Jamal’s Page
Jamal was a stunningly handsome dog in all ways. He was beautiful to look at, a beautiful mover and beautiful inside. Energetic, enthusiastic and athletic, he literally bounced his way through life with a huge smile. He was playful, affectionate, loyal, silly and just fun to have around. There was never a dull moment with him in the house, and plenty of shredded newspaper!
Size: Jamal was a handsome tall greyhound, 30 inches to the shoulder (75cm)
Weight: Jamal weighed 32 kilos (70lbs)
Colour: Fawn
Town or Country: Jamal had endless energy and boundless enthusiasm. He relished the outdoors and long walks. Unlike many greyhounds he wasn't content unless he'd properly run off his energy, so needed at least 2 hours a day.
Low Allergy: Greyhounds are low allergy and can be tolerated by people with mild or moderate dog allergies.
Best Suited for:
Group: Hound
Originally From: Jamal's origins are unknown. He was brought into rescue as a 10-11 month old puppy after his owners gave him up. I presume they couldn't cope with his bounciness. He was not ear tattooed, which means it's most likely he was bought from show lines not racing ones. His build was certainly not typical for a racing greyhound.
Original Purpose: Pet
Exercise: High - 2 hours a day minimum plus playtime, usually shredding stuff!
Living Space: High. Jamal was bouncy and lively and he took up a lot of space because of his physical size, and also because of his playfulness in the house.
Coat: Short and smooth.
Grooming: Minimal. Jamal was very clean and not keen on mud or water.
Children: High. Jamal loved kids, especially ones who would play tug of war with him.
Sociability with strangers: High. Jamal was friendly and outgoing to all he met. Too friendly in some cases. In the early days we had to train him out of sneaking up to joggers and biting their bums!
Sociability with animals or other dogs: Excellent. We never let him off near sheep but otherwise cats, other dogs and larger livestock weren't a problem.
Trainability: Hmmmm. Moderate. He was very attuned to food but had a wilful streak, and it took us a long time to train him after running after joggers and cyclists.
Noise Level: Low. Jamal rarely barked.
Known Health Issues: None
Lifespan: As far as I know Jamal is still alive and is probably about 9 years old.
Special Needs: Lots of space to play in. Tug of war or shredding games. Lots of fun.
More about Jamal
Jamal was just the most fun dog you can imagine.
He was brought into Evesham Greyhound and Lurcher Rescue as a puppy aged about 10 months old. He was passed to Tracy, one of the rehomers in the Walsall area and came to us as a foster dog.
We know nothing about his history. As he was not ear tattooed, we don’t believe he was ever intended for racing. His build was certainly not a typical racing greyhound build. We believe he might have been bought as a pet from show greyhound lines.
Jamal had been kept as a pet and then given up – again for reasons we don’t know. I believe his owners weren’t prepared for his size, weight and amount of exercise he needed. But once at home with us we knew there was something very special about him.
He was just so full of life and fun. Already housetrained and with some basic training, life with Jamal was easy. As long as you didn’t mind the newspaper shredding and all that bounce!
We took Jamal to a greyhound and lurcher dog show in Gloucestershire. We were there with the rescue merchandise stall, so we thought we would bring him with us. It would be good for socialisation. A couple who came to the stall were totally smitten. They kept coming back and looking at him. They had an older lurcher and thought a friend for her would be a good idea. And their lurcher was also getting old so they were thinking of her ‘replacement’.
They spent a lot of time talking to us and eventually took him for a walk around the field. When they came back they said they would like to adopt him so we arranged to bring him to their home with a contract a few days later.
All seemed to be going well. Then the rescue chairman got a call to say could we take Jamal back as he was biting the man. As this had never happened to us, we could not believe what we were hearing. We figured if he’d bitten the man, the man must have been doing something badly wrong. We’d never seen any aggression or hint of it from Jamal in the 4 weeks we had fostered him.
When he came back my husband said “I don’t think I can let him go again”. So he stayed as a permanent fixture.
Life with Jamal was joyous. The only difficulty we had was his love of running after joggers and cyclists. And sneaking up behind joggers and nipping their bums! So we spent 12 long months training him to walk to heel whenever a jogger or cyclist was around. It paid off, and eventually we could walk freely around them without any problems.
Jamal’s nicknames tended to be Marli-marl, Jamali Man or Jamali Boy. He truly was an outstandingly great dog to have around. He adored his pals, and loved his long hikes. He really was a long distance greyhound. His height meant he could simply stroll along as the same speed as us without breaking into a trot. And there was always fun in the air wherever he was.
Jamal is still with my ex-husband.
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My present
Blue Vinnie Kylah Arwen Ma’aloo
My past
Vanna Missy JJ Jess Holly Jamal
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