Cassius is currently the only greyhound we have. We have had three others over the years, Merlin, Cyrus, and Phoebe. To be precise, Merlin was probably a lurcher. A cross of greyhound and hunting dog. Some hunters like this cross because it can result in a fast hunting dog. Merlin looked just like a greyhound to me, only a litter smaller and shorter, front to back. Merlin was a stray that came running by my house my day. Our three previous greyhounds overlapped in the time we had them for a couple years. Boy, that was a lot of dog food! Greyhounds may look skinny, but they eat a lot because of their fast metabolisms.

The photo above is Cassius in his new collar which arrived on Saturday. It was long overdue. His previous collar was once a fancy, handmade one that I bought for him from a vendor at a dog event, the Pet Expo at Hardesty Park, in Akron a couple years ago. The collar had a hard life (see photo below). As you may know, we have been doing quite a bit of walking and hiking since I retired Fall Hiking. Cassius’ old collar has been torn by briars and underbrush as he goes crashing along the trailside. The other side of the collar is even stained with a substantial amount of blood. On one of our hikes in the fall, as he was looking for a spot in the weeds to do his business, a large thorn caught in one of his ears. The thorn impaled itself in a vein in one of his ears and broke off. I was able to remove the thorn, but then the blood started flowing. And flowing. I had a couple of tissues in my pocket that I used to apply pressure. We had to stop our hike while I treated Cassius’ wound. It took several minutes of applying pressure to staunch the flow of blood. By the time we were ready to continue our hike, Cassius’ ear, a good portion of the collar, and one of my pant legs had large blood stains. All this from a relatively small injury that healed up within days.

Greyhounds do have very thin skin, and little body fat, so cuts on them can produce quite an injury. I remember one time Cyrus was running from the pasture to the house and ran headlong into a planter. The ceramic planter broke into shards and cut his head open. There was lots of blood and he ended up getting several surgical staples on top of his head. It must have been feeding time for him to be so intent on getting in the house.

Anyway, back to Cassius’ new collar. I searched for some time for what I wanted. I never did find it, but settled on this one which I do like. Greyhounds should ideally have wide martingale collars. Their necks are bigger than their heads so the martingale type of collar makes it harder to slip out. And a wide one is preferred, about 1 1/2 inches, so there is not so much pressure put on one point on the throat. Again, greyhounds do not have much body fat, so this is particularly important. I wanted his new collar in safety orange or safety yellow. There is lots of hunting in our area and I can see how a dog of Cassius’ size, shape, and coloration might be mistaken for a deer from a distance. Better safe, than sorry! My search produced no martingales in these collars. I could find orange and yellow, but not in the designated “safety” collars. So, I went with the green. It is pretty and bright and highly noticeable.

After his adventures, Cassius likes to have a good nap. Greyhounds are sprinters by nature, so walking and hiking (Hiking In Winter) over uneven terrain, for long distances tire him out. And greyhounds are excellent couch potatoes. He would be happy napping under a blanket even without the walk!