Bobo

We took a hound from Hersham Greyhound Welfare Kennels for a day out on Sunday. Our kids wanted to go to Painshill Park and our retired greyhound Alexa always likes having the company of her own kind.

The kennels gave us Bobo. Bobo has only been at the kennels for three weeks. A new young fellow (not yet four), hoping to be adopted into a loving home. Dot described him as 'a little darling' and she wanted to see what he was like on his first trip to 'the big wide world'.

So Bobo got the family road test: an afternoon out with two children, aged five and eight, liable at any moment to give an unsuspecting greyhound a bear hug.

We think he is named after Bobo Balde, a huge and very enthusiastic footballer who plays as a whole-hearted centre half for Glasgow Celtic.

Bobo the greyhound isn't huge, he is on the small side for his breed. But he is enthusiastic, and his default mood is happy. His tale was wagging immediately we left the kennels, and he wagged it a lot during the afternoon.

We took him to Painshill park and he had a good old walk around the lake. He listened patiently to the guide's description of how the artificial stalagtites were made when we did the tour of the grotto. He wasn't phased by anything and seemed to enjoy the attention given him by our kids and the general public.

His desire to fit in makes him a quick learner, he was hesitant about getting into the car on the way out but jumped in with alacrity on the way back. By the end of the walk he was starting to recognise his name and turned his head when we spoke to him.

He flirted with little old ladies and cheerfully approached little kiddies too. He did all he could to recommend himself as a potential adorable pet hound. He definately has a 'take me home, you won't regret it' expression on his sweet face!

He walked in zig zags all the way round Painshill because he was interested in everthing. Food will be a big motivator to him, we had to get his snout out of our picnic bag a couple of times.

We didn't meet many other dogs so we didn't do the 'spaniel test' but a note on his record card at the kennels says that he is good with small dogs.

We think he would suit any type of household, including families with children. We couldn't fault him.

ReachTheBeach 2008

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Retired greyhound social walk: Richmond Park

The first retired greyhound social walk took place on Sunday 10 February. We met at Broomfield Hill car park in Richmond Park at 11am.

Hersham Hounds had advertised the walk on their website and at the kennels, and we had heard from Denise that a number of people had booked out greyhounds for the day to bring them on the walk. But we didn't have a clue how many retired greyhounds and their owners or friends would turn up

In the end the sun shone and around 20 dogs enjoyed the springlike day.



We strolled down the hill to Isabella plantation, did a tour of the woodland garden, then stopped outside it for some photos and chat.

We had a nice mix of adopted greyhounds and their owners, together with hounds from the Hersham kennels. We recognised some recently adopted hounds and enjoyed hearing how they were getting on.

Lots of passers by stopped to chat and fuss the hounds. People were genuinely interested in seeing so many dogs of the same breed together. The hounds were beautifully behaved and so quiet. They seemed to enjoy their walk and each others company (and especially the sausages Tom handed out to them).




There was a general consensus that we should repeat the walk, and lots of ideas for places we could meet (including Nonsuch Park and Wimbledon Common).