Meet the boss
Hunny joined our household at the age of five. Like so many greyhounds discarded from the racing industry, she came to us with problematic feet - thin pads, with no conditioning or seasoning. It didn’t take long for her feet to succumb to grit, glass and corns; the trinity of greyhound foot problems.
After trying and testing dog shoes from around the globe, without success, we realised if we were going to help Hunny we would need to design something ourselves - with her help! Hunny became the first employee of our start-up. She let us push and prod her feet on a daily basis as we experimented and created - learning about greyhound anatomy and their peculiar anomalies. Hunny has been the model, inspiration, and patient co-designer of every shoe, slipper and boot we have made. Every concept - good and bad - has patiently tried and tested by her as we have sought to not only address her needs but the needs of greyhounds around the world.
Fast forward seven years and Hunny has gained international recognition. Thanks to her, thousands of sighthounds and their parents are living their best life - walking protected and pain-free. She may have been considered worthless by the racing industry but to us she is priceless.
As she approaches 12 years old, much has changed. Hunny is still polite, well mannered and slightly aloof. She enjoys slow walks and loves the breeze in her face. Her preference would be night walks when people are inside and she has the road, path and park to herself. She’s not keen on other dogs, but doesn’t mind the occasional company of other hounds as long as they’re not needy or too ‘nose-pokey’.
She used to like the beach and wading in the water very much, but it’s a struggle these days as her condition means she trips easily. She prefers a park where it’s flat and she can see into the distance. She used to love a particular fountain at Fitzroy Gardens in the city of Melbourne and would step into it given any opportunity to play statues.
She still loves to smell flowers. She has to sniff and pee on every location another dog has peed on before. She’s a travelling hound and still enjoys going places in the car, but has to be lifted in and out now. She’s still choosy as to whether she’ll get out at the destination.
She never used to be keen on cuddles - but that’s all changed in her twilight - with much clawing and paw-for-more action. A perpetual cushion-arranger, she lives on the sofa mostly upside down and enjoys daytime TV. Each night around 9pm she decides its time for bed and curls up on the sofa, with the occasional stink-eye if we don’t depart her ‘bedroom’.
She can hear a cheese slice being unwrapped from across the house, it’s one of the few things that will turn her the right side up and off the sofa.
She used to rise early and “arrooo” softly to wake us for walkies, poops and wizzes. These days we have to wake her. She now prefers a morning kiss and cuddle over a mini zoomie.
She’s very aware of her physicality, she pads around the house and has not once bumped or knocked anything, or touched anything she knows is off limits.
She spends around 22 hours a day on her sofa or occasionally one of her beds. She stretches in downward dog every time she rises, always front legs, then shoulders, then rear and finally her tail.
Apart from her 'stairs Achilles heel', she is the smartest dog I have ever known. Her milky eyes are haunting and her gaze penetrates through to your soul. Her face is white from the passage of time but her heart is full of love and contentment.
She is our greyhound and she is our friend. She is our family.