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See the Events Calendar for our monthly Meet and Greet events and for more details on the events below.
12/6 Lancaster Holiday Parade 12/6 Santa Photo Event at Arroyo Vista Veterinary Hospital 12/13 Palmdale Christmas Parade 12/13 Santa's Photo Day at Huntington Beach Petco fundraiser 12/13 Santa's Photo Day at Burbank Petco fundraiser 12/13-14 Chino Petsmart Photo with Santa Claws fundraiser 1/17 GreySave Foster Home/Adoption Rep Meeting 2/21 GreySave Spa Day Support GreySave when you shop at Amazon by clicking below (how this works) (866) Grey-Save 866-473-9728 |
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This is the third part of the series The Last Lap: From Their Track to Your Home. Read the other parts below:
Fostering 101 The day on which GreySave greyhounds leave the track forever is a very long day. They travel over a hundred miles, undergo treatment and testing, and experience extensive grooming for probably the first time in their lives. But at the end of this long day, their foster families are waiting to welcome them into their homes. The dogs are usually a bit dazed and confused at first. They often won't look people in the face out of insecurity, they don't understand the "potty outside only" rule, and they don't know how to play with toys. But for most, the next 48 hours will bring an almost magical transformation. They not only learn to look their foster "parents" in the face without fear, but they become so bonded to them that they don't want to let them out of their sight. They often learn housetraining in 48 hours with the techniques used by GreySave. They often begin playing with toys by this time, too. Over the next couple of weeks, their true personality begins to emerge as they gain confidence in their strange, new environment. GreySave foster homes help them put on weight if they were especially underweight to prepare them for their spay or neuter. They then help the dogs recover from surgery, and may provide basic obedience training.
Week 1
The first days can be challenging, but are also often the most rewarding for a foster home. Whether it's introducing a new greyhound to mirrors, dog doors or stairs, each greyhound has many puppy-like qualities, even if they're full-grown, adult dogs. Housetraining is typically a fairly easy process, especially if the foster home has other dogs. GreySave has a full volunteer network available to assist our foster homes with everything from housebreaking tips, to training tricks, to introducing a foster dog to a family's dogs, cats and kids. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Weeks 2-3 Once a foster greyhound is cleared by our medical advisers, it is spayed or neutered, its teeth cleaned and Rabies shot given, and a personality profile is completed by a GreySave representative. Then the foster is ready to be adopted.
Weeks 3-4+
Letting Go One of the biggest fears of new foster homes is that they won't be able to let go of their foster dogs. There is always the possibility of "failing Fostering 101" (i.e., adopting your foster). But it's far more common that a foster home is able to let go of its foster, knowing that he or she is going to a great new home. This helps make room for the next foster, and builds an extended greyhound family for our foster homes and GreySave as a group. We encourage our foster homes to keep in touch with the families that adopt each of their foster greyhounds, and love to hear about all the play-dates and babysitting networks that the fostering experience helps to build.
Interested in Becoming a Foster Home? Many of our volunteers say that fostering is the most rewarding part of working with greyhounds. Since we have no kennel, the number of dogs we can place is dependent on the number of volunteer foster homes. With few exceptions the number of dogs we bring up from the track each month is based on the number of available foster homes. To begin the process of becoming a GreySave foster home, please fill out the adoption application and click the box marked "foster." A GreySave representative will get in touch with you to start the approval process. If you have already adopted a greyhound from GreySave, instead of completing a new application contact the GreySave foster coordinator.
Choosing Your New Greyhound Now it's time to pick the greyhound that's just right for you, your family, and your lifestyle. Go Choosing Your New Greyhound to find out how you pick just the right hound. |
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Homecoming
Day is a big day for our greyhounds. Whether they come from the
track or a pound, every greyhound is put through a complete medical
check-up and preliminary cat and small-dog testing (go to the Homecoming Day link above if you haven't already done so). Then, our greys
are matched with a foster home who will help them adjust to life
as a pet. 
When
an application comes in from a prospective adopter who seems to
be a ãmatchä for a certain greyhound, we ask the adopter to make
arrangements with the foster home to meet the foster greyhound.
After spending time with each of the potential matches, our new
adopters make their selection and becomes another happy home!