Since we lost our last dog, Daisy a cocker spaniel, to kidney failure in January 2020 the house has seemed really empty. We didn’t think we could have another dog because my husband is now infirm and uses a wheelchair and we thought that it would be difficult to manage a dog whilst going out with the wheelchair. Also, a small dog might trip my husband up because he is so unsteady on his feet.
However, we are adopting a retired greyhound and I pick her up on Sunday! I researched the breed carefully after I saw an elderly lady in an electric wheelchair with a greyhound walking on a lead next to her. We looked on the Greyhound Trust site and then visited one of their kennels and met a lovely greyhound who had been in a domestic situation with a lady who used a wheelchair! We walked this greyhound next to our wheelchair and it worked perfectly.
To cut a long story short - I shall be collecting Annie, our new family member on Sunday. She is 6 years old and is beautiful! I feel excited and nervous at the same time …
How wonderful Margaret! How exciting this will be - and for you to get one who is used to wheelchairs too. Greyhounds are beautiful dogs, I’m sure you will all be so happy together!
Margaret, that sounds like it was meant to be, to me.
You saw a dog with someone in a wheelchair, and then you found one needing a home who happened to have been with a wheelchair user - it was meant to be. She must have been waiting just for you.
So pleased for you, and best of luck for Sunday. A reputable rescue will give you lots of help and support too.
Hope it all works out beautifully for you all, including Annie.
I’ve nothing to say about greyhounds, but I am planning to retire soon, and I don’t really know what I’m going to do with myself when I do. I saw the thread title and it gave me an idea, but I need to think about it for a bit before I say what it is.
Yes Mups, that is what I thought too! We had a home visit yesterday and the lady brought her greyhound with her to inspect the garden - everything went smoothly. The Greyhound Trust have given us plenty of advice and we have been invited to join a ‘Greyhound Playgroup’ near to where we live where owners walk together with their dogs and then have a safe field in which they can let their dogs off the lead to run for a while. Followed by tea and cake for the owners
That is what we have been told - two 20 minute walks per day.
We have also been told that greyhounds make lovely companions for older people who can’t get out very much. Annie will become part of our little family and will be taken with us wherever we go when that is possible and will be a companion for my husband when I go out alone - in that circumstance they will probably doze together until I get back!
What lovely news MargaretF. Greyhounds are the ideal companions as we get older, because they need so little exercise and they love company. Annie sounds like a perfect fit. You must upload some pictures of her when you bring her home
A lot of the dogs in our local Dog Rescue centres (yes I’m thinking about it now that retirement seems closer!) are greyhounds who are in transition in to “normality” after being racing dogs in a previous life. Taking them on would require a lot of patience and hard work I’m sure.
They are beautiful dogs though.
Annie sounds perfect for you two Margaret!
I wish you many happy and affectionate times together x
Thank you all for your supportive comments - I will get a photo of Annie and put it on here as soon as she is settled. I am collecting her tomorrow and have been busy getting everything ready.
Annie retired from racing when she was 4 years old and her trainer kept her for another year before handing her over to the Greyhound Trust. She did live in a domestic situation for a couple of weeks but the family who adopted her had another dog and they didn’t get on - the other dog kept trying to nip Annie! That is where she learned to walk next to a wheelchair. She was returned to the Greyhound Trust and lived there for a while again until we saw her and knew she was the dog for us. So I think some of the ground work of teaching her to live in a home has already been carried out and we just have to pick up on that.
