Lonely Grehound

Fergus my first Saluki Greyhound had died on Bonfire Day 2007. Molly the Greyhound, his mate was sad. In fact she was sad, I was sad and even Other Half, the subject of 'Ferg Terrorising' for several years was sad.



In my sadness I had resolved not to have another dog. Be sensible, stick to just one, it made life much easier, I could have a hand free on walks, not get dragged in two different directions and the food, vet and kennelling bills would be halved. It made sense both financially and generally, two dogs were hard work, they took up twice the amount of space and caused twice the amount of trouble. I definately was not going to get another dog.



Then I started to browse the internet to 'look' at Salukis. Only to look, not to buy or rescue or anything, just a perusal just to see. I also decided to investigate dog training classes for Molly as she was ever so slightly deranged and we'd never really put the effort in as she had basically followed Fergus and learned from him.



It was a week after Ferg had died whilst looking for dog training classes that I came accross Dumfries & Galloway Canine Rescue. They had lots of interesting things on their sites, including dog training but also there was a button to press to view the dogs that needed homes. DON'T DO IT!!!! DON'T PRESS THE BUTTON!!!!!!!!.............................I pressed the button.



It was heartbreaking, so many dogs needing homes and none of it their fault. It made me cry and I tried to stay detached. Then I saw a big shaggy Lurcher. He was lovely, a giant version of Scruffy, the dog I had as a child. Oh what a dilema. I didn't want another dog. But I had space, love and so much doggy paraphenalia that it seemed wrong not to get another dog. Agggghhhhh, I didn't want another dog!



I switched off the computer and tried to put it out of my mind which lasted all of 5 minutes. When I switched on again I tried to distract myself by looking at pictures of Salukis again and then came up with the idea that I would break the bank and get a real Saluki puppy. Not a rescue but a complete blank slate, small and gorgeous, sweet and trainable. But I didn't want another dog.



I managed to survive a few more days but gave in once more and decided to look into getting a Saluki pup. Well it appears to be easier to take a holiday on Mars. I found some breeders websites but none seemed to have any litters. I tried to email a few people to enquire about the cost of a Saluki pup but got no reply - this could have been my dodgy email account but it didn't help. One site even wanted people to explain why prospective owners thought they should be lucky enough to have a Saluki grace them with their presence in their life! Goodness me.



I then found out that there are an almost impossibly small number of pups born each year, something like 140 - and that made the decision, what chance realistically would I have of getting one? Probably none and even if I did goodness knows how much one would cost. So that idea was out of the window. And I didn't want another dog anyway.

I then had another idea. Saluki rescue. I tried to email and again no reply. Bloody email! Mine works most of the time and every now and then won't send anything out. So I tried searching for rescue organisations and quickly came accross www.greyhoundsgalore.org.uk as they were advertising a young male Saluki cross who'd been in a bad way when they picked him up. There was a picture. It hit me in the head so hard I nearly fell off the sofa, it was a perfect cross between Molly and Fergus, this lovely dog had Fergus's eyes and ears and Molly's stripes and gaze, what a wonderful combination, how could I reisist.

I still didn't know if I wanted another dog. Note the progression from not wanting another dog.

Other half by this time had had two weeks of me saying I didn't want another dog but constantly showing him pictures of the shaggy Lurcher and the Saluki cross. In the end he broke and demanded that I choose one of them and we would go and get it at the weekend. I protested, I really didn't want another dog, the heartache after loosing Ferg and Bonnie was too much to go through all over again.

Then I looked at Molly. She was laying on her bed gazing up at me with her huge sad eyes. She looked sad. She looked lonely and over the last couple of weeks she had really pined for Fergus, probably more than the humans in the house. It was though she was saying to me that she wanted a mate, a friend to run around with and get up to all sorts of mischief and continue the legacy of terrorising Other Half. She was spending her days on her bed in the living room while I went about my work in the workshop outside. She didn't want to come with me and lay under my bench, all she wanted to do was nothing. It was so sad.

That was the decider for me. Molly needed another dog even if I was unsure so I phoned Dumfries and Galloway rescue to ask about the shaggy Lurcher. The man I spoke to was really nice and said that another couple were coming to see him that day and if they didn't want him then I could come to see him. I had decided that as I'd seen the Lurcher first I'd give him first go.

The other couple wanted the shaggy Lurcher so that made the decision, I would enquire about the Saluki cross so I emailed Greyhounds Galore.

I got a reply. It was very honest. The Saluki cross was in a bad way. He had had some sort of allergy and lots of his fur had fallen out. He had also been starved and was extremely skinny. His behaviour was quite mad, when he went for a walk he would walk on his hind legs and go completely off his head when he saw another dog. They were very honest and I thank them for it.

I emailed back to ask if I could go to see him the next day.