Walks were interesting too, Hippie was terrified of other dogs, cats, cars or people so it was extremely difficult to go anywhere but as the days went on there was a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

I was bringing her back after a walk one Sunday afternoon and we were almost home without incident when a car pulled up just in front of us. A man got out and went to the rear of the car ? Hippie stopped walking and stared as the man got a beautiful greyhound from the hatch of the car. His owner stopped to introduce the dog, not himself you understand ? this is grey hound world.

?This is Fox?

Fox was a lovely boy with one leg bandaged, he was polite and accepted a fuss from me, then he started to sniff Hippie ? I was amazed, she just stood there ? so I chatted to the owner. Apparently he?d had Fox from a few weeks old, so called because at that age he looked just like a fox cub. This was his second greyhound and he was having a few health problems ? Fox had woken up one morning some months before and though he could move his head, his body was completely paralysed. It was a problem with his spine and so far had cost £4000 to put right. Thank goodness for pet insurance!

Top tip ? Always insure a greyhound they are prone to accidents!!!!!

Well by the end of our chat the dogs were sniffing friends, what a breakthrough!