Yarm

outh Greyhound Homefinders

NewsletterPublisher: Lynda Eden Issue Number: 18 Date: Summer 2011

A Note From The Editor:Thank you to everyone who attended our first open day of 2011. As usual everyone at Homefinders avidly checked the weather forecast daily and March 20th delivered as promised! The sun shone and the crowds flocked in! An excellent day all round and we raised over £1000!

The knitted dog coats sold extremely well and the lucky dogs looked very smart.

Yet again the sun shone for our next greyhound get-together at Wolterton Hall. We had an excellent turn out of greyhounds and owners for a very pleasant stroll around the lake.

Further in this newsletter you will find details of our next open day. This will include our fun greyhound show. Also details of our annual auction, with a bit of a twist this year! For further details you can phone David on 0845 458 3797.

Please continue to send your letters, stories, photos and poems to me at lynda_eden@hotmail.com or post to: Mrs Lynda Eden, 20, Bernard Road, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9AW.

I am looking forward to seeing lots of you throughout the year at our open days and events.

Lynda.

Kennels Located At Hainford, A140. Open Saturdays 11am-2.30pm otherwise by appointment

Lynda_eden@hotmail.com Mrs Lynda Eden, 20 Bernard Road, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9AW.

www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk

Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders, a branch of the Retired Greyhound Trust Registered Charity No: 269668

STOP PRESS:Homefinders have received an amazing £2900 from the memorial meeting on 18th May

Thank you so very, very much to everyone who helped to raise this fantastic amount.

More details will appear in our next newsletter.

On Sunday 22nd May we had a fantastic turnout of greyhounds and their owners at our first event held at the stadium. We were treated to a tour around the kennels and the vet’s treatment room. This was followed by a walk, or run, around the track.

Following the track walk we headed off to the park. We must have been quite a sight for the car drivers and their passengers!

After the walk we headed back to the stadium where there was a roaring trade in bacon rolls!

Sooty settles inJust to let you know that Sooty, Sooty Royale, was very well behaved in the car on the way home. He had a sniff round the house and garden then we let him wander around to get his bearings. One minor accident up the hall wall, but apart from that the garden has been used as we hoped. He followed our every move to

begin with, and then when he wandered off on his own, we followed him to see what he was up to!

Took him for a short walk after lunch to get to know each other and he was very well behaved - he took an interest in a young girl and a small dog across the road but made no attempt to head for them. The only slight worry was that we wouldn’t be able to get him back in the house as he stood resolutely on the doorstep for about 5 minutes. Once in, he whimpered and lay by the front door, but soon settled. He’s not interested in his bed at all at the moment, preferring to spread out on the floor in the middle of the room. I guess the bed will have to move to his chosen spot!

Had a longer walk this evening (again he was brilliant) and he is now crashed out on the floor. He’s not following us as much now and we can walk past him without him bothering too much about us. He didn’t eat much of his food this evening but it’s been a big day and I’m sure he’ll be hungry and eat in the morning. I’m exhausted and hope for a quiet night!

Sunday morning

I think I have the best dog in the world!

We were exhausted last night so took advantage of him being settled to sneak off to bed at about 10. I heard

him going up and down the stairs a couple of times then he must have settled. I got up about 12 because he was whimpering on the landing, showed him back to bed without too much fuss and went back to bed. I heard him about half an hour later then all was quiet. That doesn’t mean I got any sleep of course, as I was listening out for him!

Up at six, and as soon as I moved, Sooty was bounding up the stairs for some affection. Opened the door and he headed out for a wee, had a drink then headed back to the duvet, which we moved to his chosen spot and he’s still curled up there now. Nothing damaged and no accidents overnight.

We had a nice walk this morning. Sooty and I joined Matt on his paper round which meant lots of stopping and starting which he did well. It was good actually because it was very quiet and any other dogs, cats and people got his full attention, especially a couple of small yappy dogs which he did go for a little, but responded to us and soon left them alone. He ate a bit more this morning - wasn’t very interested to start with but the addition of some cheese did the trick! We’ll try to go out and leave him for a while later which may be a bit of a challenge. He’s just settled down in the sunny spot on the carpet so will try to have a nap myself.

‘Home alone’ time has been a bit of a challenge. One of us going out isn’t too bad but getting us all out in one go a bit more difficult. And getting in again isn’t easy. He seems fine being left but is so keen to get out of the door that it’s a bit of a tussle. He’ll learn though - it’s very early days.

Meet our new friends. Available for adoption while stocks last!!!!

Hello,

Just to let you know how Huggy, Hartwood Raven, is settling in - he is now called ‘Monty’ although that makes no difference to him yet! He was so tired that he crashed out and slept a good long sleep! He had just one little argument with Ashley (our other greyhound) at 5am when he heard Andy come home from work. He appears very alert to noise of people coming to the house.

He is equally curious about the TV - looking all around it to find where the sound comes from. He played skipping rope with my hairdryer while I dried my hair. He sampled Andy’s lunch! He squeaked a toy constantly until it broke. He’s had his nose in every cupboard and corner of the house and garden, banged his head a few times when exiting cupboards, and chased the mop! He lies down in whichever room I am in, just rolling right over occasionally to get a different view. He has completely smeared my long mirror where he’s trying to kiss the other dog (his reflection). He can’t understand why he can’t just walk through the back door when it is closed (at night), or why he can’t have all the food I prepare. He’s only pee’d once indoors so far, and was clean throughout the night, which I was very impressed with.

He is soft, fluffy and adorable - and (almost) starting to respond to commands like ‘no’ and ‘down’.

Thank you for your help and advice. Early days yet but we have a sense that he’ll adapt to home life quite well.

Best wishes,

Petri Burton

Sponsorship news:Another success story for our sponsor dog! Toby has found a lovely home and we are so very pleased for him!

The beautiful Diamond is now our new sponsor dog.

Not everyone can give a greyhound a home but you can help Diamond enjoy her retirement. She’s a very special girl who, through no fault of her own, cannot be homed at present. For a suggested minimum donation of £12 a year you can help keep her happy and comfortable

in her kennel at Hainford. You will receive a sponsor’s certificate, a gift and photos of Diamond.

You are very welcome to visit Diamond and her friends at our kennels. Look for the Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders sign on the A140 Cromer Road at Hainford, 5 miles north of Norwich.

Kennels open Saturdays 11am-2.30pm or by appointment. 0845 458 3797

To sponsor Diamond please fill in your details below and send a cheque or postal order made payable to Yarmouth Greyhound Homefinders to:

Lisa Pimble, 77, St Benets Road, Stalham, Norwich, Norfolk, NR12 9DW.

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Further to my piece about older dogs being homed I have to report another. Leo’s owner passed away recently leaving Leo, who is nearly 12 years old desperately looking for a new home. Volunteers Gordon and Ann looked after him for a while before Dawn came forward to offer Leo a lovely home. Dawn took on Dylan in similar circumstances and so Leo will have a friend. We are grateful to

Dawn and her family who have again showed what great people our owners are.

Co-ordinator’s BitMaureen and I had a great time touring the southern states of the USA in Feb/March. A highlight of which was meeting Tracey and her colleagues at Orange Park Kennel Club, Jacksonville. Orange Park is a greyhound-racing track attached to a huge casino building. Tracey is part of the greyhound homefinders group there and made us feel very welcome.

The homefinders have a really neat booth inside the building in a prominent position from where they talk to people, sell greyhound items and enable people to meet a dog or two. We met Misty Blue, a beautiful brindle girl, who had just won the first race and was then brought in to meet everyone. Having swapped a few bits of information we went out to watch some racing. Many things were different to what we are used to here such as:

The weather was brilliant with blue skies and a comfortable warmth!!

Racing takes place both in the afternoon and evening on a couple of days. (We attended an afternoon)

The track is a very well manicured with fountains and colourful plants in the centre.

The track is larger with the dogs running 550yds. There are other starts at 660yds and 770yds.

The dog handlers are employed by the stadium, are in uniform and are very efficient and well drilled.

There are 8 dogs to a race and they chase two soft toy hares, which are mounted on a long stick above ground level.

The whole place is huge in comparison to Yarmouth and has a completely different atmosphere.

We gave Tracey a copy of our newsletter, which was very well accepted (that pleased Lynda!) and will be sending a copy of this one. The homefinders there have all the same aims as ourselves with perhaps the main difference being the huge area they are able to home dogs to. Everybody we spoke to in the stadium was pleasant and courteous, as we always find with people when we are travelling around the States. We had a lovely time at the racing and hope to keep in touch one way or another and ultimately visit again sometime.

We returned from the holiday straight into an Open Day, which was a huge success and a brilliant start to the events year. It was great, as usual, to see all the dogs again and there were certainly many there.

DAVID

Bonnie

We got Bonnie six and a half years ago from the RGT, Croftview. From day one she was unique.

When we moved from Hertfordshire to Suffolk five years ago we made contact with David and volunteered to help with fundraising for Homefinders. Bonnie came too and raised much-needed funds.

She also attended the open days at the kennels and took part in the dog shows where she came 2nd and 3rd in the veteran groups, not bad for 11 years old.

We took her on holidays twice a year. She couldn’t manage long walks every day so we took a tram or a bus to help her! The sofa on holidays always helped after a walk too!

Then, sadly, on 31st January 2022, she developed a poorly bad foot. This developed in to something more sinister happening in her back end and we had to have her put to sleep. She didn’t suffer, thank goodness, but what a hole she left in our lives. Also many good memories.

I made a phone call to David to let him know of Bonnie’s passing and I mentioned that if he came across a cat friendly greyhound could he bear us in mind. Funnily enough he had Way Hey Tom! “Was it too soon?” I asked David. He gave me some good advice; we discussed it and then arranged to see Tom the following weekend. We visited him again the following weekend and then the next weekend we took him home.

We have now called him Bailey. He took a while to settle but he is now a good boy who enjoys meeting people and loves other dogs.

We still have work to do regarding our other animals, the rabbit and the cat, but we know we will get there

We will never forget Bonnie but Bailey has made it easier. We talk about her all the time and having Bailey has made the loss easier to bear. Maybe we should have waited a little longer for a new dog or maybe it was fate when I made that call to David. Anyhow, we wouldn’t change Bailey for the world!

We look forward to more open days, greyhound walks, shows and fund raising.

Dawn and Terry.

L.O. Greyhounds. Yelp, woof, bark, stretch and sleep!

My name is Vicky. I’ve got a bit of spare time on my paws at the moment as I have been quite unfairly banned from the pub! It has a really old fashioned till with a bell that rings every time it opens and closes. The bell sounds exactly like the starting bell for a race so of course I jump up and mob the till to find out where the race is! It’s just like when my human daddy bought my human mummy a Christmas card that sang happy Christmas by Cliff Richard every time it opened. I mobbed the card to get Cliff to stop singing!

I sleep a lot but I sometimes do my housekeeping chores. I like to move things around but how was I to know that the visitor’s scarf, left on the arm of a chair, was valuable?! I just moved it to where it looked best, in the middle of the kitchen floor.

I’m glad to say that I’ve got my new family of Mummy, Daddy and Barnaby, wrapped round my little paw, and I’d advise all greyhounds to do this. I have now fully recovered from my broken leg and am becoming naughty (what do you expect from a young girlie?) I like going for walkies in the car. I put my nose to the hatch whenever I go outside. When

the hatch is being opened, I jump in very fast. If the hatch is not open for walkies, such as when my mess is being cleaned out, I pretend I can’t jump down. Then Daddy has to carry me, which is another thing I like. I have now managed to graduate to sleeping on Daddy’s bed, and we have conversations in the middle of the night about geometry- who’s in whose side of the bed.

I thought that I’d better squeeze in a photo of Seth so that he won’t sulk.. Lynda

Please send your stories and photos for inclusion in a future newsletter to:

Mrs Lynda Eden, 20, Bernard Road, Cromer, Norfolk, NR27 9AW.

Or email me at lynda_eden@hotmail.com It’s always a pleasure to receive your letters.

OPEN DAY - 26TH JUNE 2011 - 11AM TO 3PM

INCLUDING FUN GREYHOUND SHOW, AT HAINFORD

CLASSES

1. MOST HANDSOME DOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12PM

2. MOST BEAUTIFUL BITCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.20PM

3. BEST LOOKING VETERAN (9 AND OVER) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.40 PM

4. MOST CUDDLY PUPPY (3 AND UNDER) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.05 PM

5. BEST YOUNG HANDLER (14 and under) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.25 PM

6. DOG WHO LOOKS MOST LIKE ITS OWNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.45 PM

7. BEST FANCY DRESSED GREYHOUND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.15 PM

8. BEST IN SHOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.45 PM

1ST PRIZE TROPHY AND ROSETTE

2ND PRIZE ROSETTE

3RD PRIZE ROSETTE + Special prize As this is the third greyhound show all third places will get an extra prize

ALL FANCY DRESS ENTRANTS WILL GET A PRIZE

£1 ENTRY FEE FOR EACH CLASS, (PAY AT THE GATE)

ALL THE USUAL ATTRACTIONS PLUS A FEW NEW ONES SO COME ALONG AND ENJOY YOURSELF EVEN IF YOU DON’T WANT TO ENTER THE SHOW.

OPEN DAY - SUNDAY 21st AUGUST 2011

PLUS AUCTION And Annual Sardine DayPlease bring one tin of Sardines (in sunflower oil) with your name on the underside. Every tin will be entered into a prize draw with the winner getting a lovely prize and the dogs in the kennels getting a treat of sardines.

As last year we have some amazing greyhound related items to auction so put the date in your diary and come along and have some fun.

www.yarmouth-greyhound-homefinders.co.uk

Homed DogsWe were recently asked to re-home three older dogs whose owners were either very ill or unable to cope and therefore unable to keep them. Coincidently two of them were called Stan. Our thanks go to Douglas for taking on Teabag Stan (10 years old), Geoff and Jenny for taking on Mellow Stan (11 years old) and Martha for taking on King Mole (10yrs old). We have a lot of very kind and generous owners all over the region.

Dogs we have homed since the last newsletter are:

Miller (Ballymac Miller) to Norwich, Lucy (Finnmark) to Frettenham, Razz (Summertime Star) to Norwich, Arthur (Share Our Dream) to Horstead, Chunky (Annes Memory) to Roydon, Haze (Misty Breeze) to Norwich, Tammy (Try a Flutter) to Mattishall, Sooty (Sooty Royale) to Norwich, Dusky (Daves Darkness) to Lowestoft, Scoot (Sligo Too) to Lowestoft, Splash (Terrorbasha Spot) to Ipswich, Patch (Terrorbasha Whip) to Dereham, Poppy (Pickemuprosie) to Lowestoft, Stan (Teabag Stan) to Field Dalling, Stan (Mellow Stan) to Beeston Regis, Benji (Stars Crash Down) to Lowestoft, Kyle (Kyle Dan) to Stalham, Angel (Tucks Angel) to Hockering, Oscar (Liscarlton Oscar) to Ipswich, Razzle (Swift Carden) to Wymondham, Toby (Brass in Pocket) to Attleborough, Huggy (Hartwood Raven) to Norwich, Kitty (QueeniesBlackIce) to Hatfield, Pepe(Beardys Carter) to Norwich, Honour (Ballymac Hon) to Stalham, Rocco (Rockforest Ace) to Norwich, Tina (Crakat Cortina) to Lowestoft, Buddy (Minesabud) to Norwich, Ike (I Can) to Norwich, Yvaine (Noseybebabey) to Lowestoft, Dash(Terrorbasha Dash) to Felthorpe.

Good luck and a healthy, happy life to all of them.

IN MEMORY

We have recently had to say goodbye to Ernie (Fenside Eels), Rose (Hartwood Rose) and Indi (Indigo Bird) all who passed away through illness. Our sympathies go to their owners.

DAVID

The strange world I now live in….. From the day they picked me up I could tell these people were a bit odd, but that was nothing compared to what was coming over the next few days! Once inside my new “kennel” I checked out every inch with my nose and after a couple of hours I decided to try out my new bed, which I was pleased to find, was adequately spacious and covered with a soft duvet. However a few days later I decided that I rather fancied a shredded duvet! Although it didn’t take long to shred it was in fact quite tiring, but afterwards I did feel and look quite pleased with myself!

In every corner of my “kennel” there are weird objects that either move or make a noise. In one room they have a white ceramic object, which they seem to visit every now and again. For some reason they don’t want to take me with them. So, during the night I decided to investigate and found special water, so I had a drink. To which “those people” shot out of bed looking most concerned and started to inspect my blue teeth and lips! Now they have put a stop to it as it has a flap type lid that I haven’t worked out how to open….yet!

Another strange thing they do is to keep feeding me yummy treats. I wasn’t sure of them at first but now I like them and go looking for the treats. On one such hunt I thought I had struck gold, a huge treat, a plate full of grated cheese, which if I stood on my back legs I could just about reach. However, I later realised that perhaps it wasn’t the best idea as it gave me very bad wind all night long! Note to self; don’t go for the mature type in the future! Bea, Slippys Fawn

Designed and Typeset by Michele of www.px2co.net Design for print and web Printed by www.blackwellprint.co.uk

And Finally…..We’ve had a fabulous start to the year and we look forward to seeing you at our open days and walks. As I’m sure you know, we really do love to see all of “our” dogs and their owners.

As usual I’d like to thank each and every one of you for all of your help and support. It really is very much appreciated.

If you would like to help in any way please phone David on 0845 458 3797

Lynda lynda_eden@hotmail.com

GREYHOUND WALKS TO PUT IN YOUR DIARY

SUNDAY 10th JULY - HOLT COUNTRY PARKMeet at rear entrance at 11am for walk through Park. Toilets at main entrance. As usual stay for picnic if you wish.

SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER - WAVENEY FOREST, (OR AS I CALL THEM, FRITTON WOODS)

Meet at the car park in New Road. Usual get together, walk, chat through lovely surroundings in lovely weather! Everybody welcome.

Illustration by Sadie Tattersal