I will be the first to admit I am not the world’s most knowledgeable dog person. Heck I have only had a dog for a little over a year. In that time I have had two awesome greyhounds. I had my 9 year old ex-Broodie Jordan for just under a year(I lost her not long after her 10th birthday) and Sam, the young 3 ½ year old male. People do a lot of talking about the differences between the boy hounds and the girls, older versus younger. When I was thinking of getting a young’un after losing Jordie, everyone made sure to tell me I was getting a “higher” energy dog. Yeah when he is active he is way more energetic but the other 23 ½ hours? Well let’s just say a sleeping dog is a sleeping dog, ya know? Obviously I can’t make any sweeping statements about the differences between the girls and the guys but here are a few observations of the differences between my two critters.

One of the most interesting things I noticed when I got Sam after losing Jordie was their different approaches to life. Sure every creature has their own personality but I can see they both look at life in a different way. I think partly because Jordan had been a brood mom she rolled with the punches a lot more. She definitely had a “you can’t scare me… I have had puppies attitude.” There is something about mothers (no matter the species) that inures one to shocks. She would cheerfully ignore: fireworks, rock bands, cat fights and screaming children. Nothing seemed to phase her, well except for small, yappy dogs. Puppy flashbacks?

Sam on the other hand is a little higher strung. Perhaps because he is a male he seems to stride through the world looking for something to protect us from. When we first got him his arch nemesis was the dreaded Ice Maker. This evil villainous thing would attack randomly and make strange noises without warning! Obviously, a dangerous plot to take over the world. Whenever the dreaded Ice Maker would drop the ice, Sam would leap into action and fend it off with his superhero bark! Then he would retreat back to his bed and give it suspicious looks for the rest of the evening. The evil ice maker had accomplices in its plot to take over the world. It had the Blender of Death, The Reflector (i.e. the reflection of lights shining on wet pavement), and the worst of all The Thing that Blocks My Veiw of My Biskie Jar. All of these were handily defeated by a selfless dedication to thrity minutes of uber-barking.

I am not saying that boy dogs are more difficult than my girlie girl was. No, Jordan had her faults too. For instance, when it comes time to do their “thang” outside, Sam is a breeze compared to Jordie. Sam does what he needs to do in mere seconds. He has a “drop it like it’s hot” attitude. He will just stride out into the yard, lean forward and let it go. His whole body leans into it, tail up, head pointing forward. He looks just like a pointer on the hunt. His whole body says “it’s going that way.”

For Jordan doing her business was more on the line of an artistic thing. She couldn’t just leave it anywhere. It had to be precisely placed for maximum effect. She would zig zag one way then the other. She placed each “sample” with the concentration of Zen master in a rock garden. I am pretty sure she was a master of art form hitherto unknown to us humans called PooShui. I am sure that the Chi in my backyard was moving quite well. Lord knows some nights that was the only thing that was. I spent many a night, in the cold and the rain, waiting for a sign.

Now Sam is a great dog, I couldn’t have picked a better one but Jordan was a great lady! Which is better? Both, of course!! I change a single thing about either of them. I still am finding new fun differences everyday. I hope you check back and see more of my exciting adventures in the Greyhound world.

I was recently asked to write a introduction for the Green Hound section of The Savvy Hound. Now I was not entirely sure what makes a hound “Green” but I was reasonably sure that hemp is involved (because hemp is the poster product of the eco world. You just can’t be green with out the lovely brown of hemp). I was really hoping it involved using my Greyhound Sam’s “natural emissions” as hot new biofuel. I am pretty sure we can use his gas to power something; cars, planes, space shuttles.

So I searched out what makes a dog Green and found a lot of stuff about reducing his “Carbon Pawprint”. There was a lot of talk about reducing his impact on the environment. Then one day Sam was doing his business on my compost pile (environmentally friendly and convenient) and I thought “What is wrong with his Carbon Pawprint anyway?” The more I observed Sam and my four cats the more I saw there is a lot we can learn about being eco-friendly from our best friends.

Dogs are some of the best environmentalists of all. They don’t just eat poo, they are into “Organic Waste Recycling.” When Sam eats the cat’s puke he is doing “Biological Waste Containment and Cleanup.” Seriously though, ever watch a cat play with a bottle cap or milk tab? What is that but a clever re-use of something that would be thrown away? Sam has never once turned his nose up at wearing a used collar. He has never moaned that his stuffy is “so last season” or needed to upgrade to the latest model.

The simple fact of the matter is that much of the “Carbon Pawprint” we ascribe to our pets is really our footprint in another shape. Have you bought your dog a stuffy they never got jazzed over? Why not get together with some other dog owners and have a stuffy or collar swap meet? Save those milk tabs instead of buying pre-made toys. Watch your pets and let them teach you how to be creative, how to be green. Remember for them the box is always more exciting than what is in it and a new stuffy is only one they haven’t played with lately.

In the coming months this column will cover products and ideas to help you and your pet be green and earth friendly, and yes, I am sure there will be hemp.