Jake's story Here is a lovely story that we have received of a retired racing greyhound that now has a loving home, the story is told by Jake's new family:

This is Jake he is a four year old retired greyhound. Jake used to race but for unknown reasons he no longer races and was rescued by Jenny from a family home in North Devon. Jake arrived in October 2006 and came to visit, he was very nervous and stayed close to Jenny all the time, we fell in love with him as soon as we saw him and his big brown eyes. Jake quickly settled in becoming one of the family, he soon had us trained!

When he arrived he had very little fur on his hind quarters from where he had been kept on concrete or other hard surface, he had fleas and looked very sorry for himself. We went out and bought him a bed which he loved, unfortunately we had to buy another so that he could sleep in our bedroom at night. He will not be on his own if we are in the house and now follows us everywhere even in the bath! He has got a lot better since, he now just has to be in the same room.

( GA note: seperation anxiety is very common in greyhounds resulting from their traumatic treatment by the racing industry ... it can be overcome with a little patience )

Jake is a typical greyhound, very loyal, loving and a complete couch potato, needing very little exercise, lots of love and fuss, he is very quiet in the house and enjoys the family around. Whilst out he is good with other dogs, walks well on the lead, he enjoys the beach and the woods and often swims in the river. Unusually for greyhounds he will play with toys and retrieve things on the beach, he has a real character.

Jake like most dogs is an opportunist and will reach things and eat things off the kitchen worktop, Jake to date has eaten a whole Christmas cake, six mince pies, three cream cakes , a block of cheese and the entire contents of the fridge twice, we now have learnt and things are now defrosted in the cupboard out of reach.

Jake is very loving and friendly and will nudge you for attention, this is great but when we are down the pub and people have a full pint well let’s just say we have had to replace many a pint from spillages caused by Jake. With Jake you have to watch the tail end not the mouth, his tail is like a whip clearing the coffee table in one swish or whipping you on the legs which I can tell you from experience really hurts.

Jake has settled in really well and is now a fully fledged member of the family and we cannot think what it was like without him, we are so lucky to have found such a lovely dog. We would recommend a greyhound to anyone unless they have cats, they are such ideal pets and have great temperament and characters.

( GA note: some greyhounds live quite happily with cats, but best to check first )

For some unknown reason, black greyhounds are the least likely to be re-homed click here to go to the Black beauties website who specialise in rehoming these dogs.