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See the Events Calendar for our monthly Meet and Greet events and for more details on the events below.
9/14 Event at Centinela Feed & Pet 10/11 Wiggle Waggle Walk 10/25 GreySave Spaghetti Social Support GreySave when you shop at Amazon by clicking below (how this works) (866) Grey-Save 866-473-9728 |
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Tracing your Greyhound’s Lineage As you seek to better understand your ex-racing greyhound, you might find it interesting to learn about his racing career. Although not all dogs are in the online databases below, you have a pretty good chance of finding your greyhound in one of them if he once raced.
What you can discover 1. Your dog's racing name. Some of them are pretty funny, some are cool. Some adopters rename their new greyhound based on the racing name.
3. Names and records of your dog's littermates. If their adopters posted info about them, you may be able to make contact with their owners in retirement if you wish. 4. Your dog's lineage. You'll find a record of his ancestors on both sire (father) and dam (mother) sides going back several generations. You can have a lot of fun with this. For example, as you learn more about the champions of racing, you can see if your dog has champion blood in him. For example, Downing, pictured above, one of the all-time champion racers, was perhaps the most in-demand stud dog. Many people find a little Downing in their grey's ancestry. Also, if you have more than one greyhound, you may find relationships between them. For example, we discovered that the grandfather (E. J.'s Douglas, a famous champion greyhound and long-time mascot in retirement at NGA headquarters) of a a foster girl of ours is the father of our Antony, making them (to us) uncle and niece. So of course we had to keep her!
1. Search by Tatoo
If your greyhound was registered in the U.S., as will almost certainly be the case, the left ear should contain a 5-digit National Greyhound Association litter registration number. (Right: right ear litter registration tatoo) The right ear will have 2 or 3 numbers and a letter. Here's how to read the right ear tatoo: the first one or two digits indicates the month the dog was whelped, and the last number (always a single digit) is the year of birth. The letter is an identifier as to the order they were tattooed in the litter (not necessarily the birth order). For example, 72B means a birthdate in July 2002, and the second dog tattooed. 111G means a birthdate in November 2001 and the seventh dog tattooed. Once you have the tattoos, go to Greyhound-Data (www.greyhound-data.com) and search by “Tattoo”. Start by typing only the left ear litter registration number, since much of the right ear information does not seem to be in the database. Here is where some detective work and luck is involved. If your greyhound is in this database by the litter number, then you will get a list of your dog and its littermates. Check through the list for a dog that matches your dog’s color and sex. Once you find the dog that seems like the right one, check the “Races” and see if it matches. One indication may be that it recently (in the last 3 or 4 months) raced at Caliente or in Arizona. We have noted that sometimes there is a long delay between the last race and our Homecoming Day. In some cases the greyhound may have been in the pet kennel or may have been held back in the racing kennels, but not raced.
2. Search by track name
Sometimes the tattoos are just too hard to read or have been marked over and you simply cannot find your dog's track name and history. If this is case, remind yourself that you have a beautiful companion who adores you and it probably really does not matter what they were called in a prior life. With the track name, you can go back to the Greyhound-Data
website and use their “Dog-Search” feature. If all goes
well, you can find their pedigree and race record. You may also
be able to figure out what state your greyhound came from by researching
the tracks that they raced. Also, check out the littermates and
the parents, especially where the Dam came from. 3. Post your greyhound’s info and picture You can let the world know that your former racing greyhound now has it cushy in retirement. On the Greyhound-Data website, use the “Login” feature to set up an account and password. Once you've created an account, you'll be sent an email with an account activation link. You will not be able to log in until you receive this email and activate your account. Once you do log in, search for your greyhound using the “Dog-Search” feature. When you've found him, go to “edit this dog” and add comments such as his adoption name, location, and temperament. You can also add the right tattoo information. You can add your email address without sacrificing privacy, because the website will allow users to contact you without actually revealing your email address. You may hear from the owner of your dog's littermate! Next, you can add pictures of your greyhound. Select “add picture” (located above the track name). Follow the directions and add up to three photos. Once you've added the first picture, the "add picture" link disappears. To add more pictures, you have to double-click on the picture that is already there to return to the add picture function. Follow the directions. If you add more than one picture, they will all display by means of a several-second rotation of images. (For an example of how this works, do a “Dog-Search” of Bacs Mc Babe or Koko Beware.) You now have established a permanent record of your adopted greyhound on Greyhound-Data.com. Don't forget to log off. When you are working your way through the Database, you will notice some search hints and wild cards that are available to help you search. I have not repeated them here since they are written up in the database and they also seem to get enhanced from time to time. If you have time, read through the “About Us”
section on Greyhound-Data. It is interesting to
see how international this database is. Other Racing Resources Rosnet 2000 Rosnet Racing International's Rosnet 2000 is intended primarily for those betting on currently-racing greyhounds. It has information on some dogs not included in the Greyhound-Data database. You'll need to register to use the site, but you won't have to pay a fee. Registering Your Greyhound with NGA The tatoos in your greyhound's ears identify him as belonging to the last owner registered with the National Greyhound Association. You can order a printed pedigree of your dog. You can also obtain a Pet Certificate from NGA that will make you the new registered owner and put him in your name in NGA records just in case he should be found without tags by a knowledgable person or a greyhound rescue group. Note: some, but not most, ex-racing greyhound owners do this. |
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2.
Your dog's racing record, including detailed accounts of
how he did in each race recorded. The information isn't complete,
but for some dogs you find records of over a hundred races. You'll
see the exact dates he raced, how he fared in terms of wins and
grading. You may learn that he was moved across the country from
one track to another (usually moving up to a better track if he
was doing well, or down if he wasn't so good). You may see a break
in his racing dates, perhaps indicating an injury that was given
time to heal. It may be our imagination, but we've seen a dog's
personality in the home reflected in his earlier racing career--stable
and steady performance in one, dramatic swings from first-place
wins to trailing the pack in another. 
Every
racing greyhound has identifying tatoos in both ears. The first
step is to make a note of the tattooed numbers in your greyhound's
ears. You should also find them on the adoption paperwork you received
when you adopted your greyhound. If the tattoos are very hard to
read, it helps to shine a flashlight beam through the ear from behind
to illuminate the digits. If your greyhound’s tattoos are
hard to read, the volunteers were also challenged in reading them,
so there may be errors on the paperwork. 