Animals have always been a part of my life. My father had hunting dogs and my sister and I each had cats when I was growing up. My husband came from a family that had not had pets when he was growing up. After our oldest daughter left home to be on her own, my husband and I decided that we wanted a dog. We decided that a greyhound would be the perfect choice. We wanted a dog that was used to being crated, as my in-laws live with us and would be able to crate the dog when we were at work. Note that I say dog, singular! We adopted Patty through a group down south and flew her up to the Buffalo airport. When Patty got out of her crate at the airport, we immediately fell madly in love with her. Patty was quite a character and had a real personality. We decided to join a greyhound adoption group in Buffalo to help us with this new addition to our family.
When a 3-year-old male with separation anxiety was returned, about 3 months later, we decided to give another try. Duke was quite a bit of work at first, but eventually settled right in and became a beloved member of our family. This was also the beginning of our working with dogs with “issues.”
Our pack has expanded over the years (a lot) and we became active in Meet and Greets and Fostering. My in-laws also became active, especially helping with the fostering. We usually have a foster in the house, in addition to our 8 greyhounds.
We joined Greyhound Adoption of Greater Rochester and I began giving the foster seminar. I also do home visits, mostly in my area around Batavia. I do a Meet and Greet at our local Petco twice a month. My dogs love this and can’t wait to go! We also have a long-term foster, Joanie. We all really enjoy the volunteer work that we do for GAGR.
With as many dogs as we have, our lives revolve around the dogs. So much for one dog and my in-laws being able to crate him! I can’t imagine life any other way, though, and appreciate the enjoyment we all get from the dogs. GAGR is a great group and we are proud to be a part of it! |
