ALL ABOUT GREYHOUNDS: Your Greyhound's Racing History

b. Identification by tattoo. If you don't have your grey's racing name, you can use his tattoos to find it. Every racing greyhound has identifying tattoos in each ear. 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 hard to read, it helps to shine a flashlight beam through the ear from behind to illuminate the digits. If you find your greyhound’s tattoos hard to read, the volunteers probably also had a hard time reading them, so they might not be correct on your adoption paperwork. But we're successful at figuring out the identity almost all of the dogs we get.
Left Ear: 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 tattoo)
Right Ear: The right ear will have 2 or 3 numbers and a letter. Here's how to read the right ear tattoo: 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 indicates the order in a given litter in which that dog was tattooed (not the birth order). For example, 76B means a birthdate in July 2006, and the second dog tattooed. 105C means a birthdate in October 2005 and the third dog tattooed.
2. Go to the Online Greyhound Databases
Database 1: Greyhound-Data
Start with Greyhound-Data: Click on Dog-Search if you have your dog's racing name, or on Tattoo if you have that. For the tattoo search type the 5-digit registration number into the "left ear" box, and hit search without adding any other info. Then use the other things you know about your dog (gender, color) to identify him from the litter list. Click on his name. If you do the name search, bear in mind that the name might not be entered in the database exactly the way you have it written down. You may need to experiment.
Once your dog's record comes up, you'll be able to see his lineage on his father's and mother's sides going back five generations. Click on any of the names to find out more about that dog. Click on Direct Sire (or Dam) line to see the direct line ancestors of your dog on both sides going back dozens of generations. Click on the links in the third row at the top of the screen (Pedigree, races, stats) to go to different screens of info. Pedigree is the screen you're now on (see a part of this screen above). XX races, where XX is the number of races your dog has run, gives you info on those races. Note that this may not be a complete list, and that as of April 2009 Greyhound-data still is unable to retrieve info on races run since August 2008. You'll need to go to the GreyMatter TrackLink site (below) to get more recent info on races run. Stats gives interesting statistics about your dog's performance overall, but bear in mind that this info will be based on incomplete information if your dog raced after August, 2008.
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.
Database 2: GreyMatter TrackLink
The information on this site is more limited, and a bit harder to understand, but it's up to date. Also, you'll have to know your dog's racing name to be able to pick him or her out of the litter. You will be able to see your dog's racing record up to the present. You'll also be able to see all the other greys that your dog's parents have birthed or sired.
Go to GreyMatter Track Link Click on "Dog/Raceline Viewer" in the upper left-hand corner. Click in the appropriate button to seach by Dog name, Sire, Dam, or Left tattoo. Use "Left tattoo" to start with if you have it. If you do, you'll get a list of the members of that litter. Clicking on your dog's name will bring up a screen like the one below:
You'll see a record of races run by your dog, beginning with the most recent. See the notes in red above for an explanation of how to read the chart. Note that there may be more than one page of races. The other piece of info on this site is lineage: click on the name of your dog's Dam or Sire in the yellow boxes to find other litters birthed or sired by them. NOTE: GreyMatter has revised its site, giving it an easier user interface. So the display of dog information looks nicer than the image above, but it is the same info laid out in the same way.

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.
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.

Other Resources
GreyFind
GreyFind is a database of retired racing greyhounds. Many owners are curious about the whereabouts of their grey's littermates, and this site allows you to search through thousands of hounds across the US and abroad. You can search the database for siblings, change your info, and add a new dog.
Registering Your Greyhound with NGA
The tattoos 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 adoption group. Note: some, but not most, ex-racing greyhound owners do this.
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. Rosnet has a searchable database of race data. The data tends to be for dogs on the east coast, so you may not find your dog listed here. It has webcasts of about two dozen tracks, including the one in Phoenix, Arizona.
OnlineRacing.tv offers live, streaming videos of races at a number of east coast tracks.
Tucson Racetrack Archived Racing Video: Go to the Tucson track website and click on the "Race Replays" button.
GlobalGreyhounds.com provides forums for discussing the racing careers of greyhounds. You need to register on the site to use the forums.
GreyFind
GreyFind is a database of retired racing greyhounds. Many owners are curious about the whereabouts of their grey's littermates, and this site allows you to search through thousands of hounds across the US and abroad. You can search the database for siblings, change your info, and add a new dog.
Registering Your Greyhound with NGA
The tattoos 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 adoption group. Note: some, but not most, ex-racing greyhound owners do this.
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. Rosnet has a searchable database of race data. The data tends to be for dogs on the east coast, so you may not find your dog listed here. It has webcasts of about two dozen tracks, including the one in Phoenix, Arizona.
OnlineRacing.tv offers live, streaming videos of races at a number of east coast tracks.
Tucson Racetrack Archived Racing Video: Go to the Tucson track website and click on the "Race Replays" button.
GlobalGreyhounds.com provides forums for discussing the racing careers of greyhounds. You need to register on the site to use the forums.