Running and Swimming with the Big Dogs

Can't outrun greyhounds on land, maybe you can escape in the water?




Maybe under the water?


Bret and Miles barely visible.


All you can see is Miles periscope, he and Brett are under there somewhere. Opie is wondering where they went.


Still swimming.


Bret seems to be loosing ground.


The greyhound catches his prey.

Island Pups

Here are a few more from Miles trip to the Island. Miles is wearing the white muzzle with the orange strap and Opie is in the black muzzle.













Oops! Collision!

Simple Pleasures in Life

There is nothing like watching a puppy to make you appreciate the simple pleasures in life... like warm sand. Miles got to go for his first boat ride on Lake Keowee. We stopped on a little island so Miles and his greyhound friend Opie could run around off leash. There was a sandy beach and Miles discovered the joys of rolling in sand.

Opie isn't used to playing with greyhounds other than the ones he lives with so we made sure the boys played nice by keeping them muzzled. Miles has learned to wear a muzzle but does try to rub it off from time to time. I think that is how he first discovered the sand.




Eventually he was rolling around making what almost looked like snow angels in the sand.


A happy but sandy pup.



Jenny and Bret, Opie's parents and the owners of the boat, hose the sand off Miles before our trip back.

7 months!

The puppies were 7 months old on August 6th. Miles weighed 60lbs and Otto weighed around 55 - I think that is what his dad, Joe, said. I can't believe they are so grown up looking. That cute little puppy stage sure doesn't last long. The puppy brain with adult sized body lasts for 2 or 3 years. Why can't that be reversed?

They are about as tall as a 75lb male and are towering above most females now. Of course they still don't have the adult length or muscle yet so look like little giraffes. If they stop getting taller right now and just start filling out they will be mid sized males. They should keep getting taller for another few months so could be very large males.

Miles has had a little growth on him for a few weeks. Took him to the vet and she thinks it is just a histiocytoma. Will give it a few more weeks to go away on its own. Probably nothing to worry about. Pinky had the same thing a couple of years ago.

Miles is chasing the lure and has been since he was about 6 weeks. This video was taken when he was nearly 6 months old.

Greyt Brindle Sharks

The pool has been filled for awhile now. Our first pool party was over the 4th of July. The pups were not happy about the new level of the water. The only place they can touch bottom now is on the steps that go across one end of the pool. They played on the steps but wouldn't go out any farther.

We gave them swimming lessons that they weren't thrilled with. There was some shaking, yelping and running away. In the end it was just too hot to play outside and not get in the water. When I was swimming Miles would run around the edge of the pool thinking about jumping in. He really wanted to be with the people in the pool. We made sure we had tons of fun playing with his toys in the deep water. He finally leaped in and swam to us. Then we had to teach him not to nip us and claw us when he was in the water. A day later he was leaping in off the side of the pool and we had to teach him not to leap ON us. It is amazing to watch the prey drive at work even with someone swimming in the pool. Like a shark, the splashing and fast movement draws a greyhound puppy.

Otto was more afraid to swim at first and only had access to the pool 3 times a week so it took longer for him to get used to it. Even though Miles was swimming, Otto stuck with the safe steps. Miles taunted him by swimming around with toys just out of his reach.

Miles jumping in while Otto watches from the steps.


Miles proving that greyhounds can run on water.


After being teased by Miles for a week or two, Otto started swimming. Miles is wearing the black collar with pink, green and yellow balls. Otto is wearing a white collar with colored footprints. You can see that Otto is getting even with Miles for all the taunting.


Has anyone heard of greyt brindle sharks?

Miles dropped a large stuffed monkey into the pool. It sank to the bottom. He and Otto spent a lot of time with their faces under water looking at the monkey. Miles finally got him.


The boys love swimming after balls. They have figured out that they can stand up in the shallow end if they stand up tall on their hind legs. It is funny to see them walking on their hind legs having wrestling matches and launching themselves off the bottom to leap on each other like a couple of kangaroos.


Miles accidentally became a water rescue dog. When we were playing in the pool he would come up and grab our hand or clothes and pull us back to the shallow end and the steps. He did this so often we decided to make it a game and have him do it on command. Now we go to the deep end and say "Help!" He dives in and swims to us and grabs a rope (better than a hand) and drags us back to the steps. He loves the game and dragging a person through the water over and over is a great way to tire out a pup. It is a cute trick too.

6 months old

A little late posting but Miles (above) turned 6 months old on July 6th. He weighed a bit over 50lbs and Otto slightly less. Not sure what Kohle weighs or the size difference between the boys because we haven't seen him all month. The pups are very tall and lanky. At 6 months they are the size of a female greyhound and taller than some of the foster females we have had recently. They aren't as long or as muscular as adult greyhounds so are much taller than an adult female that weighs the same as they do. They were closer in height to a 60 - 65lb female (racing weight).

Miles blaze is getting smaller and thinner the bigger he gets. It is getting harder to tell him and Otto apart now. Otto is just a bit darker in color and more narrowly built but they have been the same height for awhile. Miles used to lay with his legs straight out behind him like a frog but he quit doing that about the time he turned 6 months old. The other pups hadn't done it since they were pretty small. He started a new behavior about the time he stopped that one. He grins now. Usually when he is very happy like when we come home or when we have company. He lifts that nose and lips and shows all his teeth in a happy greyhound grin sometimes his teeth snap together like a gator just like JD's.

Handsome Otto looking very grown up


The pups are going through the 2nd fear phase now. Odd things scare them - like swimming in the pool. They tend to over react to things that never bothered them before. A larger dog coming over to play scared Otto and he ran away screaming and peeing in spite of all his early socialization. The boys were both very afraid of the water when we finished filling the pool and would even run away from us after a few swimming lessons that they didn't enjoy. Even after Miles started swimming on his own he would not get in the pool if Otto's owner, Joe, was in the water just because he had helped during some of the early swimming lessons. Glad I had read about this stage beforehand so I wasn't surprised by it.


Love this one! Otto looks like a grazing deer and Miles looks like the big bad wolf.




They are great pups. Very active. Although they play very rough, blood has never been drawn. It often looks and sounds like they are killing each other though. After watching them play, I can see that most of the loud rough housing at the greyhound playgroup that we stop really is just play. Greyhounds stay with their littermates for the first year of their lives instead of being separated from them at 6 or 8 weeks like most dogs. Their play gets rougher as they get to be adolescents but they have learned to be gentle with their bites. They have so much control. Even when one is clearly angry with the other, the discipline that is given does not draw blood. Occasionally there is a scratch or a scab that I find later but so far that is as far as it has gone.


Water still coming out of one of their pool toys as they carry it around.