Dogs by Nature

WHO WE ARE

Our house is run by a three-member mafia. Don’t be fooled by the innocent faces:

 Lilly-pit is an Italian greyhound whippet cross and we had her since she was 6 weeks old. After being nameless for a week, Lilly was almost named Swaeltjie (swallow). She was small, black and super-fast which made me regard the name as fitting. Luckily my brother came to the rescue and Googled a few hurricane names. We decided on Lili (of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season). This is just as applicable since she runs like the wind and in Afrikaans greyhound translates to windhond. For some zest we added pit and ta-da: we had a Lilly-pit!

Befitting her cyclonic name, Lilly-pit was a whirlwind of a puppy and we decided to foster another dog so she can have a playmate. Fostering was an incredibly rewarding experience and after successfully rehoming three foster dogs we decided to adopt Stitch (which is also an Italian greyhound, whippet cross). 

While Lilly-pit is a snippy busy-body, Stitch is calm and sensitive. He’s got the softest coat I've ever seen on a dog. Stitch is also very people-dependant and attention-demanding. The recall command always proved incredibly challenging with previous foster dogs, making it nearly impossible to let them off-leash in public areas. With Stitch the challenge was to get him to leave your side once off-leash. 

Lilly and Stitch got on great from the start. To me it seems like they grasp each other’s body language better than that of other breeds. And finally Lilly met her match when it came to running! Lilly and Stitch will never be found sleeping alone – they really do love to cuddle.

Minkie definitely fills the alpha female role in the house. She’s swift, stealthy and deadly with an average catch of three mice and one lizard per day. She never misses an opportunity to join us and the dogs for a walk.

And then there’s us: the people who feed and entertain this mafia!