Kerry GREYHOUNDS UK

D ogs looking for homes

It’s not just about greyhounds! Although we at KGUK are dedicated primarily to rescuing and rehoming unwanted Irish greyhounds, we are also sometimes asked to help other sighthounds in need. I’m sure you can all imagine how difficult it is to see a photograph of a dog in a pound and know that if we turn them away, they will be put to sleep. We can’t help them all – no-one can – but we have recently taken in a number of lurchers (with whippet, saluki and greyhound in them) and brought them over to the UK to find them loving homes.

Welcome to our Autumn - Winter 2012 Newsletter

Titch is a small, pretty dark brindle girl. She was just 3 years old in March. Titch’s ideal home would be one without children under 13 and no small dogs as she is still unsure of them. Whoever decides to adopt this beautiful girl will be rewarded with a loyal, fun loving and affectionate greyhound who will give back a life time of pure love.

Tazz is a 4 year old ex-coursing greyhound boy who is now firmly finished with the racing world and wants a family to call his own. Tazz is a really gorgeous fella, with a soft fawn coat and the most amazing ears that stand to attention when he’s listening to you! This dear boy will need a hound savvy home with people who know how greyhound minds work so that he can continue to improve his socialisation skills.

Autumn - Winter 2012

Newsletter

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Could you offer a home to any of these lovely dogs?

Please let us know if you would like to come and meet any of them. More info about them and all our other greyhounds looking for homes can be found on our website www.kerrygreyhounds.co.uk or by phoning Bronwen on 075 000 62648 or email bronwen@kerrygreyhounds.co.uk

Dogs looking for homes Cont’d ...

Posie is a 2 year old ex-racing greyhound girl. She is a striking brindle girl with beautiful eyes and an intelligent expression. We feel Posie would be best suited to a home that has had sighthounds before and is familiar with how their minds function. This girl has huge potential to be a fantastic family member with the right family.

Style is a 5 year old ex-racing greyhound girl who is no longer good enough to compete on the track. Style lives up to her name with her beautiful amber eyes and quirky ears that can on occasion have a mind of their own! She is a real sweetheart and is just begging for a home to call her own.

Jake is a 5 year old ex-racing greyhound boy who has worked long and hard. Dear Jake is very good with other greyhounds and welcomes them into his foster home. Other breeds of dog, however, are another story and right now Jake is interested in chasing them. Because of this issue with other dogs, Jake would be best in an experienced home with people who understand greyhounds and who have ideally had experience with this issue in the past.

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ALL of the hounds featured in our last newsletter have now found their ‘forever’ homes. This is absolutely fantastic news for them all.

Please see Skyman on page 5.

We are so pleased that our long stay girl Maura has now found her forever home. She has been adopted by James and his family in Lowestoft. The best news of all is that she has been adopted with Bowie another of our long stay hounds.

Wiggi now Winnie has been adopted by Georgina and her family in Gt Cambourne, Winnie shares her sofa with Fionn a 3 legged lab/lurcher x.

Hounds featured in last newsletter

Mitzi has found her forever home with Pam and Carol in Fakenham, as you can see she is thoroughly enjoying life in her new home.

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We’re part way through a very busy summer with lots of fund-raising, Meet & Greets and Collections to attend. You can find out the details in our events diary on page 7. Our volunteers work so hard but there seem to be more dogs than ever in need of homes and sometimes it feels as though whatever we do, it’s never enough. At the moment we are making a special appeal for more foster homes. They need to be in the Norfolk and Suffolk area (for practical purposes). Our dogs are well cared for in kennels, but if we take on an older dog, or a very nervous dog - then being in kennels is not the best thing for them.

They need the help and support that only comes from being in a loving home. It’s also true to say for all our dogs that it isn’t until they are lucky enough to move into a temporary home with one of our fostering team that they really start to blossom. When one of our longest stay kennel dogs Skyman moved into foster he absolutely loved it! He threw himself whole-heartedly into the (human) bed and sofa hogging idea and to see him charging and bouncing around the garden (rarring to himself with joy while he did it) was quite simply incredible. He adores people and at last he was given the opportunity to show it.

Update - and a Focus on Fostering

Welcome to our Autumn / Winter 2012 newsletter. A lot has changed at Kerry Greyhounds UK in the last 12 months. Every organisation needs to grow and change to keep developing and it’s generally a cause for celebration. But we were very sad earlier this year when our founder - Jill Saunders – decided to step down from her role. Jill set up Kerry Greyhounds in 2005 and it’s because of her that hundreds of greyhounds have been saved and placed in loving homes.

We’d like to say how much we appreciate all her hard work over the years and hope she will still remain a presence at KGUK. Maxine Cohen an important fund raiser and fosterer has also stood down from the committee but does still attends some events. Our sincere thanks go to them both! We must also welcome new blood into our committee, Paula Dexter has joined us and taken over the important and challenging role of Treasurer as well as taking an active part in the Facebook admin group.

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Update Cont’d ...

Bronwen

Every now and then he’d run over and press his head against you – just to make sure you hadn’t forgotten he was there! I guess it isn’t too surprising when you consider that for Skyman, and for our other hounds in foster, this is absolutely the best time of their lives (so far at least). And they want to make the most of it! Could you foster and change a greyhound’s life forever? You can read more about fostering on page 13. We ALWAYS need more foster homes. If you think you could join our team of very special people and find space in your home (and heart) for a hound in need, please call me on 075 000 62648 to find out more.

Skyman now known as Simon went to his forever home in August, he now lives in Lowestoft with Helen and her family plus a lurcher and another of our rescue greyhounds Dave.

SAD NEWS

Vicki Bacon We have recently lost a very dear friend and Kerry Greyhounds volunteer who worked relentlessly to help raise funds for Kerry Greyhounds UK amongst others. Vicki was an amazing person with a great zest for life and will be hugely missed by all who knew her.

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Many of us fortunate enough to keep our dogs with us into old age will have had some experience of living with a dog who has failing eyesight. Often it happens gradually and we may not realise our dog can’t see too well until we move a piece of furniture, or leave something lying around. My dear old whippet was almost deaf and losing his sight towards the end but because he was somewhere he knew very well (and to be honest didn’t move off the sofa very much anyway!) it wasn’t terribly obvious. Dogs cope very well with impaired or little vision. Sight is our primary sense and losing it affects a person in pretty much every aspect of their life. For dogs though, sight comes third to their senses of smell and hearing and they cope amazingly well. When we were asked to foster a partially sighted dog, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I did expect it to be much harder than fostering a dog who could see. Initially, I was right and for a few days, Buddy stayed on his lead and with me so that I could make sure he didn’t fall in the pond/down the steps/walk into a tree. But do you know, it took him just a few days to get the

layout of the house straight and about a week to do the same for the garden. I underestimated Buddy. He was just blind – not stupid or incapable. He’s been blind for most of his life and he’s learnt how to cope. He can do almost anything a sighted dog can (except run off lead).

He’s a happy, bouncy, waggy boy and he likes to introduce himself to everyone he meets. He’s also very independent and doesn’t want to be lead around by his collar – he’d rather find his own way about, thank you very much! Buddy is staying with us while his owner recovers from a serious illness. I’m hoping he’ll be able to go home soon, but I’ll miss him very much when he goes and our house will be a slightly less special place without him. He’s also taught me a valuable lesson and in future I’ll try not to make assumptions about dogs (and people) because they’re a little bit different from me!

Life with a Blind Dog

Paula

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SATURDAY 8th SEPTEMBER - Supermarket Collection and Meet & Greet at Morrisons in Cromer.

SUNDAY 9th SEPTEMBER - Fun Dog Show at Frettenham - see poster on Page 8 for details.

SUNDAY 30th SEPTEMBER - Mini quiz and auction, chips and a beef baguette (vegetarian option available) included in price. 6.30pm The Unthank Arms, 149 Newmarket Street, Norwich. NR2 2DR. This is a ticket only event, tickets cost £7.50 each, please book early to avoid disappointment. For your tickets or for more information please phone Hayley on 01603 629740, 07799 061649 or email her hayley@kerrygreyhounds.co.uk — Please see Auction Lots on page 11. If you would like to place sealed bids prior to 30th September please contact Hayley as above.

SATURDAY 13th OCTOBER - Sponsored Dog Walk starting from the Poacher’s Pocket, Bacton, Registration from 12 noon for a 2pm start. For more details or for a sponsor form please contact Bronwen on 075 000 62648 or email her bronwen@kerrygreyhounds.co.uk

SATURDAY 17th NOVEMBER - Supermarket Collection and Meet & Greet at Morrisons in Cromer

SATURDAY 1st DECEMBER - Supermarket Collection and Meet & Greet at Budgens in Cromer

CHRISTMAS FAYRE AND COFFEE MORNING - Date to be agreed

MONDAY 24th DECEMBER - Meet & Greet at Pets at Home, Hall Road, Norwich - 10am til 2pm Please see our website for updated information about these and new events.

www.kerrygreyhounds.co.uk

Fundraising Events Diary

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www.kerrygreyhounds.co.uk

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Our volunteers have been working extra hard this year so that we can keep rescuing hounds in need. They are all wonderful but we think we should mention...

Hayley and Richard who organised a Jubilee Street Party on their road in Norwich. They raised £250. Earlier the same day, two of their wonderful neighbours opened their gardens to raise money for KGUK and The Norwich Cycle Paramedic. In total they raised a huge £630 to split between the two charities. Thank you very much!!

Volunteer dog walkers John and Carol who raised £336 with a 50 mile sponsored walk and cycle ride from Cromer to Hunstanton. Bobby the jack russell completed 22 miles and Tiggy the lurcher 10. Well done all of you! Also a huge thank you to Judith and Andy for donating a 4 night break in their coastal cottage for us to auction. Trish who held a garage sale and collected over £480. What an amazing amount! Trish is now organising a ‘Growing for Greyhounds’ campaign. Are you a keen gardener? Would you be interested in “Growing for Greyhounds”? Could you get together with friends and neighbours and start growing seeds and cuttings for next spring? We’re hoping to hold a couple of plant sales in Norfolk next year but if you’re not in the Norfolk area perhaps you can form your own group and hold a sale for us? Anyone wishing to take up the trowel please e-mail Trish (p.dillon803@btinternet.com) or call 01263 578233 and leave your contact details and location. And don’t forget to send us your photos!

Fundraising News

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Pre-Order New Christmas

Collars NOW! Three beautiful new collars for Christmas. To pre-order please visit our online shop or phone Hayley on 07799 061649 or email Hayley@kerrygreyhounds.co.uk

KGUK 2013 Calendar Our very own 2013 Calendar featuring dogs we have rehomed, Available at our online shop or at our events.

New Christmas Cards for 2012 6 Cards - 3 each of 2 designs

More Christmas cards coming soon! Wrist Bands Kerry Greyhounds UK Wrist bands. Available at our online shop or at our events.

Bandanas for Dogs Kelly Green Bandana for your dog

** AVAILABLE SOON ** at our online shop or at our events.

New Merchandise

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Lots so far for Auction on 30th September: Lot 1: Limited edition Greyhound Print No 100 - signed by the artist Lot 2: Sea Life (Great Yarmouth) family ticket (2 adults + 2 children) Lot 3: Langham Glass boxed glass pink pig Lot 4: Dunston Hall tickets (2 adults) Spa Day pass Lot 5: Soft Leather Greyhound Collar (Brown)

Lot 6: Cut & Blow Dry donated by Anna at Green Rooms, Ber Street, Norwich Lot 7: One weeks fostering (greyhounds only) by Michael Lot 8: Boxed Abbots Ale Tankard and Ales Lot 9: Meal for 4 at the Airport Holiday Inn Lot 10: Family ticket for the Norwich Castle Museum Lot 11: Mr Richard King has donated one days labour for free Lot 12: Brand New Digital Photo Frame Lot 13: Paula Fenton has offered to paint a portrait of your family pet Lot 14: Brand New Tassimo Coffee Machine donated by John & June Sykes Lot 15: Meal for 2 at Park Farm Hotel/Restaurant, Hethersett

Lot16: ‘Sergio’ Meerkat donated by Dawn Browne Lot 17: Family tickets to Blickling Hall Lot 18: Framed painting 'The Girls' featuring foster dogs Bella, Onyx & Holly by Paula Fenton Lot 19: Small (dressed) Hand Knitted Greyhound Lot 20: 4 Pantomime Tickets - Theatre Royal Norwich for Friday 28th December Lot 21: Family Tickets to ‘Splash’ at Sheringham Lot 22: Langham Glass - Family Tickets Lot 23: Car Cleaning Voucher donated by AutoCarNorfolk.com (Hall Rd, Norwich)

Fundraising News Cont’d ......

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Lot 24: Giant Sized Dinosaur Lot 25: 2 Tickets for the Puppet Theatre Lot 26: ‘Bogdan’ Meerkat donated by Dave Robinson Lot 27: Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens Tickets (2 adults + 1 child or 1 adult + 2 children) Lot 28: Hand Knitted Fawn Greyhound by Paula Fenton Lot 29: 2 Tickets for Hollywood Cinema, Norwich Lot 30: Banham Zoo/Africa Alive/Dinosaur Park Tickets (2 adults + 2 children) Lot 31: Greyhound Portrait by Paula Fenton

Lot 32: 3 Course Meal including Coffee for 2 at Last Wine Bar Lot 33: Hand Knitted Black Greyhound by Paula Fenton Lot 34: Hand Knitted NCFC Dog Jumper & matching Snood, donated by Margaret Cole Lot 35: Banham Zoo/Africa Alive/Dinosaur Park Tickets (2 children) Lot 36: NCFC Shirt - Signed by the Players 2012 - donated by Kathleen Murray.

Fundraising News Cont’d ......

Why not sort out your odd button box? We need your odd buttons for use on our hand knitted / handmade items. Any size, any colour, any amount, decorative, plain, shirt, or toggles we can use / recycle them. Bring to our next event and help us fill a button bottle, or send to Kerry Greyhounds UK, PO Box 31, Spalding. PE12 9XG

Odd Button Appeal

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We always seem to be appealing for help for one thing or another – I guess that’s just how animal charities are. So many people generously donate time or hard-earned cash (or both!) to us. We wouldn’t exist at all if that didn’t happen and we can’t tell you how much it means to us. Some people, though, also open up their lives and homes to our dogs on a temporary basis. Over and over again.

I’m talking about our fosterers. We have 15 - 20 foster families (it varies due to holidays and other commitments) and they are an absolutely vital link in the process of greyhound rescue and rehoming. Of course they save us kennel fees, but they also literally save lives. Every dog that goes into a foster home frees up space for another to be rescued. However our fosterers do a lot more than that. They take in a dog that has probably spent it’s whole life in a kennel and help him or her to take their

first steps into the outside world. There are so many things for them to experience. Most have never seen televisions or hoovers or washing machines. They have no idea at all how to climb stairs. They may never have walked on the beach, or paddled in the sea - they have almost certainly never curled up on a comfy bed in a warm house. It isn’t all fun of course – foster dogs need to learn about house training. And many need to be

socialised with different breeds of dog. The vast majority of racing greyhounds have never seen a dog that isn’t another greyhound until they come into rescue. It’s a steep learning curve for them but with time and patience (and lots of tasty treats!) it doesn’t take too long

for most of them to understand. Our fosterers tell us that items seem to go missing rather a lot.... especially shoes. We think that may be because they have never had anything of their own before (beds, toys or treats) a lot of hounds feel the need to ‘collect’ things. We hear lots of stories of stashes being found in new foster dogs’ beds! We have one dog in foster who likes to hide all her treasures in a hole in the garden that she prepared specially.

Fostering – could you help?

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Fostering - Could you help? Cont’d ....

Her idea of what constitutes treasure is quite unique and consists of odd shoes and gloves (never a pair), carrots, sprout stalks, empty lemonade bottles and (by the sound of it) anything that isn’t nailed down! I’m sure her foster family will miss Titch when she finds her forever home..... Being in foster also gives us a chance to really get to know the individual dogs, and to find out what kind of home and family would suit them. This means that each adoption has the best chance of a happy and successful outcome. Fostering isn’t easy. You need to invest lots of time and patience. You need to be prepared for a few accidents at first. You need a sense of humour! But in life you get back what you put in and the rewards for fostering these gentle creatures outweigh all of that several times over.

I’m sure that any of our fosterers will tell you it’s not easy seeing a dog you’ve shared your life with leaving forever. We may even all admit to having shed a tear (or three) every time. Although we all know they’re only with us until they find a loving home, they are still part of our family. They are treated no differently from our own dogs and receive the same food, care, training and, of course, love. Needless to say, most of the dogs themselves trot happily off without so much as a backwards glance! But we do what we do for a very good reason and there is very little more rewarding than seeing a dog walking out of your door - stepping into a bright future with a loving family, and knowing that without you this same dog may

have faced at best an uncertain future - and more likely no future at all. We always need more foster families. For practical reasons we need our foster homes to be in Norfolk and Suffolk. We will pay all the costs. If you think you could help, or would like to chat with someone about what it involves, please, please get in touch.

075 000 626 48 : bronwen@kerrygreyhounds.co.uk : www.kerrygreyhounds.co.uk

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Dexie’s Diary

I wanted to share my experiences of life so will start with my arrival at Sue’s. The Man didn’t seem too pleased with me being there and kept asking how long I was going to stay, also the other dogs didn’t seem too happy with me moving in either. Incidentally they are all a very weird bunch, the big one called Baby, (I ask you) seems to spend a lot of time peeing everywhere, something to do with him having an irritated bladder. I can see I’m going to get the blame for this sometimes. There is a very grumpy girl called Millie who I am going to avoid at all costs, a very bossy mongrel called Blue. Sue refers to him as a collie cross but anyone can see that he is really just a mongrel. Blondie isn’t too bad but does have a grumpy side to her when I play jumping on top of her and Loey is plain boring. Oh and to cap it all there is Rupert an unbelievably noisy and aggressive parrot. Another one to be avoided. Sue is supposed to be some sort of ‘know all’ about dogs but I haven’t seen any evidence of this so far. There has been some attempt at training and after a few misunderstandings on her part I now sit when asked, but not on cold tiles. The best parts are my walks, apart from my attempt to jump over the sea

wall which ended up with me being taken to the vets to be stitched up. Any way I’m recovered from that now, the vets were quite nice to me but did complain that I’d trashed their kennel and peed on my blanket. This didn’t need bringing up as it wasn’t really my fault. On my last walk I spotted a man sleeping on a bench, he had lots of cans around him so I decided to wake him up. He wasn’t too happy about this so I looked around for Sue for support but as usual she was useless and heading in the opposite direction. I ran after her as she sometimes gets lost and brought a can with me to show her.

I wanted to find out how much filling there was in a king size duvet (quite a lot as it happens) and was happily

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engaged in my experiment when Sue appeared. She didn’t seem too happy and she used some very bad language which I find quite reprehensible in someone of her age. Sue’s grandchildren visited and were playing a brilliant game which involved throwing a big tarpaulin in the air and diving underneath. I joined in and one of the boys got trapped because I laid

on him. Luckily there was a small hole so I could put my head through and bite him. Sue found this very funny (she isn’t a very responsible adult in my opinion) and eventually I let him go as I could see she wasn’t going to intervene. I’m surprised that she is left in charge of children or dogs for that matter. Anyway it’s not too bad here, all things considered, and I’ve got quite fond of Sue, in spite of her faults. The Man now seems to like me although I did notice that when they took me to

something called a ‘car boot’ he spent a lot of time trying to persuade people to give me a home.

PART 2 Well Sue has stepped up her attempts at training. I am now expected to ‘sit’, ‘lie down’ and ‘stay’. She also gets me to ‘watch’ this seems pretty pointless to me but she seems very keen on me

doing it. I’m a bit worried about where all this training is leading to. I hope she isn’t expecting me to end up on some television talent show making a complete prat of myself. This is so not going to happen. There was some unpleasantness yesterday over a missing pork chop. This was supposed to be for the Man’s dinner but Sue in her usual careless manner answered her mobile phone leaving the dinner unattended. To be fair she has to leave the room if anyone phones

because the demented parrot tries to join in all phone conversations by shouting “Bye” at the top of his voice. Sue doesn’t think this sounds very professional if a client is calling and I can see her point. Anyway it was just sitting there asking to be taken so I did. Sue did try to cover up the gap in the plate but the Man still noticed and this was where the unpleasantness came in. What didn’t seem very fair is although there are five other dogs in the household I immediately got the blame when I know for a fact that Blondie took Sue’s Twiglets yesterday.

Dexie’s Diary Cont’d ....

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PART 3 Well it’s a wonder I’m here to write this. I had a near death experience yesterday whilst in Sue’s car. I had my head stuck out the window and accidentally pressed the window shutting button. My head was then trapped sticking out of the window. I remained calm expecting Sue to notice my predicament but typically she hadn’t bothered checking I was OK until we stopped. When she eventually realized that I was stuck she unbelievably laughed. Talk about irresponsible. Firstly there is some sort of lock to prevent this happening and Sue had no idea where it was. This didn’t really come as a surprise to me as I’d overheard her phoning the Man the other day asking how to undo the car bonnet. Secondly the window shouldn’t have been opened so widely that I could get my head through even though I do like to stick my head out sometimes, but not the entire journey though. There has been an issue that has been bothering me since I’ve been with Sue. Why does Baby have different food to the rest of us? Does this mean we are being fobbed off with inferior muck whilst he (even though he is the size of a Shetland pony) is given some superior quality food? I am a growing lad and need to be fed accordingly; does Sue know anything about my nutritional needs? Going by her past failings in other departments I think she probably doesn’t. As the others are totally oblivious to the situation I made it my business to

investigate further. I had to wait until Sue forgot to shut the utility room door (this didn’t take long) and then nip in there and sample the hallowed food. Unfortunately due to all the rubbish she collects in there the door shut behind me and I couldn’t get out. Anyway I helped myself to the food and was very disappointed, it actually didn’t taste as good as ours, I had to eat a fair amount to make sure though. Eventually Sue noticed my absence and I was evicted. She didn’t seem too happy and I heard her telling the Man that now she would have two of them peeing like racehorses. I have no idea what she meant.

Love

Dexie NB from Sue. Dexie helped himself to Baby’s special food designed to stimulate urinary flow to help eradicate his bladder stones. This costs £60 per bag! As I expect you all have gathered, Dexie is a very special hound, needing a very special home! He is a big bundle of energy, a couple of walks a day off lead helps to burn off this energy, and he especially loves the beach. He has a reliable recall as long as you are armed with treats, he has also been socialized to all kinds of dogs. He greets everybody as if they are his new best friend and happily plays with small and large dogs.

Dexie’s Diary Cont’d ....

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He is a good traveller but don’t leave him in the car on his own too long unless he has a chew to occupy him. He is at the age where he needs to have things to chew in fact he is a mobile shredding machine so lots of safe things to chew on will have to be provided. He does regard any object that he can get to as his so valued items must be put away! He is a big clumsy gangly clown and anyone wanting to live with Dexie must have a sense of humor. Dexie loves children but small children would easily be bowled over by his enthusiasm so older children who don’t mind being sat on and their games hijacked would get on better with Dexie. He is very clever and learns quickly, he can sit and stay, lie down and stay, come when called and do a bow! However he will only obey if he knows you have treats to reward him! He would do better with another playful dog; he doesn’t like being left by himself. I leave him with my other dogs and he is fine with this. Dexie has bags of confidence and is very outgoing, this is such a contrast to most of the greyhounds that we take in it can be a bit overwhelming. We have all fallen in love with this handsome boy and now want him to find his forever home; when he does go he will leave a big void in our lives.

Sue

Dexie’s Diary Cont’d ....

Regular Giving is a big help to us because we know that every month we will have donations coming in to pay kennel fees, vet bills and transport costs.

It helps us to plan our budget and make decisions when we are asked to take on more dogs.

Did you know that you can set up a Standing Order and donate any

amount from £1 a month upwards to us? If you are a UK tax payer we can claim back gift aid on your donations. This means that for every £10 donated, we actually get £12.50. If you think you might be able to spare a little every month to help us with our work, we have included a standing order form with this newsletter. Thank you for helping us.

Regular Giving

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Hello - my name is Pete. I’m the transport manager for Kerry Greyhounds UK. A few weeks ago we took the big red van on one of our marathon dog trips to Ireland to collect more greyhounds and lurchers in need of homes. As transport manager my duties include maintaining the high standard of safety necessary for our volunteers throughout the trip, and also responsibility for the comfort and safety of the hounds being transported on such a long journey. It can take up to 32 hours to get from Ireland to the UK. There are usually three drivers for each trip and we all take 2 hour shifts.

The van is equipped with 10 fixed purpose built crates, specifically designed to transport greyhounds. Each crate has a padded waterproof dog bed and access to drinking water at all times with a water bowl attached to the crate. The van bulkhead has been removed, to help with air movement. Ventilation is via two vents in the back doors, twin fans fitted into the roof expel stale air. Finally a sensor in the back relays

temperature and humidity to a monitor in the cab, to alert the crew of any variations. The comfort and safety of the dogs is our primary concern. My co-drivers for this trip were Paul Drury and Sam Hansford. The first experience for both of them as John Orton and Hugh Jones weren’t able to go this time. Our route takes us from Cromer in Norfolk to Pembroke in Wales, across on the ferry to Rosslare and then on at last to Dublin.

A Kerry Greyhounds UK Dog Trip – the inside story.....

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We left Cromer at 2.15pm on Friday May 18th and stopped off at South Mimms services at 5.15pm. We stopped again at Membury services on the M4 and had a meal then carried on to Pembroke. We finally arrived at the docks there at 11.40pm. We then checked in with Bronwen to let her know we’d arrived safely (she does worry about us, bless her!) and had a chat with our nearest and dearest. We boarded the ferry at 2am for a 2.45am sailing. This time we had a cabin booked so we had the luxury of 3 or 4 hours sleep on the way over! We landed at Rosslare at 6.45am, desperate for breakfast. Our plan was to get something on the way to Dublin but they must have been warned about us coming because not one place was open! We reached Dublin at 9.15am where we finally managed to get something to eat. In Dublin we met volunteers from Rainbow Rescue who had brought along 3 puppies for us. We loaded up 3 month old whippet pup Milo and greyhound brother and sister Dexie and Della. We were also met by volunteers from Sighthound Strolls and took charge of Echo, Celt, Pixie and Ozzy. Echo’s Mum Willow was there to say goodbye.

In between this we were visited by a curious vet who wanted to have a look at how we had the van set up. Needless to say she was very impressed, (actually she’s one of our team that lives in Ireland)! We left Dublin and travelled back to Rosslare for 7pm to meet H.U.G and pick up the last of our

precious cargo. Once Kookie, Ginny, Rose and Gretchen were settled, we fed and watered the dogs and with all 11 safely on board (2 of the pups were small enough to share a crate) we were finally ready.

A Kerry Greyhounds UK Dog Trip Cont’d ..

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The return ferry left at 8.45pm which gave us time for all the dogs to have a good walk on Rosslare beach then some dinner. We boarded the ferry, had a quick meal, then off to the cabin for another 3-4 hours (much needed!) sleep. The dogs stay in the van during the ferry crossing. We arrived at Pembroke docks at 00.45am on Sunday morning. All the dogs were exercised, fed and watered before being loaded back up for the long, boring journey up the M4 to Norfolk. 160 miles of straight motorway with no bends and nothing in sight at that time in the morning. We had a break 3 hours later and the dogs had a short walk and a drink. We reached South Mimms at 7.30am where we all had very large cups of coffee and the dogs had a drink of water and a walk. When we reached Thetford (about an hour from home) we phoned all the fosterers to tell them what time we’re expecting to get to Thickthorn Services so that they can meet us and pick up any dogs lucky enough to be going straight into foster. This time 5 dogs (Milo, Della, Pixie, Ozzy and Echo) were met by their new foster families and taken home. We then dropped 5 more dogs at our kennels in North Norfolk (Celt, Kookie, Rose, Gretchen and Ginny) and after a short detour to Sheringham to drop off Dexie, we eventually made it back to base at 1pm. Standing in the empty, quiet van - alone with my thoughts - I feel an overwhelming sadness. As a group these dogs will almost certainly never see one other again. But they have now reached safety. Their old lives are far behind them and their new lives as treasured companions are about to start. Job done!!! I got home at 2pm and crawled straight off to bed for a very well earned sleep.

Total journey time 48 hours. Total mileage 1168 miles.

A Kerry Greyhounds UK Dog Trip Cont’d ..

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A Kerry Greyhounds UK Dog Trip Cont’d ..

My personal thanks go to Bronwen for all her hard work. She is always at the end of the phone, liaising with recues in Ireland to make sure everybody is in the right place at the right time. And making sure we have plenty of sea-sickness tablets for ferry crossings in Force 10 gales! Also my thanks to the crew on this occasion (Paul and Sam) on their first dog trip to Ireland. Finally thank you to our respective better halves for looking after our own dogs and supporting us whilst we are away.

Pete Transport Manager and Volunteer Driver.

And where are the dogs from the May trip now?

- Celt (now called Flax) was adopted by the founder of Greyhound Rescue West of England and has travelled back to Wales to join her pack. - Echo (now Molly) has a lovely home in Norwich. - Pixie also lives in Norwich now. - Della was been adopted with Archie the lurcher pup. She’s having lots of fun! - Milo has gone to live in Lincolnshire. - Ozzy lives in Worcestershire with another lurcher for company. - Gretchen, Kookie and Dexie are in foster homes. - Ginny and Rose are still waiting in kennels for someone to take them home.

Do you want to get involved and help us to save lives? 075 000 626 48 / bronwen@kerrygreyhounds.co.uk /

www.kerrygreyhounds.co.uk

Sue Shearing A.DipCBM (dist) (miace) Canine Behaviourist. Fully insured

Helping owners with problems they are experiencing with their dogs such as: Aggressive behaviour towards humans or other dogs. Inappropriate barking. Compulsive behaviours. Nervous or fearful behaviour. Inappropriate elimination problems.

For more details please phone Sue on 01263 513930 or mobile 07826 847879 e-mail sue@sueshearing.plus.com

Ever wanted to go on holiday but not have to

leave your dog in kennels?

Call Michael on 07940 269557

Michael will board your dog

in his own home

You can enjoy your holiday knowing that your dog is happy

and well cared for.

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Isla's story, although we didn't know it at the time, began in January 2011 when we lost our beautiful afghan hound puppy, Zan after a short illness. The whole house went into mourning, myself, John and all the other dogs for weeks unable to come to terms with what had happened. We had run The Scottish Afghan Hound Rescue for a number of years but had handed it back to The Afghan Hound Club of Scotland so were fully aware of the need for dog rescue organisations and I had always had a look round their sites on the computer. As well as afghans, we also had Hamiltonstovares, a greyhound and a couple of lurchers over the years. At this point we already had 11 dogs at home. But this didn't stop me from looking at the various rescue sites, particularly those relating to greyhounds and lurchers. While browsing the net I came across Kerry Greyhounds and, in particular, a tiny puppy dressed in a red knitted jumper who was in a poor condition and needed a home desperately. Her name was Isla and she was the one for us! We were homechecked and passed as OK, we arranged travel to Belfast to

pick her up from her foster carer, Trish. On seeing her, I was overcome with emotion and could not wait to get her

home, our new, beautiful little girl. We arrived home about midnight and decided to go straight to bed and introduce her to her new family the following morning. Isla came to bed with us and has been their ever since! Isla settled in immediately and lifted the spirits of us all from that moment. She was a bit shy of people so I decided to take her to our local dog training club in the village and she has

passed all her Good Citizens awards, bronze, silver and gold. She now loves going to training and drags me into the hall to meet her new pals, dog and human. She has a lovely life with all her pals, goes to the beach five minutes from home, comes hill walking with me and our daughter and has a 2 acre paddock, all fenced in, at home to run to her heart’s content. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all at Kerry Greyhounds for allowing us to have such a lovely girl. Thanks to All .

Susan and John Blane (and Isla)

Isla’s Story

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Knutty Knitters

For enquiries about adopting or fostering a greyhound please contact Bronwen on 075 000 62648 or email bronwen@kerrygreyhounds.co.uk For enquiries about merchandise please contact Tracey on 07766 222706 or email tracey@kerrygreyhounds.co.uk For enquiries about fundraising please contact Hayley on 07799 061649 or email hayley@kerrygreyhounds.co.uk For enquires about our sponsorship scheme please contact Paula on 07799 232 821 or email sponsor@kerrygreyhounds.co.uk Postal Address: Kerry Greyhounds UK, PO Box 31, Spalding PE12 9XG

Contact Us

www.kerrygreyhounds.co.uk

Knutty Knitters of East Runton have chosen Kerry Greyhounds as their Charity of the Year (2012/13). Knitters are busy creating snoods, coats, blankets, jumpers, toys and many other things to sell on a stall in a few months time. The group is held at my home in East Runton and anyone wishing to help, or learn to knit or come and have a bit of a chat over a cup of tea and a biscuit are more than welcome. Just ring me (Zena) on 07786 634586 and leave a message if I don't pick up, I will get back to you as soon as I can.

We meet on a Monday from 2.30pm until 4.30pm and it is just a £1.00 a week. After you have been a member for

four weeks you will be issued with a membership card which will enable you to get 10% discount on full priced wool at a local knitting shop. We are looking for donations of wool, needles, patterns, old clean duvets and covers, old pillow cases, clean ground sheets to help move the project along. If you are able to

help or would like to come along please ring my mobile number. Many thanks for your support. Zena and the Knutty Knitters