Is Anybody into Greyhounds?

lcombs

12 years ago

An friend of mine from the U.K. is.
I think he's a WF member.
Andy Machin.

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goindeep 12 years ago

Ahh cool. Thanks.

Yeah the English and the Irish love their dish licker's.
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HeySal

12 years ago

I used to like to bet on em. Not sure how many are "specially" interested in Greyhounds in here - but I doubt you'll have trouble finding some very dedicated dog lovers.

My usual breed is Rotty - but the one I have now is only part Rott - a rescue. He's not pure, and he's smaller than I'm used to.........and I wouldn't trade him for the world. The little guy has a sense of humor that really rocks.

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Audrey Harvey

12 years ago

I don't run dogs but I run with my dogs - does that count? :-)

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Kay King 12 years ago

I've always supported Greyhound rescue groups. Lovely, couch potato dogs but often poorly treated by owners only interested in the racing aspect.
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- goindeep 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Kay King
  
  I've always supported Greyhound rescue groups. Lovely, couch potato dogs but often poorly treated by owners only interested in the racing aspect.
  
  Dont want to get into a debate.... buuuut I can feel one coming on hehe.
  
  Thaaaats not reaaaaaly accurate Kay.
  
  In Australia our racing groups have actually created Greyhound Adoption Programs in our largest five states and territories. The GAPs have a huge success rate and its growing every day. These organizations work directly with breeders, owners and trainers.
  
  We also have various ear branding and micro chipping laws with more being implemented so that all dogs can be traced from birth to death.
  
  The information out there online is from extremist groups (one from my knowledge has even been labeled as a terrorist organization, ill let you figure out which one).
  
  They find one case where someone has done something terrible and then they publish that world wide as the industry standard on a global scale which is not even worth me saying what I think about it, its so ridiculous.
  
  I love greyhound racing and I also love the dogs which means I whole heart-edly support adoption. You can have your cake and eat it too... most people in the industry are of the same opinion
  
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HeySal

12 years ago

Not sure how people do things down under - but here in the states I wouldn't be surprised if people were assholes to their dogs. People generally treat animals like crap here. That's why you see so much respect on here between animal lovers. Of course, technically people treat other people like crap here, too - so animals aren't special. We just have a lot of people who have no love or respect for anything but themselves and big bucks.

I know the animal terrorist group you're talking about. The head of that group once said that a dog is better off dead than as a slave to a human. Dumbass. He obviously has never been anywhere with my dog and I. I'm kinda thinking that's a good thing, because he didn't sound like anyone Ricky would like. Didn't sound like he knew one whit about dog sociology, either.

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Kay King

12 years ago

In Australia our racing groups have actually created Greyhound Adoption Programs in our largest five states and territories. The GAPs have a huge success rate and its growing every day. These organizations work directly with breeders, owners and trainers.

We also have various ear branding and micro chipping laws with more being implemented so that all dogs can be traced from birth to death.

I should have said "in some countries" because I have read of
Australia's system which is a model for the sport from what I've learned.

In the US it has gotten better because rescue groups have shined the light on the treatment of racing dogs.

Sight hounds love to chase and I've never had a problem with the racing aspect - but the underbelly was dogs who weren't winners being discarded or killed - dogs that were past their prime for racing or breeding being destroyed or abused.

Horse racing or dog racing - the animals need to be tracked to be certain they are treated humanely whether they were winners or losers, young or old.

What is lovely about greyhounds as a breed is that in spite of their speed in racings, they are often pure couch potatoes when adopted as pets.

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Kurt

12 years ago

When I was young, I used to go to the greyhound races every week. I loved the sport itself and nothing was more fun or exciting than spending an evening at the track.

There's no doubt in my mind the dogs loved to run and were competitive and wanted to be the "leader of the pack" and would put in their best effort to pass other dogs. And with the dogs, you didn't have the element of the jockies' skills (and honesty) like you do with horse racing.

Then I discovered how the dogs were treated and never went again. I felt bad supporting the sport and that I should have known. The dogs that weren't good enough to race were simply shot and buried.

This was 30 years ago and things may have changed. But in the meantime, Colorado approved casino gambling which killed dog racing here and all the dog tracks have closed.

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Kay King 12 years ago

Sal - Whoever said dogs are better off dead than "owned" obviously knows nothing about dogs.

After I had to let Doodah go recently, my other dog, Gracie, was in mourning. She spent two days on Doodah's bed (even though she can barely fit into it), loss of appetite, etc.

I went to visit family and boarded her at an excellent kennel. The folks who run it are truly dog people - they place the animals based on their personalities and have big play areas with toys and balls the dogs utilize several times a day.

By the time I picked Gracie up 10 days later, she was back to her normal, happy self. She went nuts when she saw me and started running a "pattern" - three times running around me and then running to the door and then back to me again. Kept it up until I had settled the account and opened the door. Then she ran straight to my car and waited for me to catch up. I could tell she really resents being "owned".
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- goindeep 12 years ago
  
  Most of the people I work with love their greyhounds.
  
  I plan on doing a video shoot as I live in an area full of breeders, owners and trainers to show how much they really care.
  
  Ive also seen the horrible news, but in reality its less than 1% of dogs in those cases, in fact I heard it was less than .4%
  
  My best mate for example is a small time breeder. He feeds sleeps with his new borns in his own bed, he has purpose built a cabin with lighting, a kind of doggy couch, matress, insulation on a concrete slab and everything for his princess.
  
  Most people are the same, its a shame that the doggy groups dont focus their attention on the real problems which in fact is domestic pets.
  
  Something like 450,000 domestic dogs are purchased in Australia each year with 245,783 being abandoned as per a PIAA report in 2012. In comparison to the 20K bred greyhounds which almost every single one is sold as a racing dog, given away if unfit and or put into adoption with a tiny tiny tiny fraction euthanized early which is all recorded as the greyhound industry tracking of dogs from birth to death is reported on heavily and traced by industry groups and members.
  
  Thats the real issue in my eyes.
  
  I actually work directly with the adoption groups and when we begin to monetize our site dogs for adoption will always get free listings!
  
  On the lighter side, this is pretty funny.
  
  SIX DOG GREYHOUND RACE TURNS INTO SEVEN - YouTube
  
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bizgrower

12 years ago

Never leave a greyhound off leash.

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Kay King 12 years ago

Never leave ANY sight hound off leash - they can't help themselves if they see something moving away from them.
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- Kay King 12 years ago
  
  Ive also seen the horrible news, but in reality its less than 1% of dogs in those cases, in fact I heard it was less than .4%
  
  Could be a big difference in countries, too - the US had a real problem with greyhound treatment but I think it's much better now mainly due to the rescue groups shining a light on it.
  
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bizgrower

12 years ago

Coincidentally, we did just have a nice family stay at my hotel that had a retired show greyhound. The reason for their travel was to look for a retired racer to adopt so their dog would have a buddy.

The dog they had was a one person dog. 'Mom' in this case. He showed interest in new people, but would just give them a sniff and go on after that.

I basically love most kinds of dogs - kind of partial to Huskies and Malamutes though.

Dan

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Karen Connell

12 years ago

My son was a greyhound trainer in Ireland for over 6 years and I dealt with the breeding bitches.

Every dog and puppy in our establishment had a name (you'd be surprised how many arrived at two years old not knowing a name...), and all were loved.

Each night they all waited for their evening 'kiss' from Mum (me) and their biscuit. They all got individual attention from us both, my son is a big butch softie where dogs, particularly greyhounds, are concerned. Every dog in our kennel LOVED to go to the track to race and when we were getting equipment ready to go racing, they would wait with anticipation hoping it was their turn to go. You could see the disappointment in their faces when the van door closed and it was not their turn.

After the 6 years we decided that enough was enough and decided to close the kennels.

The reason? Even though we both loved the dogs and dog racing, when the dogs were injured or no longer racing, a lot of owners simply walked away without a backward glance and, in some cases, without paying the kennel bill.

We were left to find good homes for the dogs. The Irish greyhound board had a rehoming scheme but there were never any places available. Even though a percentage of prize money from every race was deducted for Greyhound Welfare and Rehoming, our dogs were never able to take advantage of it.

So, we paid out over €500 per dog out of our own pockets to get them their rabies shots, get neutered, passports, vaccinations etc. plus transport costs to send them to a fabulous rehoming charity in Italy where there is a waiting list for this beautiful animal. I still get photos from quite a few showing 'our' dogs lounging on beds, by pools and at the beach with their families. Oh, and we had two on our sofa.

I could go on...

Please, if anyone is thinking about rehoming a dog, go and meet a greyhound. You will be amazed at how gentle and loving they are.

...I am in danger of writing an essay here (I've just deleted a huge chunk of what I originally wrote...), so I'll stop now.

The answer to your question is; Yes, I am into greyhounds