GREYTNEWS!GREYTNEWS! The Newsletter ofGreyhound Adoptions ofFlorida

October 2015

Meet Our New Website Front Page Stars!

And now for the answer to “how did you ever pick these four from so many greyhound photos”? First, it wastough. But GAF is so lucky to have a number of top quality photographers as adopters. They've taken someexceptional pictures...but what we had to have were photos that could expand to the width needed for the page.That was essential. So, thank you so much Kelly Bateman, Maureen & Tony Moss and Lisa Fontalbert &Mark Sprenkle. Your “kids” will smile at you and everyone with every click onto ahome4greys.org.

Dascher Bateman, Rest in Peace, 2013. By Kelly Bateman

Dascher Bateman Roxy and Cody Moss

Scooter Moss Sonny Fontalbert

One ordinary weekend day I visited my local PetSmartto pick-up cat food for our two feline friends. I was one ofmany patrons who were pleasantly surprised to be warmlygreeted by greyhounds who were at the store with volunteersfor a Meet & Greet event. It was the first time I saw agreyhound in person. They made such an impression on meI told my husband about the chance encounter and we spentthe next few hours looking at the local chapter’s website. Wemade plans to go the next event which was the followingweek. My husband was equally impressed and we agreedthat a 45 mph couch potato was exactly what we werelooking for.

We carefully completed our application and followed the steps including a home visit. The first greyhound who wasselected for us had a sudden change of heart. We would soon learn that another greyhound, a very special boy, was

Page 2Dascher Bateman, continued

He took the passing of his best friend especially hard.Weeks after we said a difficult but necessary goodbye toDale, Dascher suffered from a sudden medicalemergency which led to the incredibly painful decision tolet him go. At the time and to this day we truly believehe suffered from a broken heart. We took comfort in thebelief our boys were reunited.

Dascher was my husband’s first dog and my first dogas an adult. We knew from Day One that he was one-in-a-billion. For people familiar with typical greyhoundbehavior, Dascher never once rooed, roached or “sat” theway most greyhounds “sit” in a sphinx-like position. Hewas his own dog and the very best one we could haveimagined in our wildest dreams.

Every day with our sunshine was an amazing gift.And the fact that he came to us because he was a returnstill boggles our mind. We cannot imagine a moreperfect dog in the entire world. Our lives were foreverchanged for the better having lived with and loved him.People often refer to dogs who find wonderful foreverhomes as jackpot kids. We were jackpot parents.

Editor's Note: This essay was an especially hard oneto write. When you try to summarize a beautiful life andwhat that life has meant, especially when that life hasended prematurely, you go down many joyful and tearfulroads. Thank you, Kelly. He was, still is, and alwayswill be your beloved boy.

waiting for us. A week later he showed up at our door at10 pm on a Friday night.

We had never seen a photo and had very limitedinformation about him apart from the fact he was a largefawn male who was described as a Teddy Bear. Hewalked in, quietly greeted us and proceeded to lie downon the bed we had purchased for his homecoming. Hesettled in quickly, as if he was returning home, notcoming home for the first time. He drifted off to the sleepas we stared at our boy, our first retired racer greyhound.I remember noticing one of his canine teeth peeking outfrom under his lip and thinking for only a second howfierce it looked. Little did I know we had just welcomedthe least fierce creature on the planet into our home.

Over the next nearly 8 years Dascher (SS NightTrain) would become our first and greatest love. Ourgentle giant had the ability to almost instantly calmpeople of all ages and pets of all sizes with his quietnature. He often curled up with one of our cats for longnaps. He was also a registered therapy dog who regularlyvisited residents at an assisted living facility and he was aregular at Meet & Greet events and special eventsincluding a visit to a school.

Dascher was a quintessential chow hound who livedto eat. His favorite foods were bananas which he enjoyeddaily, as well as candied apples, small pieces of whichwere a special treat both for him to eat and us to watch ashe consumed the confection with eyes as wide as saucers.

One of his happiest days was at Dewey Beach forGreyhounds Reach the Beach. He spent hours blissfullysnoozing on the warm, soft sand. Another specialmemory was a visit to 22 acres of sunflowers. It was afew months after he underwent extensive surgery torepair a ruptured cervical disc. To walk through goldenfields containing nearly a half million sunflowers with ourbeloved companion, who incidentally we fondly called“our sunshine,” was a precious gift.

He shared a very special bond with his “brother,”Dale. Always close, the two became inseparable afterDascher’s spinal surgery. In turn Dascher was by Dale’sside when he fell suddenly ill with IBD two years later.

Page 3Three Photo Stars from "The Moss Pack"

Roxy is a petite brindle girl who originally livedwith another family who unfortunately could no longercare for her. She joined us about 6 years ago andimmediately settled in as a part of the pack. Roxy istypically a very quiet little girl...that is until someonegoes to the kitchen. She and her sister Bella then runinto the kitchen and begin their comedy routine. Roxypaws at the chairs and cabinets and jumps up anddown while Bella barks incessantly. (they have beennamed the Singer and the Dancer by our extendedfamilies.) Roxy is just over 11 years old.

Cody Moss, by Tony Moss

Roxy Moss, by Tony Moss

Cody came into our lives in December 2014 at justover 3 years old. When he arrived, he was the perfectgentleman. Really calm and an immediate fit with ourpack of 5 hounds and 3 cats. When Grandma Marilynprofiled Cody for us she was at least partially right whenshe advised us that Cody's treasure was his food...actually,Cody's treasure is everybody's food. Recently, Codydeveloped a fetish for really expensive shoes, which wasokay at first because he only chewed Maureen's shoes,however, Cody and I have regular conversations since hedecided to chew a pair of my shoes. Over the last twomonths, Cody has gone from being the perfect laid backgentleman to being the goofiest, bull in a china shop thatyou can imagine...exactly the kind of dog I look for. At9.00 p.m. every night, Cody goes to bed (our bed). Hebundles all of the covers in the middle and takes his spotbehind the bundle and does not move until 7.30 a.m., justin time to eat. Our animals are the center of our universe,they bring us peace and happiness, we would be lostwithout them.

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Scooter Moss, by Tony Moss

Three Photo Stars from "The Moss Pack," continued

Scooter is a 6 year old boy who never raced. WhenScooter joined our family, he was quiet and shy. Overthe following years, a really large personality emerged.Scooter knows what he wants and more often than not,he wants it now!

Most evenings, Scooter likes to play after dinner.He will go outside and stand at the bottom of the stairsand look for me to come out to play. When I stand onthe deck, he will bark, and if I don't immediately comedown the stairs to play, he begins to bark and dig. If Iyell at him or try to correct him, he barks louder anddigs faster. When we moved from our home inDelaware to Tennessee, it took two truck loads of dirt tofill Scooter's holes, one of them was approximately 3 feetdeep and about 4 feet around. Playing involvesdifferent routines each night, sometimes he wants tochase thrown toys, other nights it's rough play with himgrabbing my arms and jumping into my chest whilegrowling or just running at full speed past me whilegetting as close as he can, sometimes actually brushing

me with his hind legs while passing. It doesn't matterwhat the nightly routine is, it always ends with Scooterjumping into his pool and laying down for a while beforerunning the door and waiting to be dried with hisfavorite towel. Scooter's newest game is that he does notwant to wear a belly band during the day. One morningrecently before leaving for work, Scooter was nowhere tobe found. Eventually, we found him in the back of acloset, somewhere he never goes. This has become thenew daily game, Hide & Seek. Scooter is anoutstanding companion to both Maureen and me.

Editor's Note: Maureen and Tony Moss might have,either in total OR at any given time, more greyhoundsthan you'll find in the typical adoption group. My mindboggles at managing daily events like feeding time, treattime, sleep time or cuddle time. They've always made itwork, and work perfectly. And with Tony as the writerand Maureen as the photographer, we have a glimpseinto 3 of the “family.” Thank you both!

FOR RENTEXCELLENT

HOLE DIGGINGMACHINE!

Page 5Sonny Fontalbert. By Lisa Fontalbert

Editor's Note: There are a fair number of “secondchance” dogs whose first (or in Sonny's case, second)home placements just didn't work. I know, one of myboys has been down this road before he came here.This doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with thedog, it just takes a while to find the right fit with theright family. Circumstances and chemistry...I liken itto dating.

Sonny has lived in a home environment longerthan many greyhounds, but that does not mean hispath in life has been easy. Sonny is a big boy andprobably wasn’t as athletic as some of his peers. At ayoung age he was deemed “not race worthy.” (Goodfor him!) As we all know that can be a precarioustime for many greyhounds. Sonny was lucky to befound by Greyhound Adoptions of Florida when hecame off of the breeding/training farm. Not long afterthat he was adopted by what was thought to be aloving family. I’m sure this family had every intentionof giving him whatever he needed for the rest of hislife. But after a period of time this family’s prioritieschanged and suddenly Sonny wasn't wanted anylonger. He was again lucky that this family contactedGAF and GAF quickly (and gladly) scooped him upagain.

His next home was with Mary Prather. For thosethat know Mary, you know he landed in a very secure,loving home. When he came to Mary she was told

that he had a vet diagnosed digestive disorder withfrequent diarrhea and that he needed to be on ‘special’food. He also came back to GAF missing a toe. Why??We'll never know this. Mary put him on the same diet asher other dogs to evaluate him in her home and guesswhat? He did not have diarrhea and he was fine! Wesuspect that Sonny was not happy in the other home andhe has not had this problem since that time. Afterfostering with Mary for a period of time Mary felt hewas in good health and would fit well with many familiesinterested in having a greyhound in their home.

At that time he came north and was initiallymatched with a family that thought they wanted agreyhound. They did everything they could to maketheir home a good home for a greyhound. They fencedtheir yard (while snow was on the ground), bought abrand new crate in anticipation of transitioning a newgreyhound off the track, and went through our homevisit process with success. On adoption day thoughthings quickly fell apart. The family also had a smaller(bossy) dog and when we introduced them Sonny wouldnot stay in the same room with the smaller dog and heseemed afraid. Needless to say, we did not do theadoption...and as the person witnessing this event andknowing what Sonny had already been though with hisfirst family (not to mention he was a super love bug!) hecame back to my home and never left!

Page 6From Your Editor

Another busy, quite frankly, beastly hot, drippysummer in north central Florida finally coming to anend. There were some days when the humiditypercentage was higher than the temperature; hard tobreathe days. And Your Editor was very satisfied tostay camped out under A/C working on the GAFonline auction (guess you heard: it was a knock-out,blow-out success thanks to everyone contributing!) withmy two hounds stretched languorously upside down oncushions and the couch in my office. Greyhounds knowthat sleeping through it is best for beating the heat.

As you've seen, we've spotlighted our website CoverDogs in this issue. They're all GAF dogs, allindividuals in personality and appearance, and all havehad the very good fortune to end up in families wherethe photographic skills are exceptional since the covershots had very specific horizontal expansionrequirements. Also in this issue is a piece by Dr. KimJosey on her time and lectures at Mountain Hounds,and a story that may well move you to tears by ValerieDeLisle on her Ben.

Our Tallahassee legislative games begin again on 12January. Besides the never-ending Florida fight, GAFis participating in the worldwide #CloseTheCanidromecandlelight protest. We should be immersed in thisglobal effort just as this issue is going into production.The Canidrome is the only dog track in Asia, inMacau, and, it's impossible to put this next sentencegently: no dog leaves the Canidrome alive. No, there isno adoption program. There are now about 700 dogsthere, who will never survive it unless worldwide effortscan get it closed, and over its 52-year history, quiteprobably over 18,000 greyhounds saw the end of theirdays in this hell hole. Grey2K USA Worldwide isspearheading this protest and you can help most bydonating to their efforts:https://www.givinggrid.com/closethecanidrome/ GivingGrid is a new (very cool!) donation vehicle where youcontribute graphically as well, by participating in a

photo array that includes all donors. Optically andviscerally very, very cool!

A huge thank you to all our contributors...and let'sget out with our furry buddies and enjoy Autumn!And take pictures, please!

Stetson, by Maureen Moss, one of myall-time favorite “Studies in Deep

Greyhound Reflection”

Joyce

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Editor's Note: Dr. Josey is a graduate of Cleveland ChiropracticCollege and has been treating animals and humans throughout theCarolinas for the past 15 years. She and her family adopted Gretel,our Crowdfunding star, last year...and this past May the entirefamily did Mountain Hounds. Dr. Kim hosted seminars while thekids and Dad and Gretel took in the sights and the eats!! Happyfamily time!

I had the privilege to attend my first greyhound retreat in Maythis year. Mountain Hounds is hosted by GFNC (GreyhoundFriends of North Carolina) and takes place in Gatlinburg, TN.The retreat is an opportunity for owners and fans of greyhounds togather for a long weekend full of activities. Mountain Hounds wasa beautiful production of games, ceremonies, seminars, vending(greyhound shopping bliss), and even a short fun sprint called theMountain Hound Hustle.

During the seminars, I talked about animal chiropractic andhow it would benefit your hound. Most retired racers could benefitfrom chiropractic care because of possible track injuries, repetitivemovements and age. There are also more subtle reasons to haveyour dog adjusted, such as jumping on and off the furniture, layingor sitting to only one side, gently but consistently pulling on theleash, walking with too long nails and compensating for an injuryin another area of the body. These less obvious causes are calledmicro traumas and are easier to overlook because they happengradually. Once you have your dog evaluated by an animalchiropractor to determine if care would be appropriate, chiropracticbenefits include more mobility, more fluid gait and less pain.

It is important to find the right chiropractor to fit your needs.An excellent site to help you with this is www.avcadoctors.comOn this site you will be able to search certified animal chiropractorsin your state or country. These doctors are licensed chiropractorsor veterinarians who have completed training, passed a certificationexam and maintain continuing education hours.

That was the serious side of what we did at MountainHounds. The remainder of the time Gretel enjoyed meeting othergreyhounds and walking in the beautiful surroundings. My kidshad fun at the pool and had ice cream at Kilwin's each night. Theentire family was able to get away for the weekend, not worry aboutcooking and the kids thought it was pretty cool to have Gretel inthe hotel room with us!

Mountain Hounds 2015 by Dr. Kim Josey

Jeanine Certo's Ebby was the Demo Dog!

Gretel makes herself at home in Jeanine'sroom with huge stuffy friend.

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All of us at Grey Haven are extremely happy to see the worst of the heat ofsummer disappearing and even the dogs react to the drop in the morningtemperature and humidity! It's crazy to watch them all run around the yardszooming and barking with joy at the cool air! Appetites are better and we areseeing the playfulness that we've missed the last few months. Other than theexcess amount of huge holes being dug, this is a good time here at the farm.

We are starting to make lists of the cool weather tasks: weeds that needpulling, fences that need repairs and a few buildings that could stand a coat ofpaint...part of the never-ending cycle of farm maintenance. Even our wonderfulvolunteers show up in larger numbers when the weather cools off.

Most of our volunteers come from The Villages...a huge retirement areaabout an hour south of Grey Haven. The Villages Greyhound Club held itsfirst fundraising meeting of the season last week. Event planning is acollaboration between Carol Bellavia, a GAF board member and fundraisinggenius and Enis Bissonnette, the Villages Greyhound Club President. Theseladies are tireless, dedicated and always open to new ideas and new members.So, if you're in The Villages and you spot someone walking a greyhound, invitethem to join the club! Enis can be reached at: eabis@thevillages.net andCarol is at anglia48@aol.com We're anticipating the "snow bird" arrivals andthat means Bingo, Night Golf, Pancake Breakfasts, Walk-Abouts and othertime-honored and always successful events are right around the corner. (Watchfor a list of these to appear soon on our website and Facebook Page.)

Marilyn's Thoughts

Marilyn Varnberg President andCo-Founder of GreyhoundAdoptions of Florida, Inc.

The Villages Greyhound Club spends a lot of time and effort supporting our greyhounds. They enable us tocontinue our work all winter long and their members spend enough time out here to appreciate our need for continuousfundraising. Dogs break legs year round in Florida...brood moms are always in need of a place to go when they are nolonger bred...dogs grade off tracks every single month here. We can never let up with fundraising as the need never letsup. The Villages folks truly keep us going with their energy, their volunteer spirit and their support.

Won't you consider joining our retired friends this falland send a donation to Grey Haven? (Paypal is easy andwe love to get checks!) You can always sponsor one of ourkennel kids or donate a special gift card from Publix orSams! Or, we would be honored to accept a donation inmemory of a friend or a dog or to note a special occasion.Helping the greyhounds at Grey Haven is a wonderful wayto celebrate the coming of Everyone's Cooler Weather! Thedogs might even slow down long enough to thank you.

Marilyn

Page 9How Ben Became a Dog. By Valerie DeLisle

Editor's Note: How much worse could things havegotten for poor Ben? How much more trauma could hedeal with? We say this from time to time but never was itmore true: Compassion and empathy in action are whatmake Greyhound People the very best. Thank you somuch, Valerie...bet there won't be a single dry eye afterreading your story.

This past Winter we received a call from agreyhound owner who was worried about her 10 yearold dog and made the difficult decision to find him anew home. His owner explained he had extremeseparation anxiety and was injuring himself when leftalone in the house. She had tried various ways ofconfining him but he would chew to break out of anyconfinement and had even broken a tooth on door trim.

After listening to her story I made an appointmentto go visit with them and to assess Ben’scondition/injuries. While there she told me more abouthis past, which made me feel so sorry for this poor boy.Ben had a previous owner and already had separationanxiety at that point. It was being dealt with bymedication. During the time Ben spent with this ownerhis anxiety was up and down with various medicationsand he had suffered from a dog attack while at a dogpark. This owner had passed away in his home andthree days had passed before someone found him, whichleft Ben alone with his deceased owner for days withoutfood and water. Such a traumatic thing for a dog withexisting issues to go through! Ben had gone back to anadoption group and was re-homed to the current ownerwho decided to take him off of all anxiety medicationsand try to work with him through trainers. Rather thanleave Ben home alone during the day she tried doggiedaycare, but Ben suffered yet another bad dog attackwith serious injuries. Her last resort was to build a penfor him in the basement with a couch and a window tolook out of but he injured himself trying to chew his wayout, breaking a tooth. He wasn’t eating well and wouldonly eat if they mixed cat food with his kibble. That’swhen she decided another home might be best for himand made the call to Marilyn.

I knew someone whose greyhound had passed awaymonths before and only adopted senior dogs. I calledher and she agreed to foster to see if his anxiety wassomething she could handle/work with. She is a seniorcitizen who was home all day except for errands and hada nice cat to keep Ben company. Once Ben was signedover to GAF I took him over to meet his new potentialowner. We agreed that he would not be confined at alland that a muzzle would be used to keep him fromchewing. All of his things came with him so he had afamiliar bed and toys to help with the transition.

Although his foster Mom adored him and he settledin beautifully while she was home, he was still havingtrouble when she went out to run errands. A couple oftimes he got his muzzle off and chewed up the trimaround the doorway. I went to visit with him a couple oftimes while she was at church and noticed even with methere he was pacing around without her there. We triedcalming music, essential oil diffusers, anything otherthan medication and/or confinement but nothing wasmaking much of a difference. He showed minorimprovement but would still panicked if she left thehouse.

A few months after, she had to go out of town for aweek. I felt the best place for him was at my house whileshe was away, I could take some time off work and workwith him and keep a close eye on him. I hoped being

© 2015 GAF www.ahome4greys.org

Page 10

around my 3 greys would also provide him some comfort when I had to go out.After the first day I felt like this was the right place for him and my husband andI decided to adopt him. It just broke my heart seeing him with such bad anxietyand felt the need to be the one to help him. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into,seeing this boy pace, scream and cry on the camera if I went out, but I had to try.

Our 3 greys instantly welcomed him into the “pack” and treated him as if helived here for years, even Tigger who generally doesn’t like other male dogs. Ithink they sensed his need for belonging and that he was no threat to them at all.They let him snuggle with them, encouraged him out in the yard and toinvestigate the toy box inside.

It was a bit of a rough start because we found some health issues we had todeal with as well – he had a broken tooth, his foot was sore which we found to be

How Ben Became a Dog, continued

Newsletter Contact: Joyce CartaJoyce@JoyceCarta.com

Production: Phil Carta©2015 Greyhound Adoptions of Florida, Inc.

a bone infection from a previous injury that hadn’t healed, and a growth between histoes that was bothering him. We could not get the bone infection to heal with amonth of antibiotics so we consulted with a surgeon who urged us to amputate histoe. We also had the growth removed because he would chew and make it bleed.

Through all of this, over the course of a few months, we were noticing somechanges in Ben. He was no longer picking at his food and leaving most of it. Hewas on a good kibble dog food with healthy supplements mixed in for joint health.Once we got his injuries taken care of we noticed he was moving better andbecoming more playful. He would start to dig toys out of the toy box and trotaround with one. He was enjoying spending time in the backyard either laying on abed on the deck or out in the grass. He would snuggle on the couch with one of theother dogs. When he first came to us he wouldn’t eat treats but he was starting to trynew things was soon “asking” for treats! When we had to go out he was starting tocry less, sometimes I would come home and find him sound asleep!

Today, Ben still has some level of anxiety but on a scale from 1-10 he has gonefrom a 10 to about a 3. He eats every meal, loves treats, begs for food when we eaton the couch, races around the yard with the other dogs, picks toys up and runsaround the house like a maniac with them, relaxes in the grass, roaches on the couch!He still has moments when he cries if I leave but he is always muzzled when no oneis home to keep him from chewing and injuring his teeth, but about 75% of the timenow I come home and find him napping. This sweet, amazing boy has gone fromonly eating cat food, not taking treats, not playing and being in a complete panicwhen left home alone to a happy, playful, smiling boy who acts like a normal dog,doing dog things. We used no medications or confinement, just love, trust andunderstanding. We fell in love with him instantly and he is truly something special.He is no longer “the loud dog that panics and chews,” he is just a dog...our baby!