Going greyhounds
A group looks for homes for the dogs that are anything but the hyperactive hounds of popular myth.
By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published February 10, 2006
His name is Wizard, but his racing name was RL Wizard. He ran 99 races in Wisconsin and Connecticut, winning 19 times.
Saturday afternoon, Wizard wasn't running anywhere. The 80-pound, 6-year-old greyhound was camped out on a sleeping bag in the middle of a PetSmart on Causeway Boulevard.
Volunteers from the Greyhound Gang of Florida greeted customers, handing out pamphlets and selling greyhound T-shirts, greyhound refrigerator magnets and stuffed greyhounds.
Group members say they are trying to teach the public that the four-legged speedsters also make good pets. In weekly meet-and-greets, they show off the dogs and actively recruit owners. The gang, based in Seffner, looks for temporary as well as permanent owners for the dogs.
"If you could take a Labrador retriever and remove all of the hyperactivity, you would have this dog," Dean Salls said of Wizard, who rolled over to have his belly scratched.
As the group of greyhounds grew, strangers approached.
"They're just very quiet, lazy dogs," marveled Rose Muniz, 14, petting the smooth back of a female named Nite Lite.
"I thought they would be more hyper," Monica Vasquez, 13, said.
The high-strung image of greyhounds is one of the primary myths the Greyhound Gang seeks to dispel.
"These dogs don't require a lot of space," said Joan Ray, the group's president. "They curl up and go to sleep."
Vera Filipelli, a spokeswoman for Derby Lane, agreed.
"They really are couch potatoes," Filipelli said. "When you see them race, and then two weeks later you see them on the couch, it's hard to believe but that's where they're happiest. Right there on the couch."
Still, there are not enough foster homes to board all of the dogs.
Pat Myers, 63, said she would take in another greyhound if she could. Myers is looking after four greyhounds, plus one foster greyhound and one she is sitting for a friend.
Foster parents like Myers care for numerous dogs, usually for a few weeks at a time until they find permanent homes.
"The first two or three dogs I gave up, I got hysterical," she said. Aside from the occasional injuries from spills on the track, greyhounds tend to retire in excellent health: Good hips. Good sinuses. Ears not prone to infection.
"They are bred carefully," Myers said.
Unlike many other large dogs, greyhounds tend to live into their mid teens. Dan and Debbie Salls have 11 cats to go with their greyhound.
"They clean his ears," Salls said.
Play, a 4-year-old female, got classified a flight risk after she cleared a 6-foot fence - twice - in the back yard. Her racing career, under the name KW Play at the Orange Park Kennel Club, lasted just two starts. She came in second in her final race.
Now living with Ray, Play has been with the Greyhound Gang for a month. At PetSmart, she stood by Ray's side, restrained by her leash. Fifteen feet away, a store employee handed kittens to adoring customers.
Play never took her eyes off those kittens. Ray never loosened her grip on the leash.
Owners also need a leash to walk their greyhounds, which track their prey by sight rather than sound. Once the attention of a greyhound snaps onto an object, even as far as a half mile away, they are likely to take off.
"If these dogs get loose, they're pretty much gone," Ray said.
So long as it moves, the prey need not be a rabbit. "They could be chasing a paper bag blowing in the wind," Ray said.
Then, they cannot find their way back home.
Other tips for owners include marking glass doors with masking tape - at doggie eye level - so they don't try to run right through them.
The group does its best to vet potential owners. There is a detailed application, a visit to the home where the greyhound would go, and a $175 adoption fee.
Still, bad owners slip through the cracks.
Some don't feed the animals. Members recall an owner who indignantly returned a greyhound - all skin and bones - because the dog "stole" a loaf of bread.
Wizard, too, is hoping for better luck in his third home since leaving racing.
The group thought they had a match with a woman who adopted him. Then she returned Wizard, saying that her boyfriend did not like the dog.
Ray told her: "Get rid of the boyfriend."
- Andrew Meacham can be reached at 661-2431 or ameacham@sptimes.com
TO LEARN MOREContact the following groups for more information:
- Greyhound Gang of Florida, Seffner, 684-4804, greyhoundgangfl.org
- Greyhound Rescue & Adoptions of Tampa Bay GREAT, Tampa, 971-4732, www.great-greyhound.org
- Bay Area Greyhound Adoptions, Tampa, 272-2332, www.petfinder.com/shelters/bayareagreyhounds.html
- Greyhound Pets of America, St. Petersburg, 727 595-7852, www.greyhoundpets.com