Balancing Act

There, I said it. You need a Greyhound. Not just ‘you really should consider getting one’. Not just ‘you ought to look into it someday’. No, YOU NEED A GREYHOUND. And not just any Greyhound, but a retired racing Greyhound.

I never knew I needed one until we got one. When we did, back in 2003, I guess you could say I saw the light. What had I been missing out on all this time? Who ever could have guessed that to find the perfect pet you’d have to look at the one breed of dog that basically knows NOTHING about being a pet?

Morgan, our first Greyhound, came home to us when she was two. I had some real trepidation about adopting an adult dog. In my life, all the dogs who’d come into my life had done so as puppies. How difficult would an adult dog be? Well, as it turned out, the answer was, not at all.

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Even though she’d never stepped foot in a house before, Morgan was a quick study. Housebreaking a puppy can take weeks or months. For Morgan, she had one accident the first week and that was it. Having never encountered stairs before, it took her a few days of us helping for her to master them, but once she figured them out she was tearing up and down them like a pro. And nothing anyone tells you can ever prepare you for the blissful sound of a Greyhound NOT barking. It’s not that they can’t bark, just that they usually choose not to.

You may think that a Greyhound would never work for you because they require a lot of exercise. The truth is, though, that they don’t. Greyhounds are sprinters. One short burst of energy and they’re pretty much done for the day. A lot of people I know don’t have a fenced yard, so the only exercise their Greyhounds get is on the end of a leash (and unless they’re in an enclosed area, Greyhounds must ALWAYS be on a leash)and that works out just fine for them. I also know Greyhounds who make excellent apartment dogs, even one who lived in a 200sf studio apartment in Brooklyn. The truth is, Greyhounds require less space and exercise than many breeds of dogs. The only real requirement for them is a soft place to sleep, as their lack of body fat makes sleeping on a bare floor very uncomfortable.

Greyhound adoption groups are all over the country, and many of them have regular meet and greets (often in pet stores, but also in other public places) where you can go and see Greyhounds up close and personal. People always seem surprised that we can get half a dozen Greyhounds together with nary a peep out of any of them, everyone standing there quietly waiting to be petted. Our other girl, Cosmo, is such a social butterfly, that I think she takes it a bit personally if everyone who passes doesn’t make a huge deal out of fussing over her.

There is an indefinable quality about a Greyhound. They love snacks. They love stuffed toys. They love to play. Sometimes they love to run just for the sheer fun of it. They love their families. In short, they love life in a way I have never seen in any other breed. Greyhounds love having a home to call their own, and there is never a shortage of them waiting and hoping for that home.

If you want to know more about adopting a Greyhound, check out Retired Racing Greyhounds For Dummies by Lee Livingood. You can order it from Amazon by following this link: http://www.amazon.com/Retired-Racing-Greyhounds-Dummies-Livingood/dp/0764552767

If you are in Connecticut, check out these great adoption groups at:
www.pupswithoutpartners.org
http://regapct.com
www.ctgreyhounds.org