My first passion is my dogs. As you all know, Beryl is a Greyhound. My second passion is helping people become aware of what wonderful pets Greyhounds make, so I'm probably preaching to the converted here as most people who read my blog are already slaves to their own Greyhound(s)!
But are you taking every opportunity offered where you could demonstrate the fact that they are one of the easiest and most versatile breed of dogs on the planet? Could you take your Greyhound to visit nursing homes? To school to help children read? To every dog friendly event you possibly can?
There are Greyhounds who excel at obedience, agility, tracking, rally O, CGC, therapy dogs etc as well as the majority who excel at being family pets alone. About the only thing I haven't heard of any Greyhounds doing well at is pulling a dog sled! They can live on farms or in apartments.
The general public often don't think of Greyhounds in the context of being a pet, they're just running machines and they never consider what happens to them after racing. Until a couple of years ago I was part of the general public. That soon changed when I met my first Greyhound (Louie) and got to know his owners, sister and lots of foster Greyhounds. I became a convert and Beryl has turned out much better than I dared hope she would. While I don't know of anyone who has actually gone and got a Greyhound after meeting Beryl I do know there are plenty of people who are interested in their next dog being a Greyhound since meeting her:)
Anyway, I hope this post might get some people coming up with ideas of what more they can do to get Greyhounds 'out there'. I'm sure I've only scratched the surface of ideas. What do you do to publicize your wonderful dog?
One huge advantage to getting a Greyhound is that Greyhound owners rock! You are joining a world-wide family who all love their dogs and care about each other:)
I'll finish with a couple of photos I took at a Rally O competition Frankie, Beryl and I went to today (do you sense another blog post coming on?). This is Beryl with Candy, who is a 4 month old Bichon X Tibetan Spaniel (bought from a pet shop!) who has no fear or manners and is like a coiled spring. She just didn't stop.
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| If I ignore it will it go away? |
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| Mum, make it disappear, please???? |
11 comments:
What a gorghous post Sue :) Like you, i have NEVER even considered a greyhound as a pet until i met my Louie :)
My beautiful Louie is the light of my life (and i say this knowing that i might sound loopy! :). He is this amazing personality who has SO much love to give. And all this after an amazing racing career! :)
Louie and ourselves are so proud of his racing career at the Schofield kennels, his pet life afterwards, and his CGC work :)
Rachel and me have had over 50 greyhounds in the last 1.5 years go thorough our house- and we loved them all. They are all now in their new homes, and they are all precious :)
Thanks Fatima:) I have a lot to be thankful to Louie and you guys for ... if I hadn't met you all I wouldn't have Beryl and life without Beryl doesn't bear thinking about!!
We spent a couple of hours at a GAP display this afternoon. I like how GAP have displays at a lot of big events and get quite a few hounds there so people can meet them and pat them!
Barbie is especially good with kids, and everyone knows that kids are the way to influence the parents when it comes to getting a family dog! ;D
Just this weekend our adoption group is holding several Meet 'n Greets and has a booth at a county SPCA fair. We are taking the kids to a wine festival on Sunday. And two are therapy dogs who go every other week to a local nursing home. Just walking a gaggle greyhounds downtown garners lots of attention and turns into an informal Meet 'n Greet.
As you probably know, greyhounds here in Sydney wear muzzles when in public despite the fact that they are statistically one of the most docile dog breeds around. I don't even know any here in Balmain/Rozelle [apart from a little Italian greyhound]. I've met far more through blogging! It's lovely to see how they are when fully part of the family and community, and not wearing muzzles or running on a racetrack.
I often say, "There's something truly special about greyhounds, and there's something truly special about greyhound owners too." Have a greyt weekend!
Great post Sue.
Had to smile at the photos. You can just see Beryl thinking, will you please get this furball out of my face:)
I don't own, and have never owned, a greyhound, but they are on my list of breeds to look at when I next decide I need another dog. However, I will need to find one that is willing and happy to run flyball with me, which will make or break any adoption in the future. I'm sure the perfect one is out there though.
I think that a lot of people dismiss owning a greyhound because of the common myth that they need a lot of exercise. I've never met a greyhound that didn't love lounging on the sofa. They truly are the world's fastest couch potatos and do make excellent family pets.
What a great post! I think you have done a great job here covering what great pets Greyhounds make. I have even heard of some who do skijorning, which is pretty cool, too! I am always happy to talk with others about what great pets ours have been. They're such a well-kept secret, but I do my best to share the news!
Great post!! Poor Beryl, she did very well handling the little terror of a dog. :)
Our adoption group does lots of meet and greets each month and we participate in as many as we can. We also take the hounds out and about with us as often as possible, which often turns into an informal meet and greet. We make sure we always have business cards and brochures on hand with us to pass out. We also recently hosted a Roller Derby meet and greet (granted there were not dogs there due to the loud environment) but we raised awareness by passing out info and also raised quite a bit in donations.
Our group also does several other unique events throughout the year: Round for the Hounds (golf tournament); Gift Wrapping at Borders for donations and we used to do car washes at Walmart (but they don't allow us to do so anymore). Anything to spread the word!!
I look forward to reading all the creative ideas that surface from your post!! :)
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