I have long adored Emily Writes and loved her stories about Twinkle Writes. I was stoked when Emily agreed to talk all things dog with me. Twinkle lives with Emily, her husband, her two boys and Bruce the cat in Pōneke.
How did you come into each other’s lives? Our dog Otis passed away at 22 years old. I’d been given him for my 10th birthday and he’d been with me through school, meeting my now husband at 17, moving in together soon after, our wedding and our babies. It was a really big deal when we died and I didn’t think we would ever get another dog. Otis was a mini foxy and quite a personality. I was working with a bunch of vets about a year after he died and they talked a lot about wanting greyhound racing to be banned. A big report on greyhound racing came out and I worked with the vets on a response. I was horrified by the report and each night I’d tell my husband about the new horrors I’d read about and I’d cry. I just had to save just one greyhound. That’s how we got Twinkle.
How did you decide on her names? She had no name when we got her. Just a tattoo of a number in her ear. My boys named her Twinkle Princess Taranga Star. I think it was just because she looked like a Princess. Taranga is Māui’s mother and I think they were particularly into Māui when we got her. My poor cat’s name is Bruce Sunshine Daffodil.
What is Twinkle like? She is a very sweet girl. She is somehow both very shy but also very excited to see people. So when anyone comes over she will bound up to the door, then realise she is actually a bit afraid of people and retreat behind my husband or I or the kids. She wants to be social but she's a wuss. She's incredibly gentle for her size and she loves a cuddle.
What makes her the goodest girl? She just has such a gentle nature that you can't help but feel at peace around her. I've watched her when we have visitors, and if a baby cries or a little one has a meltdown, Twinkle will just amble over to them and put her head in their lap to calm them. She is just very, very sweet. She has a lot of empathy, I think it's because of her life before us. She knows what it's like to feel alone or sad and she doesn't want anyone else to feel that way.
What is her favourite walk? She's not a huge fan of walks. I think she feels like the world is a bit too busy and frightening for her - something I empathise with a lot because I sometimes feel that way too. We walk along the bays on the South Coast together sometimes and I am always surprised when people cross the road to avoid her - they're afraid of her due to her size. The truth is she's far more afraid of them. She couldn't hurt a fly.
Does she have a favourite toy? She's not much into toys. It took a long time for her to learn to play when we got her. She didn't even do "zoomies" something greyhounds are meant to do - for a really long time. She likes to follow the kids from room to room. She won't chase a ball. Won't jump for anything. She's just very chill.
What is her favouritest thing to do? Absolutely, without a doubt, her favourite thing to do is sleep. She sleeps all day and all night. She loves to follow up a sleep with a nap and then a rest and then a wee kip. She breaks up her sleeps with more sleeps.
Where does she sleep? She has a crate which she loves. We never shut it. We have a rule that if she's in her crate none of the kids can touch her. It just gives her a chance to retreat if we have lots of kids over and she's overwhelmed. She loves to sleep there but she'll sleep anywhere. The couch was meant to be a No Twinkle couch but look at her. How could you say no to her? She also sleeps on my bed with the cat which does not give us much room to move because she's 45kg and very, very long.
What are her most loved foods? She is quite a fussy eater and by far the most expensive pet we have ever had in terms of food. She needs grain free special food because she has a sensitive tummy. She likes to eat the cat's food which is very upsetting to the cat and to us.
Has she had any transgressions? Twinkle's toxic trait is eating the cat's food then doing runny terrible nightmarish poops all over the driveway.
For those humans who work outside of the home. What does your pup do when you go to work or out? I work from home so she almost always has someone there to keep her company. But if we aren't home she prefers to be in the crate. Greyhounds tend to like being in crates. When we tell her we are leaving she automatically strolls over to the crate.
What are her biggest lols? She's so big and goofy that she often knocks things over then gets scared and knocks more things over. It's very funny to watch. She just doesn't know her size so often she'll see a little gap on the couch and be like "oh excuse me I'll just scooch in here" then suddenly you've got 45kg of massive dog on your lap and she's like "WHAT HAPPENED?" She's not the smartest dog but we love her.
Anything I might have missed. I am here for allll dog related chat. When we rescued her we had never had a dog so big. We only took her because I'd worked on a report on cruelty in greyhound racing. The treatment of the dogs kept me up all night for weeks. I just couldn't bare the thought of what they went through. I thought, if I can save one - that will be something. I am so glad that fate made me work on that report, and fate brought Twinkle into my life. Having her has made me even more committed to ending greyhound racing. She is kind of an ambassador for the End Greyhound Racing movement, I think all greyhounds are, because you meet them and you think "How could anyone hurt you?" She changes hearts and minds just by existing. She's wonderful and she's our whole world.
How did you come into each other’s lives? Our dog Otis passed away at 22 years old. I’d been given him for my 10th birthday and he’d been with me through school, meeting my now husband at 17, moving in together soon after, our wedding and our babies. It was a really big deal when we died and I didn’t think we would ever get another dog. Otis was a mini foxy and quite a personality. I was working with a bunch of vets about a year after he died and they talked a lot about wanting greyhound racing to be banned. A big report on greyhound racing came out and I worked with the vets on a response. I was horrified by the report and each night I’d tell my husband about the new horrors I’d read about and I’d cry. I just had to save just one greyhound. That’s how we got Twinkle.
How did you decide on her names? She had no name when we got her. Just a tattoo of a number in her ear. My boys named her Twinkle Princess Taranga Star. I think it was just because she looked like a Princess. Taranga is Māui’s mother and I think they were particularly into Māui when we got her. My poor cat’s name is Bruce Sunshine Daffodil.
What is Twinkle like? She is a very sweet girl. She is somehow both very shy but also very excited to see people. So when anyone comes over she will bound up to the door, then realise she is actually a bit afraid of people and retreat behind my husband or I or the kids. She wants to be social but she's a wuss. She's incredibly gentle for her size and she loves a cuddle.
What makes her the goodest girl? She just has such a gentle nature that you can't help but feel at peace around her. I've watched her when we have visitors, and if a baby cries or a little one has a meltdown, Twinkle will just amble over to them and put her head in their lap to calm them. She is just very, very sweet. She has a lot of empathy, I think it's because of her life before us. She knows what it's like to feel alone or sad and she doesn't want anyone else to feel that way.
What is her favourite walk? She's not a huge fan of walks. I think she feels like the world is a bit too busy and frightening for her - something I empathise with a lot because I sometimes feel that way too. We walk along the bays on the South Coast together sometimes and I am always surprised when people cross the road to avoid her - they're afraid of her due to her size. The truth is she's far more afraid of them. She couldn't hurt a fly.
Does she have a favourite toy? She's not much into toys. It took a long time for her to learn to play when we got her. She didn't even do "zoomies" something greyhounds are meant to do - for a really long time. She likes to follow the kids from room to room. She won't chase a ball. Won't jump for anything. She's just very chill.
What is her favouritest thing to do? Absolutely, without a doubt, her favourite thing to do is sleep. She sleeps all day and all night. She loves to follow up a sleep with a nap and then a rest and then a wee kip. She breaks up her sleeps with more sleeps.
Where does she sleep? She has a crate which she loves. We never shut it. We have a rule that if she's in her crate none of the kids can touch her. It just gives her a chance to retreat if we have lots of kids over and she's overwhelmed. She loves to sleep there but she'll sleep anywhere. The couch was meant to be a No Twinkle couch but look at her. How could you say no to her? She also sleeps on my bed with the cat which does not give us much room to move because she's 45kg and very, very long.
What are her most loved foods? She is quite a fussy eater and by far the most expensive pet we have ever had in terms of food. She needs grain free special food because she has a sensitive tummy. She likes to eat the cat's food which is very upsetting to the cat and to us.
Has she had any transgressions? Twinkle's toxic trait is eating the cat's food then doing runny terrible nightmarish poops all over the driveway.
For those humans who work outside of the home. What does your pup do when you go to work or out? I work from home so she almost always has someone there to keep her company. But if we aren't home she prefers to be in the crate. Greyhounds tend to like being in crates. When we tell her we are leaving she automatically strolls over to the crate.
What are her biggest lols? She's so big and goofy that she often knocks things over then gets scared and knocks more things over. It's very funny to watch. She just doesn't know her size so often she'll see a little gap on the couch and be like "oh excuse me I'll just scooch in here" then suddenly you've got 45kg of massive dog on your lap and she's like "WHAT HAPPENED?" She's not the smartest dog but we love her.
Anything I might have missed. I am here for allll dog related chat. When we rescued her we had never had a dog so big. We only took her because I'd worked on a report on cruelty in greyhound racing. The treatment of the dogs kept me up all night for weeks. I just couldn't bare the thought of what they went through. I thought, if I can save one - that will be something. I am so glad that fate made me work on that report, and fate brought Twinkle into my life. Having her has made me even more committed to ending greyhound racing. She is kind of an ambassador for the End Greyhound Racing movement, I think all greyhounds are, because you meet them and you think "How could anyone hurt you?" She changes hearts and minds just by existing. She's wonderful and she's our whole world.