Welcome to Edition Four of the GAP newsletter! We hope you’ll find it an informative and enjoyable read.

We spent all of September preparing for, attending, then packing up after the Royal Melbourne Show! Thank you to all the volunteers who helped make it another successful promotion of GAP and greyhounds as pets. We were inundated with people willing to help with this event so we offer our apologies to anyone who missed out. We won second prize in the Commercial Exhibitor awards and have had many adoption inquiries, so congratulations to everyone who helped make it such a great display.

EQUITANA

Sadly Equitana has been cancelled due to the EI outbreak. It will be rescheduled to November 2008.

THE PERFECT PET - GREYHOUND ADOPTION PROGRAM CALENDAR

This fabulous calendar is now on sale! You can order a copy online on the GAP website. If you would prefer to pay by cheque, the calendars are $22 each (including postage). You can post your order to GAP, PO Box 785, Seymour Vic 3661

GAP CHRISTMAS PARTY

The GAP Christmas Party is being held at the GAP Kennels in Seymour on Sunday 18th November. We always need volunteers on the day to help with the playgroup, sausage sizzle, merchandise sales, raffle etc. If you'd like to volunteer your time, please let us know. We are also seeking donations for the raffle - items do not need to be dog related. If you'd like to make a donation please post it to GAP or phone our office and we'll arrange collection. Thanks!

OCTOBER CALENDAR OF EVENTS

7th October - Park Orchards Playgroup. 1.00pm - 3.00pm. Stintons Reserve, Stintons Rd, Park Orchards. Melways ref 35 B8. Everyone is welcome but only greyhounds are allowed to run on the track.

7th October - Ballarat Playgroup. 2.00pm - 4.00pm. Ballarat Greyhound Track, Rubicon St, Ballarat. Everyone is welcome but only greyhounds are allowed to run on the track. 

21st October - Greyhound Walking Group walk at Williamstown Craft Market, Commonwealth Reserve (Nelson Place, Williamstown). Melways ref 56 D9. Meet at 10.30am at the Information building, near the corner of Syme St. Everyone welcome! Phone Steve Curlett on 0432 873 821 if you require further information.

21st October - Tootgarook Playgroup. 1.00pm - 3.00pm. Truemans Road Reserve, Truemans Rd, .Rosebud West. Melways ref 169 E6. Everyone is welcome but only greyhounds are allowed to run on the track.

GAP always has lots of fantastic greyhounds that are available for adoption. Each month we will choose one special dog to profile. But remember all of our dogs ready to adopt can be found on our website, just click on the link below to check out all of the dogs currently available.

Toni, the lovely girl featured in the September newsletter, is sadly still waiting for a home. You can read more about her on the GAP website.

BOMBER

The best word to describe Bomber is JOYOUS. He is one of the most happy, affectionate and friendly dogs you'll meet. The one thing Bomber needs to make his world completely perfect is a person of his own. He bonds very quickly and can't understand why people keep on passing him by. He is a bit of a "rough-nut", but there is no malice in it. Because he is a big dog, and he loves to greet everyone like they are his long lost best friend, he'd be great in a home with teenage or older children. Bomber loves to play and is happiest when he's making people laugh. He spent a few days recently at the Royal Melbourne Show helping GAP promote greyhounds as pets and he loved to lay on his back on the couch and wave his legs around in the air.

Bomber is fine as an only dog and he would also get along well with another (medium to large) playful dog. He is not suitable for a home with cats. He is a favourite with GAP staff and we're hoping that someone reading this will offer this lovely clown a home.

I didn't receive any letters this month, so I thought I'd tell you a bit about some of the other people that work at GAP.

First, there is Miles. If you've ever been to Seymour, you will have met Miles. He used to be a very good race dog and won lots of money, but luckily he didn't let it go to his head. Now he likes to pretend he's a guard dog and he barks to tell us if someone has arrived. He's proud he learnt how to do that, as he knows that not many greyhounds are very good guard dogs like him. Miles likes to come and help when we're testing new dogs. If Miles is outside by himself, he'll go and stand at Melanie's window and beg to come in, even though the office door is open.

Next are Stumpy and Freddy. Stumpy is the GAP testing dog and all the greyhounds that come into GAP are shown him so that we know they are ok with little dogs. He isn't very smart, but he's a happy chap and he loves his job. Freddy used to be a testing dog too, but he likes to bite the greyhounds so he lost his job pretty quickly. He just hangs around now keeping Stumpy company. I used to be a test dog too but after testing over 1200 greyhounds I decided I'd had enough.

Lastly there is Alice and Aileen. They are the test cats. Alice lives in the GAP office with Miles, and Aileen lives in the cattery as she hates Alice. A lot of the greyhounds are tested with the cats, but very few pass. That's why there is a longer wait to adopt the cat-friendly dogs. Alice is very naughty and kills lots of birds so we are putting all kinds of things on her collar to try to stop her. Alice looks like an old friend of mine called Elmo, but she won't play with me like he did. Aileen isn't very fond of people but she loves the greyhounds. Alice likes to come and stand by the trailer when Peter brings all the new dogs back to GAP each Monday. She also likes to come out and sit by the fence to watch us testing.

I hope that someone will write me a letter soon or they won't let me use the computer any more!

Oscar

Oscar is always keen to offer advice to greyhounds and their people. He loves to receive letters so if you have a question you need answered, please write to:

Dear Oscar
c/o GAP
PO Box 785
Seymour
VIC 3661

FOSTERING GREYHOUNDS-The ups and downs. 
By Bea Anderson

People ask why do you foster Greyhounds. How can you take them home and then give them back? It’s difficult to answer.

Honey, then known as Tranny, was my first foster Greyhound, arriving Good Friday, 2000. She was so terribly thin, and such a pale, uninteresting colour. But her beautiful soft dark eyes won me over as soon as I looked into them.

As I stood looking at this dog that was so different, I thought “what have I done, this is a real live Greyhound on the end of the lead.” I was convinced she would bolt, leap the fences and disappear into the distance. But Honey did no such thing. It wasn’t long before Honey had me bewitched with her soft eyes and gentle manners. How could I have possibly thought her pale fawn colour was uninteresting? She was perfect!

The decision was made, Honey would be staying. I’d failed as a foster carer, but that didn’t worry me, or anyone else!. We settled down with Honey and our non-Grey Daisy. A few months later I thought I’d like to try fostering another Grey. That idea met with a little resistance but was overcome by me saying, quite confidently, there definitely would be no more permanent dogs. How naïve I was! I was so new to Greyhounds, and unaware of the way they worked their magic and was also unaware of this affliction that Greyhounds bring with them, called G.O.D. (Greyhound Obsessive Disorder). Along came a foster Grey, the gentle and bewildered Mr. Frank. What was this feeling I had? How could I become so quickly attracted to this gentle fellow. I was unaware that these were the first symptoms of G.O.D.! Finally it was time to return Mr Frank and I shed many tears over him. 

In November 2000 I met Nero. At first he didn’t look at me, trailed around behind me, showing no interest in anything, and lying down every time I stopped.  After a week of having Nero living with us I began to think there was something special about this dog. He was friendly and happy, and so well mannered. My mind began to work overtime. How could I convince my husband to keep this dog? He was adamant, no more dogs. Then I had a brainwave. It was his birthday in a week’s time. I told him I had a great Birthday present for him. He looked a little surprised, but then coughed and choked when I told him it was Nero. It was done. Nero was going to be a permanent member of our household.

I’d failed fostering again! GAP at that time had very few carers, so with the understanding there would DEFINITELY be no more permanent Greys, I became a foster carer. That way I could have the opportunity to meet and know more of these beautiful gentle creatures. Over the next few years fosters came and went. There were a few I was glad to see the last of, but the majority of them settled in easily. Most of them could have stayed, and were so hard to let go, but that was the deal!! The shy ones were the most difficult to return as you put so much of yourself into winning their confidence and trust.

However, fostering came to an unexpected stop in February 2005. At GAP I saw Lucy, a sad and doddery 10 y.o., with a life expectancy of about 12 months. My brain went into overdrive as I babbled to my husband about this poor old dog. He sighed, looked at the sky and agreed she could come home. It was settled, with a slight change to our agreement. No more foster dogs (or so I thought). That was O.K., I was happy, I had three Greyhounds and Daisy. Four dogs, I was in heaven!

There had been another intake of Greys at GAP, and kennel space was short. I began to get an itch, and it needed to be scratched. By now I recognized the symptoms. It was the onset of another bout of G.O.D. I wasn’t looking for another Grey to adopt, as I had three beautiful dogs. But, within 24 hours of Hilary’s arrival I knew that she was too good to let go.  I knew I was going to have to renew my membership with the Failed Foster Carers Club. Once more there was some fast talking. I used the excuse that Lucy was ageing, though still well and enjoying life. My decision was greeted with resigned acceptance, and Hilary joined our family.

When you have dogs, things happen, and sadly, Lucy’s time with me was up, long before I was expecting her to go. She let me know on 1st. September, the first day of Spring, 2007 that she was tired and needed to go. I was shattered. I’d lost my first Greyhound.

If you are thinking about becoming a foster carer, all I can say is, give it a try. There are smiles and joy at seeing your foster gain confidence and begin to discover life outside a kennel situation. There is also worry, concern, and the perhaps tears when one of your favourites has to move on.  But who knows, you too may become a member of the F.F.C.C. I believe we have quite a few members now as Greys continue to come and go. Some just come, and for some unexplained reason, they never go. I’ve joined the club three times, but I won’t be renewing my membership for quite a while!

I have no itch to scratch at the moment. No doubt that it will flare up again and I’ll make the trip to Seymour to find the cure, a foster Greyhound. I know what the outcome will be. There will be the pleasure of having another dog for a short time, a touch of anxiety as to how it will fit in with the existing pack, then the worry and pain at letting it go. But, there is also a sense of achievement and satisfaction when you hear that your foster dog has its own family. Perhaps you may be fortunate to meet up with a one of your foster dogs at the GAP Picnic. That is the reward of being a foster carer and giving a Grey a chance. There is always a Greyhound who needs someone to help show them to a new way of life.

If I can do it, anyone can.

Zeus and Nan

About five years ago, my grandfather died. He and my grandma had always had a dog, and when he died, they still had a little black bitser they called Boy-O. Boy-O died a year or so after my grandpa, and my grandma was then left alone.

We, my husband and I, already had Bob, who we adopted at the age of three (who didn't race and is a "big girl's blouse" - he was Mr June, the centrefold, a couple of years ago in the GAP calendar). Knowing how much a dog had always been part of her life, and having lost Grandpa and Boy-O, we set to work and soon Grandma was persuaded at looking at getting another dog for herself.

We thought a GAP dog was the answer... and so he was!

My mum and I made the trek out to Sandown after one phone call from Larissa. We had put down that a senior hound would be ideal... Zeus was 5 1/2 and had reached the end of his "stellar racing career" (or so Zeus says!!).

We were met by this absolutely enormous creature that half resembled a horse. Bob is a waif - the Kate Moss of the Greyhounds. Zeus IS his namesake.... a god amongst greyhounds and absolutely HUGE!

And so my mum and I take this canine example of titanic proportions to meet his new mum, somewhat fearful of being told he was "too big for an 80 year old woman" as he probably weighed more than her even then.

But I guess they had a special, instantaneous bond that made them inseperable.

Zeus was HER dog. He slept at the end of her bed, waking her with a cold nose to the cheek if he wanted to go out. He answered the door bell, even if she didn't hear it, acting as a butler to all who came calling, greeting them at the door and escorting them to wherever his Mum was sitting.

Indeed, poor Zeus had this used against him... if he didn't want to come inside, she would go to the front door and ring the doorbell! Zeus knew his job, and Grandma worked out how to get him in. Problem solved!

Zeus would stand next to Grandma's chair for hours at a time, greeting all visitors with an affectionate sniff (usually in the crotch), and be the gentle giant who greeted my four and two year old sons at the door. He would always run the hallway with them, but the only one who ever went down was Zeus (I suspect he was faking it though). He knew all the girls from Meals-on-Wheels, being especially nice to those he knew packed treats. The cleaning lady was a great friend, as were all her visitors - each of whom was implored, with large mournful eyes, to hand over some sort of treat found in bowls on the table. He especially loved the jubes that were meant to be for the humans, but...

Zeus is somewhat of a bowerbird... he looks for little treasures and takes them to bed. I'm glad this seems to be an isolated trait that Bob doesn't display however it is kind of cute to see a dog grab a nice bedside lamp and slyly take it to his bed! He is very particular about what he steals - seems this dog has taste - and any time something was misplaced around the house, it could usually be found on Zeus's bed.

My Grandma died on Tuesday 28th of August. She was in hospital for three weeks before that, and Zeus was here with Bob.

Zeus cried on the day she died; not before, and not since. I had to tell him, and it was harder than I thought it would be.

My four year old, after being told GG (Great Grandma) had died, wanted to know if someone had told Zeus, and if Zeus was sad his mum had died. My son told him again, just in case Zeus had missed it the first time, and it means so much more coming from a four year old. My son later stated that when he is bigger he's moving out so he can live at GG's and be Zeus's new Dad.

Zeus was very sad after his Mum died, but will soon be moving to a new house that holds the promise of walks and a whole lot of love. We would love to have him stay, but space is a limitation in our house and our yard can only accommodate one greyhound. Zeus will go to live with one of Grandma's dearest and most treasured friends, someone who knows him and loves him, and he loves her.

When grandma died, one thing was clear - she wanted to give back to the group who had given her her best friend for her final years. And so, in lieu of flowers, she wanted GAP to be donated money in the hope that the wonderful work done by GAP continues and that so many others may experience the love that is a GAP greyhound.

Thank you for Zeus and the joy he brought to my grandmother's life. Grandma and Grandpa met in Seymour and spent their early married life there before the war. So it is the place we will soon head back to, to scatter their ashes.

Two of the loves of her life, both from the one small town.

We are pleased to announce that Bayer have signed on as an official sponsor of Gap. Bayer will supply each dog in foster care a 3-month supply of Advocate which will ensure your dog is healthy and happy when you adopt him or her!   

Advocate kills more kinds of parasites in dogs and cats than any other all-in-one topical product. With one easy monthly application on your pet's neck, Advocate eliminates fleas and flea larvae, heartworm, hookworm, roundworm and ear mites. Advocate for dogs also kills whipworm, mange mites and lice. By giving your pet the most complete parasite protection, Advocate gives you peace of mind.

For further information on Advocate click on the link below