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See the Events Calendar for our monthly Meet and Greet events and for more details on the events below.
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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March-August 2008
We publish our online newsletter, GreySave Scoop, to keep our friends and volunteers up to date with what has been happening at GreySave. If you know someone who would enjoy receiving our newsletter, please forward this edition and tell them that they can register at www.greysave.org/mailinglist.php to receive their own copy. Your feedback is important– please share your comments with us!
News You Need to Know
Just two years ago GreySave became a California charitable corporation; in November 2006 we received our Federal 501(c)(3) Not-for-Profit status. Lots of greyt things have happened since then! The biggest is that we just placed tag number 185 on a broken leg girl named Gracie who came to us on August 7. GreySave will soon be sending out its annual Anniversary Membership drive flyer. Watch for it in the mail or pick up a copy online. This year, besides celebrating two years of exceptional growth and achievement, we will be featuring fundraising for the broken leg and ill greyhounds served by the GreytLove Fund. Second Homecoming Day Site Added Pedigree Dog Food Recall Greyhound Walk Gatherings Fundraising Opportunities
To increase public awareness regarding greyhounds as pets, GreySave participates in and sponsors a number of events each month. If you would like to participate or attend an event, the most up to date calendar of events can be found at www.greysave.org/events.php: August 16 • Meet & Greet at Fountain Valley Pet Supply August 23 • Meet
& Greet at Upland Petsmart August 24 September September 13 • Meet
& Greet at Tujunga Petsmart • Meet
& Greet at Huntington Beach Petco • Meet
& Greet at Upland Petsmart September 14 • Meet and Greet at Westlake Village Petsmart Sunday,
September 14: GreySave at Centinela Feed & Pet Saturday, September 20: Spa Day CANCELLED September 20 • Meet & Greet at Fountain Valley Pet Supply September 27 • Meet
& Greet at Upland Petsmart September 28 Events in October
Saturday, October 25: GreySave Spaghetti Social
BUT THERE'S MORE...This year you and your Greyhound can also stop by one or more fun and informative training demonstrations such as:
See our Spaghetti Social website for more information: www.greysave.org/spagsocial.php.
MARCH: I Came, I Saw, I Adopted a Greyhound APRIL: How About a Trip to the Mountains? MAY: Nevada Comes to California JUNE: Oldies TV Makes a Comeback! JULY: Visit a Great American Park this Summer AUGUST: Quick Quaker Quits Racing, Keep it on the QT! Adoption News Since the January/February 2008 newsletter, 71 hounds have found their forever homes! Chippewa - Silver Lake You can see their photos and profiles on the current Adopted Greyhounds page (you'll need to switch to the January-June 2008 adopted greyhounds page for most of them). Congratulations to all these precious greys and those who love them! Report: Canine Good Citizen Testing 2008CONGRATULATIONS to these new Canine Good Citizens, certified by Priscilla O'Malley at the May 2008 Race to the Park! Picnic:
Greyhound in the Spotlight: Meet Pepper!
To find out more about Pepper, check her out on our website at http://greysave.org/adoptables.php. If you think you can give Pepper the Forever Home she deserves or know someone who can, please contact Cathy at 626-354-8476.
GreytLove Fund News The Greytlove Fund was established to help take care of the extraordinary medical needs of some of the special greyhounds GreySave brings in. Whether it is a broken leg, a long-term illness, or some other injury or accident, the medical costs for these greys can be very high. All money donated to the Greytlove Fund is used exclusively for the extraordinary medical needs of our greyhounds. If you would like more information on contributing to this fund, either by check or through PayPal, see the Donation website page at http://greysave.org/donations.php. If you would like to talk to someone about fostering or otherwise helping one of these broken leg or medical greys, contact us through info@greysave.org. Here’s an update on the latest GreyLove Fund beneficiaries:
New on the GreySave Website We've made a lot of changes to the GreySave website since the last newsletter. • We now highlight photos of the current crop of greyhound recruits on the main page. Each time you reload the page, another image randomly pops up. • We added the GreySave Photo Gallery, featuring slideshows with larger images of our dogs and our events. • See our Essential Reading List for books that have helped GreySave members understand their four-legged friends better and to make their homes a better place for everyone. • We've also added two articles inspired by hot weather and July 4 fireworks:
You'll find most of these additions, as well as some others, added to the GreySave Learn Section Index page: www.greysave.org/greytowner.php.
Disaster Preparedness and Your GreyhoundBelow is an excerpt from "Disaster Preparedness and Your Greyhound. See the GreySave website for the entire article, and images, at: www.greysave.org/disaster.php. When an earthquake, fire, or severe storm strikes, there's no time to make a list of all the things we should do. That's why we need to know in advance exactly how to protect our greyhounds and other pets in case of emergency. Preparing for Disaster Make sure your pets have ID tags, and that they wear them all the time—even in the home. This would also be a good time to get them microchipped. GreySave microchips all greyhounds that come off the track, and can chip your greyhound if he or she doesn't already have a chip. Make plans in case you are not at home with your animals when the disaster strikes. Be sure they have enough water to last at least a day. For large dogs like greyhounds, water bowls with multi-gallon water bottle reservoirs are a good choice. Designate a willing neighbor to tend to your animals if a disaster occurs when you are not at home. This person should have a key to your home, be familiar with your animals, know your evacuation procedures, and know where your evacuation supplies are kept. Some people put stickers on the front and back doors to tell neighbors, firefighters, police, and other rescue personnel that animals are on your property and where to find your evacuation supplies. Include a note with the supplies that tells exactly what pets you have, and where they like to hide if applicable. Include a signed veterinary medical treatment authorization in your evacuation kit to aid your veterinarian if your animal must be treated during your absence. Include travel carriers for your cats, and train your cats to enter the carriers willingly. Evacuation KitAssemble a kit with the items you and your pets will need if you should evacuate. Include water, food, blankets and toys (to relieve stress) for your pets.
New Dog Tails: Brutus, the Bagel Bandit
We greyhound-proofed our home. Really, we did. Apparently, Brutus shares some distant relations with Cookie Monster’s lesser-known brother, Bagel Monster. Brutus didn’t counter surf while we were home, so and it looked like whatever wasn’t on the edge of the counter was safe. Leaving our bagels safely stashed away deep on the counter, we left for work. He was a little sluggish on his lunch walk when I came home that day, but I figured it was the heat. He was still a little sluggish when his mom took him on his evening walk. But then again, who wouldn’t be sluggish after consuming five bagels? The only evidence left was an empty bagel bag. So the bagels went into the fridge, except for the ones that were a little fuzzy. Those went in the trash. The counter was cleaned up, and the next day came around. The bagels must have smelled wonderfully good. We came home to a knocked-down trash can, with hardly anything eaten – except for the bagels we’d thrown out. Five more of those were gone. Ten bagels in two days? We were starting to see a trend. That was confirmed the next morning when he took advantage of both of us stepping away from the breakfast table to snag the half bagel we’d left on a plate. Another couple of days and he’d repeated that trick with a piece of toast. We were in awe of his prowess. We learned from our mistakes. Food was never left unattended. The trashcan was put away out of reach and days went by without incident. We couldn’t get too mad at him. Greyhounds love to eat (don’t all dogs?) and the thought of him up on his back legs trying to snag stuff off the counter, his tail wagging with excitement as he found his prize, prompted much amusement on our part. We just wished we could have caught it all on camera before he had been reformed. He behaved fine while we were home, so one night, feeling too lazy to take out the trash, I left a bag by the front door. In the middle of the night, I heard noise and got up to find our perpetrator dragging the sealed trash bag to his usual crime scene under the living area window. A bit of scolding later, Brutus went off to sulk on his bed next to ours, and I put the bag back next to the door. Not to be foiled, he got up again hours later, and I once again caught him in the act. Makes you wonder what else he’s up to when we think he’s sleeping, doesn’t it? Another few well-behaved days went by. Sure, every now and then, we’d come home to find a jacket, a coat, a scarf, or a remote on his bed. Is there a greyhound owner out there who can claim nothing of theirs has ever magically relocated to their dog’s den? It was quite a shock, then, the day we came home and found a very, very guilty-looking dog … and an open fridge! Care to guess what was among the items missing from the fridge? Bagels, of course! What else! So we were down another couple of bagels, a chicken dish we’d picked up a day earlier, and a little bit of cheese. In the end, we’re still up one wonderful, loveable boy. He’s a bit of miscreant, at times, but, like all new parents, we can’t help but find it adorable. He’s adjusted well to city life, enjoying his morning walk along downtown streets (as long as we’re in the shade). He hasn’t eaten any small, yappy dogs yet, though we know he’s been tempted. He’s fallen in love with a parking ticket-wielding officer, a parking security officer, a neighbor, another neighbor, a person on the street, another person on the street, and yet another other person on the street. And they’ve all fallen in love with him in return. He’s even started playing at home, racing around our apartment, bowing, jumping on the couch, writhing around, jumping off, and tossing his toys around. We’re even getting comments from people saying he’s finally starting to act like a dog! He’s actually barked at least half a dozen times.
We know he’s lonely when were not around, but for some reason, we don’t think he’s going to be an only dog that much longer. Where there’s room for one, there’s room for two! The only question is where the humans are going to sit and sleep? He’s already claimed a third of the couch, and most of the bed! Romain and Raquel Komorn UPDATE: Brutus has been joined by a new fur-sister named Audrey (GreySave name Spirit, photo at right). He is teaching her that bagels are the best! What is Your Newly Adopted Greyhound Thinking?
This breed has never been asked to do anything for itself, make any decisions or answer any questions. It has been waited on, paw and tail. The only prohibition in a racing Greyhound's life is not to get into a fight …or eat certain stuff in the turn-out pen. Let us review a little. From weaning until you go away for schooling at probably a year and a half, you eat, grow and run around with your siblings. When you go away to begin your racing career, you get your own "apartment," in a large housing development. No one is allowed in your bed but you, and when you are in there, no one can touch you, without plenty of warning. Someone hears a vehicle drive up or the kennel door being unlocked. The light switches are flipped on. The loud-mouths in residence, and there always are some, begin to bark or howl. You are wide awake by the time the human opens your door to turn you out. A Greyhound has never been touched while he was asleep. You eat when you are fed, usually on a strict schedule. No one asks if you are hungry or what you want to eat. You are never told not to eat any food within your reach. No one ever touches your bowl while you are eating. You are not to be disturbed because it is important for you to clean your plate. You are not asked if you have to "go outside." You are placed in a turn-out pen and it isn't long before you get the idea of what you’re supposed to do while you are out there. Unless you really get out of hand, you may chase, rough-house and put your feet on everyone and everything. The only humans you know are the "waiters" who feed you and the "restroom attendants" who turn you out to go to the bathroom. Respect people? Surely you jest. No one comes into or goes out of your kennel without your knowledge. You are all-seeing and all-knowing. There are no surprises, day in or day out. The only thing it is ever hoped you will do is win, place or show, and that you don't have much control over. It is in your blood -- it is in your heart; it is in your fate -- or it is not. And when it is not, then suddenly you are expected to be a civilized person in a fur coat. But people don't realize you may not even speak English. Some of you don't even know your names, because you didn't need to. You were not asked or told to do anything as an individual; you were always part of the "condo association," the sorority or fraternity, and everyone did everything together as a group or pack. The only time you did anything as an individual is when you schooled or raced, and even then, You Were Not Alone. Suddenly he is expected to behave himself in places for which he's never been taught how to act. He is expected to take responsibility for saying when he needs to go outside, to come when he is called, not to get on some or all of the furniture, and to not eat food off counters and tables. Totally without warning, he is dropped in a world that is not his. Almost everything he does is wrong. Suddenly he is a minority. Now he is just a pet. He is unemployed in a place where people expect him to know the rules and the schedules, even when there aren't any. (How many times have you heard someone say, "He won't tell me when he has to go out." What kind of schedule is that?) Have you heard the joke about the dog who says, "My name is No-No Bad Dog. What's yours?" To me that is not even funny. All the protective barriers are gone. There is no more warning before something happens. There is no more strength in numbers. He wakes up with a monster human face two inches from his. (With some people's breath, this could scare Godzilla.) Why should he not believe that this "someone" who has crept up on him isn't going to eat him for lunch? I really do have to ask you ladies to consider how you would react if someone you barely knew crawled up on you while you were asleep?) No, I will not ask for any male input. Now he is left alone, for the first time in his life, in a strange place with no idea of what will happen or how long it will be before someone comes to him again. If he is not crated, he may go through walls, windows or over fences, desperately seeking something familiar, something with which to reconnect his life. If he does get free, he will find the familiarity within himself - the adrenaline high, the wind in his ears, the blood pulsing and racing though his heart once again - until he crashes into a car. Often, the first contact with his new family is punishment, something he's never had before, something he doesn't understand now, especially in the middle of the rest of the chaos. And worst of all, what are the most common human reactions to misbehavior? We live in a violent society, where the answer to any irritation is a slap, punch, kick, whip, or rub your nose in it. Under these circumstances, sometimes I think any successful adoption is a miracle. He is, in effect, expected to have all the manners of at least a six-year-old child. But, how many of you would leave an six-year-old human alone and loose in your unfamiliar home for hours at a time and not expect to find who knows what when you got back? Consider that if you did, you could be brought up on charges of child abuse, neglect and endangerment. Yet, people do this to Greyhounds and this is often the reason for so many returns. How many dogs have been returned because they did not know how to tell the adopter when they had to go out? How many for jumping on people, getting on furniture, counter-surfing, separation anxiety, or defensive actions due to being startled or hurt (aka growling or biting)? So, let's understand: sometimes it is the dog's "fault" he cannot fit in. He is not equipped with the social skills of a six-year old human. But you can help him.
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Blow out the candles and make a wish!
Saturday,
October 11: 10th Annual Wiggle Waggle Walk
In this issue we are spotlighting a spunky greyhound girl who rightfully earned her name - Pepper. Pepper is not tattooed, has a crooked nose (maybe a birth defect) and sports an under-bite that just adds to her goofy, playful demeanor. She came to GreySave via a circuitous route from another adoption group that did her no favors by leaving her in a kennel for months. She has been with GreySave for several months. Though she is loving life in her foster home, she needs a Forever Home. Her ideal home is one with another playful greyhound or even one with one of the more energetic breeds like a Lab. Though playful, Pepper has the completely unique greyhound sleeping attitude and can match or best her foster home’s track greys hour-for-hour in the sleeping department. Pepper needs a yard to run in and burn off some steam. No condo for this girl! She goes to the dog park regularly and runs and plays till she drops. She is very affectionate to her people and genuinely thinks she is a lap dog. 
Flavia came to us in March with a fracture that luckily only required a couple of screws. She had surgery, rested and recovered in a home with many kitties. In April she was adopted and now lives in Huntington Beach with her new mom and dad and a new name - Amber -which matches the color of her beautiful coat. 
Minden came off the track in May with a fracture similar to Flavia’s. She had surgery to put in a couple of screws to hold the bone fragments in place and then rested and recovered with those same kitties who kept Flavia company during her recuperation. Minden liked the kitties so well that she and her house-mate, Abe, were both adopted in July and now share their home in Northridge with kitties, including a hairless one! (No, Minden and Abe were not responsible for the kitty’s hairless state.)
Virginia came off the track the same day as Minden but has not been quite so lucky. She was on the road to recovery when she hurt her other back leg and has been struggling lately, trying to get them both strong and healed. She now has her splint off and is back to going on short walks. She is hoping that she will be strong enough to be adopted soon. She is a very sweet girl, has learned all sorts of good behavior in her foster home including sitting, staying before she eats and walking nicely on the leash whenever she gets a chance. Virginia also has lived with kitties and wouldn’t mind doing it again. 
Sunny came to GreySave in May too with quite a bit of help from his friends on Grey Talk. He had broken his leg up in the high desert. He had surgery but somehow managed to loosen the screws holding on his plate and actually even bent the plate. Sunny had a second surgery after he came to GreySave and has just moved to his forever home in Los Feliz near Griffith Park. Amazing enough, his foster mom had cats and he is living with cats in his new home! 
Annette came in June. She is a beautiful red brindle with very engaging eyes. She is a real charmer but it could be awhile before she is clear of the orthopedic surgeon’s office. She had a severe fracture that had partially set before she came off the track. She is now sporting a plate and set of screws that would set off the x-ray machine at any airport. That’s fine with her as she is staying close to home and her only travel is a bit of leash walking. Her foster home has no cats, thank you, but she is living with a couple of grey buddies and a lab. Annette would love to be in her Forever Home for the holidays. 
Quigley is our new boy. He came in just a week ago and has no intention of ever living with any cats! A successful racer in Mexico with over 200 races, he was one of his trainer’s favorites. When we picked him up his trainer gave him a big hug as he sent him off to his new life with GreySave. Quigley was a lucky boy and somehow managed to only break or, more descriptively, “chip” his wrist bone. He managed to avoid surgery and is now sporting a splint with a big heart on it. He may be ready for adoption by October and wants a home where he can sleep inside a lot as he is not too fond of being outside, especially in the dark! 
Gracie is our most recent broken leg girl. She came in on August 7. Have you noticed most of our broken dogs are girls? She is a pretty red brindle too and is only sporting a few screws under that big splint. Since Gracie does not have a plate she may be able to be at home in her Forever Home before the holidays too. 
Brutus came home with us on a Friday evening, giving me my very first “Greyhound lesson” one stop-light into our trip: new greyhounds don’t know when I’m about to hit the brakes. Thankfully, they can’t fall too far in a car. He adjusted to his new home easily. The first night involved a lot of pacing and fretting, but he slept through the second night easily.
He’s given us four cockroaching exhibitions to make us proud Greyhound parents. Most of all, though, he’s lit up our world, and we hope we’ve done the same for him.
Kathleen Gilley admits to being the "captive" of the greyhound performers of “The Singing and Dancing Greyhound Musical Comedy Review.” The Greyhound Review travels across the nation educating audiences about greyhounds, training methods and other dog-related issues while entertaining them with the antics of the Gilley Girls. The following thought-provoking essay is excerpted from a seminar that Kathleen gave in 1998. You can find the Gilley Girls website at: