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Right or not, Bubbles was our first greyhound, a wedding present to ourselves, and our first child. In mostly blissful ignorance we were matched with her by a man who found greyhound rescue to be a hobby that was just as rewarding, but more affordable than flying.

We didn’t know much about the breed, but we eagerly listened to everything that experienced greyhound rescuer told us. We got our greyhound education primarily through one chance meeting at a vet and the greyhound adoption coordinator’s storytelling.

Our experience with Bubbles soon added to our knowledge base and we were fortunate that Bubble’s vet had significant knowledge of a breed that was a fairly rare pet at the time.  (It was somewhere just shy of a hundred years ago.)  😉

I can only assume the greyhound rescuer knew more about us and our lifestyle than we did. Bubbles was the perfect adopted greyhound for us and from the day of her adoption to the day she succumbed to osteosarcoma twelve years later, she was the perfect ambassador for retired greyhounds and the wonders of greyhound adoption.

Kayla, our second greyhound, adopted us. We’d intended to just help out and foster her for a couple of weeks. She’d been surrendered during a meet and greet and she was stressed out and suffering physically. But she liked it at our place, Bubbles eventually approved, and she had a few great years with us before the prior years of neglect caught up with her.

Faith was the adopted greyhound we inherited when we found ourselves in the uncomfortable stage of not having a dog for the first time in all the years of our marriage. To be honest, it made me a little twitchy not having a greyhound keeping me company. Faith was an absolute blessing, much like her racing name: Faithful Message. With her, we officially entered the world of fostering for our local greyhound rescue and adoption group.

That was a journey our family fell in love with. Sure there are challenges, but watching a dog learn about the world – and enjoy that world – is so very gratifying.

Yes, the kids cried when we transferred our first foster greyhound to his new family. On the way home, our 10 year old daughter proclaimed we would keep the next one. On February 13th, Brody arrived with a cute little heart shaped patch of white on his neck and our daughter considered it a confirmation of her proclamation. He’s been keeping us on our toes ever since.

Brody is the clear exception to the ‘adopted greyhounds don’t bark’ rule and he has happily taught foster after foster how to properly vocalize the joy of retirement. A few of the foster dogs Brody ‘corrupted’ have found permanent homes with us (Levi, Boo, Bandit) and many more greyhounds have been adopted to forever homes.

Live the greyhound adventure!

Adopted greyhounds make greyt pets! Learn more at the Adopt A Greyhound Guide!