Message Board

TRAILIES 'WALKIES' SUMMER 2007 I have had to remove the previous story which accompanied these photos as we are running out of space, needless to say it thanked everyone for attending and we all had a great time.

SUE & MARGARET'S OTHER WALKS - Sue and Margaret have also asked me to thank other Trailies and thier owners for teaming up with them at the Mousehold (seen below, Sue and Margaret with friends), Winterton and Holkham walks, plus they managed to visit some of their old friends and the Dogs Trust, while also meeting one or two of you at the ILPH open day.

LOCAL TRAILIES GET TOGETHERS Following on from the success of these meets we will without doubt continue as planned to organise one or two more meets in the weeks ahead, so I will be in touch and post details here for those of you whose emails I do not have. Several of you also knew of other Trailie owners and I would hope we could encourage them next time around. SO IF YOU ARE READING THIS MESSAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME AND ARE INTERESTED? Simply email us with your details and the name of your Hound(s) and we will keep you posted. Also if you have any ideas about meetings and or the ideal place, particularly where we can let the hounds off safely,then please let us know. Thank you

TRAILHOUND PHOTO'S & BIO'S I mentioned that if any of you had some nice digital photos and some stories about your Trailies and would like them published on NTH then simply email me and I will do the rest. The more we can inform people about Trailies the better their lifes will be and anyone thinking of rehoming will get valuable 'first hand tips and advice' on what becoming a Trailie owner means. Thank you, Grant

Hi Grant Here are the pictures I promised you for the website and a bit of info. We rehomed Jake in Oct 2007 , he came from Snetterton Dogs Trust via Eileen at the Trailhound Trust. Jake's racing name was Foxparke Mr Wonderful or Tim for short, he is the brother of Foxparke Billy Bob or Bob as he is now known ( I have seen Bob's pictures on your website ) We changed his name to Jake because he just did not look like a Tim. Jake travelled down to Snetterton with another Trallie called Zak who is also featured on your website.
We started to look for a dog in March 2007 so went to DT at Snetterton with an open mind and that is when we saw our first Trailhound ( we had never heard of the breed like most people ) We thought he was the dog for us straight away but unfortunatlly he had been reserved, so we spent the next 6 month's researching ( Norfolk Trailhound website , The Trailhound Trust e.t.c ) and waiting for a Trailhound to come available ( we missed out on a few because we were not quick enough in getting to Snetterton and someone had reserved them ) 
We now feel that Jake was worth the wait because he has tuned out to be a superb dog he is very affectionate , easygoing , responsive to training ( mostly ), quiet and he gets on with all our other animals ( 2 cats ,3 sheep and 2 chickens ) He loves to see people ( we are still trying to stop him jumping up but we are getting there ) and other dogs ( I have never seen a dog do cartwheels before ) He recall's well in the garden but a bit erratic on the beach etc ( I lost half a stone on Sea Palling beach the other day trying to keep up with him , no chance !! )
We would recommend a Trailhound to anyone who is thinking of getting a dog because they make fantastic family pets.
Andy & Gill Browne

Hi we own an eight year old Trailhound named Red, which we rehomed from Snetterton in 2006, who is actually the brother of Blue the founding dog of the Trailhound Trust, we live in Eccles right next to Snetterton. We also own a Jack Russel cross and we would all love to come to the next walk. Many thanks Cliff and Dawn

I was walking my rehomed trailhound Ella on Earlham Park a few days ago, and bumped into a lady with a Beagle, to my surprise her dog was rehomed as well. When my partner and i went to the dogs trust we thought that we was looking for a Lab or something the same....But he/she had to like cats as we have two, there was nothing in the kennels, then we were told about this trailhound, thoughts ran through my mind, but when explained we understood and wanted to see her asap, well we did and now we are proud owners of Ella a Trailhound. Ella is 18 months old and is the most passionate dog that I have ever come across. she loves the sofa and sleeping. She loves to go walkies when ever and as we live near the Southern Park in Bowthorpe she can run as fast as she likes. She also loves going away in the caravan and not forgetting the car. I would say if anyone is looking for a dog TRY A TRAILHOUND they will not be sorry.

Hi, we have been looking at your website & would like to know when your next walk meeting will be. We would have loved to have come on the one at Earlham Park as we are only in Wymondham. We got our Trailhound about 12 months ago from Snetterton, his name is Spot, we were going to change it, but he does answer to it so it stuck!! Regards Dave, Linda & Ryan Clarke

We got Jess, now four years old, from the FAITH kennels at Hickling about 15 months ago. She was extremely thin and looked as if she's been racing very recently. She replaces a lemon female, Kizzy, which we had for several years before she was sadly killed. Jess is the third trail hound in our village of Newton Flotman (with Molly and Poppy) and the three go on regular walks together.Like many trail hounds, Jess is hopelessly disobedient but very loveable. Like all trail hounds, she's also extremely greedy! She's very submissive to other dogs and generally happy to go with the flow. We would love to let her off the lead and watch her run more often - she's still very fast - but almost every time we do, she goes much too far and we end up in a panic. We have a lot of fun with her and have enjoyed the walks in Earlham Park with fellow owners. It's great to know that the hounds are going to good homes at the end of their careers, and interesting that so many seem to end up in Norfolk.

Hi Julie and Grant,Very interesting looking at your website and very informative.We have recently adopted a trail hound called Mickey from the Dogs Trust in West London. He is absolutely gorgeous and we are very happy with him.We are starting obedience classes soon, we love taking him for walks in Richmond Park but as yet we have not been brave enough to let him off lead just in case he does run off. He has slipped his lead and when he gets a scent and he is off. My wife and I take him out when we go running and he loves that. Robin (a doting Dad) and Susie and family.

Hi Grant I have seen the picture of ZAK on the web, it looks great! We don't know much about Zak's past other than he arrived at the Dogs Trust about 6 weeks ago. We had been thinking about getting a dog for a long time and went to the Dogs Trust for a look round. We had never heard of Trailhounds before but fell in love with him as soon as we saw him. He was very placid in the kennels and although it is a very stressful environment he didn't seem to fazed. The Trust said he arrived from Cumbria and was surplus to requirements as the  Trailhound Racing had stopped due to the foot and mouth. We took him for a walk and made the decision to adopt him if the Trust thought we would make suitable parents. Fortunately for my husband and I they did and a week later we took Zak home. Zak has been with us a full week now and we couldn't imagine life without him, he is very sociable and will do anything for a cuddle or a treat, he loves going for long walks and we have also managed some basic training. If anyone was ever in any doubt about which dog to get I would highly recommend a Trailhound, they adapt so quickly to domestic life.
 Kind regards
Amanda

This is my dog Sally, who I believe might be a Trailhound, I live in Northern Ireland, but saw your website and thought I would see if you could confirm if she is a Trailhound? (The answer we gave Michael was YES, Sally looks all the world like a Trailie to us) This is her and me on our favourite spot; the sofa.  I’ve had Sally from a puppy so she has never raced and I’ve spent much time training her.  She is very obedient; walks to heel, sits and stays for long periods.  I am now trying to progress onto the return command.  This seems to be the most difficult but she is beginning to lose her stubborn streak (slightly).  I have read that Trailhounds can’t be trained.  My experience with Sally is the opposite.  I have had a few breeds in the past and Sally is the smartest dog I’ve ever owned. She loves her food and our food and the neighbours food.  She loves food. Every thing is fair game. However, she doesn’t go for long before running off the energy. Regards to all Michael Mulrine

Grant, thank you for organising the Trailhound get together last Saturday, our dog Poppy was off lead for the longest time as she wanted to stay around the pack, the fact that most owners had pocket loads of treats probably helped as well. We have only had Poppy for 4 months and it was so good to meet other owners of Trailies, from what we heard, we will have years of fun ahead of us . Richard & Heather Mills Norwich

Hi we've just found this site, and are new and happy Trail hound owners.  We adopted Mabel (formerly Mystic lady) from Snetterton Dogs Trust just one month ago. She is 8 years old and this is her second rehoming as she had been re-homed 2 years earlier, but her owners were leaving the country. She has settled so well her with us and our 3 year old daughter, and has already become a very loved member of our family.  Mabel has had to join weight watchers as she was 38kgs on arrival at the Dogs Trust, so a low calorie diet and lots of exercise has been prescribed! It would be very good to correspond with other owners, being so new to all this! (we had never heard of a Trail hound before!!). Your website is excellent. Guy & Elaine Thrower

Hi there we have just found your web site, its brilliant. We have had Molly for 18 months now she is a lovely dog, it  would be  nice  to  get in  touch  with other  Trailie  owners and exchange  information.  Molly came from  Faith Trust  at  Hickling  she’s a super little dog  as you  can see  from  her picture,  we have had some issues socialising her so we tried dog training classes  but she is still too scared of other dogs. Shiela & Roger Pink

Back in April of this year we visited the Dogstrust rehoming centre in Snetterton. Obviously we were looking to provide a home for a dog but went with an open mind as to breed. Some 3 years had passed since I lost Tico, a lovable, lively and playful English Springer Spaniel. In the back of my mind I was hoping to find a dog with a similar even temperament but didn?t realistically expect to find one so easily. A major consideration was Tom, my 7 year old son who had grown a little nervous of dogs. After discussing several dogs at the centre the staff strongly recommended Bob, a 14 month old trailhound who had grabbed our attention with his handsome face and gently waving tail. We had never heard of trailhounds but upon walking Bob we were immediately impressed. He seemed such a gentle, laid back boy but obviously had a mischievous streak.
A week later we collected Bob and have never looked back. In less than 3 months he has settled in extremely well. The whole family adore him. He craves attention and hates to think he might be missing something and will get up to mischief if ignored. He loves to greet us with his Scooby style howl and does not shirk from his guard dog duties ? growling at his reflection in windows!
He loves his walks, especially those on the beach. We can?t keep him out of any water, from the sea to muddy puddles! He has responded really well to training and we can even trust him (to a point) to be let off the lead during his walks and recall is improving provided there are no other dogs to play with within eyesight or families enjoying picnics within a mile or two! He is even learning to play football with his new best mate, Tom.
To anybody thinking of re-homing a dog, please consider a trailhound. They make fantastic pets, are lovable, enjoy lots of fuss and attention and have an amazing temperament. We have a friend who is very wary and a little scared of dogs but even she thinks Bob is fantastic.
Thanks to everyone at Dogstrust, Snetterton and to all those that contribute to this informative website especially Eileen who has provided lots of useful info about Bob.
It seems there are many trailhound converts in Norfolk and we would love to hear from any other local Trailhound owners. Rob

Here is a photo of Katie our 2-year old Trailhound who we adopted from Snetterton on 10th May. She is a beautiful girl and has settled in wonderfully. Although we had to house train her, this took no more than a couple of weeks thanks to patience and understanding. The children love her to bits, and although our cat Cassie lost her voice due to 3 days of constant hissing, her miaow has now returned and they now get along famously. As we are just over the border in Suffolk, we would be interested in hearing about any events taking place. Linda Spinks

This is Kim who we rehomed from Snetterton Dogs Trust last year. Kim is an absolute delight and we love her; she is a companion for our other dog Donny, a crossbreed who we also rehomed from Snetterton. We found the website very interesting and we definitely recognised the traits in Kim, especially the one were they all like the cosy spots. We would love to join the next Trailie walk and meet other owners. Bev and Colin Murden

Lucy (3 legs) an unusual colouring for a Trailie, and we think? Mela sharing a few moments and greetings before the walk got underway. Lucy's handicap did not hold her back one little bit, plus we understand she is soon to become a 'Superstar' as she has been filming and is producing a DVD with a view to promoting Trailhounds in general, more on that later when we have all the details.

Suzi & Patsy, Ina's two Trailies enjoying the water at Earlham Park on Saturday when it was hot enough for a dip. Lots of the hounds followed their lead and soon, it was skinny dipping all round, well not quite, but they all loved the water it seems. To see more of Ina's photos click on the trailhound blog link on the left menu bar

Molly, although not able to make the walk this time, she intends to meet us all next time around as her owners have been on holiday. Molly is their second Trailie, after sadly losing their first hound Rosie (the third picture) which they had rehomed from Snetterton the week before Christmas, to find out she developed a brain tumour and had to pass away peacefully, unfortunately having had her for just 11 weeks (she was 8 yrs old). They then went back to Snetterton and found just by chance (as somebody was walking her ) Molly, she is 2  1/2 and a wonderful companion to our Bill (the Springer Spaniel shown here as well)

Billy a faithful companion to Rosie who sadly went to the big kennel in the sky; and to Molly who he lives with and shares his life with now. Billy is an honorary Trailie and along with Molly, and Rosie belongs to Pamela.

Rosie, what a super Trailie, sadly taken from us but one who will always be remembered by her owners. Rest In Peace Dear Rosie

Hi We adopted Mela (original name: Jossy racing name: Shy Lass) from Faith in October 2006 and have been spending the last 7 months or so getting her used to life in the fine city. It’s been difficult at times but ultimately rewarding as we’ve been through basic obedience training at ‘Happy Pets’ and also despaired as we watched Mela disappear into the distance whilst taking her on a walk only to return some 20 minutes later as if nothing has happened. Obviously living in Norwich means that we don’t get to take her off the lead too often, but we’ve seen a marked improvement in her recall recently and there are now certain parks and places that we know she won’t run off. I think we’ve also been very lucky with Mela as she’s quite a shy girl and hardly ever barks or howls. Although it’s taken her a while to get settled we think she likes her routine and is getting used to being a city dog. We were told at the beginning that Trailhounds would probably never settle fully and we would have to keep her in a crate to keep her for chewing up anything within reach. We’re so glad she didn’t turn out like that and has become a real family pet, affectionate, placid….and always hungry! The second photo is Mela (far right) and some of her new found friends at the recent Earlham Park get together. Ryan Tebbit

Hi We rescued a 4 month old Trailhound from the Dogs Trust at Snetterton. Since then she has grown up somewhat (she is now 15 months old) and can be seen here enjoying a chew with Junior our Jack Russell and Jo-Jo's best friend. We have been in regular contact with Eileen at the Trailhound Trust who gave us your web address and who has given/offered us great information, as has your website which we have read through. When we were asked by the Dogs Trust if we would like to re-home a Trailhound we were a bit scepticle as we had never heard of this breed of dog before, but, as soon as we saw her we just had to say yes.We have now had 'Jo-Jo' since September and she has turned into a great companion not only for us but also for our 7 month old Jack Russell 'Junior'. Jo-Jo has started training classes and is doing well, the two dogs love to run and play in the fields near to our home and its good to read the characteristics of a Trailhound, you can certainly see them in her !! We have attached a picture of Jo-Jo which we hope you would like to put on your website, its really good to know of other Trailhound owners near to us. We hope one day to meet with other owners to ask advice / swap although we are relatively new owners. Lastly we would like to say, what a great website and we will be visiting it on a regular basis. Many thanks, Neil & Jess (Jo-Jo & Junior owners.)

Hi we had two trailhounds, Mac (racing name Northern Dancer) and Meg (racing name Diamond). Sadly, Mac was put to sleep late on 25th August following a stroke. He remained as active, as we could have wished for a 14 and 1/2 year old dog, right up to the very last hour of his life and was just as interested in his food as the first day he arrived. We would like to say that that rehoming an older trail hound is a delight and an experience we wouldn't have missed for the world. He will always be very special as our first hound and an introduction to a fabulous breed of dogs Mac was with us for 6 years. We re-homed him from the Jay Gee Kennels at Halesworth. We knew nothing about the breed but he was a fantastic dog from the first day. Only later did he start to slow down and look very old. He still went for walks and howled for his food in good trailhound style. We have found out so much more about him and the breed by visiting the Lake District. We have met many people who remembered him racing and have even seen some of his offspring racing. He won 33 trails in his racing career and could still remember what racing was all about when visiting trails. We have found everybody very friendly at trails and recommend a visit to one if you are in the Lake District. On our first visit 18 months after getting Mac, we found out where Peter and Eileen and the Trailhound Trust were based, visited and were persuaded to come back with Meg! She was 17 months old when we got her and is now 6 years old. We certainly noticed the difference between rehoming a young dog and one that retired from racing. Mac quickly settled into living in a house, but Meg took longer to settle and a good amount of time to train so that she was comfortable living in a house. She is still a champion food thief and loves getting into the dishwasher to clean the dirty plates. They have both been great company and very friendly with people and we wouldn't be without either of them We can recognise all the trailhound traits outlined on the website, but have now learnt why Meg is so keen to drink the dregs from any teacups left on worksurfaces! Thanks for starting a website dedicated to Norfolk trailhounds. It would be good to meet up with other owners. Have attached a couple of pictures. Mac is tri colour, Meg lemon and white. Mac was very good off the lead and recalled well and showed no interest in wildlife or farm livestock. Meg is not quite so good - we do let her off the lead in very large fenced in spaces, but she is prone to picking up scent trails and running for ages! She does come back eventually, but it is mostly when she is ready. Bob & Lyndsey Skinner

Please see our message below regarding the first Trailhound we acquired called Max. We were so impressed, as we advised you to do, we did it again and rehomed a beautiful bitch called Lady (that's her on the left) formerly known as Charmer when racing and she really is both of these things. Her original owner retired her from racing after injury and whelping and we were looking for another Trailie and a companion for Max. Lady has filled the post admirably and although we have had a few more hurdles to cross (excuse the pun) than when we rehomed Max our opinions on Trailhounds remained unchanged - they are wonderful, affectionate, sometimes mischievous dogs who make great family pets. If we had the room we could happily have another one or two or three, perhaps we shall have to move! Max and Lady enjoying a day running free in the local fields, although they picked up the scent of a fox or deer, they did stay close to hand this time!

We homed our 1 year old dog Max from F.A.I.T.H in Norfolk about two months ago and are so glad we did. He is a wonderful dog and he is so loving, as you can see Trailhounds make wonderful companions for cats, as max is seen here curled up with our Kiska. Max has found a permanent place in all our family's hearts. We would like to thank the staff at F.A.I.T.H who were extremely helpful and to 'Auntie Eileen' as she is known, who since we first contacted her has been supportive and offered advice freely and placed pictures of Max on the Trust gallery pages. To anyone who has never heard of a Trailhound (as we had not) or who is thinking about rehoming one, DO IT TODAY, you will not be sorry.