The Greyhound Adoption Program provides a world benchmark in the training and placement of mature dogs into homes, proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Have you ever wondered what a greyhound does once it has retired from racing? It’s hard to imagine having one of these sleek, seemingly hyperactive speedsters as a domestic pet, after the dog has had years of training for one activity only – chasing a mechanical rabbit around a track.

The sport of racing, though thoroughly suited to the greyhound, does it no favours in terms of its image as a domestic pet. Yet, as is the case with their human athletic counterparts, a greyhound spends a long time retired, and, like any other pet, craves a profitable, active and happy life after its career is over. Being “put out to stud” for the future of the racing industry just isn’t enough. A greyhound needs to be owned; it needs a home.

Melanie Luscombe, Foster Home Co-ordinator at Greyhound Adoption Program Victoria, is keen to dispel all those deep assumptions we naturally have about owning a greyhound as a pet as soon as possible. The Greyhound Adoption Program needs people to provide “foster care” for greyhounds. Foster carers are volunteers who take the greyhounds into their home for 3-4 weeks and help prepare the dog for life as a pet. During this time, they socialise them, introduce them to TVs, vacuum cleaners, children, other pets and all other aspects of domestic life.

Conventional wisdom tells us that it is difficult to train a dog that is already mature, in skills that it has never before been exposed to, after it has already learned a completely different set of skills. How much do they have to “unlearn” before they can begin this new regime? Says Melanie, “Contrary to popular opinion, greyhounds are a very placid, lazy, low maintenance breed of dog who need very little exercise, grooming or room. Their favourite pastime is sleeping and they’re excellent family dogs as they’re very tolerant of children and other animals.” It might surprise many to learn that there are people who live in inner-city apartments with greyhounds as pets!

Yes, it’s true that Greyhounds, like their relatives the Afghan, the Borzoi and the Saluki, are sight hounds, and are trained to pursue small, furry creatures if they see them. This means they should be walked on a leash when they are not in the family yard, but the upside of owning a greyhound as a pet is that the greyhound is one of the better-behaved dogs when it is leashed. Greyhounds have been bred for centuries, and owners and breeders have always encouraged the best physical and emotional traits. They are generally docile and obedient, and naturally well-mannered. At the time of our visit, the 40-acre GAP property in Seymour was amazingly quiet, considering the fact that it housed thirty greyhounds.

The most remarkable thing about Greyhound Adoption Programs all around the country is that they are conducted under the auspices of the peak bodies responsible for greyhound racing. It is almost unprecedented that organisations such as Greyhound Racing Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and NSW should be so active in promoting the welfare of the animals that are the source of their wealth. But in fact, it shows that greyhound racing is in touch with community attitudes. People ask more questions these days about the welfare of the animals featured in various forms of entertainment and sport, and in the USA, greyhound racing has been banned in two States due to the efforts of animal welfare groups. In Victoria, the Program has just completed its tenth year of operation, the third at its new Seymour property, and been responsible for introducing thousands of ex-racing greyhounds into the family home. It is now the leading animal welfare organisation of its type in Australia.

During those 10 years of operation, over 2000 greyhounds have been adopted out across Victoria. The program has seen a 58.7% increase in adoption rate over the past two years with over 300 adoptions taking place in 2006.

The GAP’s mission is to “find responsible permanent loving homes for retired racing greyhounds, to provide their health and welfare and to educate people about the availability and absolute suitability of greyhounds as pets.” Before the program was instigated, some trainers placed the dogs themselves, but, according to Larissa Darragh, from GAP Victoria, the industry recognized that there was a need for a re-homing agency. “Our animal welfare policies strongly encourage owners to do the right thing, and even looks at breeding numbers, so less dogs are being bred.”

Naturally, adopting a greyhound and helping it to adapt to a new life after racing is not, and should not be, a simple process. In Victoria, three people co-ordinate the assimilation of a greyhound into a new home. This process consists of five steps: Acceptance of greyhound adoptees, Greyhound “education” and transitional training; health tests and evaluations; adoption hand over, and maintaining the relationship between the adoptee and foster family.

After receipt of the greyhounds from owners and trainers within the greyhound racing industry, thorough vet checks are conducted and a clean bill of health ensured. Shots are administered and a temperament test conducted to validate the suitability of the greyhounds to proceed. Then the foster process is performed over a four-to-six week duration. Here the greyhounds are integrated back in to society by learning to live with families in various settings. After the foster phase, the greyhound returns to the GAP property. With the information gathered during the foster care process, the most suitable family receives its new pet.

So successful has the program been that, in 1999, the Victorian government passed an amendment to the Domestic (feral and nuisance) act of 1994, which, for the first time ever, allowed greyhounds in public without a muzzle as long as they have been through the GAP program.

In the USA, a model successfully operated by 18 State Departments of Corrections involves the greyhounds coming into contact with prisoners at minimum-security prisons, which helps increase the number of greyhounds going through similar programs, which in turn increases the number of foster homes available because more of the dogs have made the transition from track to home. It has the added benefit of assisting in the rehabilitation of offenders.

In Australia, GAP resources are utilized to the fullest possible extent to the benefit of everyone involved. GAP enables other organisations, such as disability groups, to come into contact with its greyhounds.

Thanks to programs like GAP, in Australia and worldwide, the idea of having a greyhound as a pet is gaining in popularity, and more of these gentle, intelligent and misunderstood dogs are finding new homes in retirement.

Published in Autumn issue of Pet Lifestyle, 2008