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Foster Families Needed Now!

When we receive the greyhounds from the track, we give them any medical care they need, their required vaccinations, and a bath. Then they are off to one of our foster homes until we find a permanent home for them. The foster parents provide the greyhounds with "doggie" training to make the transition from track to home easier for the dog and his or her new family.

The main limitation on the number of greyhounds we can rescue from the track is a place to hold the dogs until they can be matched with owners. We have access to a kennel facility where we can put greyhounds temporarily, but we must pay for that. Financial resources limit the number that we can maintain at that site. In any case we prefer for the animal's sake to place a rescued dog directly into a foster home.

Fostering means taking two to three weeks to help a dog straight off the track adjust to life as a "45 MPH couch potato." Prospective adopters cleared by GPA will visit your home and your foster dog. GPA OC/GLA takes first-time foster parents through the same procedure as adoptive parents.

For more information, or to volunteer as a foster family, call Karen Charpie- Elton at (310) 496-1873.

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Responsibilities of Foster Families

As a foster parent, you are expected to help acclimate your greyhound to life in a home. We expect you to:

Housetrain the dog. Generally this is not difficult, since your dog has been trained not to soil his crate. You need to teach him that your house is basically a huge crate. Watch him closely during the first several days, take him out at regular intervals, and praise him when he relieves himself outside.

Help him learn to cope with new things like sliding glass doors, tile floors, the television, stairs, and other animals. A greyhound needs time and help to adjust to life with slick floors and stairs. You will find a lot of advice on the internet for how to help them. They are fast learners.

Your greyhound has never learned how to play, since his life as a racer was all business. Take some time to help him learn to play. I've found that the most enticing thing for such dogs is a small stuffed animal thrown in the air or tossed a few feet from them. The urge to pounce on it is almost irresistable for a greyhound.

As your greyhound adjusts to his new surroundings, his personality will begin to emerge. Take note of this so that you can help the GPA placement representative develop a profile of his personality for prospective adopters.

Around the second week GPA will make an appointment with one of the veterinarians we use to spay or neuter the greyhound.

You may wish to begin teaching the greyhound basic obedience commands. Bear in mind that many greyhounds, due to their physical structure, find sitting uncomfortable. Begin with simple commands such as "come," "down," and "stay."

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Adventures in Fostering: Kit Comes Home

by Jim Jeffers

[Image: Closeup of Cleopatra] My wife and I have owned a number of dogs over the years, and we have developed some pretty strong beliefs. We would only get dogs from the animal shelter, since they would otherwise be destroyed. We would only get mixed breed dogs because of all the reported problems with inbreeding of purebreds (not to mention the expense of buying them). And we would get small dogs, since they're easier to care for. Little did we know that one day we would violate all three of these beliefs--and never regret it.

Our adventure with greyhounds began about a year ago when we started to hear about greyhound rescue and adoption programs. Helping save ex-racers sounded great in principle, but what if we didn't actually like the dogs? Then we visited the Pomona Pet Expo, in Los Angeles County, where we were able to see over a hundred breeds of dog on display. We were able to see greyhounds up close for the first time. My first impression was: these guys are huge! I didn't realize how big they were. Well, they're probably not for us--too big. And they must be pretty wild and active, since they used to race. I figured they were like the stereotype of the race horse--highstrung, temperamental. But I spent some time around the booths there, especially around the Greyhound Pets of America/California: Orange County and Greater Los Angeles booth. In fact, I went back to it several times. I couldn't get over how sweet and gentle the dogs were. The folks in the GPA booth that day, Joyce McRorie and Mac and Betsy McKenzie, told me about their experiences with greyhounds. They impressed me with their love for the dogs and commitment to the animals' best interests. I found out about their foster dog program and their need for foster homes. I thought, this is something I can do to help, even if I can't adopt one myself! And it'll give us a way to see what the dogs are really like.

I didn't know anything about GPA or the other greyhound rescue groups at the Expo. Fortunately, Warren Eckstein, the host of a local radio pet show and frequent guest on TV's "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee", was doing a remote broadcast from the show. I was able to talk with him about greyhound rescue, and he highly recommended the local GPA organization. I decided there to look into fostering a dog.

A week later Karen, the head of this GPA group's foster home program, visited our home. We were impressed that GPA was so concerned about the welfare of the dogs. Frankly, Karen could have done a better "sales job." The three greys she brought along to meet our dogs did a much better job of selling themselves. Karen wanted to be sure we were fully informed, including understanding the kind of problems that can arise. Karen was willing to risk scaring us off in order to be sure we knew what we were getting into and would do what's best for the dogs. We appreciated that.

A couple of weeks later, the next group of dogs was brought up from the Caliente racetrack. These were the "K" dogs in GPA's naming scheme. When we arrived to get our foster, Kit, we found a skinny, timid, but very sweet girl. We brought her home and introduced her to our two dogs on neutral turf (the cul-de-sac in front of our home). Lots of sniffing ensued, but no barks or growls. So far, so good. Kit immediately accepted her position at the bottom of the pecking order.

Our first problem came the first night, when Kit developed diarrhea. We knew that this could happen, since her diet had radically changed (from raw meat to kibble). Much later I realized that it was probably my fault. We were adding a canned food additive to her kibble that is supposed to help with appetite. Without reading the label, I mixed in half a can of the stuff with her first meal, then did it again at the next meal. When I finally read the instructions, I discovered that you're only supposed to add one or two teaspoons to a bowl of food. The diarrhea cleared up after the second day. Kit survived my first mistake!

One of our first priorities was housebreaking Kit. The books said we needed to teach her to think of our home as a giant crate that should be kept clean. This meant keeping her on a leash inside, all day and evening, so we could catch her just as she started to go in the house. This is not an easy thing to do, but it beats the alternative! The example of the other dogs helped a lot, as did the fact that we were around to let her out frequently. We caught her starting to mess a couple of times, and immediately escorted her outside where we praised her correct actions. Kit, like other greyhounds, responded so quickly to correction that only a simple No was sufficient. After a few days we felt that we could trust her in the house.

[Image: Cleopatra, Katie, Cookie] That first week was also a time for the dogs to work out their relationships. Our Lab mix Cookie growled at Kit several time, telling her that she was in charge. We immediately intervened, informing Cookie that growling at the new kid was inappropriate (and reminding her that we, in fact, are in charge). By the end of the first week, Cookie either gave up or decided she had made her point. Our German Shepherd mix, Katie, was very tolerant of Kit from the start. At left are Cookie (left) and Katie, ready to greet a new foster with a warm handshake.

We learned a lot about greyhounds in that first week. We learned how many things we take for granted that can startle greys, but how quickly they adapt to home life. Knowing that a racer's life consists of sand and grass surfaces, we expected her to freak out at the ceramic tile in our living room and kitchen. But the first time we came to it she was following the other dogs inside, and she crossed it with no problem. Great, we thought, we won't have to worry about this. Wrong. The first time Kit was startled while standing on the tile she began to run and couldn't get traction. Her feet may have been doing 45 MPH, but she was getting nowhere. Then we went through a period where she wouldn't cross the tile unless she considered it absolutely essential--such as when everyone else and/or food was on the other side.

[Image: Cleopatra sees her reflection] We've seen some pretty funny things with this dog. Bonnie held up a large mirror for her one day. She inspected the image, wondering who that dog was, then walked around to the back of the mirror to try to find it. At right, you see her looking at her image in the oven glass. Her playfulness began to come out early in the morning (around 6:30 am, unfortunately). She would toss her stuffed giraffe into the air, and then pounce on it when it landed. Then she would race from one end of our bedroom to the other (about four steps), turn around, toss the toy in the air, pounce, and run again. The other dogs just tried to stay out of her way. By the end of the first week she would let me play with her a bit.

Her first experience with stairs was pretty funny, too. One of our walks includes a flight of concrete steps. We decided to treat them as no big deal and see what happened. Bonnie led the other two upstairs first, with Kit and me following. Kit watched Bonnie and the dogs, and hopped up the steps a bit awkwardly but with confidence. Coming back down the steps was more of a challenge. She started out fine, but before long she was turned sideways as her hind legs began catching up with her fore legs.

We've had a lot of greyt "firsts": the first time she walked up stairs on her own, the first time she gave me a "kiss", the first time she went to the door, asking to be let out, the first time she saw a jackrabbit while on a walk (and reacted indifferently), and the first time she jumped into the pickup on her own.

We wish we'd had a video camera the first time she played fetch. She had watched Katie fetch a number of times, but didn't seem too interested. One day I was throwing a ball for Katie in the yard when Kit suddenly took an interest. I held Katie back and threw the ball. Kit tore after it, almost bouncing like a bunny in her joy. She proudly brought the ball back to me and let me throw it again. She ran past the ball a few times in her excitement. She didn't always bring the ball back directly, but I think she will learn to do so. She also began catching a Frisbee after watching Katie do so a number of times.

Our experience wasn't without problems. One week into our home, she came in from doing her duty with a tear on her hind leg. She probably tore it on a rose bush or palm tree. It was a superficial tear of the skin and she didn't seem to notice it (we've since learned that greys have a high tolerance for pain, so this didn't mean much). We got some first aid advice from Lynda Adame and hoped the wound would heal on its own. But after two days, it was clear that she needed treatment. We were told that greyhound skin is stretched so tight that a tear in the skin often widens if not stitched. We called Karen, who sent us to an emergency animal clinic. We felt pretty awful when we dropped her off--sorry for what Kit was going through, and upset that we had let this happen. We were supposed to be preparing this dog for a new home and had failed to protect her. But Joyce and Karen assured us that we did all we could and that it takes some experience to learn when a cut on a greyhound needs stitches. The next evening the clinic stitched her up and spayed her at the same time. Kit came through it like a champ, recovered quickly and never tried to bother her sutures.

We had planned to foster Kit for another family, but we decided after a couple of weeks that we simply couldn't let her go. She managed to steal our hearts (an occupational hazard of greyhound foster parents, we've been told). We have been greatly impressed with the breed, with Kit's temperament and with how quickly she is adapting to her new life.

[Image: Cleo and Rhonda] Probably the hardest part of fostering is giving up the dog to its new home. At left is one of our fosters, Rhonda, with Kit. We now have our seventh foster dog, Theodore Monet. We now look at giving up the dog as a "graduation" from school to life. Foster parents probably haven't done their job properly if they don't find it hard to give up their charge. By the way, we've changed Kit's name to "Cleopatra" (Cleo for short) after the Egyptian queen who owned a number of greyhounds.

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