Hi so i will introduce myself – Matthew Robinson from Spalding Lincolnshire.
I can remember the first time I met a Greyhound in Spalding town centre during an LGT fundraiser, I was walking in town and saw what I could only relate to skinny dogs like off The Simpsons. I always said ‘oh they are too tall, too skinny’ – then i decided to go over and donate a few quid to the rehoming charity and made a fuss of one of the dogs out with them i even remember his name – Legend – I crouched down to fuss him and as i did he put his head on my shoulder and snuggled in and the first thing i did was stand up and say to my partner ‘i want one’
It was not a time we could have a greyhound as we already had one dog who we sadly lost to the Rainbow Bridge a year or so later, A few days after our loss i was again taking myself off to town and on that day who should be there again but LGT with some more greyhounds, I called my partner and said ‘you may want to avoid town – The retired greyhounds are about.’ Lets just say this did not happen and a while after we were walking around looking and fussing all the hounds on the meet and greet,
….but we have cats!!!!!
We had 3 cats at home so thought we would never be able to take a Greyhound on, but after discussions with a few volunteers and Kev Stow it became clear – there was an option of a cat trainable Greyhound. We wasted no time and arranged a home visit from Mandy and Kev and the following Thursday Kev had arranged a meet with a female greyhound they had called ‘Polly’
Polly (number 1)
I remember pulling into the kennels and walked up to the run Polly was in. We went in and sat in the
middle of the run she was in and Polly wandered around completely ignoring us for around 5 minutes before she came over slowly in her own time – we fussed her and instantly fell in love and within 5 days she was coming home with us.
Polly made herself at home and yes it took her a while to adjust, it was a big change for her as she was retired and adapting to our home and our ways. We took her away with us on a boating holiday after a few months and in that period she completely changed, it was as though she suddenly realised ‘this is where I am now, this is HOME’
Thomas (number 2)
After a year of happily plodding along we met a second greyhound at the racing kennels called ‘Thomas’ I have no clue why but the absolute instant I saw him I knew he had to come home with me. He was still racing at that point. We continued visiting for around 6 weeks and his trainer realised how much I had fallen and because he had a home waiting retired him early so he could join us – And I will forever be thankful for this kind act and shows that greyhound trainers care and always put their Hounds first so Thomas became number 2
THAT’S IT – NO MORE WE SAID ……..we were very wrong – Barney (number 3)
Barney – he is a really shy, laid back character and it took around a year of us visiting the racing kennels for him to take to us (Like me Barney prefers the company of hounds than humans) he needed a home where he could chill on his terms and do things his way in his own time – That just happened to be our home so after a year of visits and cuddles, we took Barney home
1000000% NO MORE – ummmmmm – WELCOME – Herbie (number 4)
This was genuinely a surprise, we had no intention of gaining anymore, but we met him several times and he was such a chilled laid back dog you honestly don’t even know he is there (except when he wants to cuddle which is a lot as he believes he is a lapdog), Herbie is the easiest boy to look after and no issue at all he is calm and absolutely LOVES people hewants to say hello to everyone he sees when out and about.
so greyhounds can’t live with cats??
All our four live with cats and have such different personalities. I adore greyhounds and their laid back attitude and they have hearts so big and love so hard that you can not help but love them.
I found the whole adopting the retired 4 very straightforward and even after all the time we have had them we still receive support if needed from their trainer plus Kev and Mandy who always contact us on the hound’s birthdays to wish them a happy birthday.
We still even have the trainer and racing owners visit the hounds when they can with a bag of treats (more like a sack) and the hounds are always so excited to see them (not just because of the treats haha)
When you get a greyhound you do not just get a retired athlete you join a community of people. You get a heart so big, have lots of laughs and create so many memories I can not begin to explain. I simply can not imagine a sofa in my home without a greyhound nor would I want it any other way – you will not regret it if you take on a hound.
