Months ago, I was asked by my mum's 'Friendship Group' if I would give a talk on Greyhounds. It seems like a life time away, so I said yes!! How fast 9 months goes by!!!
Last night I thought I had better gather my thoughts, put some notes down on paper and work out what the heck I was going to say! I scanned through my Greyhound books, surfed the internet for interesting facts and made a plan! Then this morning, while grooming the girls, I decided to do a little booklet on each of my greyhounds, a bit about their racing career, family tree and some piccies! So off I went into town to buy something to present them in. Got back with just enough time to rattle something off on the computer, print it off and pop in the folders!! Packed up a bag with books, RGT material, poop bags, treats and off we set.
I have never been so nervous in all my life, waiting for a group of about 18 OAP's to arrive and settle in the village hall. Lucy was in her eliment, every lady that walked in wanted to stroke her and she just lapped it up. Becca was a bit more on the causious side and tried to hide. After a while, however, Becca settle and laid down (I think the bag of treats the ladies gave them helped!)
Off I went, scimming through my prompt cards at speed! I stumbled a little, back tracked and got through the history bits, interesting facts and myths! I talked about the good work the RGT do in finding homes for the retired racers and then did my presentation on my hounds (the bit I was most comfortable with!)
Myth number 1 was dispelled with the sight of Stag in my daughter's car - they loved that one! Pictures of Lucy, roaching on the bed, sitting in a kitchen chair and laid flat out on the settle had them in fits of giggles. And when I told them about Merlin, my OAP, they all just melted (probably because they understood his arthritic pains and general slowing down of pace!)
All in all, I think, for a first attempt, it went reasonably well! They asked lots of questions, a few took RGT money boxes and some of the info, so you never know! Hopefully they will spread the word about just how good greyhounds are a a valued member of the family!... And I won a jar of jam in the raffle!
Thanks for reading, Lisa x
You won a jar of jam? Can't be bad! :D
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear the talk went well! I think groups who ask for talks like this are usually pretty forgiving. I came away from the one I did thinking I should train to do dog safety talks in schools, which I would still like to do, but haven't done anything about yet because the Blue Cross forms are such a pain to fill in .. and I'm lazy!