Friends of Hersham Hounds

Why everyone should own a greyhound!

2009-12-28T18:01:00.003Z

Meet and Greet

2009-09-28T20:32:00.002+01:00

11-2pm Saturday 3 October

Outside Somerfields supermarket High Street New Malden.

Car parking in Blagdon Road, 5 minutes walk away. There is a park behind the Malden centre in Blagdon Road if needed to exercise the dogs.

If you can bring your greyhound or one from the kennels please contact Denise or Tania on 07746655040

MANY THANKS!

Video of Nonsuch park social walk, September 2009

2009-09-26T22:16:00.003+01:00

2009-09-21T21:31:00.001+01:00

Its all a bit sureal sometimes- the little book is coming out very soon and there will be a whole launch party thing at the kennels and book signing.......yep I'm freaking out a little. I'm looking at it as extra night at the kennels and not thinking about the rest to much- it just to weird. Anyway homing has been going well at the kennels, including a few dogs from a certain kennels we helped out in the summer . There seem to be fewer bitches around at the moment, this is not due to us homing more of them but a lack of them coming in from trainers- think they are being sent off for breeding?Missy almost went home, she was being considerd by someone and it would have been a wonderful home but nothing came of it. How do I feel about it? Well the selfish part of me is happy she will still be around in the kennels but the more bigger logical part of me is so sad she missed out on a home and will spend another christmas in the kennels? I was helping with the feeding today, I put a bit extra in her bowl, a couple of tripe sticks and bits which I made into a smily face on top of her food. Yeah..... she needs to find a home soon or one of us will need some serious therapy.Been taking other hounds out to "socialise" them with other breeds, I had a little blue girl and she liked to "socialise" in the same style of a football hooligan- charge straight at the other canine in a "comeonethen!" style. Hmm going to need a little more work on this one. Actually she's not that bad and I think we can work on that but we've got one hound that screams when he see's a different breed of dog.How are we going to home that one?I suppose encouraging him to chase everything that was not a greyhound may have been the name of the game for those who trained him but guess they couldn't give a stuff about what would happen to him after racing.He's a blue dog so people will like him for his colour then ask us awkward questions like "Is he good with cats?" and "Will he get on with my Jack Russel?" and we will have to say "Neither will ever trouble you again if you take him home..." Loves people although people made him the way he is, its a messed up world isn't it?

Richmond Park Walk

2009-08-28T11:01:00.002+01:00

SUNDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2009

Meet 11.00am at Kingston Gate and walk to Pembroke Lodge for coffee.

Bring your hound or ask Denise if you can bring one of the kennel hounds.

Jane, Poppy, Bob and Nelly

Next Greyhound Social Walk: 10.30 am Sunday 6 September 2009 Nonsuch Park

2009-07-29T18:14:00.008+01:00

Come and take your retired greyhound, or a homeless hound from Hersham, for a stroll through Nonsuch Park

We will walk along the mown paths through the meadows to the Mansion House which has a cafe, picnic area and WCs. We'll stay a while for a chat and of course to admire our lovely hounds.

John Gooch the park keeper and owner of retired greyhound Brandy and Ash the lurcher will be joining us (as they did the last time we had a social walk in Nonsuch Park)

Go to the car park located on the big bend on London Road, near Ewell. The car park is marked with a red circle on this map

You will see this monument at the car park entrance:

Please contact the welfare kennels at Hersham if you are able to take a homeless hound out with us.

We look forward to seeing you there!

2009-07-28T20:21:00.001+01:00

Strange how life works out, one day you think "I wonder what a greyhound even looks like close up" and a few years down the line you end up on Utube doing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38r2COGpY5kIf you can't guess which one I am....I'm not telling you!I've been playing in the paddocks with the greyhounds, well no if any of the staff are reading this I've been wood staining the fence diligently. Its hard, I mean you are trying to paint away and there is a naughty greyhound play bowing at you, it would be rude of me not to chase him just a little bit wouldn't it? Rufus showed a total lack of appreciation of my efforts to make his environment a bit smarter by peeing in my paint. So all the fences have are now Culprano "Forest Oak brown"- with hint of wee colour.Madaboutgreys is an amazing photographer, she took a load of pics of my fav' greyhound, Missy with her new collar which I won on an auction for her.http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=madaboutgreys&s=recThe last pic is my favourite, she is smiling, I swear it.Homing has been up and down some going home but some coming back. I don't get so worked up about them coming back now because its much better to have them safe with us. One came back after just a few days and seemed so miserable. A few days later she was back to her normal self, greyhounds are so sensitive aren't they? Makes me laugh when I go home at the end of the day and they thank me for doing a bit of work for them. I'm like, no thank you for giving me purpose and joy in my mundane life.

2009-06-26T17:17:00.002+01:00

Brave Sam

One of Sanctuary dogs is the bravest hound I know. Last year he had a terrible infection in his anal glands. He was very uncomfortable and we didn't help because we had to keep him muzzled to stop him worrying it. As soon as it clears up, it comes back again so he was put on a course of steroids which makes his coat thick so he suffers in summer. What makes him amazing to me is that he takes it all so well. He does not struggle if you have to muzzle him for example, he is always pleased to see you and has such a waggly tail bless him.

Yesterday he was having a good poke around in a bush......and got bittern by a snake!!! His nose has swollen up and he has a big welt on the side of his muzzle. He looks like a bull terrier and is in a lot of discomfort and pain. He's on medication now and pain killers but is very sensitive on his muzzle. To reduce the swelling we have been pressing cold packets of pees on him- it must hurt and yet his tail is wagging away when we do it to him.

Get better soon my brave, brave black hound you are an inspiration and much loved part of our kennels.

Richmond Park Walks

2009-05-28T21:06:00.002+01:00

Everybody seems to be really busy during the weekends over the summer so we have decided to postpone our next Richmond Park walk until the autumn. However, if you get any time off during the week, come and join us on Tuesday mornings at 9.15am during term-time - meeting at Kingston Gate.

2009-05-13T20:33:00.001+01:00

Have I gone nuts........or should that be barking crazy?I have pictures of hounds on my walls and my locker at work.No longer have any clean clothes that don't have kennel paint or little rips or holes from over eager hounds.Spend most of my free time at the kennels and forget to do things like buy human stuff.Talk about greyhounds at work to much eg. "Staff meeting today at 9am and no Alex for the hundrenth time we will not be converting part of the building into a greyhound creshe anytime soon."Thinking of trading in the cool sporty saloon for... one of those boxy estate things even though I don't own a hound yet but usually have one in the back at least once a fortnight for special walkies or events. Oh well at least it had better be a very cool estate- is that a contradiction in terms?Forgetting all about social life, which is a good thing my last chat up line was something like "Hi, do you like greyhounds?" Doesn't really cut much ice. Besides all that dating stuff gets in the way of more important things like greyhound walking and grooming.Neglected current friends, they are all at the "come over and meet our new baby!" stage. Why the heck would I want to that? If it was "Come over and meet our new greyhound" then hey now we are talking!Fighting a sudden urge to sniff strangers bottoms. Okay I made that last bit up but its only a matter of time at this rate.Help me!!!!

Daisy-Annie’s Morning of Modelling

2009-05-07T16:52:00.011+01:00

Me and Jenny

Hi, I just thought I’d tell you about the morning I spent as a model.
Last Thursday morning (very early, Tiger and I had only just woken up!) Carol came into our kennel and got me ready for what I thought was going to be an early morning stroll. Little did I know where I was going!

A lady called Emma put me in her car and off we set on a long drive, well it was long to me. I was a bit worried as Tiger wasn’t with me and that usually means a trip to the vets. I didn’t like all the traffic much either but Emma kept telling me that we were nearly there so I eventually settled down.

When we finally stopped we went for a walk around a big car park. I could smell lots of other dogs but couldn’t see any of them…it was all very strange. After I decided that I didn’t want my breakfast we went into this big building where the first person I saw was Eve, so I rushed up to her for a big reassuring cuddle. As I looked around I noticed some other greys. Eve was showing Emma a dress, which she didn’t seem to like very much, and pointing to lots of other ladies wearing posh dresses and hats….What was going on???

Over the next hour I munched on lovely hot sausages and lots of my old friends from the kennel started to turn up. It was great to see them all again and of course their mums and dads. I was just starting to think that I was at a kennel reunion when I was lead outside with some of the other dogs and ladies in posh dresses, onto a track. Then I knew where I was…Wimbledon Stadium, I just hoped that they didn’t want me to race these ladies! I really wasn’t expecting what happened next. I was handed over to one of the ladies and then a strange lady came up to me and put a hat on my head, not just me, all the greys, we looked very smart ( I don’t think that Charlie would carry off the black feather number they gave him down the park though!). They then made us walk up and down in a line whilst this funny man gave us orders and took photographs of us. We greys were amazing and really well behaved; I don’t think they ladies in posh dresses did so well.

My Best Side??

After a break for cuddles and more sausages, we were trotted back outside for what I think was the funniest bit of the morning.
They wanted to take a group shot of all 25 greys and ladies in a line; really don’t they know how disobedient these humans are?? The director man started to get a little stressed with us then as some of us greys, not me I was totally professional, wanted to show off their best side, which happened to be their bums!!! Well there were 25 of us and even some of you humans have better looking bums than faces, and we all want our best side in a photo!!!

Total Chaos!

It turned out to be a fun morning which I later learned was for the 25 anniversary of the Derby being held at Wimbledon Stadium. They’d offered a donation for our services so I really didn’t mind going.

Tiger didn’t believe me when I got home and sleepily told him all about it.

I hope you like the pictures. I think the one of me and Jenny has to be the best!

The Kennel Girls

Greyhound Dog Day Sun 24 May 10am-4pm

2009-05-02T19:41:00.004+01:00

Stoneleigh Broadway KT17 2HU

Organizer contact number 0208 393 5610

Greyhound Dog Day is a Fun Day to help raise money for Hersham Hounds (WGW)

Parade of Hersham greyhounds at 2pm and walk off to Nonsuch Park at 3pm

Stalls to interest all dog owners!
Greyhound Megastore
Cinnamon Trust for Dogs
4Paws Therapy
Dogs to aid the Blind/Disabled
Bugsie dog wash and groom
Lots more....

Lots of dog demonstrations in the Stonleleigh Inn rear car park.

Prizes for dogs with the waggiest tail, longest tongue and best dressed dog.

The Chequers bar open with patio seating for owners and dogs. BBQ

The Stoneligh Inn jazz and BBQ in the evening

Richmond Park Walk - Good Friday

2009-04-11T11:16:00.003+01:00

Many thanks to everyone who braved the rain for a great walk! It really took my mind off having to let Sam go back to kennels. Poppy and Nelly are much happier now and Bob has been re-establishing himself as head of his harem by licking the girls! Thanks as always to Denise and Janey at the kennels and Karen and Richard for taking Sam back for me.

Watch this space for our next social event - perhaps a walk and picnic in the early summer.....

Richmond Park Walk - Good Friday

2009-03-25T09:27:00.002Z

Come and join us for a walk in Richmond Park at 11.00am on Good Friday. Meeting at Kingston Gate we will walk to Pembroke Lodge for a short break and return to Kingston Gate. Hope to see you there! Jane (and Poppy, Bob, Nelly and Sam)

2009-03-24T22:33:00.001Z

Its just amazing how many different characters we have in the kennels at the moment. There is this white and fawn male, he is very thin and tall and has this suprised expression- all the time! He gets extra for his dinner but he still looks so thin! Then there is Eva, people who see Eva love her because she is a beautiful white and grey bitch. These people have never had to get her in from a paddock when she believes playtime should be longer! She just play bows, barks and shoots off to the end of the paddock (usually muddy as heck) hoping you are chasing her (okay I admit it, I've done this )She thinks this is the best game ever! Then there is Joe, a sensitive black boy who has been returned from a home. He looks lost, when I first put his food out for him he ignored it at first and comes up to me for cuddles. Harry who is white and black, he has half a tail, no idea where the rest went but he is such a sweetie. He will jump up, put his paws on your shoulders and hug you- his little tail wagging like crazy bless him Then there is my special girlie, looks like we will be going to Reach the Beach together....again! Why is she still looking for a home? Can you imagine her being alive in a typical pound for that lenght of time? How many just like her have been less lucky is just to horrible to think about. I can be having the worst day at work and I just have to think about her to feel better.

2009-02-23T07:49:00.001Z

My fav' hound in the kennel is this strong white and brindle bitch called Missy.
We have known each other for around 9 months and have become good friends. I had no idea how good until today. Her kennel mate is a black and white boy who tends to nip when he gets excited. Well we were playing in the paddock when due to my own fault the boy was getting a bit to exicted and jumping up at me and nipping away. My friend somehow knew I wasn't enjoying this much and had a real go at her own kennel mate, growling away at him and chasing him off. After putting him in his place she stood inbetween us and wouldn't let him near me.

How many cuddles and kisses did she get from me!
Damn, she's been waiting in the kennels since last May for a home! She needs a greyhound savy owner and not someone who wants "a small pretty bitch who's good with cats" etc..... I mean what do those kind of people who ask us that want? This girl is strong on the lead and needs more dog socialisation. She is not good with cats, what with being a lure trained 40 per hour dog......This is true of most of the hounds. So big deal she needs effort on the part of the person who takes her home. But what a lucky, lucky person that will be. I mean once you get to know your hound and they you..... you gain a best friend.

In some parallel universe she just would not be up for homing at all because she'd be home with me, but meanwhile in this cruddy universe.....

Next Greyhound Social Walk: Sunday 8 March, Richmond Park

2009-02-22T21:37:00.005Z

The next Greyhound social walk will be held on Sunday 8 March 2009.

Meet Kingston Gate car park, Richmond Park at 11am

We will walk up towards Ladderstile gate, and then on to Isabella Plantation Woodland Garden. After a walk through the garden we will return to Kingston Gate.

Here is a link to a map of Richmond Park, from the excellent Friends of Richmond Park website: http://www.frp.org.uk/maps

Look forward to seeing you there!

James

Photos from greyhound social walk on West End Common

2009-02-01T21:45:00.007Z

Greyhounds, from left to right: Minty, Buddy, Cassy, Becks, Alexa and Dawn.

This grey and windy Sunday morning six intrepid grehounds warmly wrapped up in cosy coats braved the arctic cold to walk across West End common, Esher.

Buddy ( a large friendly black and white 'credit crunch' male) and Dawn ( a smaller brindled female, back in the kennels as her folks could not keep her) are living in the WGW kennels at Hersham, waiting yet again for their 'forever sofas'.

We stomped across the frozen puddles, into the shelter of the woods, up the sandy ledges, down the slope to the river Mole, then along the bank, up the ledges again and back down for a good hour and a half.

A very friendly brown Hungarian Viszla decided it would be a greyhound for the morning and followed us for a while. It took us twenty minutes to find its unconcerned owner, apparently it often goes awol.

Back to our meeting point and the snow started to fall and the wind to freeze hound ears and noses. Buddy decided he would give all a cheery wag of the tail and we all hoped we would see both him and Dawn on our next social walk with their new families. Good luck lovely hounds!

2009-01-20T22:24:00.000Z

Just couldn't post for a while after Brian so this is whats been happening.
Cold, coldcoldcoldcold!!! Some of the pipes froze up, picking the paddock can be hazardous, chunks of frozen hound poop hurtling all over the place due to over enthusiastic hacking....The hounds will have their nightclothes on and a partner to snuggle up to, the beds are extra thick and they bury themselves in them. Usually you see the odd snout poking out or disembodied legs pointing to the ceiling. They seem to argue about the beds more with the girls usually winning. Its so funny to see how the boys try to get on the bed. Here are the methods used:
1. The Barker. Self explanatory, I'm going to bark my self sick until I make her deaf or she lets me on out of desperation for a quiet life. This technique requires a persistent male- barkbarkbarkbark into an impassive females face. She's like, will you look at him, why do you make me live with this?
2. The Creeper. This requires some dexterity and subtly from the male. Slowly, ever so slowly press yourself against the wall, far far away from your girlfriends snarling sharp teeth...easy one paw on the bed gggggghhhrrhiisssss! from her. Just ignore her, don't look at her, hey both front paws are on the bed, just edge a little bit around the side, look at me I'm so small you won't notice me at all..... By the time the male has his bottom on the bed the girl usually is resigned to him and gives up the whole "bitch" routine.
3. Banzai! Just go for it, jump up she doesn't mean it. Oh no shes got up and now she's in my face snarling at me...umm if I lie down maybe she will shut up. Sometimes the girl gets off when the boy jumps up other times they snarl bit then give up, sleep is far more important!
4. I love you. Happily the hounds get on just fine with each other 99% of the time. The staff know what they are about when they pair a couple of hounds up together. They often get on the bed together or the boy will get on and lick his girls ear and the like.
5. Plank. If I whine enough at the door some nice kennel person will come along and see me with my big eyes standing here while she hogs the bed. Oh good here comes one, they are coming in, haha she gets a talking to while I jump on the bed! Aahhh this is better, oh look they are going I must get off to say good bye and oh...
Been taking a certain girlie hound for walks on Esher Common. She gets to meet other dogs that way so we can work on "socialisation" as the experts call it. I call it "ohgodherecomessomethingsmallandfluffyofflead" She always has a muzzle on and I put her in a harness as she can pull and I don't want her to hurt her neck. She's getting better, quite likes dogs her size, confused by a puppy that didn't run away from her so she backed up to me for support! She's going to be a real gem for someone and she's begining to let little fluffy types come up for a sniff bless her.

Next Greyhound Social Walk: Sunday Feb 1, meet 11 am on West End cricket green by the duck pond

2009-01-11T22:03:00.016Z

For our next Greyhound Social Walk we will return to West End Common, the site of our last walk in November (photo above).

We will meet on West End Cricket Green, by the duck pond at 11am.
The pond is on Winterdown Road, near its junction with West End Lane. Here is a map .

Bring your greyhound, or give a homeless hound a treat by picking one up from the Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare kennels in nearby Hersham.

We will walk up to the ledges and then down beside the river mole before returning to the cricket green.

(thank you to ciaran j for the photo of the pond on West End Cricket Green http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciaranj/116020653/)

An evening "at the dogs"

2008-12-12T18:43:00.004Z

I like to help out at the kennels. One of the things I do is help out with fundraising and a good place to do this is.....Greyhound Stadiums. Its not my place to go on about the "sport" anyone who has an interest in our wonderful hounds has to make up their own minds so I'm just going to tell you what it was like for me to go.
So I pick up a homeless hound from Hersham, I took Hiho. We don't know each other, I tell him he is strong on the lead and he looks at me as if to say, well at least I've got still got fur on the top of my head- what happened to yours? He is very striking, a big white dog with black speckles and black patches on his head. He jumps in my car just fine and travels well. The stadium is quite busy, its not well lit outside so no one noticed Hiho having a quick wee in the car park. The place looks a little run down in parts, many of the ground staff were foreign but friendly enough. I go through doors to a foyer type area. Straight ahead of me are double doors leading to the terraces and track, to left is a corridor to a bar and betting area, to the right are corridors to the kennels and trainer's area. I am with a group of people, we all have hounds, after I've said hello to everyone and Hiho has sniffed all greyhound bottoms available I team up with Carol from the kennels and we hit the terraces. She has a bucket with Greyhound welfare on it and knows how to use it, she was brilliant and few escaped from having a bucket thrust at them.
There are all kinds of people here, lots of young couples, families- lots of children coming up to Hiho "Mummy look a dalmatian!" Some people had greyhounds at home of their own and made a big fuss of Hiho, others just pushed past us. There were a surprising number of men in suits around, some were very generous- a fiver here or even a ten pound note but one guy put a note in the bucket and whipped it out again going "haha!" Yeah real comic brilliance.
Lots of people were asking us about what happened to the dogs after racing and were shocked about how young they are when they retire, a few seemed shocked to actually meet a greyhound. The terraces were about one third full and the size of the track is surprising large its actually quite impressive. Seeing a race is quite something, the lure shoots past and you can hear the dogs thundering past- so very fast! No matter what you hear the dogs love to race, its been bread in them I suppose. Hiho was sooo excited to see the dogs run, he was straining on the lead, letting out the odd whine bless him. Anyway we had reached the middle of the terraces and the stadium announcer was telling everyone that the welfare was here and what a good cause it was. I felt well chuffed, then I heard this collective "eeeehhhuuukk!!" and "hahaha!" from the crowd in front of me. Hiho had chosen the announcer's blurb as a queue to do the biggest runniest dump ever....I was in the middle of my ..."they make great pets.." speech to someone and had to do the frantic search for poo bags dance. Time to hit the crowds inside the stadium.
The people inside are different to those outside. Inside are some hard betting types, they will watch big screens showing the racing sitting by tables full of lager glasses. More than a few ignored us but most gave Hiho a glance or a stroke and asked questions.
The stadium gave us a homeless hound parade and when Hiho felt the sand under his feet- he just wanted to......run! Glad to say I hung on to him, had visions of the parade being the first ever retired greyhound derby!
This isn't a blatant plug for Hiho, well okay maybe it is but I have to say he was as good as gold. All these strangers touching him, lots of different smells and noises, a longish trip with a stranger and lots of hounds he hasn't met before, what a brilliant sweet boy and all well past his bed time! All the greyhounds from the welfare there were the same, happy to be with people, especially if a fuss or even a treat was in prospect. They ask for so very little, the look on the faces of some of the children there who stroked a hound perhaps for the first time was really something. This was the third time I've been to the stadium. Please remember that they don't have to have us there at all but there we were, it was good for them "Hey we do care about what happens to them after racing" It was good for us- we raised some money but most of all awareness and some people did come to the kennels. And it was good for the people who go there- one lady had a good hard look at Hiho, her partner kept pulling at her to go to the terraces but she seemed fascinated by him. Here was a live being, with a character and soul of his own and not just a blur on the track or a silly name and a list of odds. All that we do in a lifetime of choices has consequences, maybe she was thinking about hers.

Next Greyhound social walk: West End Common and the River Mole, Sunday November 16

2008-10-13T21:30:00.008+01:00

The next greyhound social walk will take us to West End Common on Sunday 16 November.

We will meet at 11am at West End Lane Car Park, West End Common, Esher.

We will do a forty minute walk up to the ledges, along the top of the ledges, down to the river Mole and back to the car park.

West End lane car park is on the west side of West End Lane, not far from the junction with the Portsmouth Road (A307) - see the red circle on the map below. The Ordnance Ssurvey grid reference of the car park is TQ126 632

Bring your adopted greyhound, or give a homeless hound from Hersham a treat by taking it out for the morning: West End Common is only ten minutes drive from the kennels.

View map of Esher, Surrey, England, UK on Multimap.com
Bird's Eye view of Esher, Surrey, England, UK
Get directions to or from Esher, Surrey, England, UK

Found Hound

2008-08-20T22:57:00.005+01:00

Lily has been found, 10 days after going missing. It took the dog wardens one hour to catch her!

Lily is now safe in the loving hands of the WGW kennels staff in Hersham.

Staff and volunteers put in a huge amount of time and effort into finding Lily. Posters were put up in area where she was spotted, local dog walkers were approached and asked to look out for her. Many walked the streets and green spaces to look for her.

Staff manned the kennel phones round the clock in case that important call came through, hoping that someone could get close enough to timid Lily and read her Hersham Hounds dog tag.

Thank you to all who responded to the 'Lost Hounds' post on the Greyhound Gap forum.

Lost Hound

2008-08-17T10:55:00.004+01:00

Lily, one of the homeless hounds has been lost in the Croydon area.

Lilly is a young and very timid greyhound. She was lost late on Monday 11th August whilst out for her last walk.

She is mainly white with black markings.

Lily has been sighted on Saturday16 August between 10.45am & 11am running through Selsdon High Street, and she was running towards Gravel Hill and New Addington.

Her lead is still attached. Please look out for her, she must be very hungry and tired now.

We are desperate to find her, especially as she was in an area unfamiliar to her, and a long way from the kennels in Hersham Surrey.

Please visit http://www.doglost.co.uk/Page.aspx?data=....xJvs60ETtbptclS
for a photo and description of Lily.

Please ring the Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare kennels at Hersham on this number if you see her: 01932 224918

New greyhound social group for London area

2008-08-11T20:43:00.016+01:00

A new group has been set up to organise social walks for greyhound and lurcher owners in the South London/Kent area.

The group are called London and Borders Greyhounds. Their next two walks are in Sidcup (Aug 23) and Crayford (Aug 31). You can get more details of these walks and their other events from this calendar.

The group have exciting plans including a camping trip to the South Downs in June 2009.

Their first walk in July this year was attended by greyhounds re-homed from many of the the South East's re-homing kennels, including Hersham, Brighton & Hove, Clarks Farm and Romford. And the dogs even got liver treats at the end of the walk!

Photos from Nonsuch Park Greyhound Social Walk

2008-06-29T22:23:00.014+01:00

We had a great turnout today. Lots of passers-by stopped to admire the dogs and ask whether it was a greyhound convention.I enjoyed people telling stories about their hounds: their racing exploits, and how they got their names. We met Vera, a small, quiet self effacing hound who won an amazing 29 races out of 118 under the name of Did She? We met a hound who raced under the name of 'Pour the Wine' but whom the Kennel hands called Tipsy (and she has been tipsy ever since). And the hound who raced as Bob's Memory (named by a widow after her late husband) now known simply as Bob. Tania enjoyed seeing hounds like Cleo and Ali, both of whom she remembers walking at Hersham, now happily homed with caring owners.
We couldn't have asked for better guides. John and Doreen are the Park keepers at Nonsuch. Three days ago they adopted a greyhound from Battersea's country kennels at Kent and they brought her out on the walk today. They guided us to the Mansion House Cafe in the middle of the Park, where we stopped for a cup of tea and a chat.

Then John and Doreen took us on a ramble back along a beautiful quiet walk, off the beaten track, through open fields and past a pond. We have been to Nonsuch Park many times but today we saw parts of it we hadn't known existed. Once back at the car park Doreen bought out a big bucket of water that the thirsty hounds took it in turns to empty.

Well done to the folks who gave homeless hounds from Hersham a day out from the kennels: This is Jet at the end of the walk, having a rest before his trip back to the kennels.
The next social walk will be in September: Please leave a comment at the bottom of the post if you have any preferences or suggestions on where we go.
James

Next retired greyhound social walk: Sunday June 29: Nonsuch park

2008-05-26T22:36:00.010+01:00

Come and take your retired greyhound, or a homeless hound from Hersham, for a stroll through Nonsuch Park.

Meet at 11am, on Sunday 29 June.

Go to the car park located on the big bend on London Road, near Ewell. The car park is marked with a red circle on this map

We will walk along the mown paths through the meadows to the Mansion House which has a cafe, picnic area and WCs.

You will see this monument at the car park entrance:

Please contact the welfare kennels at Hersham if you are able to take a homeless hound out with us.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Photos from 3rd Retired Greyhound Social Walk (Chatley Heath Semaphore Tower)

2008-05-25T15:03:00.008+01:00

It was pouring with rain when we left home just after ten this morning. We wondered whether any hounds would turn up for the walk.

We needn't have worried - greyhounds are made of sterner stuff. We had three homeless hounds from Hersham. Kennel mates Pip and Striker came with flatmates Andy and Helen; and Tom had the honour of being the first greyhound ever to travel in the boot of Gareth and Sandra's Ka.

And we had four adopted greyhounds: Bonnie brought Melanie; Cassie brought Max and Chloe and their grandparents Jan and Derek; Becks and Alexa brought yours truly and family.

As we had pre-arranged, the rain stopped at ten minutes to 11. We were all peeling coats and jumpers off as we walked across the Heath. We only got lost once, and arrvived at the Semaphore Tower well before its 12 noon opening time.

Pip, Striker and Bonnie having a well earned rest

The sun came out as we walked back. The Heath landscape looked surreal, with large areas cleared of trees allowing heather and other plants to flourish. Hard to imagine that most of Surrey looked like this 500 years ago. Andy told us the opening battle sequences of 'Gladiator' were filmed here. We were walking through a deserted world, a sensation heightened by the silence of the hounds.

The surrealism was complete when we got to Pond car park and saw a gaggle of people who looked like they had walked straight out of Middle Earth. Turns out they were on a Lord of the Rings adventure day. A Healing preistess posed with Becks and Alexa

The path between Pond Car Park and Bolermere car park was confusingly signposted. The only person we could ask was lying prone across the path, another refugee from Middle Earth, waiting for the adventurers to find him. Gareth's polite request for direction was met with a gruff 'I'm doing something'

We left him to it. And got back without mishap (the Orc's didn't get us) for a familiar cup of tea at Boldermere Car Park cafe.

Next retired greyhound social walk: Sunday May 25

2008-05-10T18:39:00.007+01:00

Come and take your retired greyhound, or a hound from Hersham, for a stroll on Chatley Heath Common. The common is situated near the A3/M25 interchange, 15 minutes drive from Hersham.

Meet at the Boldermere car park on Chatley Heath Common at 11am on Sunday 25 May. We will go for a forty minute circular walk around the Heath and past the semaphore tower.

Boldermere car park has toilets and a cafe. If it is full when you arrive there is another car park that is only five minutes walk away.

Here is a link to a leaflet which has a map and a description of the circular walk.

Please contact the kennels at Hersham if you are able to take a homeless hound out with us.

Please keep dogs on leads.

Look forward to seeing you there

Tania, James and the kids, plus Alexa and Becks

Photos from the 2nd Retired Greyhound Social Walk (Cowey Sale to Weybridge)

2008-04-27T22:17:00.003+01:00

Cassie, Hannah, Dusty, Becks and Alexa took their owners for a social walk from Cowey Sale to Weybridge this Sunday. The dogs didn't seem to mind the drizzly rain and grey skies.

The Old Crown pub in Weybridge (a very greyhound friendly pub indeed) provided a handy pitstop at the half way point of the walk: with plenty of room for the hounds to stretch out for their forty winks.

Retired greyhound parade at Kingston Rugby Football Club

2008-04-27T21:44:00.005+01:00

Nine greyhounds turned out for the retired greyhound parade before the Frank Walsh memorial event at Kingston Rugby Football club this saturday. Six were homeless hounds from the WGW kennels at Hersham, and the announcer gave each of them a character reference as they walked round. The other three were homed hounds with their owners.

It was a relaxed, friendly event. The rugby players and supporters, young and old, made a fuss of the hounds and show a genuine interest in their lives and their natures. And for this greyhound owner it was nice to have the chance to throw a rugby ball around with my kids! The beer tent, the BBQ and the sunshine all added to the conviviality.

The memorial match is played every year in memory of Frank Walsh, who died at the age of 43. The proceeds of the match go to charity, and this year Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare was nominated as one of the charities.

Thank you to Kingston RFC for making us and the hounds so welcome.

Take your retired greyhound on parade at Kingston Rugby Football Club this Saturday 26 April

2008-04-22T21:03:00.011+01:00

Kingston Rugby Football Club are holding the Frank Walsh memorial rugby match this Saturday (26 April) at 3pm. It is a charity match, and a percentage of funds raised will go to Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare (WGW) at Hersham.

Before the game there will be a parade of retired greyhounds. It is a good opportunity both to raise the profile of retired greyhounds, and to raise funds for the homeless hounds at Hersham. If you have a retired greyhound it would be great to see you and your dog on Saturday.

The parade will take place at 2:30, before the rugby match. Please aim to be at the ground between 1:30pm and 2pm.

The address of Kingston Rugby football club is:

King Edward Recreation Ground
Hook Road
Chessington
Surrey KT9 1PL

If you would like to take a hound from Hersham along to the parade then please ring the Kennels on 01932 224918 (regular walkers or greyhound owners only). The Kennels would allocate you a hound that you could pick up at 1pm, and return as soon as you can after the parade.

We hope to see you there: if you can't make it we will post some photos on the blog next week.

Next Retired Greyhound Social Walk: Sunday 27 April 2008

2008-03-30T22:41:00.003+01:00

Come and take your retired greyhound, or a hound from Hersham, for a stroll along the river Thames.

Meet at Cowey Sale car park near Walton Bridge at 11am on Sunday 27 April.

We will walk by the Thames to Weybridge and back, along the towpath.

All retired greyhound walkers and owners plus their hounds are welcome.

Please keep dogs on leads.

Please contact the kennels at Hersham if you are able to take a homeless hound out with us.

Look forward to seeing you there

Tania and James (plus Alexa)

Home Checker

2008-03-05T22:25:00.012Z

Dot at the Hersham kennels asked me if I would like to become a volunteer home checker for my area. Before a potential adopter can home a hound the RGT needs to be satisfied that its new home is greyhound friendly and secure.

It makes sense to have a body of volunteers to undertake this task. It would divert scarce resources to send RGT staff out across the counties to check homes which may or may not become permanent residences for retired greyhounds.

Well, what is the 'home check' for? Mainly it is to advise on potential 'hound hazards' in and outside the home.

What do we check for? Most importantly we check the garden and fencing. All fences, hedges and gates must be 6 foot tall, in good condition without any gaps at the bottom or between the panels. Greyhounds are agile jumpers and can clear smaller fence with ease if they think a prey, (cat, squirrel etc), is worth the chase. Needless to say this could result in a serious injury to the dog, not just the small animal. The rest of the garden check is simple. Any garden tables, shed boxes or play-houses next to the fencing which the greyhound can jump on to and over the fence should be moved.

What about the internal home check? This is also a common sense exercise. As we know, greyhounds are slender swift creatures. So we check that all members of the household are aware how easy it is for a greyhound to escape out of the front door. I take Alexa with me and, keeping her on the lead, demonstrate how small a gap they can whizz through to freedom and the open road. Its useful to take your own hound on a visit!

Laminate, lino and polished wood flooring can 'spook' a hound fresh out of kennels. Usually a strip of carpet or a rug with a non-slip backing works a treat.

Stairs can also seem daunting to our leggy doggies. Alexa demonstrated how easily she could climb steep carpeted stairs only to become a decrepit old lady needing encouragement and physical support to come back down again! In this home the living area was on the first floor.

Floor to ceiling windows and doors are another often overlooked hazard. Most hounds would spot something, charge towards it and crash into the glass. A simple solution is to place a 'vision strip' along the hounds line of vision. A really cheap option is to tape a roll of wall paper across the glass. More attractive options can be found in DIY store such as peel off plastic which looks like frosted glass. This can be removed eventually.

Bedding - don't our hounds just love thier beds!! In the early days a folded duvet and blanket makes a snug bed. I check that the bed will be in a quiet place out of any drafts or direct sunlight.
It must also have room to allow the dog to stretch out. If there are children living in or visiting the home, I would advise the owners to let this be the dogs 'bolt hole' and that it should be left alone to rest or just feel safe in an area of its own. In the first few days a greyhound can be stupidly tired with the newness of it all!

Once the house check is complete and I have talked over any issues and answered any questions, I phone the kennels and chat about the visit and any concerns or changes which need to be made. Once any changes have been made we visit again to make sure that the new home is ready.

There is no 'pass' or 'fail'. Any concerns are delt with by the kennels and not through me.

Our experience as owners is invaluable. We can offer to befriend a new owner and share our experiences sometimes giving practical advice. My home checker kindly become my mentor and was very supportive when my new greyhound needed an operation. She even came along to the vets with me!

If you'd like to become a home checker, please let Dot or Denise know.

Bobo

2008-02-25T20:53:00.006Z

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

2008-02-22T21:12:00.002Z

The first Newsletter for this year's RtB event has just gone out. If you want to chat about the event you can do it here using the Comments

Retired greyhound social walk: Richmond Park

2008-02-20T21:28:00.017Z

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).