright to chase and run!!!

 

[bertha]

I decided to investigate rehoming Josie as she has been in rescue for so long and who could deny that pretty little face a new forever home?? :wub:
At first, the rescue wanted me to come and see her with ALL my other dogs!!!! Obviously this is just not possible (one car does not fit all :lol: ) so I explained and wished them luck with homing Josie. I received a reply immediately, asking if I would still come to meet Josie with just one or two of my dogs - ok, no problem there.

So I filled in the application form and suggested a date to meet Josie.

I was pretty surprised to receive this email back from the rescue ............

Hi Jane,

 

thanks for returning the application form.

 

Im afraid that Josie is not cat friendly and so would not be able to

live with 4 cats, you hadn't mentioned that you had them before.

 

It is also our policy not to rehome dogs where the resident dogs are

used for working or racing, so regardless of the cats we would not be

able to rehome her with you anyway Im afraid becuase of that reason.

 

I know that some rescues do home to working homes, including "Lurcher

Link" so you may be able to find a suitable dog there.

 

Im really sorry about that and am very grateful for your interest in

Josie. Im sure we will find something suitable for her soon.

 

Many thanks and best wishes

Whilst I do have cats, and I believe that all species can live together with the right controls and care in place, there is no way that I could be considered a "working" or "racing" home Yes, I take them lurecoursing when I can as they love it so much and yes, I let them catch rabbits on my own land, once again because they love it and it's what they were bred to do!! I gave this information on the application form.

There are so many dogs in rescue and yet, when offered the chance of a lovely home, it gets turned down :angry:

I suppose it's my fault for answering honestly on the application form - but I never imagined that anyone could deny a whippet it's birthright to chase and run!!!

Doesn't surprise me, there are a lot of rescues that don't like the idea of lurchers, not lurcher rescues!!!!!! You'd be surprised at the number of show whippets that are not allowed to run free and live in crates. Sad.

 

[Janimal]

Gosh Jane Im really shocked at that reply.........they could at least have come out to your home to meet you all in person

before judging....

as you say an Offer of a Brilliant home and then its turned down...

 

[pippywhippet]

Poor Josie, she has lost out on a lovely home

 

[Kare]

Oh no! That's awful, you just let your dogs do what they love and were bred for- it's not like they could class you as a serious 'worker' which is what their policy seems to be against. You weren't wanting to rehome her just to go out and work her were you? Grrr. There is such a stigma in most sighthound rescues against working dogs and homes- I understand that when you get quite a high number of dogs in that are abandoned workers you can have that view, but to pursue the policy to the point where an experienced loving home for a long-stay dog in need is turned down seems wrong. But thank you so much for trying. I just hope Josie gets a home soon.

 

[AnnSa]

Very sad to read the reply Jane got.

In fact i have said over on TWF what

i think

 

[wild whippies]

It sounds to me like everyone's got off on the wrong foot with this one.

I've got to be totally honest here, I own a bully whippet and I decided to keep her purely because I don't trust anyone to look after her as well as myself. Keeping the condition under control is difficult because most dog lovers like to spoil their dogs with treats and such. These dogs turn every food source into muscle making their muscles bigger. The bigger the muscles the more demand there is to blood supply and they'll cramp more. I also suspect they're more prevalent to ligament tears due to the muscle pull. There's also been suggestions about potential heart problems as it's suspected the muscle condition effects the heart muscle tissues. This is just a theory mind and I haven't heard of any cases where it's occured.

Cramping is awful, they can kick off screaming at the early hours and no amount of tomatoes, electrolytes, tye-guard, massage, walking around etc will knock it off. Bi-carb does but it has risks and should only be used in tiny amounts in rare emergency situations.

Jane, there are some issues that may pose relevance to you. I'm not having a go as I own 18 dogs myself but I am trying to see it from the rescue's point of view. One risk is the nature of your own dogs. Some dogs will attack another dog in distress. With a cramping bully whippet screaming and immobilised, it could provoke reaction from the other dogs. I'm not saying yours will - only you know how your dogs behave but it's something to consider. The other is we never walk the bully whippet with the youngsters, they can over exert and can also feel a bit frustrated by everyone else running around. We walk her with the old dogs where she can do her own thing without the pressure. Don't get me wrong she runs about but nowhere near the point of exertion she can do with the others. They also have a ravenous appetite so care has to be taken that they don't eat anything they shouldn't, steal anything that's potentially dangerous or feed them close to other dogs at feeding time.

There is one thing that stands out with the bully whippet and that's their character. You'll never own a happier dog. I don't know why this is but they're all extraordinarily happy little dogs.

Jane if you honestly feel you can accomodate this very special dog then try and talk to them again. Maybe if you address all their concerns and you show them how commmitted you would be they'll reconsider. I'm also hoping that others reading this will sympathise a little with the rescue because their criteria could be relevant to this particular dogs situation and what worries me more is that being critical of the rescue could result in the dog not getting a home. Something I'm sure no-one wants to happen.

 

[wild whippies]

Sorry internet issues! Posted twice!

 

[~Annie~]

Jac I suspect you know far more about bully whippets than the BristolDAWG rescue staff do ... if you haven't already perhaps you could pass on to them what you have written here so whoever does rehome Josie will have that information. Clearly these dogs have very special needs. That Jane would almost certainly be able to accomodate them is in a sense irrelevant though as, as I have read it, the issues highlighted by the rescue when declaring Jane's home unsuitable were her cats and her lure coursing. As someone who has done a fair few home checks for rescues over the years I'd be the first to admit that I too would have been concerned about the cats, and sometimes if volunteer numbers are low there is no one to follow up individual situations so a straight no cats rule is the easiest way to go with sight hounds and lurchers.

But where I used to do home checks I don't anymore, precisely because my lure coursing my dogs, and my buying puppies for the purpose of lure coursing, led to the rescue where I was a volunteer asking me to withdraw to avoid embarassment. Many rescues make no distinction between whippet lure coursing and greyhound racing, consider all who work their dogs to be by definition bad owners, and consider all who breed to be by definition irresponsible. Having been banned from a rescue forum for making the case that there are good working homes and many very responsible breeders I know just how emotive the subject can be ... the abuse that was hurled at me publicly and privately was frankly obscene. So to be honest I suspect Jane didn't stand a chance of rehoming Josie, even if she had had no cats, which imho is a very sad state of affairs.

And there is a wider issue here ... rescue generally has a high public profile, individual rescues may struggle for publicity and funds but collectively rescues can exercise considerable influence on public opinion ... and the message BristolDawg and others are propagating is that working your dog or racing your dog or lure coursing your dog is mistreating your dog ... I find that very worrying.

 

[jinnyfizz]

Thank you, Jac and Annie, for your sensible and balanced input to this subject.

I applied to rehome Josie because I suspect she will not get many chances at a forever home but I am not actively looking to take on another dog. I believe the cat issue to be irrelevant as my cats do not co-habit with the dogs and do not go out (other than Gus who thinks he is a whippet and is very whippet-wise!!) but the main reason for refusing my application was centred wholly around the basis that I let my dogs catch the occasional rabbit on my land and I take some of them to lurecoursing events for fun.

The facts around my situation are:

1. I am training for my diploma in canine remedial threrapy (massage) which makes me the ideal home for a bully whippet who suffers from cramps

2. My dogs are pets, not workers

3. Over a two year period my dogs have, collectively, caught only 5 rabbits (Gus the cat has caught more!!!)

4. I had absolutely NO intention whatsoever of taking Josie, the bully whippet, lurecoursing and I would have happily signed any contract to assure this

5. Only 2 of my whippets and my lurcher take part in lurecoursing events - the others aren't interested.

6. I have worked for 12 years in the pharmaceutical industry, both animal and human medicine, making me experienced in anatomy and physiology which gives me a very good understanding of the effect of bully whippet syndrome on Josie.

7. I own a smallholding with my own land

Most importantly IMO, Bristol DAWG made no attempt to speak to me about my situation or ask for any information other than what was requested on the printed application form which gave the opportunity for "Yes" or "No" answers in the main. When they refused my application, I replied informing them more thoroughly of my situation, but have never received a response. All communication I have had with them has been by email only through which they informed me that Josie had no major problems and that she was a happy, non-confrontational dog who fitted well into a pack, although she liked to push through doors in front of everyone and was very "vocal" too whilst doing this (guess she's just verbally bossy!! :lol: )

I was not home-checked and, if you read the thread on TWF about Josie, you will see that one of TWF members took it upon herself, for reasons best known to herself, to contact Bristol DAWG and the reply she received was posted on TWF. This reply infers that I am not trustworthy, that I would possibly have abused Josie by lurecoursing her and that I have behaved wrongly in some way??? ........ probably by posting the fact that they would not consider me for rehoming Josie.

I am currently considering whether to take this reply up with Bristol DAWG, as to post it on a public forum, naming me personally, is verging on libellous because of the insinuation that I mistreat some of my dogs by letting them chase a lure. However, as the founder of Bristol DAWG is a member of K9 (elkiehound) maybe she will see this thread and make a contribution?

Reference to "gypsies" has also been made in the reply which could be misconstrued depending in which context you read it.

I have no interest in maligning rescue organisations, they do a marvellous job, moreover I have been involved in rescuing and rehoming a couple of whippets via this forum myself as well as taking on my lurcher, Poacher, with a broken hind leg and nursing her back to full health - saving her from certain destruction as her previous owner couldn't afford veterinary treatment.

What I want to ask is, where does one draw the line at the term "working dog". Many rescues advocate taking a dog to agility training, fun runs etc. The possibility of injury is ever-present, even for those dogs which are crated all day long at shows - they can get their legs caught in the crate bars or their jaws stuck if they are unfortunate enough to try to get out by chewing the bars

Bottom line ......... Bristol DAWG, IMO, should have made more attempt to find out about my situation rather than discounting me out of hand and they certainly should not be involved in communication with a third party regarding my application.

I sincerely hope that little Josie is lucky enough to get a forever sofa, she has been without a home of her own for far too long

 

[elkiehound]

I dont come on here very often and as Ive been in contact with someone who is very experienced in bully whippets and got lots of excellent information form them I thought I would see what else was on the forum about bully whippets, and found this thread. So I will reply to what has been IMO a totally unneccesary attack on our rescue because someone was deemed unsuitable for us to home a dog with.

I dont want to get into too many details about Josies application as Jane will deem this unfair. But the fact is that Josie is not cat freindly and when I relayed this informtation I was told that although the cats dont spend much time with the dogs, she woudlnt want to risk it in any case.

In response to the attacks on the rescue for its policies on working dogs we have never said that we think people who work their dogs are irresponsible, or being cruel to their dogs, or mistreating them in some way. I HAVE NEVER SAID THAT. All of the lurchers we have had in in the last year have been worked and mistreated and we want a "retirement" home for them. That is our policy, we dont home to working homes.

Also we dont home dogs into households where there are un-neutered dogs in residence. If you ask most rescue centres you will find that they have have the same policies as this.

We dont have a blanket "ban" on homing dogs with cats, its purely on a case-by-case basis.

Josie is not a normal whippet and to say that not rehoming her to anyone who races or works thier dogs is denying her birthright is being totally ridiculous. Any excess exercise that Josie does, even standing around fundraising, being in the cold for too long or eating too much results in her screaming in agony with cramps for hours later that evening. It is not her birthright to be in pain just because the view is that she is a whippet and therefore is born to run and race.

What I told Jane on her application was NOT that Josie was non-confrontational and had no major problems. What I told her about Josie included:

"She is very head strong and needs a very firm hand. We have been training her to sit and wait for her dinner and going outside etc or she will push her way through the pack to get out first and bark on her way. She is a very vocal dog, which can get quite annoying sometimes but she is

the sweetest and funniest little dog we have ever had and just loves to be up on the sofa being cuddled."

In fact she is very bossy in the house and when she first joined our pack she ran around after our dogs nipping them, including ripping a big hole in one of the greyhounds, resulting in a stitch job at the vets.!

I would also like to add that members of this forum and TWF have been given the impression that Josie has somehow been in kennels for months with no human company or socialisation with other dogs. Utter rubbish!

Josie has lived in MY house with MY dogs for the last 3 months where she is spolied rotten and spends each evening on my lap on the sofa!

TWF has told our rescue that we should be ashamed of ourselves for denying Josie a home after she has been here for so long, and how sad it is that she has no home to call her own. Josie is a foster dog, living the same life as my own dogs. She doesnt know thats she is a foster, she doesnt know that some day she may go to live with someone else. All she knows is that she is safe, warm, well fed and loved which is a million times better than the people who left her in their home when they moved out and left her to starve to death.

So I will not feel ashamed that I rescued Joise, I will not be ashamed that I brought her back to full health when she was at deaths door, and I will not be ashamed that she spends every night on my lap and I will not be ashamed that I didnt give her to a home that I thought was unsuitable for her very specific needs.