March is here and we are hoping that Spring will bring some overdue good luck with it. February was a trying month indeed.

February Woes:

Unfortunately we are no further forward in respect of Roger and his eye problem. His new medication does not appear to have helped him and we are still working on a solution with the opthalmic specialist that Roger has been referred to. Sadly Roger is really quite uncomfortable again, the poor lad.

Anna arrived in February and as we normally do, we took her to the vet for a straightforward neuter and dental to discover that she had a medical problem with her salivary glands and will need an additional operation. It would have been too risky to perform three procedures under one anaesthetic so Anna will have to go back for the salivary gland operation at least a month after her spay.

Anna who now has a rather swollen ned is waiting for an operation to correct her salivary gland function.

In the mean time little Anna has a pretty swollen neck and is having to be exercised on a harness until she can have her surgery. She doesn’t seem to be bothered by her swollen neck however and doesn’t appear to be in any pain which is good news

On February 22nd we had a new arrival in the form of Bobby puppy who was in need of our help. Bobby arrived with a very bad dose of kennel cough along with and un-treated infection too. We are very pleased to say that Bobby has now recovered from all problems, but he has to remain in the isolation kennel a few more days on the advice of our vet.

Bobby our 13 month old lurcher has now recovered from kennel cough and an infection.

Just to complicate matters in respect of Bobby it would appear that he is not a full blood greyhound either. He is incredibly small even for a youngster of 13 months at just 20kg. We believe him to be a lurcher, although we do not know his actual breed heritage.

The Good News:

As of today it seems we are once again clear of the blight of Kennel Cough. If any resident was going to catch it, then they’d have shown symptoms by now. It seems that the urgent mass vaccination of kennel residents for kennel cough has worked and other cases have not occurred.

After having a phase of being short staffed we are now pleased to welcome two new recruits to our kennel team. Welcome to Viv, who has been with us helping with walking and grooming for some time. Viv has joined our regular Tuesday morning Team.

We also welcome Sam who has been a regular Friday dog walker for some time. Sam is now one of our Friday morning kennel staff and a jolly useful person to have on the team too since her paid job is as a veterinary nurse.

Thank you to both Viv and Sam for volunteering. We don’t seem to have frightened either off yet, although both started at a particularly difficult time at the kennels. Thanks ladies for sticking with it.

Our 2014 Open day has been set for Sunday 8th June, 11am until 2pm. We hope that you’ll all come along and join the fun to help us raise funds for the greyhounds in our care. Our annual Open Day is our biggest single fundraising event of the year. More details of the attractions will be given nearer the time.

A date for your diaries: Open Day 2014 will be on Sunday June 8th 11am until 2pm.

Nelson:

Nelson has recently come back to us after a few weeks in emergency foster care. Nelson is the most wonderful house dog and he’d love to find himself in a forever home very soon. Clean, quiet, sociable with other dogs, able to live with other male dogs and even cats. Nelson’s foster home had a cat, with a bit more training and cautious introduction to a new cat we feel that Nelson will learn to live safely with cats. A little timid around loud noises this boy would love a quiet home where he can relax and keep you company.

Homed Greyhounds:

Winston has been homed.

Greyhounds in Foster Care:

Niki, Jet, Banksy, Roger, Rosie and Tipsy are in foster care. If one of our foster dogs interests you as a potential new family member then you simply need to call us and we’ll arrange a mutually convenient date and time for you to meet him/her.

Postage Stamp Appeal:

Many of you may already know that the Retired Greyhound Trust collect used postage stamps to raise funds for the greyhounds in their care. For some of you collecting the occasional stamp here and there and finally getting around to posting a collection off may be a bit of a nuisance.

Thanks to the inspiration of Penny and Adrian (who have started the branch collection very nicely) we are now collecting as a kennel too. In due course we’ll arrange for a bulk lot of stamps to reach the RGT and save you the postage cost of sending them yourselves. From as little as one stamp, please bring them in whenever you visit us. We have a collection bag in the kennel kitchen for you to use. All stamps are welcome, but most especially the ones from abroad. Thank you everyone for supporting greyhound welfare Nationwide.

Foster Home Appeal:

We need more foster homes. Ideally we are looking for foster homes within easy traveling distance of Fleet, Wokingham, Alton or Southampton as we have trusted volunteer team members in those areas who would be able to assist with viewings if a trip to the kennels was not possible.

We prefer foster carers who have some experience of dog ownership and training. Homes without cats and young children are especially sought because homes with young children and/or cats or inexperience dog handlers severely restrict our options of the greyhounds we could place with you.

If greyhound fostering is of interest to you, then please visit our fostering information page to see if it could be the route for you.

Lungworm can kill!

Please be aware of Lungworm, it’s a killer that many of you won’t necessarily have heard of. It is spreading fast in the UK and many dogs have already died from it. Don’t panic however as Lungworm is very easy to prevent and equally if diagnosed early it can be treated very successfully too. Late diagnosis of Lungworm does not always have a happy ending however.

The following link will take you to a Lungworm Information site. For preventative treatment of lungworm you will need to contact your vet. Treatment/prevention of  Lungworm is by prescription medication only.

Fundraise for us using eBay

You can now sell items on ebay and choose to donate between 10% and 100% of your sale price to Greyhound Lifeline. If you are an ebay member you could also simply donate by using your Paypal account. For ebay members only please visit their Sell for Charity page and enter “Greyhound Lifeline” in the Charity name area.

If you are a UK tax payer please also tick the Gift Aid box. Please read ebay’s terms and conditions carefully as we cannot be held responsible for any problems you may encounter. Could you sell your unwanted items and help us to buy food, provide veterinary care and generally look after the greyhounds in our care at the same time?

Interested in Adopting a Greyhound?

Enquiries should be directed by telephone or text message to Greyhound Lifeline

• For all enquiries:
  • 07769 348310

Or by email to enquiries@greyhoundlifeline.co.uk
Or Contact us using our Contact page