Discovering life with rescued greyhounds

Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of columns from Bulletin sports editor Joey Millwood about rescuing greyhounds.

What greyhounds don’t know when you first get them could fill a library.

Huh?

I’m sure that’s what you’re asking right about now.

While a rescued greyhound is no longer a puppy, in a lot of ways they are puppies.
They don’t have the knowledge of a lot of things. They learn things by watching.

If you’re still confused, I’ll give you an example.

Stairs.

While we walk up and down stairs like it’s nothing, greyhounds may not see it that way.

It took a while for Sadie and Sabrina to master steps. Sometimes it seems they still don’t know how to use them.

They’ll either try to jump over them or they just look up at me all confused.

How could a dog not know how to use steps?

It’s simple.

They’ve never seen them.

You may not understand the way these dogs are treated at the tracks yet.

When I say that they’re kept in a box for 22 out of 24 hours of each day, that is fairly accurate.

The lucky greyhounds are the winning ones that the owners may want to breed to create more racers. They escape their little box to breed for a little while.

Greyhounds don’t get to experience life and the things in it. They stare at four walls until it’s time to eat or race.

They come out and eat their raw, old meat and then it’s back to their crates.

They hear the bell, chase the rabbit around the track, and then it’s back to their crates.

Greyhounds don’t experience anything. They’ve never seen glass doors. They’ve never seen stairs. They haven’t experienced the things that most dogs have experienced. In essence, their minds are a clean slate as far as knowledge goes.

I don’t mean to say that greyhounds are stupid because they’re not. They’re very intelligent dogs that pick up on things very easily.

Picture this. A child is born. It’s kept away from anything and everything that all other children come in contact with. Instead of going to school, visiting the playground, discovering games and playing with other children, this child is left in a room with nothing. All that’s in this room are walls and a hardwood floor.

What do you think that child will learn?

Greyhounds aren’t given the luxury of experience. They haven’t seen the world like other dogs and humans have.

They have to learn how to do things late in life. They have to learn how to walk up stairs after their racing days are over.

They pick up on things rather quickly, it’s just that they have to learn it late.
They come from owners whose only concern is how fast they run and how much money they can make.

It’s just another thing that is special about rescuing greyhounds.

You get to discover life with greyhounds. You get to watch their ears perk up at noises they’ve never heard or watch them stare at the television they’ve never seen.

The most beautiful thing is to watch them run around in your backyard. While they still run circles, it’s fun to watch them run all over the place. Watching them discover the feeling of not being on a leash or not having to chase a rabbit in order to run and play is a beautiful sight.

The most important thing with greyhounds, however, is that you have to keep them on a leash or keep them in a fenced environment. They can’t run free. For one thing, they’re way faster than you are and they don’t understand that they have to stay with you.

The exploration of a greyhound is a fun thing to watch. It’s a beautiful sight to watch a greyhound discover life and freedom.

It makes you love life even more yourself. It’s an amazing thing for me to have my Sadie and Sabrina in my life every day. Every morning I awaken to the miracle of life. I couldn’t imagine what would have happened to them if they hadn’t been rescued by the organization that we got them from.

If they had never found their way into our lives, what their experience would have been is not a scenario that I want to imagine. Every day with my dogs is a gift. No matter how much Brando yaps, I love him.

Dogs are truly man’s (and woman’s) best friend and we should treasure them every day. Everyone should own at least one dog and if you own a dog, make it a rescue, whether it’s a greyhound or a dog from the Foothills Humane Society.

We should all be concerned with saving a life.