Day 5

A gruesome scene - Minty's Christmas teddy bear. First he chewed off both his eyes. Then he made a hole in his head and pulled out his brains. Lastly he went straight to his heart and pulled out his insides. He behaves like a puppy, honestly he's 7 years old now!

After adopting Minty, we soon realised he was not like a typical greyhound. He was WIRED for a start. He needed long walks and exercising and he just wanted to play all day long. As for sleeping, well that was a rarity. It felt like we had a labrador puppy and I do wonder if that is in his blood.

Though he had looked like a greyhound at the rescue centre, over the first year he filled out a lot. He did not become overweight but he simply had a much stockier build than a greyhound. Looking back at pictures of when he first came home, I am shocked by how skinny and underweight he was.

Being a rescue, he came with baggage. He does not get on with other dogs which is probably why he was kept away from them at the rescue centre. He needed a lot of training and he took quite a while to trust us. When we put him in kennels for the first time when we went away, he wouldn't look at us when we picked him up again and he lost a lot of weight. It was obviously too stressful for him and now he only stays with family.

Even now he stills exhibits some behaviour related to being abandoned. He needs a lot of physical contact for reassurance. If we are in the house but in separate rooms he will only sit in the hall where he can see everyone. He is always checking where we all are. He won't let anyone else walk him unless he knows them really well. And whenever one of us leaves the house, he makes a lot of noise!

The lovely thing about rescue dogs is that they have so much love to give. I think he honestly appreciates affection all the more because there was a time when he never had it. We find ourselves saying "Yes we STILL love you, don't worry!" because he is always rolling over for tickles just to check that we do indeed still love him!