Billy Dog

It’s been nearly 18 months now since Billy dog first stepped foot into his new home and life.  I would like to think it was an fairly untraumatic for him - aside from needing to learn toiletry ettitquette, it’s been a rather easy journey for the hound to make the transition from kennel to house. 

To look at him now, lying on his back with legs akimbo in front of the TV with a quite simply stupid look on his face (as his tongue hangs out) I would like to think he’s happy.  This morning however he did have a strop - they say as you get to know your dog you learn to interpret his actions, and Billy definitely comes to me when he’s troubled - whether its to be let out (he will run all the way upstairs to bother me to let him out when there are two very able human shaped beings downstairs who can do the same duty!), wants more drink water (same as before, he always finds me!) or if he wants to hide from the nasty fireworks.  This morning I can only imagine he came to me slightly distressed because his favourite bed (the recent red WOOF bed from his favourite aunt) was being washed.   He didn’t want to go out, he had water and there were no fireworks so I can’t imagine what else he was demanding me to attend to - that was the only change, he had an old bed to sleep on whilst his other one was being washed! 

This might seem a bit of ‘looney owner’ thinking they know their dog but honestly, in the past few weeks Billy has been developing a bit of a ‘me’ attitude - its all about him! hehe  I can’t say I’m surprised, he’s been spoilt rotten since that first day so I guess a little bit of attitude of our own making was bound to happen - it’s cute, for now.

Like when he will just stare at the occupants of the sofa, and then stand in front of them with his ears up - the minute they move from the sofa he jumps on and is all settled, he’s happy, he’s got the sofa, its all about him! hehe

Just lately, a very pleasing development is his eating habits - every so often he will eat his dinner and then sniff around for any crumb or snack he can get - we’ve started to give him another smaller portion of food when he does this and he’s happy (it’s all about him! hehe) - and we’re happy, instead of taking all day to eat his main meal, sometimes not even finishing it before his next one - he’s now asking for seconds, which he’s not abusing, it happens once or so a week - but its good to see him enjoying food.

He doesn’t like the cold and sadly our house can get cold in the mornings but I think he has enough blankets and beddings (and beds!) to ensure he remains snug - nothing cuter though than seeing Billy all snuggled up in his blankets!  He still can’t make his own bed though, he keeps trying but he’s just no good at it - one night I didn’t sort his bedding out before he went to bed and he kept huffing and sighing, getting up, moving around until I couldn’t stand it no more - I got up, sorted his bed out and hey presto - billy slept like a dopey hound!

So, 18 months and Billy is living the life of Riley - and so he should!!

Billy Dog 2010

Billy had a very restful Christmas time, which was apt as he received a really cool gift from his favourite Aunt Nita - a brand new bed, and handily we can tell it’s Billy’s cos it’s red and has a bit WOOF written on it. (see pictures below of Billy enjoying it).

Yesterday was very amusing in Billy world, I was leaving to go to Manchester to watch the world’s greatest football team (that’s Man Utd just to confirm… ahem) and was packing the car with Billy looking on from the door - and when it came time to leave, Billy was stood with mum on the doorstep as he usually does but as I opened my car door Billy just suddenly bolted out to my side as if decided he too was going to Manchester with us - poor little billy was so excited but i had to lead him back into the house, sadly I only had enough tickets for me and bro for the game!  Apparently he moped around for the rest of the day and night waiting for our return - which we now have so he’s all happy again

Have a happy new year and see you again in 2010!

Thanks for reading my blog - eat lots and don’t forget to treat your four legged friends!!!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but we’ve been researching Billy and discovered that its very true that he sleeps ALL the time, at least 23 hours a day, with one hour a day to do important chasing of his toys.

Its that time of year that Billy hates - it has gotten darker earlier, the loud bangs of the fire works and it’s getting colder.  Walk times at the moment are quite a trial as Billy’s phobias of the outside world, and his fears of the dark are at their highest peak.  Now the rattle of his lead and the impending doom of the outside world set him shaking like a leaf… until he actually has the lead on, then he’s happy as larry and walking out the door - strange hound.

Earlier this month I had some time of work and decided to document a day in the life of Billy and these are the results…

Its the Hindu Festival of Light around London at the moment aka Divaali and the first day of a nightmare couple of weeks for Billy dog, the hater of fireworks.  Tis the season of the big bangs, beginning with Divaali and ending with Guy Fawkes.

However, Billy has found a temporary solution - hiding under his toys with a blanket tied around his head… works for him!

Today Billy was another year older, but still reminding us he’s a big kid at heart still.  For his birthday he had a lie in, finally rising at 9am to see what I was up to (I was packing for my hols!), he then was very happy when there was an afternoon downpour for him to run about in and then just stood there getting soaked, and then he insisted on a car journey when I went to collect mum from work - literally stood by the front door and wouldn’t move until I put his lead on. 

I was naturally worried, Billy and my car are still a dodgy combination after his little accident earlier in the year but I was amazed - for some reason today Billy just got in the car, sat down, and I didn’t hear a peep out of him the entire trip, he just went to sleep on the back seat and was happy as larry.

He finished the day with some treats and now his blog post.  Billy from tomorrow will be in the care of my bro and mum whilst I jet off to America for a couple of weeks - so I’ll let you know how he is when I return!!

The official birthday photos…

A year today I brought home a dopey dog and for the past 12 months I have watched him settle in, nick stuff, be a little bit naughty and entertain us all.

So with a year to look back on, I thought I’d mark the highlights…

Funniest Thing - Billy discovering that snow is ok - watch the video

Naughtiest thing - Billy leaving a gift at my work, a number two right outside reception!

Cleverist thing - learning that the Windows Shut down sound is when he needs to be by the back door for his pee before bed!

Biggest Achievement - Learning to enjoy walking around our area

The Special Award - for still amusing us when every night he sleeps on his back, no matter where he’s lying - bonus points for when he misjudges his swing onto his back and crashes into nearby furniture.

Honourable mention - for being the first greyhound we have owned who has absolutely no desire to escape from our home, who is quite content to stand by the front door without daring to go outside, who we have been able to trust for the past year not to lead us on merry dances trying to find him in the neighbourhood… long may this continue, but never forget Mr Billy, we are always watching you!

Happy Homing Anniversary, it’s been fab, and may there be many more!!

We are rapidly approaching the 1st year of living with Billy anniversary, its gone so fast!  In roughly 12 days it will be an entire year since we brought Billy dog home, so I thought I’d take a moment to post some thoughts and observations into the life and times of Billy dog.

Routines - Billy is all for routines, and he has a few that he keeps to each day.  His morning habits change day by day - sometimes he sleeps in, other times he’ll wake us up at 3am wanting to go out, but generally he gets up with mum gets up and he’s given a few treats for breakfast.  He quickly stopped eating cereal but he does like a nice bowl of milk and has developed a routine that whenever we have tea, then its only fair that he gets a little bit of milk - he even has his own little milk bowl (its very diddy and cute!).  His next routine would be that of when the first person arrives home on any day when we are all out at work.  Immediately he will dash to the back door and he will do a wee and run straight back in, and then insists on some cuddles before then asking to go out a second time where he will do his number twos - he NEVER does them both in the same time period, he always pees first, then cuddles inside, then his number twos - we have no idea why, but it works so we wont be trying to change it.

His night time routine is probably the most amusing.  He will stay downstairs until both myself and mother go to bed.  Then he will come upstairs and go into mother’s room and collect a couple of little treats she leaves out for him, he will then come into my room (his bedroom!) and sleep until I go to bed.  On the sound of Windows shutting down Billy automatically goes to the back door (I still have no idea how this got into his head but its a really cool trick that works any time of day, all I have to do is shut down my computer and Billy, like a robot, goes to the back door!), he will then do his nightly piddle before coming back into the house and heading straight up to my room, as I come up the stairs he will come down three steps so he can look around the corner to collect the 1st of 3 treats.  The second treat is given for him going into my room and the third and final treat for when he settles down.  Most of the time this works in that he now knows its bedtime, once the lights are out he’s on his back and goes to sleep.

Whenever we forget any of the steps to his routine we know about it, either we get the disappointed doggy eyes of doom or he’ll be agitated, neither of which we like to see so we are very well trained to his routines! 

Recent phobias Billy has picked up to add to the previous ones posted a while ago…

• Ice Cream vans (with music playing)
• Little friendly girls and her friends wanting to pet him (terrifies him!)
• Thunder (puts him right off his food and he sulks for a day!)
• The new surround sound system when the woofer is in use
• The vets - not exactly surprising but he now recognises the building and has issues

Recent things Billy now loves…

• RAIN - to the point Billy will get excited if he hears rain, which is great, we dont mind him getting wet and he will just stand in the garden with his head held high enjoying the feeling of rain - I suspect the drying off with the fluffy towel is what he really likes, but he does get confused when the sound of rain is played on tv, especially with the sound system.
• Trevor - took him a little longer to warm to my brother but they are best mates now, Billy even wags his tail when Trev enters the room, poor dogs been brainwashed! hehe
• Trevs bed - just don’t tell Trev!  opps…

A few months ago I publish that Billy’s mummy ‘Maggie’ had been in touch, and I posted some pictures of her - well today Billy went to see his mum as she celebrated her 13th birthday and a family reunion!  Maggie was rightly the center of attention in her own hospitality tent, where 9 of her brood were waiting for her, including Billy.

Maggie is an absolutely lovely hound, who was rescued nearly 3 years ago and brought back from deaths door with a load of love and attention - and it shows.  In total Maggie had 22 pups, Billy must have been one of her early litters as his gathered brothers and sisters today all seemed to be younger!  There were no direct brothers or sisters for Billy to meet, but he did say hello (in that typical doggy fashion ie: not to the face) to all his half bro’s and sisters.

It was a great day out for Billy, who’s recent adventures outside the house haven’t been as fun - on Thursday the poor hound had to have 8 teeth out after underlying problems were found during a routine clean.  Thankfully though he was back to his normal self today for the party, but naturally we didn’t give him any of his mummy’s cake just in case!

Enjoy the photos!

… I mean check up, Billy went to the vets today for a check up and although we have concerns he is developing arthritis in his left leg (where we were told he had an old racing injury), everything else checks out fine.  He’s a good weight, although he’s put on a few pounds from 31lb last august, he’s now a 35lb which we’re told is a good weight.  Billy will now be taking supplements to try as a precautionary measure if he is developing arthritis, we only have suspicions due to recent bouts of limping and excessive cleaning of his left paw that might indicate an ache in the joints in that area.

But as promised here are some recent photos of Billy dog…