Dear Denise, Julie and everybody

I've been meaning for ages to send you this picture of Doc enjoying life in retirement for your website and maybe your newsletter.

It was taken back in the summer and shows him out in the garden here with his favourite teddy bear. Doc is a great one for soft toys and found this one for himself in a recycling bag outside someone's house on one of our morning walks. Six months or so later Ted remains in pretty good shape, despite being pounced on and tossed about times without number.

Thank you so much for introducing me to Doc and letting me adopt him - he's a lovely dog and great company. I'd now recommend retired greyhounds to just about anybody looking to find a new dog - they're so laid-back and gentle and beautiful. Unlike some, Doc does actually love his walks and so has been a great incentive to take plenty of healthy exercise, indeed I found I myself losing nearly a stone in the first few months after he came.

Altogether he seems to have settled very happily into domestic life, is very affectionate with me and great with other people and most other animals now though I do not think he will ever want to stop chasing cats and squirrels! We've been doing some obedience classes as well which have been very helpful in socialising him with other breeds of dogs. He has yet to manage a 'down' in class (indeed even at home when asked to do this he will usually search out his nice comfortable bed first...) but was the star of the show the other week when it came to walking to heel, both on and off lead.

He also always loves visiting somewhere new, indeed if he had a previous life I reckon it was as an explorer. Last week I took him down to Dorset on the train to stay with a friend for a couple of days and he was in his element, lapping up all the attention he received on the train and everywhere else we went.

He's booked into your holiday kennels for a week over Christmas so see you then if not before, and best wishes meanwhile -

Clare (and Doc!)