Galgo News

Category: Advice

  • Volunteering at a rescue shelter – ground rules to remember!

    ACTIN galga Aysha 400It will soon be the end of 2016 and thoughts will turn to holidays in 2017. Regular readers will know I suggest that volunteering at an animal refuge is a wonderful way to spend a week – but there are some ground rules which need to be born in mind. It’s not actually a holiday as such – cleaning kennels, feeding dogs, washing bedding…but there is always time off to do sightseeing, or just play with the dogs!

    Most volunteers know this; many return year on year to their preferred refuge whilst others like to go to a different area and meet different people. But the ground rules remain the same!

    1. Remember that the people who own/run the refuge are the ones there 24/7 365 days a year and know the dogs in their care inside out. They know their characters, likes and dislikes, which dogs get on with others, or not.

    2. Do not question any instructions relating to the care of the dogs – helpful suggestions will be considered.

    3. Dogs like routine, refuges run on routine, so please adhere to the daily routine of the refuge wherever possible – obviously if bad weather hits and it’s all hands on deck, then carry out the emergency tasks asked of you.

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  • Multiple sighthound disorder!

    Multiple hounds 400You certainly can’t have only 1 galgo!

  • Living in Spain – not for the faint-hearted

    ACTIN viv and girls on patio 400Most people dream of retiring to a life in the sun, many consider running a business. Spain is one of the top destinations and that’s just what Vivienne Wharton decided to do in 2007. As Founder of ACTIN, she recently stepped down as President and had time to chat to me about life in Spain.

    I asked her why she chose the Cartagena area of Murcia, as Spain is such a large country! ‘It was really by accident. My best friend had moved here and whilst I was visiting her I came across Tara Casa, which was perfect for my plans to create a retreat. I hadn’t planned on living in Spain full time but to commute for the retreats. But as often happens, life doesn’t always take the path you plan. The previous owners abandoned their 2 dogs at the house and so the move to Tara Casa became permanent’.

    Like a lot of animal lovers in Spain, it is virtually impossible to turn a blind eye to the abandonment and cruelty which exists on the doorstep, especially dogs and cats but also for horses and donkeys. Living among the beautiful almond groves, Viv had the same problem.

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  • Directory of Spanish animal rescue associations

    Link to the Directory. Most of them are overflowing with galgos and podencos and other Spanish hunting dogs. If you can adopt a dog, DON’T adopt from a breeder or from a perrera. You’re putting money in the pocket of the breeder aqnd the perrera dog could be sick.

    ADOPT A DOG FROM A RESCUE ASSOCIATION!

  • Introducing clicker training with feeding your dog

    Clicker training Whole Dog Journal 400Extract from Training the Best Dog Ever

    First, let’s teach your dog the value of the click. Begin that lesson by once again hand-feeding all your dog’s meals over the next four days. In general, I find that hand-feeding is a good exercise to reintroduce whenever my dogs (or other dogs that I am boarding and training) are learning a new, difficult skill, or when I sense that they are beginning to lose focus.

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  • Bravecto flea & tick treatment chew- is it dangerous? Yes it is!

    In June I published a warning about Bravecto Flea and Tick treatment. Horror stories continue to appear on the facebook page – here is another tragic one. Please do not use this product and warn everyone else about it.

    ‘I lost my 4 year old dog less than 24 hours after his first dose and my other dog who was 3 years old at the time almost died less than 30 hours after his first dose. Two different dogs, two different breeds and the only common denominator to that vet visit for them both was this drug being prescribed.’

  • New idea on dealing with dog poo in public places

    Now there’s an idea!

  • Do not give in to Emotional Blackmail!

    In the 9 years since I first became involved in the plight of the galgos and podencos, hundreds of thousands more people now know of their maltreatment and suffering at the hands of the Galgueros.#

    New associations have been formed and thousands of these fabulous hounds have found forever homes.

    With the advent of publicity on Facebook, there have been worrying developments as even more people have become involved in ‘saving’ them, and not all working truthfully and within the law. I always advocate adopting a dog from a recognised rescue association. These hounds have already been rescued from kill station, abandonment in the campo, injured on roads. Costs have been incurred in medical treatment and preparing pet passports, blood tests and castration before the animals are homed. These are the dogs which are ready for adoption.

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  • Live in Australia? Jean-Claude van Damme says ‘adopt a greyhound’

    Australian greyhounds adopt 400Not galgos but their Australian cousins  are also treated badly in many cases.  

  • Blind dogs see with their hearts – give them a home

    Tracey Hayward blind galgo poem 390A beautiful poem bu Tracey Hayward

    I cannot see you mummy, when you cuddle me so near.
    And yet i know you love me, it’s in the words i hear.
    I cannot see you mummy, when you hold me to your side.
    But still i know you love me when you tell me so with pride.
    I cannot see to run and play out in the sun so bright, for here inside my tiny head it’s always dark as night.
    I cannot see the treats you give when I’m extra good, but i can wag my tail in Thanks just like a good dog should..
    I cannot see “The dog’s no good, she can’t be trained, she will never learn or she must be put to sleep” is what some folk do say.
    But not you mummy, you knew that it’s alright.
    Because i love you just as much as any dog with sight.
    You took me in, you give me love and we will never part.
    Because I’m blind with just my eyes, I still can see with my heart..
    *Dogs help us humans with our disabilities so why can’t humans help dogs with theirs?