Sue's Greyhound Blog

It’s that time of year again and as its Easter we have just returned from our favourite
Campsite at Graffham, near Petworth in Sussex.

Follow up:

It was exactly a year ago that we spent our last holiday there with Tikka, when we realised that we had to make that “ultimate decision” and end her suffering when we got home. So when we arrived this year it did feel rather strange not to have her with us and all those memories of fun times with her just came flooding back.

This year though, we had Pickle and it was her first visit to Graffham, so it was lovely to watch her as she soon discovered the wonders of the local wildlife - she does like her squirrels and birdies bless her, anything that moves really is fair game.

We love the freedom that caravan holidays bring as we get to visit some beautiful and peaceful places and the dogs are always welcome. They too enjoy the different sights and smells that are on offer – not to mention the freely available wildlife passing by within sniffing distance of an open awning door!

They seem to know that the sudden flurry of activity 2-3 days before we go away means something and they become restless and constantly get in the way or under our feet as if to say “don’t forget us”.

They are all very well behaved on holiday and are often complimented on and made a fuss of - which of course they love. When we arrive at a campsite they wait patiently in the back of the car for everything to be set up, then it’s time for the “first walk” just to check the place out, which as far as they are concerned is very exciting. Though one thing is usually guaranteed – there is always someone on site with a small “rabbit sized” dog who thinks its ok to let it wander in front of your Greyhounds – not a good move especially when we have only just arrived and its still a very exciting place to be!

For a weeks holiday or more we will put up a large awning on the side of the caravan which has an additional annexe zipped into one of the end window panels, this is their bedroom. If we are only away for a couple of nights then we use a small porch awning or they sleep in the boot of the car and depending on the time of year they wear their various coats to keep warm at night.

This holiday though we decided to use the luxury of a small flat panel oil heater to put out in the awning at night as snow was still being forecast in some parts of the country with frosty nights down in the south. The theory was brilliant – this holiday the dogs wouldn’t get cold. We finished setting up just as it was getting dark – electric, water, fridge, gas all connected. I was inside tuning in the TV when suddenly the lights dimmed. Geoff had just plugged in the heater which proved to be too much for the electrics and had blown the circuit on our pitch! As we had only just arrived the battery in the caravan hadn’t had chance to charge up so was as flat as a pancake, therefore what little light we had to start with was now slowly disappearing! Geoff then had to make the rather sheepish visit to the holiday site managers to ask them to reset our electrics, whilst I busily tried to find somewhere to hide the evidence of the heater!

The dogs therefore were back to normal – wearing 2 coats at night and even coming inside with us one particularly cold night, which was a little snug with 3 greyhounds stretched all over the caravan floor. “Princess pushy” (Pepper) fought her way to the front and managed to hog the floor space in front of the heater all night while Woody got the space in front of the fridge and Pickle, who was last in, was left with the bathroom floor and no additional heating. They may well have been warm but someone was snoring all night and I don’t think it was Geoff as I could have kicked him!

Whenever we go on holiday Pepper & Pickle seem to be fussy about their food for the first 24 hours, (Woody is fine and given the chance would happily eat theirs too) so I always make sure that hey have some tasty treats to be tempted with for dinner time and they have biscuits and chewy bones when we go to bed. On several occasions though last week Pickle was caught nosing off the lid of the box where I kept their food and helping herself to the contents – particularly Woody’s special soft chewy bones. He now has one less tooth than he had before so does need soft chews more than ever.

You really do get close to nature when you caravan or camp as on one holiday we noticed that every night the dogs were really unsettled, not like them at all and every time we went to empty the bin, bits would fall out the bottom of it. It wasn’t until we came to pack up that we realised that we hadn’t been alone – we had had a little night time visitor - as underneath the groundsheet a mole had been burrowing!! He had a particular taste for chocolate mousse pots and biscuit wrappers as when he’d finished with them they were all stacked up very neatly behind the caravans’ wheel! He’d also eaten some of our groundsheet and awning skirt too which wasn’t quite so funny – the teeth marks are still there.

Having a holiday with 3 dogs though does take a certain amount of planning. We go away armed up to eyeballs with copious amounts of poo bags. For weeks after we come home from holiday you can’t put on a coat, fleece or pair of jeans without finding at least 3 poo bags in a pocket!

The day’s events need careful planning too according to weather conditions. We enjoy visiting National Trust properties but can only go on days when it’s not too sunny or hot as most of them don’t accept dogs or have precious little shade in the car parks. Twice last week we found ourselves walking through beautiful gardens to visit some historic house in the rain just because of the dogs!

We also like to go shopping and when we do it is vital to find a multi-storey car park as they provide shade and a cool environment to leave the dogs in the car safely. Last week we planned a trip to Gunwharf Quays shopping centre, but imagine our horror on seeing the sign for the car park reading “FULL”. Panic set in, we had to find another multi-storey car park as the sun was out and we needed shade for the dogs. Phew, one was found somewhere in the middle of Portsmouth. We hadn’t a clue where we were or more to the point where the shops were, but it was ok, the dogs would be alright!

They did get rewarded for their patience though afterwards with a couple of lovely walks along the beach at West Wittering on some gloriously sunny days. But it always amazes me that on these lovely sunny, spring like days, when we are sitting out having a picnic our two black dogs are the ones roasting themselves on the grass in the full sun and the one that is mostly white is lying in the shade – they really are dim!

Whilst holidays are supposed to be relaxing and a chance to recharge those batteries our dogs do find them very tiring as they have to stay awake more than they are used to during daylight hours! As soon as we get back home we let them out in the garden, after having spent the whole holiday wearing collars and leads 24/7 the chance to run freely is often overwhelming and they have to be watched very carefully especially if they are let down on the grass as accidents often happen at these times. Pickle & Pepper particularly enjoy a rather boisterous game of chase, Woody is far to grown up to join in so just stands and barks at them which just makes it a whole lot worse! Eventually game over, they come indoors and within seconds Woody & Pickle are snuggled up together on the sofa and almost synchronised they let out a huge sigh of relief at being back home – so that they can sleep! Holidays are lovely but it’s always nice to be home.

Well, they are all going to be in for a shock in July as we are having separate holidays for the first time this year. We are off to France - and they are off to Kennels!!!