Life after the track
Retired greyhounds race into the hearts of their new owners
By Katherine Peters CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Imagine a dog that's more like a cat, contentedly lying on your couch instead of barking at the garbage truck in the morning. Except you can't let him outside without a leash. If he sees a squirrel, this dog - a greyhound - becomes the fastest couch potato on record, clocking 45 miles per hour.

Over the past decade, more and more of these dogs are adapting to a life of cushy beds and scratches on the head after spending the first years of their lives chasing rabbits around racetracks in Florida and other states, marking a change in their fate.

"[Earlier,] the end of their racing was the end of their life," says Gil Caldwell, chair for Greyhound Pets of America in Richmond (GPA), a nonprofit dedicated to finding homes for ex-racing hounds. "We've seen so many strides now in changing that."

Caldwell and other GPA volunteers place about 90 greyhounds in homes throughout Virginia each year, about a quarter of which find new homes in Chesterfield County. This is up from under two dozen adoptions when Caldwell joined GPA six years ago.

Sweetie (left) and Whizzer are enjoying their retirement with Gordon Millikan and his wife, Tracey.

Caldwell credits heightened public knowledge as one reason adoptions have risen. While greyhounds are sight hounds - trained to sprint if on a leash - they're not the boisterous dogs that people might expect.

Chesterfield resident Brian Shaunessy discovered that 10 years ago when his family adopted their first greyhound as a compromise.

"I always grew up with dogs, and my wife always grew up with cats," Shaunessy says. "We had tried other dogs, and it just didn't work." But a GPA meet-and-greet was enough to make his wife, Diane, change her mind. She fell in love with the dogs' calm yet social demeanor.

"My wife was like, 'That's almost a cat in a dog's body!'" Shaunessy remembers.

Thanks to that initial meeting, Ace, a greyhound who would bring human friends his beloved baby doll, became part of the family in 1996. After he died, the Shaunessy family adopted a second greyhound, Lindley, in 2004. Brian now serves on the GPA board.

Like the Shaunessy family discovered, these super-sprinters are happy to spend most of their time sleeping, requiring very little exercise and space. Because of their lack of body fat and fur, they are better suited for indoors instead of prolonged outdoor adventures. A walk around the block suffices instead of a long romp. During extremely hot or cold weather, the dogs will run outside to take care of business and promptly come back in for another nap.

"Greyhounds probably sleep 18 hours or more a day, even at the track," Caldwell says. He also notes that the hounds are used to living en masse at the tracks and find comfort in a crate retreat when household life gets busy, especially during the initial transition.

Greyhounds come with other breed-specific quirks, such as a dislike of stairs. While some dogs can walk up on their first try, "others you have to teach, because they've never seen stairs," Caldwell says. Others can't get over their reflection in the mirror - or glass doors - for a few days, mistaking their reflection for a former track mate.

But the biggest difference between greyhounds and other household dogs stems from their unique upbringing. According to Caldwell, unlike most puppies, greyhounds stay with their mother for their entire first year and are surrounded by other greyhounds and trainers as they begin schooling. As a result, they learn how to get along with other dogs as well as people.

Greyhound owner and Chesterfield resident Tracey Millikan has seen the results of this firsthand. "I've had other dogs in the past, and greyhounds seem to really want to please even more than most dogs," she says.

"At first we were a little worried about not getting a puppy. We thought they might not adapt to a family life," says Millikan, whose son was only four years old when they first adopted. But while most adopted greyhounds are between 18 months and five years old, the dogs retain their friendliness and desire to please, especially in a place that's new to them.

Shaunessy agrees. "They are full-grown puppies" when they transition from the race world to family life, he says. "They do not know what things are, but they're eager to learn. They think of you as the pack leader, and they want to learn from you," he continues.

"They really are just wonderful, affectionate dogs," Millikan adds.

Interested in adopting a greyhound? A "fast friend" is waiting for you.

Want to know more about greyhound adoption?

Visit www.greyhoundsvirginia.com for more information. Click on "Events" to learn about opportunities to meet greyhounds and their owners in Chesterfield County.