Adoption Tails

Join us here each Monday as Regional Vice President Kathy Kreyling shares stories from the Adoption Center. Check out our Available Dogs to see who’s still waiting for their forever home.

Ian

The first couple got to know Greyhounds through the wife’s sister in Tennessee and they decided they were ready for their first one. They didn’t have a hard time narrowing the list down to three dogs, but after that, they came to standstill. Even though the husband’s birthday is 4th of July and the dog was going to be his birthday present, they still had to come to mutual agreement. The wife kept saying she liked “x” and “x-1” and the husband kept saying he liked “x” so they decided they needed to think about it a little more. Actually, none of us were surprised that they picked “x”, aka Ian, since he was the husband’s favorite!

Joan

The next couple had already compromised on the type of dog they were going to get because she was partial to Basset Hounds and he wanted a bigger dog. They agreed that a Greyhound was the one for them and they both liked the two dogs they narrowed it down to. But then, they just couldn’t decide — of course, she was leaning one way and he was leaning the other. We naturally offered the option of getting both dogs, but they thought that might be a little too much so we left them alone together to figure things out. Either one of the dogs would have been a wonderful addition to their family, but since it had to be one, they picked our beautiful red girl, Joan!

Wilma

Last week two ladies, who had previously had Elk Hounds and still have a kitty, came to the kennel to find their first Greyhound. At that time, we were still in the process of vetting all the dogs as well as doing our cat testing so we only had a couple of dogs to show them. They thought they had decided on a dog who had some health issues and was not ready to go home with them at that time but would be shortly. When they checked in with me this week, it turned out the dog was still having some problems so they thought they should meet some other dogs. I don’t know what got into a couple of the dogs we showed them, but they could not have been more affectionate and attentive — we always say that the dog picks their new owner, but in this case, I would say two dogs picked these ladies as their new owners and that honestly doesn’t happen very often. The ladies had a hard decision to make, but they were up to the task and decided that Wilma would be going home with them!

Sammy

The couple that came today has had Greyhounds for years (I think they said they have had at least 5). Unfortunately, they recently lost their girl and the remaining boy, Cooper (fka Shuh), has been lonely and in need of some Greyhound company. They came thinking that they wanted a girl but, as cute as our girls are, they were a little too active for Cooper. He actually was quite a trooper as we introduced him to all the possibilities, but when we brought out one of our males, he seemed to be more comfortable and more interested in interacting with him. This dog had been returned a couple of weeks ago because his owner believed that he needed a playmate and he was not able to adopt another dog. His hopes for Sammy were fulfilled today when Cooper and his parents chose him!!

David

The next man came looking for a calm little girl and I’m sure you all know by now that we don’t have a lot of calm little girls. For comparison, we did introduce him to a couple of girls, but he realized pretty quickly that one of our boys would probably be a better fit for him. All the boys did their best to “strut their stuff”, but the boy that did the best was one of the sweetest dogs we have — a gorgeous, affectionate, brindle boy named David!

Centex

There’s a saying that “a girl’s best friend is her dad” and, if that saying is true, one of our girls just met her best friend. This man has been doing turnout for about a year in preparation for adopting his first Greyhound so he has had a lot of opportunity to get to know the dogs and what they are all about. Since he has had the chance to meet the dogs at turnout, our jobs were pretty easy — we just had to guide and advise. He chose a darling little black girl named Centex and he happily changed her name to Iida which is pronounced Eda and means “mysterious” in Finnish!!

More info

Available Dogs

GPI’s Adoption Guide

Join us here each Monday as Regional Vice President Kathy Kreyling shares stories from the Adoption Center. Check out our Available Dogs to see who’s still waiting for their forever home.

Homie

Next, a family brought their two dogs, a golden retriever (named Winston) and a terrier mix (named Basil), to meet some Greyhounds. Basil is pretty small so we weren’t sure about how our dogs were going to react to her, but we had recently shown a few dogs that seemed to roll with the punches pretty well so we decided that would be a good place to start. We were so proud of our dogs … they did exactly what we wanted them to do … ignore Basil!! Really, any one of those dogs could have been a good match, but, when the little red fawn came out, she totally stole the show. She immediately went up to the son with her tail continuously wagging and tried to kiss him through her muzzle and his mask. Nobody could resist that so Homie just had to be the one they took home. –

Bandit

The last couple recently lost their beloved hound and, although it has taken them some time to heal from that loss, they were finally ready to have that wonderful Greyhound energy in their home again. Because of work commitments, one of the men was in charge of screening the dogs and narrowing the list down to a reasonable number (BTW, he did an excellent job) but then the really hard part came where he had to narrow it down to one. After some deliberation and, I’m sure a lot of discussion, he let me know that Bandit, nka Marceau, was going to be their new family member!! –

Richard

The first family fell in love with a dog that they saw on the last arrival video and they could not stop thinking about him. Even though they already had 3 dogs, they really believed this dog belonged with them and they were willing to do whatever they could to have this boy be part of their family. The first introduction to one of their dogs did not go particularly well so we all thought it was best to not proceed. But, they went home and slept on it and the whole family, including the two daughters, decided they wanted to commit to making this happen and THEY DID!!! So, our exuberant puppy, Richard (nka Moose) has officially joined their family! (No family photo at this time)

Willa

About 3 years ago a man came to us and adopted a handsome black Greyhound named Nubie. At the time, he had a Husky, but that dog recently passed away and he has noticed that Nubie has become more withdrawn and seemed sad. So, what else could he do but get another Greyhound?!! Since he needed a dog that would also get along with his cat, we had a limited number of dogs to show him but those dogs were knockouts. Both girls did their best to showcase themselves, but it was one of our latest additions that won the battle for a new home. Willa is a young, blue brindle girl who is a little shy at first but can really turn on the affection when she warms up — who could resist that?

Maddie

Who knows the dogs better than the employees? And, I think this is the first time that two of our employees decided to adopt on the same day!!

The first employee has been with us quite a while and was adopting her second Greyhound. She not only needed a dog that would get along with her Greyhound, but it also needed to get along with her chihuahua and her cat which is not an easy thing to find. But, she has been keeping her eyes open while she was working and she recently scoped out a pretty brood mom named Maddie who just happened to meet all the criteria!! (Sorry, no family photo at this time)

Cinny

The next employee has only been with us for a few months and, while she already had the Greyhound bug when she came to us, it has progressively gotten worse. When she met one of our recent arrivals, she decided that it was time to take action. She needed a dog that gets along with cats and there was one dog that she fell in love with almost immediately. Since there were others interested in the same dog, she hurried up and got her home visit so that she could be the first one in line. It all paid off when she got to take her new addition home after her shift. She and Cinny already had quite a connection and it seemed to improve even more when Cinny got to see her new mother without her mask for the first time!!.

Tobias

The first man got caught in the COVID mess, but now that things have eased a little, he was able to get everything finalized and go forward. This dog is his first so we were looking for one of our mellower, easy going dogs and we had a few that we thought would fit. We showed him boys and girls and quickly realized that the girls that were available at that time were a little too much (ok – WAY too much!!) for a first timer!! But, we had 2 boys (these boys look like they could actually be twins!!) who were calm and sweet and did not seem to be overly reactive to anything (just what we wanted!). Either dog would have been an excellent choice, but he could only have one and he chose Tobias (nka Toby)!

Jodi

The next man moved pretty quickly — it was only a few days from his application submission to his adoption appointment. He most recently had a Husky/Border Collie combination so we thought he would be able to handle almost any of our dogs (including some of our extremely active residents) so he got to see a wide range of possible adoptees. Somehow, it always seems that the ones who could take on the more energetically challenging dogs gravitate toward the easier dogs. And, that’s just what happened — this man fell for our sweet little black girl, Jodi!!

Gobi

Sometimes you get a dog and, sadly, it just isn’t the right dog for you. It’s a really hard decision to bring the dog back to us, but, it is the best thing to do for you and the dog. This couple had that experience and, thankfully, they took a little time to regroup and came back to find a dog that will fit them better. We all learned a lot about the people and the characteristics in a dog that would fit their situation best so we could fine tune our search. One of the characteristics that was most important to this
couple was that the dog be affectionate and want attention from them. Even though Greyhounds have a reputation for being kind of aloof, we were able to come up with a greyt list of dogs who are attentive and affectionate for them to see. They all did a greyt job of schmoozing, but, as usually happens, one just did a little better than the rest — our handsome, brindle and white boy, Gobi!!

Robin

Lately it seems we have had a lot of people who were joining the Greyhound fan club for the first time and this couple was all ready to sign up! While they spent time with a variety of dogs, there really was no competition. One of our little fawn girls wiggled and schmoozed and, I don’t know if she actually gave one of her famous body hugs, but we sure told them about it. She has won the hearts of our volunteers and our staff and now this couple — Robin really made it impossible for them to choose any other dog!

More info

Available Dogs

GPI’s Adoption Guide

Join us here each Monday as Regional Vice President Kathy Kreyling shares stories from the Adoption Center. Check out our Available Dogs to see who’s still waiting for their forever home.

Elaine

This lady started her journey to adopt a Greyhound just as COVID 19 raised its ugly head and everything came to a grinding halt. So, she has waited 3 long months to get the go ahead to adopt and, as you might guess, she was just a little excited to come meet the dogs and see which one would be the best fit for her. She met some really sweet dogs and, I have to say that these dogs, did a marvelous job of schmoozing & showing off. At the end of the appointment, she went home with a beautiful black & white girl named Elaine whose tail never stopped wagging — nobody could resist this!!!!

Charm

This lady and her daughter wanted a Greyhound so much that they made an eleven hour trip from Canada which included two ferry rides to get to the kennel to meet their new family member. We had a few hurdles we had to get over to make this happen. They weren’t able to bring their small dog with them, but thanks to one of our recent adopters who answered our call for help and brought her small dog, Cayenne, to the kennel within minutes of our request, we were able to identify some possibilities!! All we really needed was one, and it was pretty easy for all of us to agree that the one for them was a darling little red fawn named Charm!!

Honey

This family has had their first Greyhound, Alex, for about six years and they had decided that it was time for her to have a buddy. The mom came to watch some testing we were doing on the dogs and she identified one or two that she thought would be a good fit for her family. At the adoption appointment, we added a few suggestions of our own so they saw a nice variety of dogs. But, when all was said and done, they took home the girl the mom fell for at the testing — our beautiful brindle girl with a really cute white tip on her tail — Honey!!

Poppi

This couple came to find a nice calm dog to fit their lifestyle. They had a good list of dogs they wanted to see and, of course, we added a few suggestions. Most of the dogs on the list were boys and those boys really were pretty chilled and we were a little surprised at how calmly they came out to meet these people. There were also a couple of girls they wanted to see and these girls were supposed to be a little more active, but, they came out like little angels!! At the end of the appointment they decided on one of the little girls who was so sweet, butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth — we hope they believed us when we told them this little one can be a bit over exuberant — but, regardless, this girl knew what she wanted and did an excellent job of letting them know. She immediately started giving kisses when she met these people and that is really hard to resist so Poppi has a new family!!!

Megan

This man has wanted a Greyhound since he was a junior in high school about 10 years ago and today he finally got his wish. He has been doing turnout at least a couple of days a week since January so that he could get to know the dogs and learn more about them and, hopefully, get to meet the dogs well before they are ready to go. He had selected a couple of dogs he was interested in and, just to make things interesting, we added a few to his list. It really didn’t take long for him to decide that our pretty little brindle girl, Megan (who is now known as Mabel), would be the best one for him.

Happy

Next an excited couple came to choose their first dog together. I have to say that our dogs were in particularly fine form today as they kissed, snuggled and shimmied their way into these people’s hearts! I’m not sure I could have made a choice after watching them perform, but this couple persevered and I would say that the couple and the dog mutually chose each other. Miss Happy, nka Nessie, made it pretty clear that this couple was her new family and, thankfully, they listened to her and felt the same way!!

More info

Available Dogs

GPI’s Adoption Guide

Join us here each Monday as Regional Vice President Kathy Kreyling shares stories from the Adoption Center. Check out our Available Dogs to see who’s still waiting for their forever home.

Joseph

Next, a couple who has had Borzoi for years and recently lost their most recent one came to meet some Greyhounds. Since Borzoi are difficult to find, they did a lot of research and came to the conclusion that a Greyhound would be a good alternative. They wanted a young male and although they saw a few dogs, they seemed to have a connection with the first dog they met and that was the one they took home with them — Joseph!!

Crackle

Whenever we have families with young children, it is a little nerve racking just because we want to do our best to make sure our dog and the family are all going to be as safe as possible. This family has a two year old son that is an independent little guy who noticed the dogs but seemed much more interested in everything else that was going on. He did greyt with all the dogs he met which meant that the parents got to make the final decision. And, they had absolutely no trouble making that decision since they both fell in love with Crackle the minute they met him!

Abby

The next lady has kittens and a cute little pittie mix named Cayenne. She had the foresight to start muzzling Cayenne a few weeks ago so that she would be used to it by the time she came to the kennel which made it a much easier visit for all of us. We did not have a large number of dogs to show her, and the truth is that we really didn’t even need to show her any more dogs after the first one. Both Cayenne and her mother decided pretty quickly that Abby was the girl for them!

More info

Available Dogs

GPI’s Adoption Guide

Join us here each Monday as Regional Vice President Kathy Kreyling shares stories from the Adoption Center. Check out our Available Dogs to see who’s still waiting for their forever home.

Buster

The first of our new dogs has already left the building — that sure didn’t take much time. A couple came in to find their first dog as a married couple. There were only a few dogs that were available to be shown and they ranged from a busy puppy, a little less busy puppy, a couple of confident females and a darling, calm, almost 4 year old boy. Obviously, there was no contest — they chose our new boy, Buster!

Nala

This next man took on quite a challenge when he fostered two of our dogs from South Korea. They were a brother and a sister who definitely needed some serious help with their manners and this man was up to the task. While he was going through his training, he realized that he honestly only had enough energy for one dog so he had to make the tough choice of which one would be his. He and the girl bonded quickly and had become jogging buddies as well as general best buddies. So, he had to keep Nala!! BTW, his efforts were a big part of the reason that Nala’s brother, Simba, found his new home!!

Jesse

We have learned that when someone knows what they want, they KNOW what they want. This man came looking for his fourth Greyhound and we thought it might take a little while. But, we were wrong! We brought out a pretty red girl who knew what she wanted and made it clear. She climbed up on the couch, started licking the man’s ear and neck and by the time we got her off the couch, he said, “I like this one”. We suggested he at least spend some time outside with her and after a few minutes he came in and told us she was the one! I think we should ask Jesse, nka Ziggy, to come back and give “how to get adopted” lessons to the other dogs!

More info

Available Dogs

GPI’s Adoption Guide