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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 second part of the series The Last Lap: From Their Track to Your Home. Read the other parts below:
Homecoming Day
Go to: June, 2008 Homecoming Day: A Pictorial Essay for more photos.
They get a very thorough bath. We clean their ears, trim their nails, and brush their coats. It will take several weeks for their dull track coats to turn glossy.
Health Check
We give them their vaccinations (the Rabies vaccine is administered later by a veterinarian). Finally, we place an Avid microchip in all incoming greyhounds. We send any dogs needing immediate medical attention to a veterinarian.
Small Dog and Cat Testing
On to the Foster Home! The work doesn't stop here. Incoming greyhounds are next sent to their foster homes for several weeks of continued preparation. Go to Fostering 101 to read about this. |
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Homecoming Day starts early for the hounds. We normally arrive at the Caliente racetrack about 6am to pick out the dogs we can take and start the 150-mile drive to the site of our Homecoming days in Southern California. See 
After everyone's had a potty break, we check them over for ticks and look for any obvious injuries that we might not have already caught. 
The health of our greyhounds is of paramount importance to us. After the dogs have been bathed and groomed, we look them over from head to tail, checking for signs of injury or infection. We give them de-worming medication, and draw blood to send in to a lab for testing. 
Greyhounds
were bred for thousands of years to hunt prey, especially wild hares.
Most (usually 9 out of 10) can live well with cats and even pet
rabbits. 
But a few retain a high "prey drive" that means
they will be wonderful, gentle companions for adults, children,
and medium to large dogs of any breed, but ought not to live with
small animals. 
So we test for this before placing them into foster
homes. We expose them to small dogs and cats in a controlled environment.
We keep the greyhound on leash and muzzled just in case, and watch
his reactions. 
We
know through experience whether a greyhound's reactions to the little
ones indicate that he can live with small animals with no difficulty,
or that he can be trained to live with small dogs but not with cats,
or that he needs to be placed in a family with no small animals. You can see the results in greyhound profiles on our