Expression…

Greyhounds are one of very few breeds in modern times that are bred not appearance‑first. The people breeding racers don’t generally give any consideration to what the dog looks like, as long as it can run very fast. We took Rebel over to the pub at Duton Hill yesterday because they have a nice big long open‑space garden and, if no one else is about, it’s just a dream to do a bit of fancy footwork and lob a ball around in. An ex‑racer greyhound lives there.

We had a gentle game of ball, bearing in mind the heat, but then the owner came out to look at the newly restored garden furniture, his dog followed him out, and it set eyes on Rebel, who on seeing them all come out, I had put on lead just in case… it’s an open garden with no shielding from the car park or road.

When people, especially with regard to show and breed type, talk about a dog’s “expression”, it nearly always is in context of the resting look of a dog’s face. Pugs, who have considerably less facial movement than many breeds, are popular because people like the “expressive” appearance of the face, but is this not in fact quite the opposite of expression? Expression is a language. You could have an entire conversation with a friend using just expression. I actually taught my Cindy to go to and give things to different people by their names – not that she knew their names, but just by using my eye movement to point to them… so subtle, but a party trick that impressed a lot of people.

So the greyhound clocked Rebel, and his face literally lit up, and his whole expression just radiated delight. It was a joy just to see his face move and change like that (who else would have noticed; no one else present did). And he then came racing over to Rebel, who was not so impressed at all, and a bit terrified, as he was a good bit taller than she was. He soon made it clear to her he was just being friendly, but I wasn’t going to risk her zoomies taking her into harm’s way by letting her off. It just reminded me so much of Rebel’s best buddy in Walden, Fynn, whose face would absolutely light up in just the same way whenever we met.