Guam Greyhounds

We learned some disturbing news today, and I thought we should pass it along to as many people as possible. The island of Guam, a U.S. territory, saw their only greyhound racing track close in November of last year. Track closings are always a problem as a large number of greyhounds are suddenly unwanted and rescue groups are overwhelmed with trying to place the dogs. The best scenario is that it happens in an orderly fashion and the tracks cooperate in placing the dogs and working with the rescue groups. That didn't happen in Guam. The dogs were given away for free to anyone who showed up and no records were kept, and well, it is a mess. Now greyhounds are turning up in the streets uncared for, emaciated, and injured. There is only one rescue group on the island and they are doing a tremendous job of trying to deal with this, but it is more than any one group can handle. The disturbing photos posted are of two of the dogs they have rescued so far. These photos show how difficult and disturbing this situation is. I only hope that these photos will serve as a call to action for all of us. Follow this link to read the rest of the story from GAIN(Guam Animals In Need)http://www.guamgreyhounds.org/Story.html As they are able, they are sending these greyhounds to rescue groups on the west coast of the U.S. to be rehomed. There is a link on their site to make donations also, which they sorely need. While I am on that subject, donations to all rescue groups are way down due to the current economic conditions, and they are all struggling now. We all need to keep that in mind and give to our local rescue groups to help them through these times. The hounds waiting for adoption still need care. For those readers in the MD, VA, DC area, Greyhound Rescue Inc. really needs our help and you can donate by paypal on the web site, http://www.greyrescue.com/. Your help is appreciated.

Storm-Adopted!!

Today turned out to be a great day for Storm. His new dad came to meet him and take him home. Storm behaved like the gentleman that he is when he met his new dad and he now is no longer a halfway home hound, but is an all the way home hound. That is terrific news. We will miss Storm though. He was a fun hound to have around the house and he is a super friendly boy. We wish him only the best and know that he is in a good place now. He is making a move down to Northern Virginia so I guess that makes Storm a southern boy now. He plans on taking day trips into Washington D.C. and having lunch at Mount Vernon. I bet George Washington would have loved having a cool dog like Storm around his house. Happy trails Storm and we hope we will get to see you again soon. We will keep a light on for you at the Hound Hotel. As for the photo..Storm isn't being waterboarded, he is just relaxing the way happy hounds do.

Storm-back up for adoption

Storm is back up for adoption. He was placed but do to extenuating circumstances, his new family couldn't take him anytime soon. It isn't because of Storm. Storm is a terrific greyhound that wags his tail all the time and is a fun to have around. The only problem is he gets so excited in the morning when the alarm goes off. He knows that is now the signal that it is breakfast time. He bounces around the room and gets happy. "Woohoo....feeding time!!" I try to get out of bed and he bounces off my chest to let me know I am moving too slow. He wants to tell me to get my butt downstairs and fill up his food bowl. Too funny. He is learning to be a retired greyhound and he knows that good food is part of the deal. What a good dog. If you would like to meet Storm, please contact Denise Davis at Greyhound Rescue.

Storm-the perfect gentleman

Storm has been with us for almost a day now and he will be inducted into the foster dog hall of fame after he leaves. Storm is a perfect gentleman with terrific manners. He is also a super friendly greyhound with a tail that goes a mile a minute. It wasn't long after he arrived that he started helicoptering his tail every time he looked at us. If he is laying down and you look at him, he starts slapping his tail on the floor. He slept quietly next to our bed last night and had no problem at all. No crate needed for this guy. He is definitely a top notch greyhound, and it is a good thing someone has already claimed him! That removes our temptation to keep him. We will certainly miss him when he leaves, but we will be seeing him at our meet and greets in the future. That will be great. Above is a photo of Storm keeping me company while I update this blog.

Storm-adoption pending!!

Foster mom and I went to the meet and greet today and Storm was returned to us there. Storm didn't do anything wrong at his previous home, it just wasn't the right situation for him. His new mom showed up 30 minutes later to claim him. How cool is that! Storm will be vacationing at our house for a few days until his new mom is ready to pick him up. He has only been here a short amount of time and we love him already. He has the most friendly disposition and seems to be much more mature then your typical 2 year old greyhound. He has met the resident greyhounds and is getting along very well with them. He seems to be a perfect gentleman. He is also a beautiful greyhound and he will be a hit in his new neighborhood. This will be a short fostering job for us, which is all the better for Storm. Congrats Storm, and congrats to his new mom!

Photo Tag

Apparently we have been photo tagged by Hope and Greyz. I'm not entirely sure how this works but I guess we pick the sixth photo out of the sixth folder and post it. This photo is one we took at Dewey Beach this year. I don't know who the people are in the photo. We were just taking photos of people walking their greyhounds on the beach. The weather in Dewey this year was perfect and we had a great time as always. We encourage anyone who would like to get away for the weekend with their hounds to try going to the annual Dewey event. It is always a great time.

Happy New Year!

It is a new year and the Hound Hotel is gearing up for what will hopefully be a busy year. It could be a challenging year considering the economy and all, so we will have to redouble our efforts to get as many hounds placed as possible this year. We are on a short break from fostering as we await the next load of dogs to come into Greyhound Rescue. Denise is getting in the dogs this coming week and with any luck we will get a foster dog out of the deal. The place just doesn't seem the same without a foster. It is too quiet with just the resident hounds. They are too well behaved and never cause any trouble, so it doesn't feel like we are doing any work with just them. I imagine the hounds don't mind the break from training the fosters. They put a lot of effort into whipping Wilma into adoptable shape, so they must be enjoying a few days off. I thought I would take this time to introduce all of them. Up top is Blair, our twelve year old, Irish bred, greyhound. Middle is Cora Lee, who is nine, and at the bottom is Snoops, our five year old. They are our best trainers and we appreciate all the help they give us in getting the fosters adopted. We hope you all have terrific start to the new year and we hope to have an update on our next foster dog soon!