Category: Kennel updates

We have a an update on Neville (Kilara Rapture). As you may recall from a previous post Facebook post Neville was to spend time with Miele (Saving Amelia) and her family. This was Neville’s first trip away from kennels and here is what the family said about him.

“Neville did so well yesterday. I thought he’d spend the day hidden away in a corner, but not at all…

Within a couple of hours he was coming over for a fuss and then he settled himself down with Miele for a nap !

It was lovely watching him explore the garden and house. Anything and everything was inspected and sniffed !

He is a work in progress but yesterday was a great start and he looks ever so smart in his harness !”

Thank you to Miele and her family, we are sure he will be even more relaxed in your company when you see him next.

We have had a further update on Ken from his foster family. We really hope he melts someones heart and he finds his forever home soon.

Ken is our first foster greyhound and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer boy. He’s already mastered lots of practical things – he’s house trained, not bothered by the hoover, and can walk across a Lino floor like a pro ! He doesn’t counter surf, and sleeps through the night.  

He’s so affectionate and will bury his head into your chest for a fuss. When you come in a room, even if you’ve only been gone for a few minutes, he greets you like you’ve been gone for weeks ! 

Ken does seem to gain reassurance from having another greyhound around.  However, with the right experienced greyhound owner, perhaps someone who has friends with greyhounds that Ken could get to know, he could possibly go solo. 

In his forever home he needs someone willing to take things slowly and to help him feel secure. Beneath all his “kisses” and the waggy tail is a boy who’s a bit unsure of the world and where he fits in. 

We’re starting to see a lovely playful side to Ken’s character, he loves to run around the garden with his toys. 

Socialisation with other dogs is going well and so far we haven’t had any problems. He does shows interest and will be ‘up’, particularly if see dogs running off lead. But there’s been no barking or lunging and he’s been easy to re-direct. 

He’s such a super boy and he’s more than ready for his forever home.

Ken (Swift Ken) is one of our longest stayers after being returned having been in a home for a year.

After assessing Ken and taking him out and about with us he is now in a foster home until we can find a forever home for him.

Ken is just such a happy soul and is affectionately known at kennels as Happy Ken.

Ken has previously been in a home with another Greyhound and is now being fostered in a home with a female Greyhound, the lovely Miele (Saving Amelia).

Ken struggled with small dogs when he came back but after much socialisation he is so much better now.

Maybe he couldn’t live with a small dog but indications are he is fine with any he spots on his walks although obviously we would recommend he is always muzzled in public.

We hope to post regular updates on Ken while he is in his foster home.

We will also be putting out a national appeal for him in the coming weeks when we have learnt much more about him whilst he is in his foster home.

Below is an update from Kens foster family after his first week in his foster home.

“We had a lovely walk with Ken today around our local park followed by some street walking. He wasn’t phased by traffic and walked beautifully on his lead. He can be a tiny bit strong at the start, but as soon as he settles he just trots along beside you.

We saw different breeds of dogs, big and small, and everything was fine. No pulling or barking. We stopped to let a lady and her small dog walk past us so we were all in close proximity, Ken was fine and actually didn’t show much interest.

He loves going out on his walks. He’s such a happy boy and he did brilliantly” !

Thank you to Ken’s foster family, we value our foster carers highly and are grateful for all they do for our dogs.

Well done to Barry (Sunshine Sioux) who made a huge impression on all who met him when he was taken by Volunteer Sue to her local Church afternoon tea party.

Barry was the centre of attention, fussed constantly and adored by all.

He helped pick the raffle tickets, helped the ladies choose their prizes and went inside the Church where he leaned and cuddled with everyone and was excellent with the little children, he didn’t put a foot wrong.

What a star, he will make a wonderful companion for some lucky family.

If you would like to meet Barry please call John on 07854057715.

Since moving to Northumberland Volunteer Avril doesn’t get to meet up with the Kennel Dogs and all at Dillymore Kennels as often as she wishes and so what an absolute treat it was for her to spend time catching up with the Kennel team and meeting Volunteer Claire for the first time.

She met all of the dogs and walked several of them. She also enjoyed helping out at feeding time.

She will be visiting again at the end of June when she will lead the evening walk in Dedham on Friday 26th.

Below are photos of Billy (Fawn), Neville a shy lad (In his run) and Tommy.

Some of our Kennel dogs were taken to the picturesque village of East Bergholt on Saturday. All behaved well and both the dogs and our Volunteers were made most welcome by the Staff and Management of The Red Lion Public House and Restaurant.

Present and identified by their muzzle colours were Twix Orange, Barry Blue, Stripes Green and Billy White.

A few more volunteers joined us today for another trip to the lovely Frinton Beach, where Buddy, Timmy, Tommy and Peg were joined by ambassadors Stephen and recently homed Buster, along with Stephen’s best friend Ted. They all had a great time and we all got to have a dip in the sea – some hounds liked the water more than others! Although some were a bit alert to begin with, there were no reactions to different breeds and sizes of dogs we encountered and as usual, they attracted many interested passers by. They got lots of hugs, kisses, water and treats when we stopped for a rest at the end of the walk, finished off by a nice long snooze in the van on the way back.

What a wonderful surprise lay in store for Tommy (Tommy’s Kingdom) after he had been paddocked and had breakfast on Sunday morning!

Unbeknown to him his kennel hands and volunteers from the former Portsmouth branch were on their way to see him.

Wow! he was over the moon to see them. He was absolutely thrilled to be out of his kennel for an extra walk and then he spotted Anni, Tash and Abby, he was almost beside himself with joy when he saw Abby.

They all spent some quality time together. It was lovely to watch.

Thank you so much ladies for making the journey to see Tommy it meant the world to him that you still think of him and of course to us to know just how loved he was when he was in your care.

Rest assured he is much loved here.

Tommy is now one of our longest stayers having been with us since December. He can be a little excited when he first comes out of his kennel and when he is taken out and about but he soon settles. He has so much love to give and is nicknamed Tommy wagtail at kennels because this happy little soul is so full of joy he barely stops wagging it!

Ken and Fergi’s morning at the beach!

Ken (red muzzle) and Fergi (blue muzzle) were up and raring to go for their morning outing to Frinton beach yesterday. They were so excited in the van with Laura and Jason that they couldn’t resist taking in turns to poke their head through the gap, wondering ‘are we there yet?’ Buddies Stephen (retired from Dillymore) and Ted joined them at the beach, alongside their humans Gilly and Darren.

They both seemed quite amazed by the beautiful beach and we arrived with perfect timing for the tide to be out. They both managed the steps going down to the sand very well and were very excited to be on the sand (probably the first time on a beach for them!) They did encounter lots of off lead dogs (most of them smaller) and although they were understandably a bit excited at first, they settled down very quickly and after about 10 minutes there was no reactivity at all.

Both Ken and Fergi got to have a dip in the water and seemed to absolutely love it, jumping around in the sea. They managed to dry off very quickly in the sun and we came across some very interested humans, very taken with the beautiful boys – who can blame them really! They got to have some sausage treats at the end of the walk and said goodbye to Stephen and Ted before having a snooze in the van on the way back. They had their lunch when they got back which I’m sure was followed with a well deserved afternoon nap!

Some of our boys had a trip out to our local town of Hadleigh on Saturday.
Here is an account of their adventure from our Volunteers.
All behaved well in the van.
We did the lovely river walk, then through the Churchyard and town followed by refreshments at the George Hotel to finish!
Along the way we met plenty of dogs, both big and small, Geese, Chickens, Horses, Ducks, some very chatty and interested people and a few cyclists!
We felt as a group the boys took everything in their stride.
Present were:-
Tommy (Red muzzle) was as always excited to be out but quickly settled.
Stripes (White muzzle) who has recently been reluctantly returned was so affectionate and walked beautifully beside Zeus.
Zeus (Green muzzle) was a pleasure to walk with Stripes
Fergi (Orange muzzle) was a little anxious / fearful at times but he certainly trusted Mia his Volunteer and was there was no really reactive moments. It’s such a big thing for some of them to go on a big outing into a town.
Timmy (Blue muzzle) is a recent arrival who will be appearing on our websites soon. This was his first trip out and was so at ease with his volunteer Holly, confident, curious, great on the lead and he even managed to negotiate some stairs!

Thank you to all of our Volunteers who gave their time this weekend to take our dogs out and about, these trips are so helpful.