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Hello fellow members, I have found this forum very comforting for me after loosing both of our two girls this year; one in February and one in July. We are looking to adopt another at some point when ready but wanted to share our family with the rest of you all. We have fostered several dogs, owned several more. Not all ex racers but the Italian greyhounds as well. I will be posting some pics when I get some more uploaded. I just wanted to say hi and hope to join in the talk. Thanks!

Hi, there! Just stumbled across this forum while looking for information on my new grey's tummy issue (Blackheads, yuck!) and decided sign up. Please allow me to introduce Be Me (we call him Arrow now). He is 28 inches tall at the shoulder and he weighs 80.5lbs. He was born July 25, 2008 and was placed at Steel City Greyhounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in July of 2013. Arrow was adopted by another family for approximately 3 weeks before being returned to SCG's care because, "He's too hard to handle." I came across Arrow's photo in mid-September while looking for a dog to rescue and still debating whether I wanted to adopt a greyhound or adopt from the local Animal Rescue League. I also researched a few other greyhound rescues and finally decided to fill out an adoption application for SCG. (One rescue wanted around 10 references including the neighbors on either side of us - we just moved here, don't know our neighbors and for the most part don't care too: one's anit-social, the other is a house full of former frat guys with no manners and the rest keep to themselves, BUT that doesn't mean WE aren't responsible dog owners - skipped that rescue.) Three weeks later, I got a phone call from Chuck, the VP of Steel City Greyhounds. SCG houses their hounds in a Doggy Resort/Day Care (that donates kennel space) because they believe that it's less stressful on them than using a fostering program. The kennel was kind enough to allow us to come in a meet a few dogs and my husband and I fell in love with Arrow. A week later, we brought our new, furry bundle of joy to his new, forever home. That was one week and 5 days ago and it feels like Arrow has been a part of our family from the start. We had the typical incidents; a couple accidents on the floor in the first 24 hours, a little bit of growling as he found his place in our, "pack," (and learned that he can't claim the couch), and a bit of anxiety over stairs and our slippery hard-wood floors upstairs, but after we got through that, well, we couldn't ask for a better dog. I couldn't ask for a better companion. (He conquered the floors and the stairs all by himself - coaxing, nudging, bribing; all failed that day and we HAD to start our day so we went down stairs without him - and he has been racing up and down the stairs and across the wood floors like a champ since!) He's so brave, in the truest sense of the word. Arrow is so smart he simply blows me away. He's gentle and quiet yet exuberant and playful. He seems to have boundless energy but he's just as happy to fall asleep on one of his beds while I do things around the house. He really is a velcro dog too, if I leave a room, he follows and will plant himself anywhere soft (or at least flat) until I move again. Arrow is amazingly tolerant too; I can clean his feet, treat his blackheads, brush his teeth, and he even let me clean and bandage a wound I found on his back foot on day three with us. Meeting his new vet was awesome; he is such a lover and so curious, he did really well at the vet, greated everyone and took everything in stride...even having his temperature taken! LOL Walks are fairly easy though he loves to GO! That said, he has a little trouble remembering to walk slow enough to stay beside me but generally, I have no trouble with him and he'll walk on a loose leash. He doesn't bark at people or other dogs and as long as I'm confident, he follows my lead willingly past loud city buses, noisy construction and even aggressive dogs on the other sides of fences. He recently got a new coat, tummy warmer and boots and he was a total trooper getting used to the boots in the house! He went for his evening walk in the entire ensemble tonight and other than enjoying warm toes, it was no different than walks without the get-up. He's SUCH a good dog. Truly amazing. It's hard for us to believe that he was "too much," for anyone. Though, I'm just glad we were lucky enough to be able to bring him into our lives. Part of the reason we adopted a dog was company for me (Arrow is great company too) and partly because of my health issues. I have chronic pain; fibromyalgia, endometriosis and the doctor's still aren't sure there isn't something auto-immune going on but all the tests have come back normal. Still waiting on a new rheumatologist who can't see me until March! My primary doctor wants me to walk daily but with the anxiety caused by being utterly incapacitated and in moderate to severe pain all the time, it's been nearly impossible to do alone. Walking my mother-in-law's little 15lb rescue dog was company enough to ease the anxiety so we decided a dog would be helpful for me. Arrow has been wonderful to have around. I'm in a lot more pain from two, 40 minute walks a day, and several potty breaks, but over all, I feel SO much better. Happier. More like myself again. A little extra rest and a little help from my husband and I'll be able to manage the walks without any trouble in no time. I used to be in sports as a kid and have always been athletic and active so I know this pain will ease as I rebuild some stamina. Besides, my boy needs me and he never lets me down. He's always there with wet nose-bumps, face licks, and head-butt-hugs. Having an animal depending on me like this is helping me physically, mentally and emotionally for so many reasons. I also used to be a total work-a-holic before the health problems took away my ability to work. (My husband can walk Arrow if I'm having a really bad pain day, he can't however, go to work for me and employers don't much like it when their employees can't come in on time or even at all because of chronic illness.) Having Arrow to care for has given me a sense of accomplishing something more important than just cleaning the kitchen. I feel less useless and pointless now. (My hubby is my biggest supporter but he's not a magician and all the support in the world doesn't replace the sense of accomplishment that working brings and I've never been interested in the "homemaker," role my health has forced me into.) Any way, that's our little family. We gave Arrow a loving home and Arrow filled a hole in our hearts we didn't know needed filling. He's helping me get my life back and hopefully, long walks, good food, warm beds, loving "parents," and plenty of belly rubs are adequate for him in return.

In his friendly greetings of other dogs on walks, my grey wags his tail, sniffs appropriately, and happily goes on his way. But I noticed recently that his hackles are always raised during these greetings, whether he's saying hi to a dachshund, a Great Dane, or even his greyhound bffs. Anyone else notice this with their hounds? I'd always heard that his is a sign of aggression, but he shows zero other signs of annoyance or fear. He loves other dogs of all shapes and sizes, so maybe it's more a display of excitement? Anyway, just curious to hear from others.