Sighthound Strolls

Vel

I am no longer running the 'Sighthound Strolls' in conjunction with Whippet Rescue Ireland, however I am working on expanding the initiative and a Facebook page and Forum will be launched soon. The next walk is taking place on 24th JULY at ST.ANNES PARK, RAHENY, DUBLIN 5. Walks are open to pet Sighthound owners, enthusiasts or would be owners and as always any interested rescues are more than welcome to bring along a sighthound or two looking for a home.

Here are some photos of our June walk: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2209133349301.130315.1276482907

Discodog

Well done. People need to see sighthounds as pets.

Vel

Lovely walk today. Unfortunately due to crossed wires, no one had a camera for photos :rolleyes:

I have finished the Sighthound Stroll forum http://www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com/index.cgi

Would love for pet sighthound owners in Ireland to join; anyone who might be thinking of adopting a sighthound; any rescues who might want to post their dogs needing homes or bring dogs along to the walks; anyone fostering a sighthound who wants to bring them along to the walks. We had a lady today who was very interested in adopting one of the dogs but all the dogs today had homes, so the walks could be an ideal opportunity to showcase a hound needing a home!

Vel

At Sighthound Strolls we are in the process of compiling a list of countrywide dog walks. Even if you don't own a sighthound, please join our Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sighthound-Strolls/207724022612531 or forum http://www.sighthound-strolls.​proboards.com/ and tell us about your favourite places to walk your dog in Ireland

Vel

Our next Dublin Sighthound Stroll is taking place in Marlay Park, on 20th August 2011. For further information or to register your attendance, join our forum www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com

Our first Limerick Sighthound Stroll is currently being organised for September. Details to follow!

Vel

I have created two posters in relation to promoting sighthounds as pets. One is a poster about our Sighthound Strolls and the other is one which tries to dispel the widely held myths about them.

I am looking for people to print off some posters for me and hang them up in places such as at dog training classes, local shops, community halls, vet surgeries etc. around the country

If you can help, please contact me.
Thanks

Vel

huffet

Hi Vel,

Where do you stand on crossbreeds? My 7month old rescue is a whippet/terrier cross and could really use a walk with similar dogs as my little one just can't keep up!

Also, is there a Cork walk scheduled, cos if there isn't this message is obsolete anyway!!

huffet.

Vel

Hey Huffet,

Well, lurchers are cross breeds so we would welcome you with open arms! I would class a whippet x terrier as a lurcher We very much have plans for a walk in Cork in the coming months. Watch this space any why not join our forum www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com where all walks will be announced.

Vel

Photos of our August Dublin walk can be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.222366537814946.81559.207724022612531&type=1

or on our forum www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com

Lovely time had by all and some interest shown in some of the dogs on the walk who were looking for a home.

Vel

Our next Stroll is a coastal walk around the Sandymount area, taking place on Saturday 1st October. As always, this walk is open to pet sighthound owner/lovers; anyone thinking of adopting a sighthound; any sighthounds in rescue or foster looking for a home. Please register with me for further information

Vel

We are so excited to announce our first CORK Sighthound Stroll. It will take place on 30th October 2011 at Blackrock Castle in Blackrock. Walk is open to pet sighthound owners; those thinking of adopting a sighthound;and any sighthounds in the area looking for a home. Anyone wishing to attend please PM me

Vel

Still taking registrations for the CORK walk.

The next DUBLIN walk is taking place on Saturday 19th November at Malahide Castle & Demense. PM me for further details

Vel

The Cork walk is this Sunday:D

Vel

Very happy with the turnout for our first walk outside Dublin.

Some photos on FB here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.255771694474430.89879.207724022612531&type=1

Or on our forum here:
http://www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=mw&action=display&thread=90&page=1

Vel

Sighthound Stroll taking place in Northern Ireland.

This walk is taking place on Sunday November 27th at 11am at Craigavon Lakes.

PM me for further information.

Vel

Less than a week to the next Dublin Walk in Malahide Castle.
http://www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=lw&thread=96&page=1

Vel

Thanks to everyone who came out to Malahide Castle today. A lovely walk with 28 dogs. Photos can be found here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.265003910217875.91656.207724022612531&type=1

Twee.

Was at the walk yesterday, had a great time and met loads of lovely people and dogs!

Discodog

Vel, I wonder if you could get permission to do one near the Aras ? It could be great publicity especially if Michael D would pose for pics & it would tie in with the Greyhound Welfare Bill.

Do the public realise that you are promoting the rehoming of Greyhounds ? Have you managed to get any publicity ?

Twee.

Discodog wrote: »

Vel, I wonder if you could get permission to do one near the Aras ? It could be great publicity especially if Michael D would pose for pics & it would tie in with the Greyhound Welfare Bill.

Do the public realise that you are promoting the rehoming of Greyhounds ? Have you managed to get any publicity ?

Not involved with them at all, and it was our first walk, but from what I saw yesterday: A few of the greyhounds were wearing coats with the Sighthound Strolls logo, identifying that certain dogs were available for rehoming, one even said "45 MPH Couch Potato" One of the walk leaders was carrying some leaflets with information, should anyone stop and ask about them. Thought they were great ideas as when you're in such a massive group of the same type of dog, there's bound to be questions from people walking by!

Vel

Discodog wrote: »

Vel, I wonder if you could get permission to do one near the Aras ? It could be great publicity especially if Michael D would pose for pics & it would tie in with the Greyhound Welfare Bill.

Do the public realise that you are promoting the rehoming of Greyhounds ? Have you managed to get any publicity ?

Well, we are planning one for the Phoenix Park some time in the New Year so its something to think about. I reckon a couple of the greyhounds might just be as tall as Michael D!

Two greyhounds who walk with us regularly will be taking part in the retired racers competition at Crufts tnext year so we were thinking we might be able to get some publicity for that and try to link it in with the walks but to be honest that kind of thing isn't my strong point and I don't really have the time to devote to it right now. Although if anyone has any contacts in the media or has any ideas as to how we might get some publicity then get in touch

As Twee says we have some coats with slogans such as 'adopt a dog like me'; '45mph couch potato' on them and we have nice flyers to hand out to anyone who shows some interest. We are planning a festive dress up theme for our December walk.

It was a real pity that Malahide Castle was so quiet yesterday as 28 sighthounds together is certainly an impressive sight and we had a couple of dogs attending who were looking for homes but as the colder weather comes in the fairweather walkers have all but disappeared:D

We also have some meet n greets coming up in the New year too which we are excited about.

Slowly slowly catchy monkey;)

Vel

Twee. wrote: »

Was at the walk yesterday, had a great time and met loads of lovely people and dogs!

Trying to work out who you are!! I was 'walk leader'!!

Twee.

I was there with Sam/Sahara

Discodog

If you had enough confident Greys then a City walk would have a lot of impact especially on a Saturday afternoon ! Grafton Street Greys & get the humans to dress in the 20s style to celebrate when Greys were considered the essential fashion accessory. RTE would cover that !

Have you got a "mission statement" that sets out what you are trying to achieve ? Edit - just found your forum !

Vel

Twee. wrote: »

I was there with Sam/Sahara

Aha, Sam won my title for 'dog I most wanted to take home' but I noted that Karl had a firm grip on her leash at all times:D Thanks for coming and hope you'll come along again.

Discodog, I'd be sorely tempted just so I could don an outfit like this

Discodog

Ha You'd better not use real Fur !

There are some wonderful Art Nouveau Prints featuring Greyhounds & loads of middle Eastern stamps with Saluki's on them.

Discodog

How about a beach stroll ?

Vel

Some photos of the Craigavon Stroll here: http://www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=information&action=display&thread=115

Don't forget the Cork Stroll taking place on 11th December. Details here: http://www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=mw&action=display&thread=109&page=1

And details of our next Dublin Stroll on 18th December, with a festive theme can be found here: http://www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=lw&action=display&thread=111

Vel

Do you fancy allowing giving your sighthound the chance to socialise with other hounds off lead in safe environment? Positive Dog Training Dublin have given us an amazing opportunity to let our dogs 'hound around for an hour'! This will take place at Positive Dog Training's premises in Sandyford this Saturday 10th from 9.30 to 11am. If you would like to attend, please pm me

Vel

Don't forget the Dublin stroll is this Sunday 18th in Marlay Park. Would love to get a good turnout for our final walk of 2011, the year that Sighthound Strolls started!! PM me for further deails:)

Vel

43 dogs registered for tomorrow's walk in Marlay. Still time to register. Just pm me

Vel

I'm not actually sure if anyone is interested but I'll plug away nonetheless until I'm told to do one!!!!

As some of you know, I set up Sighthound Strolls this year. The idea behind it is to give pet sighthound owners in Ireland a chance to meet up for walks, while at the same time promoting sighthounds as pets and giving the public and potential adopters the opportunity to meet some already happily homed hounds. We held 9 walks in Dublin this year, 2 in Cork, and 1 in Northern Ireland. Next year promises new walks in Galway and Kildare and our very first Meet n Greet

We held our final Dublin walk of the year yesterday and we had a fantastic turnout with 43 sighthounds and 2 honorary sighthounds. We have had at least one new walker a month and this was no exception and its great to see the ranks growing! We also had a lovely lady come along who is interested in adopting a greyhound in the next 6 months and wanted to meet some of our dogs and chat to the owners.

I've had an absolute blast this year running the walks and meeting new people and their much loved dogs and now with a lovely lady called Suzanne on board who has the same ideas and mind set as me (uh-oh!! :eek: ) I feel the future is very bright for Sighthound Strolls!

Here are some photos of the walk. There are too many for me to upload to photobucket right now so hopefully those you you with Facebook can see these http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2859886137707.2149159.1276275956&type=3

And those without Facebook should hopefully be able to see a small selection here on our forum http://www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=information&action=display&thread=134&page=1

Discodog

Vel wrote: »

I'm not actually sure if anyone is interested but I'll plug away nonetheless until I'm told to do one!!!!

You're doing a brilliant job

Toulouse

Seconded!

I think everyone should go to at least one Sighthound Stroll a year, it really is a sight to behold.

Nollipop

It was brilliant fun on Sunday (despite my hangover from the Christmas party the night before!)

My greyhound always has a lovely time walking with his fellow "sighties" and its wonderful to meet people and answer questions.

Well done to the organisers!

cjf

+1 what a great day Sunday!! I brought my current foster doggie and he had a blast! Got loads of pets and made some houndie friends! Was great for me too got to meet other sighthound owners and learn more about their unique characteristics! While only an honourary sighthound owner (thanks to my super foster doggie) think il be sticking a long tail on my dobie and trying to pass him off as a houndie for the next walk!

Vel

Thanks for the nice comments! The hounds do most of the hard work, selling themselves to the public without even trying!!

Details of our first Meet n Greet being held on 7th January 2012 can be found here:

http://www.sighthound-strolls.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sr&action=display&thread=135&page=1

Twee.

Just sticking up the poster for the Meet and Greet!



We had a great time at the last stroll, met lots of lovely people and dogs.

Inexile

Its a New Year's resolution to get to at least one Stroll in the Cork area this year.

Missed two last year due to clashes with other houndie duties.

Keep us posted.

Vel

Don't forget our Meet n Greet is taking place tomorrow. We will be there from 11am. Please pop by and say hello.

Lovely lurcher Tara will be there to say hi!

Vel

Thanks to everyone who came out today to support our very first Meet n Greet. We had a great day and were really heartened by the great response from the public to the dogs.

Some photos can be seen on our Facebook Page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sighthound-Strolls/207724022612531

Vel

Next Dublin Walk is taking place at Skerries Beach, Sunday 5th February at 11am. Meeting place to be confirmed upon registration. Open to pet lurcher/greyound/whippet owners; those thinking of adopting/fostering; or rescues/fosterers with sighthounds needing homes. PM me for further details

Vel

Cork, Galway & Tipperary strolls in the pipeline for March.

Dublin stroll taking place next Sunday 5th in Skerries.

We have another off lead socialisation hour for sighthounds taking place this Saturday 28th in Sandyford, Dublin 18 between 3 and 4. I am unable to mention where it is taking place due to the charter on here so pm me for further details

Cutie18Ireland

any plans for cavan? or nearby?

Vel

I'll hold one anywhere if there is someone in the area willing to run it. We all don't travel en mass to the different places though so it would only work if there were other sighthound owners in the area.

Vel

Details on some upcoming walks:



Our next DUBLIN Stroll is taking place on Sundat 29th April in Bushy Park, Terenue. This will be a morning stroll. Meeting place and time will be confirmed upon registration.



Delighted to announce or first GALWAY Stroll which will take place at the Promenade in Galway on Sunday 22nd April. Details of dog friendly accommodation can be provided upon request for those of you outside of Galway who might like to travel to attend the stroll.



Our first CLARE Stroll will take place on Sunday 8th July in Ennis. Details of dog friendly accommodation can be provided for those who might like to travel to attend the walk.



As always, these strolls are open to pet sighthounds and their owners; rescues and fosterers with sighthounds needing homes; people thinking of adopting a sighthound.


I have been advised by the mods that I cannot post the email addresses of the people to contact in relation to the walks, so anyone interested should contact me by PM and I will provide them!

Vel

Sighthound Strolls were on the TV this morning!
http://www.tv3.ie/ireland_am.php?video=48645&locID=1.65.74