Monday, November 10, 2008

Listen Up

Ears have little to do with speed, so racing greyhounds have some of the most interesting ears found on any breed of dog. The varieties are about as diverse as the colors. Lets review the various types.

Picture Perfect Ears - Picture perfect ears speak for themselves. They are a matching pair and appear as if they belong on the same greyhound head. They are alert and pricked for all photography sessions with minimum solicitation from squeakies and funny noises.

Foxy Ears - Sometimes these are mistaken for picture perfect ears. While cute for photos, these ears stand higher than picture perfect ears.

Freak Flags - Freak flags warn of impending doom. These ears belong to Stacker and we can usually assume that it is raining or a plane has flown over the house when we see these flags flying.










Bowtie or Farfalle Ears - If I was not a vegetarian, I would probably want to open a jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce and nibble on those goofy ears.










Captive Orca Fin Ears - Recall the orca movie called Free Willie and you will remember the limp dorsal fin tip that flopped over to one side instead of standing straight up. Reason unknown, this occurs in killer whales living in captivity. Riley's right ear is blessed (or cursed) with this trait. Maybe it would stand straight up if she was a wild greyhound.



Neutered Feral Cat Ears - Due to Riley's captive orca fin ear, from the front she appears to have the ears of a neutered feral cat. When caring for a feral cat colony, the most important thing to do is to spay and neuter the cats. However, once released you have no way of knowing which cats you have neutered. That is unless you have the vet remove the tip of one ear, so you have a quick and easy way to determine whether the cat in your humane trap is neutered or not.











Batman Ears - These flaps speak for themselves.












Curly Ears - Again, Riley's ears are able to demonstrate more weirdness.



Luckily for the AKC greyhounds, their breeders pay more attention to ear conformation. While less entertaining fodder for blogs, the AKC siblings tend to have more attractive, breed type ears.