April 2
Remembering Naughtiness – Story 2
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I am blessed with three sweet houndies, but into every good life comes a little naughtiness. I’m spending a few weeks remembering. This story happened shortly after we got Freedom and Casper. Nikki hadn’t joined our family yet.
 
Am I in all these stories?
Freedom and Casper joined our family in April. April showers bring May flowers…and thunder. With the first rumble, we found out that thunder turned Freedom into a shaking mess. I search the internet and saw the Thundershirt.
During this time, we had some weekend guests and at one point the conversation turned to the Thundershirt. My husband thought that a tight t-shirt would serve the same purpose, so off he went to get a t-shirt. Casper, being a cooperative hound, was chosen as the test subject. The t-shirt was slipped on him, it was huge, so the experiment was deemed a failure, but we kept the t-shirt  on him because he looked so cute.
Jump ahead a little bit…Everyone was talking and visiting; Freedom and Casper were sacked out in the family room, and I decided to put some of the recyclables in the bin in the garage. I went out, but I didn’t close the door completely. As I walked toward the recycle bin, I heard the door pop open. I turned around and out comes Casper.
 
I was curious to see what was out in front of the house, and then my mommy scared me.
Now, a little information about Greyhounds and their collars. Greyhounds and other sight hounds have necks that are larger than their narrow heads, so they wear a limited-slip collar, more commonly known as a martingale. A martingale collar consists of a length of material with a metal ring at each end. A separate loop of material passes through the two rings. The leash attaches to a ring on this loop. If your pup tries to back out of a martingale collar, the collar tightens around their neck.
I grabbed Casper’s collar but didn’t grab the tightening loop, so he backed right out of his collar. Oh, no! now I’m starting to panic, so I move towards him, probably in a pretty wild way. Casper gets scared and starts to move away from me. Now, I’m hollering for my husband, further spooking Casper, who trots down the driveway and onto the street, determined to find a new home where the lady of the house doesn’t scream and grab at you.
 
I’m a little scamp!
So there goes my relatively new Greyhound…collarless, not microchipped and wearing a t-shirt. I happened to remember reading that if your Greyhound ever took off and you could still see them, you should try to get their attention and then run away from them, hopefully tapping into their instinct to chase moving objects. That’s what I did…I called his name, got his attention and took off jogging towards the house, and IT WORKED. Casper caught up to me quickly. Thankfully, he had on that goofy t-shirt, so I was able to grab it and walk him into the house. WHEW!
I’m glad I decided to come back.
That was scary! SHE’s learned to just get out of sight and we come back. As long as we can see HER we feel safe, so SHE has to hide behind things….looking strange if anyone is looking.
XXXOOO daisy, Bella & Roxy
Hehehehe…sorry but da vision of you running down da street AWAY from Casper is purty funny…and he in a t-shirt! Oh what were da neighbors thinkin’?
I is still waitin’ on me a martingale collar…it has been an eternity.
Puddles
Oh Casper! What a scare. Georgia took off the first time I walked her on my own and I was running and screaming in the park looking for her. She’d taken off onto the road and luckily a car stopped to let me know where she was.
You know, I think a tight tshirt or dog jammie works just as well, or a blankie when they’re in bed. I’ve found so with Georgia anyway. And that’s what the lady at the kennels did too. She left Georgia’s jammies on her for the first few days until she settled. Much cheaper than a thunder shirt!
That is so scary! Thank goodness you stayed calm. We had almost the exact same thing happen with Weasley and I was in a panick thank goodness I thought to run away back home and he followed me. It was so scary
urban hounds
Casper mom is cackling like a yard full of hens!!
OMDs this was hilarious…(sorry Lori). You painted quite a vivid picture.
Casper our mom’s have one thing in common….they both have ear piercing screams.
Thanks for the MOL/LOL
hugs madi your BFFF
Thanks for my morning laugh! I can just see that scene – poor Casper, in a t-shirt, no less – wondering what in the world he’s gotten himself into. THAT needs to be in a movie!
A heart stopping moment. Glad he came back.
We are glad you came back too, Casper. We are all just hoping that the moral of this story isn’t going to be that we should always wear a t-shirt so the humans can catch us:)
Woos – Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
Oh scary!! Glad it worked out OK though. I’m sure he is very happy to be there too.
I’m so glad that Casper was caught. Why is it that greyhounds run from us? I just don’t understand. Jack gave me a few scares like that.
We were able to use the t-shirt on Jack. We tied it in a knot around this waist and it really helped him. We learned that from a vet at a greyhound event. I guess if it is tight, they feel secure.
We have been there and done that several times over at our house, and that is why my mom’s heart is now the size of a grinches cos its been scared so many times….mom said she wishes our whole yard is fenced but dad is a butt** about it!!
stella rose and mags
Did you know that every grey owner has had the same terrifying experience?
We could scream and laugh and hug just remembering!
Thank you!!!
I am so glad that you came home too Casper!!! I miss my Zoie so much!!!
Ha ha ha! My guess is that if you’d walked back into the house initially, he would have walked back in with you. Over the years, we’ve had dropped leashes and such, and learned that faking it will get them back in the house with us. It is scary when it happens, though!
Oh lord I have been there. Girly Girl got out the cellar door into the side yard behind me. She began running ever widening circles which would eventually lead her to the front yard and the road. I recalled the same thing, called her name and ran away towards the basement. She came right behind me, I opened the door to let her back in and Blue came barreling out past both of us and started running circles of his own! I got GG in and tried the same trick on Blue. Yep, it does work twice…
That was totally scary in a funny sort of way!
Kisses
Nellie
Whew indeed, it was only funny because of the t-shirt. So far this hasn’t happened to me and I sure hope it never does … it’s probably every Greyhound owners worst nightmare!
😀 Casper and Gwyn would make a cute pair! 😀 So glad the trick worked…have used that one myself!
Oh dear. I think I may have to tell you about the thing mum said we would never mention again. When we were on holiday last year, mum was trusting me off lead in the garden when I suddenly took off, ran around the house to the front, down the drive and right across a very busy road. Mum really thought she’d find me squashed when she got there. I was actually sniffing pee mails the other side. It put the whole off lead thing back a bit….