Sad Cuinn

Cuinn the greyhound mix arrived from out of town on Tuesday. He let out a little warning growl to Arlo when the two met (Arlo, our shepherd mix, was jumping around in his face) but after that the two got along with no problems whatsoever, and he's fine with Oliver the Min-Pin.


Cuinn is a gentle giant - he's Greyhound with a likely mix of Irish Wolfhound, and he is tall and lanky with a wiry coat and the shaggy-old-man face so typical of wire-haired breeds.

Although I wanted to call him a "Lurcher", this mix is more accurately referred to as a "Staghound". (Lurchers are generally sighthounds (that's the greyhound part) mixed with terriers or herding dogs, and are not supposed to closely resemble sighthounds. Staghounds, on the other hand, often closely resemble greyhounds except that they are thicker and have more fur.)

This old guy is eight years old, gets along with small animals and other dogs, and seems somewhat unflappable despite his reserved nature.

It's been two days now and poor Cuinn is still mourning the loss of his family. He seems reasonably comfortable in our home, but every now and again he'll start softly crying - it's heartbreaking to see, but we cannot give him hugs and love when he does it, lest we encourage that behaviour. We've been doing our best to give him lots of attention when he seems calm and relaxed instead.

One great thing we've discovered is that Cuinn LOVES LOVES LOVES to go for walks! This is a great outlet we're using to reduce his depression and anxiety. We've just got to be careful not to overdo it though - his hind legs seem to be a bit weak. So far though, he's been fine on walks and his legs never seem to bother him. He's so cute - when we head down the driveway for a walk, he starts to bound around joyfully and do a funny high-stepping prance.

We're still getting to know this reserved boy. Hopefully he will get his bearings soon, and as he shows more of his personality to us I will post more updates to the blog here.