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

PROPERTY REDEVELOPMENT

It has started! The old kennels have been demolished, and the site is now being prepared for construction. We are all very excited!

WHERE'S WALLY?

No, where's Miles! Miles likes to sneak into the photos of the GAP dogs available for adoption. See if you can find him!

PHOTOS

We have added some photos from the GAP Christmas party to our website. You'll find a link to them on our homepage.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2nd March - Guide Dog Association Open Day. Come along and meet the GAP hounds! Chandler Hwy, Kew. 10.00am - 4.00pm.

2nd March - Greyhound Walking Club gathering. Thai festival, Federation Square. Meet at the floral clock on the corner of St Kilda Rd and Linlithgow Ave (Melways ref 2F H8). The walk will go to Federation Square and then for a walk along the river. If you are running late or lost, please phone Steve on 0432 873 821.

2nd March - Park Orchards Playgroup. 10am - 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.

9th March - 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.

16th March - Greyhound Walking Club gathering. Brighton dog beach. Meet at the dog beach at 10.30am. Melways ref 67 C10. The beach is at the end of Sandown Street, Brighton. The dogs will have a swim or go for a walk, depending on the weather. If you are running late or lost, please phone Steve on 0432 873 821.

16th March - 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.

21st March - Good Friday Appeal. 12.00pm - 4.00pm. Loads of fun and entertainment for the whole family, including special appearances from the Geelong Football Club, face painting, jumping castles and the Easter Bunny! Volunteers are needed to bring their dogs along to help with this promotion. If you would like to attend, please email gap@grv.org.au. Thanks!

22nd March - Red Hill Show. Volunteers are needed to bring their dogs along to help with this promotion. If you would like to attend, please email gap@grv.org.au. Thanks!

30th March - Greyhound Walking Club gathering. Studley Park Boathouse at Yarra Bend. Meet at the kiosk under the boathouse cafe at 10.30am for a coffee etc, and then go for a walk through the parklands. Please note that this is the part of the park near Johnstone Street, and not the Fairfield Boathouse off Heidelberg Rd. Melways ref 2D F8. If you are running late or lost, please phone Steve on 0432 873 821.

6th April - Eastern Regional Pet Expo, Ferntree Gully. Volunteers are needed to bring their dogs along to help with this promotion. If you would like to attend, please email gap@grv.org.au. Thanks!

6th April - Park Orchards Playgroup. 10am - 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.

13th April - Melbourne University Vet Clinic Open Day, Werribee. Volunteers are needed to bring their dogs along to help with this promotion. If you would like to attend, please email gap@grv.org.au. Thanks!

13th April - 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.

20th April - 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. Cooper, the greyhound featured in the last newsletter, has now found a home!

ANGEL

If you're looking for a VERY low maintenance dog or one that is suitable for an apartment lifestyle, then look no further! Angel's favourite pastime is doing nothing at all! She's a friendly girl with people and other dogs. She is not cat friendly. Angel loves nothing more than to sit on her bed all day and not move. To get her to go to the toilet at night, her foster carer has to literally tip her off her bed and push her half way across the house and she still just lies there! Angel loves to lay on her bed, flat on her back, with her legs in the air being very un-lady like. She is good with school aged children. Angel is a very low maintenance dog who will be great for anyone who wants a dog that doesn't do much at all. She is nine years old (born 12/11/1998) and will be ready for adoption in early March.

Dear Oscar,

I hope you can help me. My 2 legged family feed me all sorts of different food and I am not sure what is best for my health. At the moment I get some dry food, some fresh meat, treats, leftovers from dinner, the fat off the meat when they have a BBQ and the cat's food when I can sneak in and eat it. Sometimes my mum cooks food specially for me, but she puts those yucky green "pea" things in it!

I want to know what is best for me to eat. How can I keep my athletic figure, my coat shiny, my tastebuds happy and stay in optimum health?

Anonymous Grey (I can't tell you my name as I don't want my mum to find out I don't like her cooking!)

Dear Anonymous Grey,

My favourite thing to eat is the aged lamb legs that I sometimes find out in the paddock. My mum though is not happy when I bring them back and says that the smell makes her sick. What's wrong with her? She tells me that I need to eat properly or I'll get sick or shorten my life span, and I don't want to do that as I still have so much to achieve (beating Zephyr up the drive, teaching my humans to bark, world domination etc).

My parents used to make all kinds of food for me too, but after doing a bit of research they found that it was cheaper, easier and better to feed me a premium dry food. Because the GAP dogs get fed ADVANCE, I do now too. Yum! I still love aged lamb, but mum is happier now she knows I'm being fed a balanced meal that meets all my nutritional requirements, and that I'm getting all the essential vitamins and minerals that will help me stay healthy and live for a long time.

The other day I visited my cousin Marvey, and I haven't seen him for ages. He couldn't stop staring at my shiny coat! I told him it was from the horse manure conditioner that I regularly roll in, but mum says it is from the ADVANCE.

You can find out more about ADVANCE by visiting their website at the bottom of this newsletter. All the GAP dogs love it, so you will too!

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 - AM I SUITABLE?

I can't foster because:

- I work full time, there isn't someone home all the time, I live in an apartment, I don't have much of a backyard, I have young children, I don't have any other animals, I can only have the dog inside of an evening and that isn't enough is it? These are all reasons people give as to why they think they wouldn't be suitable as a foster carer. Strangely enough, these are reasons that actually make these people more suitable to be a foster carer.

The idea behind fostering a dog prior to adoption is to help prepare that dog for the different experiences, lifestyles and situations he/she will encounter in their life as a pet. More times than not, this will be a home where people work full time and can only have the dog inside with them for a couple of hours in the evening. We are also getting an increasing number of people looking for dogs to live in apartments with very small backyards. Therefore, it is far more beneficial for the dog to get used to the sort of lifestyle that he/she will be placed into as a pet during their fostering stage. This also helps GAP to determine which dogs are best suited to the many different types of living environments that our dogs now live in. The wider the spectrum of foster homes available, the wider the spectrum of adoptive homes we can place our dogs into.

So, if you think you wouldn't be suitable as a foster carer, think again! Remember, even if you try it once and decide that it's not for you, then that's one life that you've been directly responsible for saving. Next time you look into the soulful eyes of a greyhound, think about the satisfaction you'd feel if you knew that YOU were the person who made it possible for that dog to move onto their new life.

UPDATE - CONFIRMED CASES OF FAILED FOSTER CARER SYNDROME

Further to the health alert in last month's newsletter, it appears as though F.F.C.S. (Failed Foster Carer Syndrome) and G.O.D. (Greyhound Obsessive Disorder) are well and truly spreading their evil claws right throughout the state. The following documented cases have come from brave souls as far apart as Sale and Sunbury. Both have shown great courage in speaking about their illness publicly and we can only hope their openness will encourage other suffers to acknowledge and deal with this epidemic. Be alert and alarmed - you could be next!

Hi all 
 
My latest foster Ash has bought with her a major change in my boy Brock...today was the first day he has picked up a toy to play with! He really IS trying everything! He likes her so much...and so do I! I am already feeling funny about having to part with her and we have not even had her a week yet :-( What is wrong with me? 
Jacki

Nothing Jacki. It's one of the side effects of F.F.C.S and G.O.D. and when you meet another beautiful Greyhound, especially a foster. Been there and done that! You have only two choices, and you can figure that one out. Good luck..
Bea.

Hi to everyone at GAP,

I just wanted to write and let you all know of some sad news about Sarah, who I adopted after a 'failed' foster care period last year. Very sadly she passed away suddenly on Monday 4th Feb and after speaking with the local vet it sounds as though she most likely had a stroke. I did place a very teary phone call shortly after, but wanted to get back in touch with you after a while. Sarah was just the sweetest old girl, and although she only saw her 8th birthday with me I won't forget her. It did not take long for me to become afflicted with the 'failed foster carer syndrome' and although it is terrible to lose her, I can say with some happiness that she has shown me how special our greys are, and she certainly won't be my last.

It is coming up to four weeks since she passed and although not that long, I am really missing having a hound around the house! I would like to look into foster caring again (with the intent not to fail on the first hound this time around!) 

I hope you are all well and the hounds happy!

Many thanks,
Laura

A letter from a greyhound trainer

Hi GAP,

Thank you for letting me know how my dogs are settling in! I am always worried when we let the kids go as I often don't hear from the people who end up adopting them. Bully is a gorgeous boy and is just starting to get a personality instead of being a tin soldier which is how he was when we got him. He's a bit goofy but a lovely boy.

Monty and Pinky are my favourites as I just love their personalities. I'm so glad that Pinky is going to his new home as he does like hugs and kisses.

Monty has been great with the poodles and in the house, so I was a bit surprised that he had a look at your Stumpy. I guess it's because it's a different dog. He loves a cuddle so please give him one for me! I would have kept him as my own but we still have nine oldies plus the poodles. I have to admit it was very hard to say goodbye to these two boys.

I hope that Suzy has settled in OK as she is a nice young girl but can still be a bit flightly as young girls seem to be.

Thank you for the picture of Tripod (now Plugger) - isn't it so nice to see them like that laying around with the children! The cahp that has him has phoned a couple of times to let us know how he is going. We were so pleased to hear from him.

Thanks again for everything you do!

Narelle Podmore

A huge thank you to Bayer Australia and Advance for your continued support during 2008. With your assistance our hounds are parasite free and well fed!