Happy Holidays!

There are so many holiday festivals this time of year- as well as the new year starting- that I think 'happy holidays' works well to cover all of them!

We celebrated Christmas with lots of Mummie and Daddie's family this year! GrannyNanny gave me and Ambam special presents; treats for sensitive tummies, and soft chews for myself (the toothless wonder, Mummie calls me!).

Mummie and Daddie gave me a lovely soft, furry squeaky bone, and Ambam got a ball-onna-rope, she LOVES it! In return we gave Mummie and Daddie lots of big kisses and cuddles and love-burps, which is when you stretch up on all four tippy toes and stretch your neck out and put your nose in your loved ones face and then, looking deep into their eyes, burp softly at them. It signifies deep affection and happiness.

Not bad manners.

...Though the two often get confused, I must admit.

In other news, Daddie did something which made everyone go squeak squeak squeak, and get all excited and happy. He did get down on one knee and ask Mummie something about some lady called 'Mary' and then gave Mummie a rock on a metal ring.

Mummie and NannaGranna were very happy about this, but the rock-onna-ring wasn't edible, so I didn't understand the excitement, personally.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful new year celebration planned! May 2012 bring love, happiness and joy to you all!

Lots of wuffles and sniffs and sighthound cuddles, from Nibs and Ambam, Dally, Tig, Mummie and Daddie! xxxxxx

Ouch!

Firstly, please look over there ---------> at the top of our widgets and pictures and odds and ends is the widget to donate towards the Houston Pittie Pack http://kissa-bull.blogspot.com/ who suffered a devastating fire last week. Please help if you can.

Secondly- OUCH!

I got to really work out my lungs and beautiful rooing voice yesterday with a wonderful Greyhound Scream. Those with greys will know what I mean. I really went for it. I brought out into the garden; GrannyNanny and Daddie and Mummie and Daddies twolegger brother and sister!

Ambam had been doing madcrazy zoomies and had run-

BANG!

Right into my shoulder! OWowow ooowwwwwwww owowowowowow!

Mummie did massage it and flex my joints and it's luckily just a big old bruise, but wow! It really hurt! This morning Daddie had to help me downstairs, as in our rickety old house the stairs are very steep and you need perfect legs to go up and down safely.

I still have a bit of a limp

But I'm a big brave hound, and NOTHING could keep me from my true love...

Oh! And completely out of the blue, while I was in the middle of this blog post, a man from the paper came round to ask about my giving blood! I hope we help spread the word about it!

I've never been in the paper before!

Open your heart

Today I read about the awful tragedy which has hit the family of Kissa-bull, on http://cultofthegreyhound.blogspot.com/ blog. I have copied what Suzanne wrote there, with all the links needed to help-

"The folks over at The Houston Pittie Pack (Kissa-bull) had a house fire Thursday night and lost not only their home, but 5 of their 7 dogs. A chip-in account has been set up to help them in their time of need. Please donate, it doesn’t matter the amount, big or small, it all will help. I'm not technically savvy enough to get the chip-in widget on my blog, so here's a link to Mayzie's Dog Blog who is savvy enough to have the widget."

You don't need to know someone to feel their pain and loss. I think we are all shocked and feel beyond saddened by this devastating news. I don't know what to say, my heart hurts for them. Please help them if you can.

Snooooooooooods! Invisible rabbits and ear ouchies.

It's getting cold!

Good job we have our new snoods! ^.^ Thank you for all the lovely comments about my giving blood!

I should have said before about the invisible rabbit- My Granny sent me a Christmas card and inside was rabbit smells and rabbit bedding and fur...but no rabbit! Me and Ambam looked everywhere for the invisible rabbit, but we just couldn't find him and mean Mummie kept laughing at us!

And my ear did get cut in the garden at Aunty Sally's, and I had to wear a ridiculous bandage on my head! But it's all better now! I did come inside all sneaky sneaky and didn't make a sound about my ouchy ear, and it was all dark so Mummie didn't see until she turned on the lights. Luckily I didn't do any head shaking so it didn't look like a crime scene, but there was still some blood to clean up.

I was a very brave boy and let Mummie clean and dress my ear.

And I got treats!

I'm giving blood today!

Did you know a dog can give blood if over 25kg, healthy, free from disease, and vaccinated?

Did you know a blood donation can save a dogs life?

If you have a dog who could give blood, please let your vets know you are available to help, or get in touch with a blood bank near you!

This is the second time I'll be giving blood. The nurses say I'll be saving another dogs life, and that I'm a hero.

I like being a Hero. Hero's get treats!

Mummie let me on the sofa because I was going to give blood!

I'll let you know how it goes and what treats I'll be getting when I arrive back home!

xxx
Nibs the Hero!

______________________________________________________________

Hello! Wow, it was so quick! I was only gone for a couple of hours! I've been spending most of the day laying on the couch and getting lots of cuddles!

The nurses came to pick me up because Mummie doesn't drive and it would have taken too long for her to walk round with me. I waited at the door with Mummie, it was nice to watch the people go by and sniff all the smells at the front of the house! When the nurses pulled up I did lots of tail wagging and prancing around because I LOVE nurses! They give the best cuddles and treats! I got in the car like a good boy and got a big hug all the way to the vets.

They didn't have to anaesthetise me, because I am such a brave boy, I let them take blood from my foreleg and from my neck. I only made a noise when they were done- I did all my ROOOOOOOOOOOOOs in the kennel to let them know I wanted more treats!

When they dropped me off home they told my Mummie how good I was and I got extra goodbye cuddles, because I am very easy to love and they said they will miss me, and to come in soon to visit!

But the nicest thing was that Mummie gave me a special middle-of-the-day meal! I was so excited I nearly wagged my tail off! Dinner! In the DAYTIME! Not morning dinner or evening dinner, but MIDDLE of the DAY dinner!

!!

I know! I couldn't believe it either!

And the lovely nurses did give me lots of presents to say thank you, and a card as well saying that I saved another dogs life, and Merry Christmas. I got all of the presents in the picture, as well as a special package from my aunty Nikki, who sent us cards and knitted me and Ambam glittery Snoods and sent us Christmas presents! She also made Mummie a beautiful chunky purple bag, because Mummie is painting her hound, Ebony. Aren't they beautiful?

top half; cards and presents for giving blood. Botttom half; presents from Aunty Nikki.

Here is Aunty Nikki's site; http://www.ebonyhaze.co.uk/

Here is Ambam wearing her snood, only she wanted to use her 'comedy ear' pose!

And that is my tale of giving blood! It was pretty painless and I got lots of fuss and treats for it!

Liebster Blog Award!

Wow, thank you Declan! This is a lovely award, and a good way to find new up-and-coming blogs to enjoy!

The lovely Declan from http://www.declansdogsblog.co.uk/ gave it to me and four others, and if you pop over to his blog you can see just what a superhero he really is!

There are rules to accepting the award, and Deccy has them so succinctly on his blog I thought it best to quote him;

"Liebster means “dearest” in German, and the award is intended to help up-and-coming blogs get the attention they deserve. As with any award, there is a bit of ceremony involved. In order to accept the award, we must do the following:

1. Copy and paste the award on our blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who gave us the award

3. Pick our five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.

4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs"

So here are five of my favourite blogs! (The 'followers' thing isn't working for me on the blogs I'm looking at today, so I may have to re-jig this if the blogs have too many followers when it starts working again. Does that make sense? I hope so, this parenthesis is already far too long!)

1. http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/ Never Say Never Greyhounds is a wonderful blog, a great place to go to see greyhounds doing agility, and to gain some brilliant knowledge about training and care from a true hound lover! Pearls of wisdom to be found here!
2. http://genjiscorner.blogspot.com/ Genji's Corner is wonderful, a relaxed, happy and loving place with the bonus of amazing, beautiful photos! Real Hound Hero's here!
3. http://davidsbestmate.blogspot.com/  David is a relation (oh no, not nepotism!) but more than that, he is a hound in the know. He gives a real glimpse into the core values of his life with his mummie. And he wrote a book about it!
4. http://hikinghounds.blogspot.com/ Exactly what it says on the tin! Wonderful journeys with the hounds with gorgeous photos- you can also really feel the love for the hounds here as well!
5. http://jetsagenda.blogspot.com/ You guessed it! More photos from the beautiful walks they go on, as well as snippets and anecdotes from the everyday- excellent place!

Can't I just slip in a sneaky 6th? Please? Go on! Because http://talesandtails.com/ is wonderful! Go check it out for yourself!

I really hope this keeps going! Isn't it just such a nice way to say 'Hey, I like your style!'

I hope you lot are all well, go spread the love!

Visiting with Aunty Sally!

We went to visit human relations! We saw the small human again! And we got to play lots with Aunty Sally's lurchers- Wilbur and Lily- we had so much fun!

There aren't so many photo's in todays post, because my Mummie has to get the rest from Aunty Sally, as Mummie's phone decided to play dead over the weekend!

Wilbur, make sure your back end stays polite!

A few months ago Small-Blonde-Human came to stay with us for a whole week, she was really good at cuddles and hugs and being gentle, and when she left we really missed her. Then there she was at Aunty Sally's house! I was so excited I nearly wagged my tail off, and Ambam did her very best high-all-four-off-the-floor jumps to show how happy she was to see Small-Blonde-Human.

The humans did some visiting with a man they called Santa, and while they were there they saw some reindeer! We weren't allowed to go (boo, hiss!) but they brought the smells back with them. WOW, reindeers pong! I wuffled and snuffled and sniffed and licked and still couldn't get enough of their unusual smell.

The humans also brought back a tree. This was odd enough, but get this- then they put it INSIDE the house! And THEN...

They decorated it!

Humans are weird.

Also, word to the wise- you are NOT allowed to do any wee-wees on indoor trees. Trust me.

You are also not allowed to pull off of the tree any fuzzy wuzzy delicious looking furry toys like these;

Alright, that will have to be all for now, until Mummie sorts herself out and gets the rest of the photo's! Next update I will tell you all about the case of the mysterious invisible rabbit and the dreaded ear-bandage!

Wordless Wednesday

________________________________________________________

Jim, who I posted about last week, has sadly passed on. If you have a moment, please read the post his Mummie wrote about what a wonderful hound he was.

http://suzyssanctuary.blogspot.com/

Cats, Hounds and a paw-trait!

Mummie did sneak a picture of my ever-present ETS from behind! Mummie you're not getting my most flattering side! Goodness me if only I had opposable thumbs I could show you how to take the best photo's of my handsome visage, but I don't so I can't, therefore listen more carefully to my expert instructions. (Mummie I don't know what you mean, I am NOT obsessed with opposable thumbs!) 

Deccy (from http://www.declansdogsblog.co.uk/) has been telling us about his work with accepting cats as non-edible entities. He's been doing really well, and to give him some encouragement Mummie took this photo today- this is a very recent revolution, Ambam and Tig opting to sit next to each other! This is after a year and eight months of work. It is an achievable goal!

peek-a-boo!

Here is the kitty in question, Madam Tig, she has a powerful disapproving look which she utilises- readily and often- when not impressed. She is a Madam of high standards. Here she is pictured in a rare moment of judgement, weighing up whether or not to use her glare on Mummie.

Dallie is using the more passive-aggressive tactic known as: 'if you move your arm to continue typing you will disturb me and then you will feel guilty'

This is the portrait my Mummie is working on at the moment. It is far from finished- she says she has just finished blocking the basic colours and will now add detail. I don't approve of Mummie painting because painting distracts her  from paying me the attention I so richly deserve for merely existing in her presence!

I hope you all have a good Tuesday!

Christmas tree!

^.^

I do love the tree, Dally does love the tree, Dallly got in the tree, Dally fell off the tree! Merry Christmas everyone!

Nearly Wordless Saturday (cos... y'know... I missed Wednesday! ^.^)

For giggles this weekend;

http://talesandtails.com/?p=4557

and

http://jetsagenda.blogspot.com/2011/12/nicknames-inspired-by-nibs-and-ambam.html

Two lost greyhounds, one in Maine and one in Metairie, Louisiana

Please cross post where you can so these girls can come home safe!

LOST GREYHOUND from 758 Oaklawn Street in METAIRIE, LOUISIANA

According to her ...owner, Lucy got out some time this morning. She is an eight year old black female with a white face, white feet, a white chest and white patch on the back of her neck. The photo is a few years old. She is wearing a pink collar. If spotted, do not chase, please call the owner at 504-301-8763. Local vets and the humane society have been notified.

 

This girl in Maine is also STILL MISSING;

 

GREYOUND AMBER ALERT - PLEASE SHARE
LOST GREYHOUND!! Last seen on the Williams Street, Lincoln, Maine, 04457. She is a 4 year old brindle spayed female greyhound who answers to the name "Love". She slipped out of her collar and took off last night (Monday, 11-28-11) around 9:00 Pm. She has not been seen since. She did still have a plain blue collar on her but no tags. She is microchipped. This dog... was JUST adopted from MGPS on Saturday. HELP, PLEASE!!!!! We have to find this dog. No other answer is acceptable. Spread the word far and wide, tell everyone you know, share, network, etc, etc.!!! For more information, updates, or sightings, please call Louise Sawyer at 207-215-6801. Please keep this dog in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you!!

 

I received this comment today concerning this second lost girl-

 

"Last I heard was a 5pm sighting near her home, but she is still on the loose. So far I have heard no reports of sightings this morning. It was so cold last night; I'm praying she is doing well and will be captured soon."

 

So she is close, but still not home.

Bits and Bobs

It's raining. Mummie wants us to go out and it's raining. Is she mad? Yes, she is mad.

We have been decorating Christmas cards, Mummie says that Ambam is a natural but I am slapdash- how rude!

We found out that our short-term lodger, the little terror-dog, has a grade 3 heart murmer, which is not what we wanted to hear, but he is otherwise in very, very good health, so the vet doesn't think it will affect him very much and that his mummie will have to just keep an eye out for any side effects. It's not good that he has a murmer, but it is good that he is otherwise very healthy- a very mixed vet-visit.

Here is the little man himself, Badger!

Our new vet said that I was in beautiful condition and the nurse did give me secret cuddles, and that made me very happy! Ambam was too busy hiding behind Mummie to come out for secret cuddles while Mummie was at the til- so she didn't get any. But what we DID get...

Was a NEW STUFFIE!!!

It goes blrrrt! blrrrt! Me and Ambam can both play with it and go 'grr, grr' wag-wag!

Mummie also got out her needle and thread and fixed our other stuffies. I might not have any teeth, but Ambam has sharp teeth, and she is Little Miss Destructor when she wants to be!

We also have a new bit of apparel in the house, and I must say, I think I look rather dapper in it;

And Ambam looks very pretty!

Heehee! It's actually for Daddie to wear, really! Maybe we can borrow it for pictures now and then, please, Daddie?

Lastly, Sue, over at Graceful greyhounds (http://gracefulgreyhounds.blogspot.com/) had a link to Suzy's Sanctuary, a blog I hadn't come accross before- it looks like a lovely place, but more importantly, they have had some terribly devastating news about their greyhound, Jim, it would be nice if people could send them some love and hugs at this difficult time. http://suzyssanctuary.blogspot.com/ 

Lost greyhound, Maine, US.

GREYOUND AMBER ALERT - PLEASE SHARE
LOST GREYHOUND!! Last seen on the Williams Street, Lincoln, Maine, 04457. She is a 4 year old brindle spayed female greyhound who answers to the name "Love". She slipped out of her collar and took off last night (Monday, 11-28-11) around 9:00 Pm. She has not been seen since. She did still have a plain blue collar on her but no tags. She is microchipped. This dog... was JUST adopted from MGPS on Saturday. HELP, PLEASE!!!!! We have to find this dog. No other answer is acceptable. Spread the word far and wide, tell everyone you know, share, network, etc, etc.!!! For more information, updates, or sightings, please call Louise Sawyer at 207-215-6801. Please keep this dog in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you!!

 

Shared from FB

Poem.

Grey.

Run your hands through my fur,
and wonder at the softness there;
That is how the air parts for me
and caresses my sleek flank.

Touch these franked ears,
feel the raised ellipses of ink;
I hear only the fast tattoo
of my accelerating paws.

The taste of the air intoxicates,
I fill my lungs and am spurred on.
Look to find my quarry
with your weak eyes;

You cannot see as far as me
and I am chasing freedom.
___________________________________________________

My mummie wrote this for me.

Nicknames and Emergency care tips.

We have quite a few nicknames, we seem to collect them like wrinkles as we get older! 'Nibs' and 'Ambam' are the usual two- and our chosen pseudonyms, or noms de plume, but we have quite a menagerie of names aside from those. I think all of us end up with a lot of nicknames! My canine friends that I know in the tangible world have many names, I think it's just another way our humans show their love for us!

Some of our nicknames include-
Nibs:
Big Boy
Nibtacular
Niblet
Schnee-bleet
Dodo Chez
Bubba

Ambam:
Bander
Banderbear
Boo-bah
Twonk
Am-Bam-Kahlua
Ambulator

And we have a collective noun, too!

For we are!
The Dingbats (insert evil laugh here.)

Emergency care-
We have seen two very helpful videos, here is the first, concerning bloat. It is not pleasant to watch because the poor dog is in discomfort, but he survived, and it is really good to know what bloat looks like, as it can be so difficult but so important to spot. The quicker you spot bloat, the better chance a dog has of surviving!

The second is about CPR for dogs. This is the kind of information that everyone should know!

In other news, Ambam is being a fairy this week;

And Bella is recovering well from her operation! Thank you for all of the get well soon messages!



Ok, that's all for this post, have a safe and happy weekend, everyone! And belated Happy Thanksgiving day to everyone over the pond! xxxx

Wordless Wednesday

Newsflash! This book is amazing!

My book came through the post! Aunty K and Aunty D who are lucky enough to live with Sir Jack of the Grey Table sent it to me! AND it is signed!

Sorry for the blurriness, I was so excited I jogged Mummie when she took the photo!

Isn't that a lovely dedication?



It's David's new book! www.davidsbestmate.blogspot.com

Mummie had to read me some of the more difficult words, but the pictures are lovely to look at!

Mummie can't you see I am reading? Goodness me, can't a hound get some peace?

Places we go!

Hello! Nibs here! I thought it would be nice to show you what we see on our walks! If anyone else wants to join in that would be lovely, and I'll link you here so we can go on a virtual tour of each others stomping grounds!

Ok, guys? Ready? Let's go! (The little guy is our short term lodger, Badger! His Mummie is on holiday so we get to have a sleepover!)

We live in Canterbury, which is a very pretty- and very small- city.

This well-known trendsetter from the middle ages wrote the ever-popular and really quite naughty 'Canterbury Tales'

'The names Chaucer. No you may not touch my pointy beard.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucer

We often walk past the 'Canterbury Tales' visitor place (http://www.canterburytales.org.uk/). My Mummie says that the models would be too scary for me, so I've never been in! It has a really pretty outside though!

It's in an old church! It used to be St. Margarets church.

Me and Ambam like walking past here because right next door is a scrummy yummy fish and chip shop! We love the smell, and sometimes, only sometimes, if Daddie is with us he buys us a sausage to share!

Dribble-dribble-dribble!

We like it when Daddie comes on walks with us!

There's also the Cathedral itself. Because we live here we get a special card which means that we can walk through the Cathedral grounds. It is very pretty!

Here is the gate into the Cathedral, at the end of the side road-

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=il

(Thanks Google!)

We also walk past this place, not as pretty though!

It's the law courts, but there's lots of running space behind it by the barracks! Wheeee! Running is fun!

SO much running space! No roads! Wheeeee! (Thanks google)

We also walk through Westage Park, which is very pretty when the flowers are out.

And through Dane John Gardens, at the other end of the City, which is usually very busy. Mummie says we aren't allowed to drink from the fountain, Mummie is mean!

And one more pretty one! We look from the bridge over the river, rather than from this viewpoint- because hounds aren't allowed on the boats! It's not fair!

We live in such a nice place I wanted to share it with you!
(None of the photos, apart from the first one, are mine, thank you google images!)

Before I end this post, I want to give my dear friend Bella a shout out, Bella had a big operation today, she had a mass on her spleen, but thank goodness, it was just a haemotoma! Now she needs plenty of rest, relaxation and love! Bella's brother Sir Bruce of the Grey Table and myself were on standby for blood donating, if you are a hound who is eligible to give blood- do! It can save lives just like human blood donation does!

Get better soon, Princess Bella!

My favourite things! (by Ambam)

Hello! I've taken a while to think really, specially hard about my very best most favourite things in the entire world! It was really hard because sometimes I don't know if something is my favourite thing ever or the worst thing ever! Like manuka honey, sometimes I LOVE IT and sometimes it is positively evil!

Here is Manuka honey being good, and then being bad. It also looks a little bit like melty humans.

So! Here are my favourite things!

Pink!

BLUE!

Purple!

RAINBOWS!!!!!

Squeaky cat!

It squeaks! It crinkles! it's SQUISHY! It has a happy smile!

Mini Cow!

ONK-pig! (yes, Onk, not oink)

...well, it USED to Onk. But I deaded the noisemaker. I only wanted to hug him with my teeth a little bit...

I also love my bed! And mummie and daddies bed! I think the best thing EVER would be my bed, but the size of a humans bed! ... Oh, hang on... that has already happened, because their bed IS my bed!

See! MY BED!

I also love morning cuddles with Mummie. I like to snuggle up as close as possible and I fall asleep with Mummie cuddling me! Nero likes to sleep at the end of the bed so I have all the room I want. As long as Mummie moves over. And she does. Because I WRIGGLE!

Other favourite things!

My new collar! It hasn't arrived yet, but here it is, about to be posted to me!

The collar on the left is a present for my greyhound friend Sam, and the one on the right is for me!

They're both from Indi-dog, which is where Nibs collar is from as well!

http://www.indi-dog.co.uk/

I love my Aunty Julia's treats, AND her embroidered bandanas, they're the ones me and Nibs wear a lot! She does blankets as well, and wheat bags!

http://www.facebook.com/BellasEmbroidery?sk=info

My favourite bandana, because I am a one-dog squirrel patrol!

I also LOVE my Aunty Julia Cuddles!

Love you, Aunty J!

And of course I can't forget my Uncle Stevie Cuddles!

And last of my favourite things from Aunty J, is her photography of me and Nibs! She really captures my beauty, and as a self-conscious hound of good standing in the doggy community, I do like looking good in my press-approved photo's, dontcha know!

Here's Aunty J on facebook- http://www.facebook.com/puperazzi1

I also LOVE these!

My very clever Aunty K and Aunty D make these! They are mummies to my brudder-from-anudder-mudder, Sir Jack of the Grey  Table!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/beautifullyurban

I also am really looking forward to this!

By David! Who can be found here! http://davidsbestmate.blogspot.com/

Lastly one of my favourite things, apart from when Daddie comes home and gives me hello hugs, or when Mummie makes dinner and it's the best thing ever, or when Aunty J brings me treats and I sit like a good girl... is the portrait my mummie painted of me-

This photo is from Mummies DA account, so excuse the watermark!

Ok, so there we go, some of my favourite things! I'm sure there are more, but trying to catch my favourite things in my head is like chasing rainbows! It is very difficult! So many things are lovely in the world!