Finn went for a run at Martinborough today. He covers the ground extremely fast and with little effort.

Sadly, it looks like he’s going to be going to a new home this weekend – we’ll miss him a lot. He’s a great dog, very easy to live with.

This is Finn (Thrilling Chill) who arrived yesterday. He’s been in a home before, needs a new home due to changed family circumstances.

He’s awesome – a large, very strong boy who is perfectly behaved, walks perfectly on the lead, is great with other dogs, can sit (and stay!) and seems really happy and very relaxed.

This is Storm (Cyclone Six). She went on to her new home on Friday, she only stayed with us for about 3 weeks – we got her on the Monday before Christmas.

Storm is tiny – especially when standing next to Vulcan. She’s reasonably confident but very inquisitive.

She’s the easiest foster we’ve had so far, still has to learn pet behaviour but house trained and friendly. Well behaved but clearly not used to walking on a leash; she rapidly improved but will need a bit of work in that area.

Definitely not cat friendly – in fact even worse than Vulcan.

This is Jag; he’s been with us since last Sunday, so just over a week. We’re fostering him until he gets a new home, which hopefully won’t take long – but he’s great to have around. He’s a very inquisitive dog and has already fallen in the fish pond twice!

He’s still quite shy and freaks out when people walk towards him, but otherwise is really sociable and follows us everywhere. He’s learning a lot from Vulcan, and they get on very well.

Jag is very small and looks great – he’s going to have a nice glossy black coat in a few weeks. He eats well, has good digestion, can run up and down stairs, open doors that are not closed properly, and he can sit. He seems totally relaxed in the house. Not bad for a dog straight out of the kennels.

Not a pretty experience for Vulcan, poor little guy.

He was neutered in May 2012, by an Auckland vet who is not normally used by GAP.

He came to live with us in November. He had several episodes of suddenly developing weeping fistulas and sores on his scrotum, for no apparent reason (the first occurrence was Christmas Eve 2012, necessitating an expensive trip to the emergency vet), with subsequent problems some months apart. He responded well to antibiotics or even in some instances just an antiseptic wash, but there seemed to be an underlying problem.

Things came to a head a few weeks ago, when he developed 2 really nasty sores and it seemed that exploratory surgery would be necessary, and best performed while the problem was readily apparent.

We’re always apprehensive about anesthetic and greyhounds, so don’t approach this kind of thing lightly. Under anesthetic his vet was able to ascertain that the two fistulas were connected, by passing a probe through one to the other (ouch!); upon opening the path between them, he found a non-dissolvable suture surrounded by infection and muck.

Vulcan made a rapid recovery and is clearly a far happier dog than he has been for quite some time. He’s had to put up with this internal infection for around 18 months, and of course, we’ve spent around $800 dealing with this unnecessary situation.

The question has to be asked, though, why was non-dissolvable suture (or any suture) used for the neutering? There may have been some complications that required it, but the risk of the material being left behind seems quite high.

Vulcan and Bernie face off. They’ve met several times, always have a great time together.

Andrew the Brave and Vulcan. Notice how they are walking perfectly in sync.

Castlepoint/Whakataki on Sunday; Vulcan followed by Bernie and Andrew the Brave.

Vulcan looking very pleased and relaxed at the Martinborough dog run earlier this week.

Vulcan at the Upper Hutt run today. He gets right into it, there won’t be any running if he isn’t involved! (After he has marked the entire perimeter of the grounds, of course).