Message from Our President – September 2024

This has been a month of firsts for Wendi and me as we adopted our first Ever retired racer, which we named Ever. And we headed out for a little vacation in Minnesota where we recently purchased a little apartment. We had planned to travel back and stay for about a month and half prior to adopting Ever. I wonder now as we planned the route and arranged stays at pet friendly hotels, how our new family member would do with all the new experiences and sniffs made along the way.
Well, she did fantastic! We learned she loves to ride in her truck, but I wouldn’t trust her as my primary navigator as she is off to nap time about a mile into the ride and much like me as a teenager, wakes only for bathroom breaks and snacks.
Taking only two days to make the trip, we arrived in Minnesota on a Tuesday night. With a change in environment — grass, trees and temperatures — which had me wearing a jacket the first night, we eagerly entered the apartment building. Now, do we try stairs for the first time or the elevator? Well, we began with stairs, which didn’t come with noises or moving doors. With a strategic use of a treat, we were off and up to the first landing and then without hesitation we were up and at the apartment door. Mission accomplished and next would be the elevator.
The apartment building is relatively quiet so there were not many distractions as we made our way to the elevator for our last trip out for the night. When the doors opened, she gave us a bit of a side eye, but walked right in and rode like she had done this all her life and agreed to ride it back up when our outdoor time finished. Now, as we know, greyhounds are a smart breed and Ever has found it much quicker and less effort is needed to ride the elevator up and down than to take the stairs. Apparently, she is not concerned with getting in her daily steps.
As we have heard and told many people that greyhounds are wonderful apartment dogs, I must say that as someone who has now lived in an apartment with a greyhound, that is absolutely the truth. We love our walks, which we take about three times a day and still see something new on each jaunt. We haven’t barked when we hear the neighbors’ doors open and close and we do pretty much what we do in Tucson, take a few good naps during the day to prepare for our sleep at night.
The one thing we all know is all these dogs react and respond to things differently. Not all hounds are willing to try stairs, get into cars or ride an elevator. But going through this experience with Ever has made me more aware of issues that some adopters have faced and many will face as we continue to find loving homes for these beautiful creatures. It has also taught me some patience (I can always use more) as we get distracted from doing our business because a kid on a scooter went by, or we saw a squirrel run up a tree and now must re-sniff every blade of grass to find the right spot. What a world that opens up to these dogs when they get to their fosters and then to their forever home. It just reminds me how much you all have done and continue to do for these hounds. I can never say thank you enough.
Jeanne Gacke is President of Southern Arizona Greyhound Adoption and can be reached at president@sagreys.org.