What Al Likes To Do
Eat. Play. Sleep.
OH Yes!! I forgot that he loves Agility!!!!
If you have never been around an Italian Greyhound, they are known as shadow dogs for a reason. You cannot move without having them follow you. Where you go they go. That includes the bed. I never imagined in my life that I would be sleeping with a dog, actually its two dogs, but IGs are basically hairless, very clean, and don’t smell. They are determined to get in the bed with you, and nothing can stop them from having their way.
Al has two energy levels. Off or Very On. You either have an energetic companion wanting to play or do something, or you have a dog that is either sleeping on your lap, beside you, or if you can’t provide a comfortable place for him to lay, then he’ll crawl into a bed and sleep until things liven up.
Al loves doing Agility!! Although we have a long way to go, Al gets the highest marks from the crowds that watch because of his extreme happiness while running the course. He also jumps twice as high as he has to because it feels soooo good!! The best part is his dance at the end of each run where he celebrates his achievement!!
Al loves to play chase and run as fast as he can! As a youngster he loved being chased so much that I thought of renaming him Al (Three Dog Night) because he would usually wear out three big dogs a night by daring them to catch him in a game of chase. If he found a worthy playmate then he would lure them into the chase, and after about 30 seconds he would let them get closer and closer, until they were so close that the pursuer was running with his mouth open about to nip Al's butt. Just as this was about to happen Al would give the pursuer a shoulder fake and sometimes an NFL quality double shoulder fake, turn as hard as he could and then come up behind the pursuer. In about 5 strides Al would be right on the butt of the other dog, and often came away with a few strands of his playmates hair stuck in and dangling from his mouth like stringy warm cheese from a pizza. If the other dog didn't get indignant about this then the play would continue, but often the insult was just to much, and the chase ended with Al happy that he had proved his point, and the other dog wondering how that happened so fast!! I thought I had him??!!
Italian Greyhounds are incredibly athletic! They can run very fast, and turn more quickly than almost any dog I have seen. To see Al run go to Dogs Playing Videos.
The only things he doesn’t like to do are : go to the vet, go to the bathroom in the rain ( snow is OK) , and have his teeth brushed. Oh yes, I forgot about doing a down or a sit on the pause table in AKC Agility trials.
Click here to see Agility Al.
