Yeti

For a moment there I though Kate Moss had stolen Wendy's dogs Fab pics and looks like they all had a great time.

Brilliant - Grandma Squiggs is a Genius (they do say it skips generations ) She should be given the Queens Award for Dognological Innovation.

Brilliant. Failure is fab when it comes to fosters and this is a fantastic failure. Totally agree with Alison - Lester has well and truly fallen on his feet; congratulations to Lester and his new family.

Monty's home. He's bald at the front and his leg's totally bandaged; I'll try and take some pics tomorrow. His injury hasn't spoilt his appetite though.

Today's op went well and he's back up and eating. Depending on how he is tomorrow he might be OK to come home.

I don't know about anyone else, but in my experience the amount of noise is inversely proportional to the severity of the incident. Sometimes a foot does get trod on (not always by be), or some equally minor bump or something, and you would think the sky is falling in - I obviously check to make sure, but to date it's tell them it's not fatal and move on. I find it's when there is a yelp followed by silence that something serious has happened - with this episode and when Jack sliced his side open on barbed wire they both did just that, and that's when my attention goes 100% to them.

Thank you very much for this - you are such nice people. I'll let you know as soon as I know more. It looks as though Monty won't be home until tomorrow at the earliest, and maybe not 'til Monday.

Latest from vet is bad, good and bad. Bad: The break in the radius - the bigger of the two bones - was not clean but had many fragments. This made the operation more difficult. Good: They got good alignment of the bones. Bad: Although the alignment was good the lower part of the limb is rotated. If not fixed it will affect his gait and probably lead to lameness. So he's back in theatre tomorrow for another operation. Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts.

It's not being fick - it's all a bit magic,. As Sam says, so long as you go to the Vet UK site from The Beastly Beasts site we will get the commission. Many thanks to everyone that's ordered via our site - the amount of money you are all raising for hounds that need help is really adding up. We will keep the amounts and where they go up to date on our Vet UK page.

When I say broken I mean broken. Monty broke his front left leg while we were out yesterday evening and is currently at the vet having it mended. According to the vet he has done it in such a way that if you are going to break your leg it's the best way to do it - he has fractured his Ulna and Radius (the equivalent of our forearm) about half way. The reason that's good is that there is plenty of bone either side of the fracture to screw plates onto. When I get time I'll put an entry on BeastBlog telling the story of the whole saga, but as you can imagine my main concern right now is Monty - though I have to say he has been amazingly brave so far.

It's still summer - honest - and that means there's a bottle of wine up for grabs. We've just got the news from Vet UK on our latest sales - a big thank you to everyone that's ordered something via our site - and the winning order number is 89762. If that's your order just drop us a line via our contact page letting us know the total value of your order - that's just so we know it's you - where you would like your bottle of wine to go and what you would like - red or white - and we'll get in the post to you. And a very special thank you to the person that placed that order - we're sure you know why. If you are not sure what I'm on about - we are an affiliate of Vet UK - they sell branded veterinary products at great prices that include VAT and P&P. If you order from them via The Beastly Beasts website we get 5% commission. Once the amount gets to £20 we get paid at the end of that month and we give the money to greyhound rescues.

A belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY from The Beastly Beasts

From what you say, I think Alfie has to accept the fact that you - his leader - are allowing Ronnie to join the group and thereore he must also accept him. Ronnie for his part must learn that he must not "come on to" Ronnie to much; so I think you need to check (as in stop) their behaviour when wrong, and reward it when right. I 'spose Alison is right, we do seem to have a knack integrating new hounds. I'd love to say we have some special formula that we use, but really we don't - I think most of it comes down to the laid back nature of the existing bunch. However, there are a few things we do that I think helps: First and foremost is to lay down the rules and boundaries, and are consistant with them. If a new dog shows too much interest in one of the existing pack they are told by us "No - leave him/her" and if needed are gently but firmly moved away and their attention diverted elsewhere, and that will always be done. Lots of love and hugs - both individually so they get their own "quality time", and group hugs so they feel part of the group. When doing the group hugs I like to get the dogs touching each other; this I believe helps them bond together and I can control how they interact. Sort of combining the two - I use exclusion as a means of letting them know when their behaviour is unacceptable. So if there is misbehaviour - like one annoying another - the others get the cuddles and the "bad" dog is excluded - even to the point of telling them to go away and gently but firmly pushing them out. A short while - and I really do mean a short while - a minute tops for minor infringements - the "bad" dog is invited back into the group hug. If the infringement is major I'll keep it up for a few minutes - but always always will give them some love at the end to show my displeasure is over. The exclusion seems to reinforce the understanding that they have done something wrong. Another thing we do here is at meal times and treats they are given in strict order of arrival, so Kai gets fed first, then Monty, Jack, Troy, Lucy, Mack and finally Rosie. This - I think - reinforces their position in the pecking order. It took ages to get Mack to stick to his place in the order, but he's got the hang of it now. About the only thing I think we do is lots of exercise. The Beastly Beasts get a minimimum of an hour walk during the week and two - sometimes three - hours walk at weekends. i do believe that a well exercised dog is rarely a problem dog I guess the only other comments I'd make is: none of it happens over night, somettimes it's one step forward two stpes back, and as everyones situation is different and we all do things different ways you might find other things work for you and your hounds. I hope the above helps in some way. I have read the blog and they both look fantastic hounds - I hope Ronnie settles down and they get on well togehter.

The inspiration for this came from a comment on another thread: So who would you have in your fantasy "if only" pack. There is only one rule - you can't have your own dogs. So here's mine (bit houndy) Mortimer (he is just too handsome) Waljan (owner of Carol and Trev at Dumpledale) Beryl (another Dumpledale hound) Beano (he is the only greyhound puppy I've seen in the flesh, and still as cute now he's grown up) Bess (Chris's shaggy hound) Coyote and Dingo (who we met on holiday - a stunning pair) Hugo (who wouldn't have him if Sue would let you) Any Wolfhound that's not locked up, tied down or otherwise made unobtainable

I'm sure Rosie's issues were and probably are still are real - her initial reaction on meeting Kai was to have a pop at him; it was a "first strike" response and to me that's indicative of a nervous animal. Perhaps being in a larger group does give her confidence to be at ease - hounds helping hounds . And it perhaps it is that 'lifestyles' are different - that's why some dogs fit in some places and others don't - one of the fosters we had here, Hooch, for all that he was and is a fantastic dog was never going to be a Beastly Beast - i.e. stay here. He is now well settled where is his and loved to bits. As to your thoughts as to what might happen if .... I can only say what I've seen: While on holiday Rosie was taken on her own into a strange pack of dogs in a strange environment. OK, the dogs are well behaved and it was with me; however she was allowed off lead. When Waljan told her where to go she did - she did not fight back and there was no redirected aggression. Neither was their any follow up from Waj - it was just a "get your nose out my bits", and it was all over. As to giving her to someone who is not so confident (not sure size matters so much, within reason, if the person knows what they are doing - I know some small ladies that scare the c**p out of me and I'm sure could handle Rosie no problem) - definitely not at the this point in time. While she is eager to please and obedient she does have a mind of her own. Personally I like that kind of dog - I think they are fun providing they accept you as the boss. But I'm sure she'd try it on and see what she could get away with with someone new. My approach with Rosie is to take her as I find her, one step at a time, the same as I do with any dog that comes here. And it is only two months - very early days. I certainly don't consider what you said as having a go - I definitely don't have all the answers and neither do I think I've cured her. At best her environment has changed to one she feels more confident in for what ever reason(s). Perhaps that will be enough, but even if it's not I feel it's a good base to build on. My hope (fairly obviously) is that she will continue in the same way going forwards. And I whole heartedly agree with you that she is a lovely dog.

Dam - someone has sussed us Thing is I haven't really done anything that I don't do with any of The Beasts, and that is: tell them what I want them to do encourage and reward good behaviour not tolerate bad behaviour and correct it immediately if there is any feed a good diet give plenty of exercise socialise give loads of hugs let them know they are the best beasts in the world The only thing that I have done specifically for Rosie is to get her weight down and build up her muscle tone which she desperately needed, but doing that was simply a case of doing items 4 and 5 in a controlled way. OK, I watched her like a hawk until I was sure of her attitude to the others, but that's the same as with any new arrival. Rosie has been given every opportunity to demonstrate her "problem", but to date has refused to do so - which is good of course. Maybe I just haven't had her in a situation that triggers it, maybe coming to a pack of hounds that are fairly chilled was what she needed; who knows? All I know is she came here with a reputation, and so far she has not lived up to it. From day one she waited her turn a meal times, apart from the very first morning and when she jumped on Monty getting out the BeastBus at the Gap show there has not been so much as a cross word - I have had much worse from other hounds. On the contrary, Rosie has proven herself to be highly intelligent, very loving, eager to please, willing to fit in, and a right tart.

Rosie has been here almost two months now; she came to the BeastBarracks because she was being aggressive towards other dogs and not far off taking a one way trip to the vet. Two members on another forum managed to get her a another chance and persuaded me to take her in - I'm glad they did. If you have read BeastBlog recently you'll know that she behaved impeccably at the Gap Show and on holiday. Yesterday was the next big test for Rosie, a White Lodge walk with dozens of dogs at Outwoods in Leicestershire. The couple of pics below I think say it all about how she behaved. She loved mixing in with other dogs as we walked and chatted and seemed to take a particular shine to Mortimer (the snowflaked roman nosed hound at the right of the 2nd pic - he is seriously handsome) - she would make a point of walking and standing next to him if she could. And while I'm going, here's a quote from the WL forum about her " .... Rosie is absolutely gorgeous, what a star. ...." ; couldn't have said it better myself smile.gif As you might have guessed, I am rather proud of Rosie and the way she behaved yesterday.

There are good pics and there are GOOD pics - that is a GOOD pic. I had tears streaming down my face - just brilliant.

Routine is not a word in the dictionary in this house, so no body clocks here. But open the appropriate cupboard, pick up a food bowl or rattle a lead and seven hounds come running for - respectively - treats, food, walk.

We are currently on two failed fosters: Jack - we call him Happy Jack because whatever he is doing is the best thing he's ever done. Jack arrived in March 2005 for a two week stay; he's still here - and stopping. Lucy - she arrived in April with Hooch and instantly settled in and became a Beastly Beast. We also have two unfailed fosters at the moment - Mack and Rosie.

Some of Beastlly Beasts past, present and temporary. Monty Titch - she was a Beast for a day Maple Rosie

We got back from a week in Swallows Dance yesterday and like everyone else that goes there or to Dumpledale we had a fantastic week; the weather at the end of the week was more like July than August. To give you some idea of how much we enjoyed the week, we've booked for next year already!! The Beastly Beasts loved it and of course BeastBlog has all about what they got up to and there's loads of pics (click here to take a look). Rosie behaved herself impeccably with everyone (as you probably know she arrived here with some issues) and has added another couple of fans in the shape of Trevor and Carol. A few pics from the week: Troy at Sunrise Gill with Poppy, Lucy, Beryl, Faith and Phoebe Rosie Beasts on the beach

Way to go Hugo !!

Marian, Sorry to read such sad news. But I'm sure Daisy went to the Bridge in knowledge she was loved.

Sad news, but I can't think of a better place for Connie to leave for the bridge from. Big hugs from The Beasts