One woman's perspective of (twin) parenting (and other thoughts about things)
The following post was written for the Greyhound Trust after they asked me to write about our experience of adopting a greyhound. If you are interested in doing the same, please get in touch with your local Greyhound Trust to find out more. They make such wonderful additions to the family and adoption kennels across the country are packed to the brim with retired racers looking for a forever home.
We’ve been wanting to get a dog for so long that we started to tell people that it was the only reason we were buying a house… We had thought about different breeds for ages, but as soon as we started reading about greyhounds, we thought we’d found the right breed for us. We knew we wanted to adopt or rescue a dog, and there are so so many greyhounds up for adoption across the country, that our minds were made up!
We came to a Greyhound Trust (GT) meet and greet in April (2019) and spent two hours being amused, entertained and relaxed by a small room full of a lot of hounds - it confirmed that we’d made the right choice in wanting to go for a greyhound. Somebody we met there described them as “dog hardware running cat software” - perfect for us as we are a family of dog and cat lovers and the decision about which to get was not an easy one!
When we had finally moved into our new house and unpacked, Kath from the GT came to see us for a home visit - this was really just a chat to make sure we’d thought about certain aspects of dog (and specifically greyhound) ownership, and get to know us and our lifestyle so that she could help us find the right dog for us. There are so many up for adoption at any one time, and they all have their own personalities, so the GT really pride themselves on being able to match dogs with owners perfectly. We aren’t particularly active people, but we do want to have children at some point, so it was important for us to find a more relaxed dog that would be okay with kids. Kath (and the other Kath, based at the kennels) really took the time to get to know us and we think we’ve ended up with a perfect match :)
Fast forward a bit, and as I type this, our greyhound is fast asleep on the rug in the lounge, happy as larry. We’ve had him for 5 weeks now, and we already can’t imagine life without him. The first three weeks were certainly a challenge, but a fascinating one. We felt like we had a different dog each week - the first week he was very placid as he anxiously processed his new surroundings, the second week was all about testing the boundaries as he settled in - he pulled on the lead a fair bit, and we learnt very quickly to keep some things in the house out of his reach! The third week, though, we felt like we’d finally met our dog, and he’s been the same total legend ever since. Somebody we were chatting to at the last GT meet and greet said it’s like a book gradually opening up - and it’s been amazing (if not always easy) to see that happen before our very eyes. Now, everywhere we go, people tell us how handsome he is, and how happy and healthy he looks, and we couldn’t be happier.