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What our Volunteers say: Lynne & Jonathan
Today we took Norma for an assessment at Dunham Massey. We picked her up from the kennels. She met Otto and wasn’t very impressed when he sniffed her bum—a little growl to say back off!—but they seemed to get on upon first meeting. We lifted Norma into the car. We do this for all hounds, as the sill on our car is quite high. Being a petite greyhound, she wasn’t too heavy to lift.
On the journey, she lay down the entire way. When we parked up, she showed very good manners and walked well on the lead. We have a set plan of things to assess: small dogs… passed; stairs… passed; good with children… passed; friendly with people… passed; likes to sniff a lot… passed with flying colours; picnic safe… passed.
So, as you can see from the above, she is very well behaved. But now for the special bit: it was a warm day, so we found some shade and a quiet space to chill. We sat down, and Norma lay next to us. At first, she was looking around taking it all in, but then she put her head down and truly relaxed. I said to her, “tickle?”, and she raised her leg to enjoy a good fuss. Then, after 10 minutes, she fell asleep resting her head on my arm. We spent nearly an hour like this. Lynne and I both agreed that she really needs her forever sofa.
We reluctantly had to leave our comfy spot as it was time to head back and get her dinner. Again, in the car she lay down for the entire journey. Then, back at the kennels, we had another problem: she did not want to get out of the car because she was just so comfortable being there. We had to get Otto out first to encourage her.
We did eventually get her out and walked her back to the kennels, where she enjoyed a hearty meal. Norma is perfect for someone looking for a greyhound cuddle.
What our Volunteers say:. Lisa
Chris and I took Norma out today to Winwick. As complete novices—having only volunteered to walk three and two times respectively before today—we did not know what to expect from taking responsibility for Norma ourselves and how she would get on. Well, she was absolutely perfect from the outset, and we were so reluctant to take her back to the kennels at the end of the day! We loved her!
She needed to be lifted into our car as the boot is quite high, and once she was in, she sat down and was fine on the journey. We lifted her out again when we arrived at Winwick, and she happily walked with us to the show. She didn’t pull on the lead and, in fact, lots of people commented on how laid back she was. She only pulled away slightly when other dogs reacted or growled near her. I honestly think she was a bit frightened and overwhelmed by the fact that so much was going on and there were so many other dogs like her around, but she didn’t freeze or react, which was brilliant. One couple in particular seemed very interested in Norma—they were called Briony and Dan, so I hope that Michelle has their details, as when I saw them later, they said they had spoken to someone and were very keen.
Norma was a bit reluctant to get back in the car at the end of the day and stood still near the vehicle, but we lifted her into the boot and she was fine again on the way back to the kennels.
As soon as she got back, she was clearly hungry, ate the rest of the food that was in her bowl, and settled down on her bed, exhausted.
All in all, a successful day with Norma. She seems good with people—a little overwhelmed perhaps, but not reactive or aggressive in any way. If we didn’t have our house cats, we would love to have her. Whoever does end up adopting her will be very lucky indeed.
Hope that this is helpful. We really enjoyed our time with her and meeting the other volunteers and owners; everyone was so friendly.
What our Volunteers say: Ian M
Bank holiday with Norma.
Collected from the kennels and Norma jumped straight into the crate without hesitation. Getting her out was a different matter—after opening the van side door and being confronted with the rain, Norma wasn’t moving.
After several attempts and treats, Norma decided to get out of the crate side door into the rear of the van (not the intended route, lol!). After a fuss, the raincoat went on her and Norma decided the crate was a better option and got back in it. Start again. Errrr 🤨.
After lifting her out of the crate and then out of the van, we actually got into the event. Norma was very chilled and took everything in her stride. She ignored any other breeds that were there and was happy to walk round looking for a fuss from anybody available.
We took shelter from the rain, which I personally think turned out to be a bit too much for Norma, with several greyhounds bunched up closely to keep dry. This was unexpected, and she just needed a bit more space, I think.
Other than that, Norma is a well-tempered, chilled lady who travels great, doesn’t like rain, but loves snacks.
We both had a great day.