The Saluki Thread

[grizabella]

Bella is now 8 months old and 26 inches tall at the shoulder. Unfortunatley our bathroom scale broke so I've no idea how much she weighs, but she's gotten quite heavy!

[lbjohnson]

Oh wow that makes me wonder how big my boy is going to get. He's 5.5 months, 23 inches, and 33 lbs now.

[grizabella]

Bella was the same height at that age, and a similar weight, I guess it varies between individuals, and males are generally larger so he may end up a similar height to Bella or a bit taller. What's your boy's name? I'd love to see pictures!

[lbjohnson]

His name is Emir. We took a bunch stacked photos the other day, unfortunately only one where the sun was in the right place. I've only been in handling classes for a couple of weeks so excuse the faults, he's my first show puppy!

[grizabella]

Emir's a handsome little guy, I love his colouring! He looks pretty good stacking to me, as you're both new to it- certainly better than what I've achieved with Bella so far! She's my first show dog too, we've not started show classes yet, but will in the near futute.

[grizabella]

I've been practising stacking Bella, we're improving a lot. I took this photo when we were practising on a walk. Unfortunatley by the time I'd gotten into position to take a photo she'd move, so her legs aren't quite in the right place. We're getting there though!

[grizabella]

Weighed Bella at a pet shop the other day and she is almost 19kg, so she's put on quite a bit of weight in the past couple of months. She's about 26 inches, so quite a big one for a bitch, which is quite funny as my mum only said yes to getting her because we thought a Saluki bitch would be quite a bit smaller than a greyhound. (Bella is now almost as tall as my friend's ex-foster grey girl, Gizmo) Thankfully my mum loves Bella very much, even though she is a tall girl!

[grizabella]

Bella and I went along to Elvis' green collar test last night, she was so good! Usually she's a bit nervous meeting other dogs at first, but she obviously remembered Elvis and was very happy to see him, and got a bit upset when he went out of her sight while doing his test. She wa also interested in the white fluffy 'test dog', although got a bit unsure when he showed her too much attention. Bella is improving so much in her confidence around other dogs, I am very proud! ;D

[rockabillygoaty]

Well! I recon you you are both doing great with your dogs!
( Aladdin! TAKE NOTE!!!) lol.
Aladdin was in the vets the other day, and he has dropped to 22.6kg.
He was 22.8kg last time I waighed him, but I spos .2 is not bad.
He is 26". But coming on at 18 months.

Talking to a lady the other day about classes to train me, lol.
Gonna give it a go, we seem to be missing out a lot, dont you think?

[grizabella]

It sounds like he's a good weight, Bella is less than that, but about the same height as Aladdin, but she still has some filling out to do as she's only about 10 months old. Bel's quite tall as bitches go.

Training classes are fun, Bella tends to get sick of doing what she's told by halfway through the lesson though! She doesn't really see the point of repeating exercises!

[Gazinghound]

How funny, our girls are opposites--Bella is unusually tall for a bitch, and Ulla is just one of the more petite Salukis! I have to measure her, but she's probably around 21" or so.

ETA: Okay, so I was off in my guessing because I was mentally comparing her with other dogs. She's actually 25", yet she looks so much smaller than most Salukis. I guess we have some really big ones here in New Jersey...?

Oh, I've heard of and read the Insights magazine--very cool that Bella's people are involved in the production. =D

And words could never decribe the amazingness of that Snape picture. My favorite animal and my favorite character, combined in one sweet-beyond-sweet image...it's too much! I've always felt that Sev should have had an animal, and a Saluki would be a totally perfect choice for him. It just looks so right, besides. I mean, if the guy were a dog, I'd say there's a good chance he'd BE one!

Emir is a lovely boy!! Both stacked photos look rather good to me; I certainly did not do any better my first time, haha! Stacking remains by far the most challenging part of showing for Ulla; she tends to roach her back and want to hang her head. Takes quite a bit of power to keep her head up, and a lot of stroking to smooth down her topline.

Glad to hear she's doing better with other dogs. Ulla still hates being barraged by overly outgoing ones, doing whatever she can to get away from them, and I guess she always will--can't say I blame her at all, though. Some people really do need to control their boisterous dogs better sometimes. And it's flattering the way she stares after me if I walk away from her crate at a show, or leave her with someone else for a few minutes. I always feel terrible because I know she doesn't want to lose sight of me, and is so happy when I get back.

Hah, who needs practice when you're such a brilliantly fast learner?! *lol* I'd like Ullie to take a shot at obedience. (Don't so much think SHE'd like it, but perhaps she could come to. Obedience, in her opinion, is something with which WE need to be concerned much more than she!)

[grizabella]

Obedience tomorrow, I wonder how cooperative Miss Grizabella will be! She was funny today, snuggly one minute, stealing things she shouldn't the next, with bouts of sleeping or running around in a very silly fashion in between! A beauty but a funny girl... <3

Bella would fit in in New Jersey if there's lots of tall Salukis there, it's nice to know that she's not strange or abnormal in her tallness. ;D I haven't seen the measuring tape since we moved house but I don't think she's gotten taller. She certainly feels like she's gotten heavier when I have to carry her around.

I do like the Snape picture too- genius! For a while I've thought that I'd love a black feathered Saluki or Afghan and call him Severus. ;D I think it would suit, and would be such an awesome character to name a doggy after. (I'm on a bit of a HP high atm, re-watched DH part2 last night, I do love that film, shall have to start a HP topic in the general section)

[Gazinghound]

I chuckled at the perfect application of the "Belle" lyric! That sounds all too familiar to me. Ullie's not typically the huggiest dog (we've got Rusty for that!); she'll grin and bear your hugs and kisses for a few seconds, then kinda back away, as though her beauty is meant to be admired mainly from afar. XD But then, on her own terms (and also especially during the "nesting stage" that seems to frequently follow her heat cycles--false pregnancy is something we've had to learn to deal with!), she will become VERY clingy, and walk around whining until someone sits down so that she can shove herself against or behind them. And she can fold herself up quite compactly, fitting into areas and getting into positions you'd think would be highly uncomfortable. For being a "big dog," she often seems rather small. :3 I love it when she lies against me and/or puts her face or neck or legs or paws across me.

Yes, Bella would fit in well around here--Ulla stands out more for being petite (or "runty," as some family members would josh...) But in such an extremely varied breed, a few inches one way or the other makes no difference; they're all perfectly good examples of 'lukis! ^.~

Oooh, ABC Family always does Harry Potter marathons as part of the 25 Days of Christmas programming--they're premiering The Half-Blood Prince this season. I can't wait to see the entire DH again; it was truly incredible. Snape's scenes absolutely killed me, as I knew they would. I do hope that Alan Rickman receives some sort of award for his work (and, incidentally, that I am able to see him while he's on Broadway in his new play, 'Seminar!') Anyway, watching the whole set of movies straight through would probably blow my mind a bit, seeing the child actors grow up and the years at Hogwarts unfold and play out over a matter of hours. A black Afghan or Saluki would be the PERFECT candidate for the name Severus--he'd have that curtain of gorgeous black hair, the withering gaze, the attitude...! Some great name ideas here, hehe. And that's totally not the only occasion I've had a favorite human character who would probably belong to one of my favorite breeds if s/he were a dog.

[grizabella]

I would die of jealousy if you did see Alan Rickman, lol! I find myself tearing up at the end of DH P2 when the old music is playing, it's like the sound of my childhood ending. Love the film so much though.

This has gotten a little off-topic- never mind!
The song 'Belle' always makes me think of my girl. <3 Bella's quite huggy, she loves snuggling up to people, which can be a pest if I'm on my laptop because she likes to rest her head on the keypad- surely it can't be that comfortable!

[Gazinghound]

Oh, man…don’t even start me on DH 2…I knew what to expect, but it was absolutely brutal…and beautiful. And yeah, the ending and the music sure made your realize just how long it’s been since the beginning…the end of an era, in a way. I actually only became a fan between books four and five, during high school—but it still seems like quite a long time. Seeing the first movie for the second time (and specifically, Alan) convinced me that there had to be something to this ridiculously popular book series. Was I ever glad I gave it a chance. I tore through my brother’s copies within a few days, and then came the painful wait for Order of the Phoenix. By the time it arrived, my brother somehow didn’t even care enough anymore to finish the book (although he has kept up with the movies.) So, much like Pokemon had, the HP craze sort of became mine, lol.

Anyway, everyone else wants to see Follies because they prefer musicals to plays—but Seminar should run long enough that I can use that “New York high” to justify buying more tickets when we return, and hopefully I’ll be able to see it. (Not that I WANT to kill you, of course, you see…but I mean, like…it IS Alan Rickman…!! XD)

*back on-topic*
It is a rather appropriate song. In fact I just watched Beauty & the Beast the other night on the 25 Days of Christmas. =) I’m like, “Ullie, you’re a beauty and a beast in one!”
Awww, that is so sweet. :3 Not so sure about comfortable, though. O.o Dogs do adopt the weirdest sleeping/resting positions. Hope she doesn’t wind up typing nonsense, like Jack does when he walks on my mom’s laptop! I’ve tried to teach Ulla to type; no luck so far. ;p
She’s affectionate and cuddly on her own terms, which can seem random; Rusty and, it sometimes seems, Jack, are at another end, being emotionally needy and demanding of attention (as well as submissive.) I’m actually glad of it, partly because it makes Ulla far more chill and less destructive when they’re left alone. And naturally, it’s an honor when such a marvelous creature loves you enough to show it. ;] She’ll run upstairs or into different rooms randomly throughout the day just to check and make sure of my location. It’s sweet.