Our home checked out fine ? the back garden is paved and completely enclosed by fences and walls. But still the rescue people didn?t come back to us. Eventually we rang the Greyhound Trust number and told them what was happening. The lady there said we were not the first to complain about that particular centre and advised that if they didn?t want us to adopt a greyhound there were lots more places that would.
With ?dogged? determination my daughter searched for more places and finally found one in the west midlands where the owner agreed that people did have to work but could still own a dog, she agreed to show my daughter her dogs.
And here the real story begins:
My daughter was owed some time off in December and on the Wednesday of her holiday she rang to tell me that she had just bought her new ?girl?. One hundred pounds bought our beautiful two-year-old spayed female greyhound, a martingale collar and lead, indoor collar, micro chipping and six weeks insurance. Further money changed hands and a smart red coat was purchased at a fraction of pet shop prices.
Prior to the big day I had been training Max to eat his meals, not on the floor, as he used to but up on a little used worktop area in the kitchen and he had taken to the idea quite well. However, one look at the big dog and the puss cat became a wuss cat ? he moved into my bedroom and refused to come out if the dog was around. No big deal for me as he had always slept on my bed at night anyway but the feeding bowls and litter tray ? well I didn?t mind having them in my room for a short time.
Our beautiful greyhound is black and white, weighs around 26 kilos which is above racing weight and makes her look healthy. She has lovely soft brown eyes and a kennel name of Noddy, which was instantly changed to Hippie ? because she had moved into our Hippie home and because of her big hips!
Hippie?s first night was spent with my daughter, her boyfriend, my partner and me all trying to settle this big bundle of baffled canine loveliness into her first ever ?proper home?.
Why did I think this would be easy and why oh why did we do this in the winter???
Top tip ? Never adopt a greyhound in the winter ? they are not housetrained and they do not like to be outside without their owner whilst they are being housetrained.
The best place to obtain a greyhound is from one of the reputable breed rescue centres, such as Greyhound Gap, where the personality characteristics of the dogs are assessed before placing them with appropriately ‘matched’ new owners. It seems that the rescue centre where Hippie came from was one of the less responsible places who have an attitude of ‘rehome dogs – wherever and whenever’ … and unfortunately this is the way most RGT re-homers operate. They tend not to make any assessment other than the dogs’ physical state. Clearly Hippie’s needs are totally incompatable with your lifestyle … she needs a person who is at home 24/7!This is an unfortunate situation, because with so many unwanted g/hounds needing homes there will have been an ideal dog somewhere who would have been ideally suited to your lifestyle – ie: who could be left alone for quite lengthy periods without being destructive.