The Greyhound Adoption Program, or GAP, is an initiative of Greyhound Racing Victoria dedicated to finding homes for greyhounds that are no longer suitable for racing. While many greyhounds become available for adoption each year, misconceptions about these dogs deter people from owning them as pets. Due to the fact that they are of the sight hound family and aroused by the passion of chase, people mistakenly make the assumption that greyhounds are aggressive. Also, in the past greyhounds were required by law to wear a muzzle in public, creating the perception that they are hostile. It is one of our main goals to change the negative image so many people have of greyhounds, and through a more positive reputation, hope to increase the publics desire to care for these wonderful dogs after their racing careers have finished. Each greyhound is kept by GAP for a period of six to eight weeks in order to expose them to as many different experiences as possible (eg. Cats, children, small animals etc).

All our dogs are thoroughly temperament tested, and we will always take the dog back if your situation changes at any time. GAP greyhounds are desexed, microchipped, wormed, vaccinated and heartworm tested; an adoption fee exists only to attempt to recover some of these costs. More importantly, these dogs can give as much, if not more, affection than they receive. Similar programs have been highly successful in the USA and UK. It is our hope that GAP can improve the image of these beautiful hounds and find loving homes that will bring happiness to both owners and dogs.

GAP attends many events during the year that volunteers are welcome to assist at. We have an annual Gathering of the Greyhounds at Christmas time which is always a popular event with around 250 greyhounds and 500 people usually attending.

GAP publishes a monthly newsletter, and staff are always available to answer queries about your dog. Whether you are thinking about the possibility of adopting a retired racing greyhound or have made the decision to offer a home to one, we have compiled this information to help you and your family understand some of the experiences that a greyhound faces before being retired. Also included is important information regarding health care, specific breed facts and hints which will make integration of your new dog into the family home easier for all concerned.

Staff

GAP has three full time staff, two part time kennel hands, and around 100 foster carers and volunteers. The full time staff are:
Larissa Darragh: Larissa is the Manager of the Program. She started out with GAP as a foster carer in 1996, and has been managing GAP since 1998.
Melanie Luscombe: Melanie is the Foster Coordinator. She first became involved with GAP as a foster carer in 2000, and later joined the team full time in 2003.
Peter Dapiran: Peter is the property manager and takes care of all the dogs being housed at the GAP kennels in Seymour. Peter also does the run down to Melbourne with the dogs once a week. He has been with GAP since 2007.

Testimonials

Hello Larissa, Melanie and all the wonderful people at GAP. I am emailing on behalf of my mum Lyn who has instantly fallen in love with Smiley, who now answers to "Sophie". She has settled in at mums as though she has been there for years, wagging her tail, helping in the garden, frolicking around the yard when she gets her little bursts of energy. She instantly loved her bed (such sooks!). I live in the same street so will get to see her regularly. After the weekend I will introduce my kelpie girls to her - I am quite sure they will get on. Thank you again for such a wonderful program. We met Spotty yesterday when she was being dropped off. She is absolutely beautiful and so young looking for her age. I hope some lovely kind people will provide her with a loving home in the near future.
- Shelley

I am the proud owner of "Blue", a GAP dog. Our Blue is the best dog, we are amazed at the temperament and odd ways this dog has, not like any dog we have had before him! Do you know he has never barked, not once, but he does a lovely rendition of a fire truck or police car when they pass!
- Sue

I can't begin to express my thanks to the GAP staff for their professionalism, speed of response to my enquiries and dedication to finding the right dog for me (and the right home for the dog). Thanks to GAP I now have a great dog (Brock) that has really fit in well in his new home and is a much loved member of the family. In fact I was so impressed by the GAP staff and the lovely nature of the greyhound that I decided to become a foster carer so that I could help more greyhounds discover the joys of home life!
- Jacki

Thank you for the comprehensive information you sent me. It is really excellent and has been very useful. Scooby is absolutely wonderful, a real gentleman. He seems very much at home now, and he has been a health tonic after the recent death of my mother.
- Alison

It has now been three months since we adopted our gorgeous greyhound Bliss. A few nervous moments at the start, like being too scared to leave the front porch for a walk, even to go through the back door when she could see the neighbours in their backyard was a little too nerve wracking! We now have a confident, excitable and beautiful pet... who would have thought! Favourite past times would ahve to be jumping into bed on weekends, going for countless walks at the local oval, and visiting her "grandma" and her pet whippet Chrissy. We take her every couple of weeks to the local nursing home where her "great grandma" is staying and every elderly person is in love with her. Not once has she barked in our home, except for when she is having dreas - there is some definate whining and barking going on there. Thank you again for such a fantastic pet. Bliss has grown to trust her new home and I'm sure she will continue to grow with confidence as time goes on.
- Kristy and Scott

My son and I adopted Sparrow towards the end of 2004, not long after the death of my dearly loved husband. Around the same time one of my beautiful shepherds had died leaving behind a grieving mate, another shepherd. My son and I heard about GAP and checked out the website. Our beautiful black Sparrow came to live with us a couple of months later. She fitted beautifully into the family and is a complete delight - clean, funny and very loving. She made us smile again. Thank you GAP and keep up the wonderful work you do!
- Sandra

Words cannot express enough how much I love my greyhound Toby! He is the best dog I have ever owned. In fact, he is the most wonderful dog I have ever come across in all my life! He is beautiful, affectionate, clean, friendly and a true gentle giant. He has lived with us for over a year and I just cannont imagine life without him. Thank you GAP!
- Helen

I adopted my greyhound Jack (racename Backlash Jack) in September 2005. He is a superb domestic pet, but he is different from my previous dogs. In the last thirty years I have owned two german shepherd dogs, and I thought them the ideal, and that any good dog would have all those characteristics that distinguish that noble breed; loyalty, obedience, intelligence, duty and courage (aggression?). But with my greyhound I was introduced to a whole new conception of a dog companion. Winston Churchill is quoted as saying "Always remember, a cat will look down to a man. A dog will look up to a man. But a pig will look you straight in the eye and see his equal." My Jack is somewhat pig like in that respect. He doesn't always try to please me (suck up some could say), or literally poke his nose into everything I do, as the german shepherd would. When Jack comes up to me, it is out of genunite interest and affection. He isn't what you would call classically obedient, but he is never any trouble and he knows all the domestic rules and never breaks them. He is cearly very smart, but never shows all he knows, lest he be expected to perform on command. He is calm and has no aggressive characteristics at all. He has steadfastly refused to confront our two cats, just turning away from them in disgust. He is frightened of my stuffed fox, which I now have to keep in a cupboard. I chose to adopt an adult greyhound after much research. My health is not good, and I couldn't cope with a puppy, especially a german shepherd pup. Also, I am a bit of a dog snob and admire large, pure breed dogs. And I wanted to adopt a dog that needed a good home, rather than pay big bucks for a pedigree puppy (win-win, for me and the dog). Greyhounds are very handsome, and, on close acquaintance, larger than you may expect, but they fit into a residential setting with ease. Surprisingly, Jack can curl up into a comparatively small ball or sprawl out on his back and look about seven feet long from the end of his snout to the tip of his tail. Jack has short fine hair and only moults briefly at the beginning of summer (unlike german shepherds, golden retrievers and their like, with their year round flow of undercoat hair). When your eye gets used to the greyhound look, they are magnificent animals. I held a pre-Christmas gathering and out of about twenty guests, five or six left considering a greyhound as their next pet. These were people who had not been exposed to a greyhound before, and Jack won them over. He went from person to person and greeted them all, not cadging for a bit of sausage roll, but meeting and greeting. Even I, his doting master, was surprised by his social skills. Jack is a great companion, easy to live with, no trouble, obedient in his own way, smart, not neurotic, calm, clean, and cheerful (you can see him smile). I think every dog lover should adopt a greyhound as their next pet!
- David

We felt we needed to send you a note to let you know how much we are enjoying the company of "Tripod" (aka Detroit City) - he has adapted to his new name of Plugger and answers at being called, mind you at dinner time we don't need to call him at all! He has made our house a home again after the passing of our old girl at the ripe old age of 17 years and has given back every inch of love that we along with our children have shown him. He is polite, obedient, clean and shows beautiful manners when in the company of other people and we are constantly stopped in the street by people wanting to give him a pat and talk about hom coming from the adoption program. We have nothing but praise and recommendation for GAP in both the nature of the dog allocated for us and the way it was handled with pure professionalism. Plugger loves his daily walks along the beach in the morning and his evening stroll through the bush around our home and has become very good at letting us know at around walk time that he is ready to go. He is absolutely delighful around the children and makes a point of greeting each of them when they wake in the morning with a quiet sniff and peck on the cheek before retiring back to his sheepskin mattress to keep an eye on the house events. We would recommend a greyhound from GAP to anybody who is looking for a pet that doesn't want to go through all the puppy stage as they really do make the most incredible companion with their soft, lovable nature, adn they really do return the love passed onto them. We hope more people make the move in adopting, as the sense of helping one of these dogs make a new life gives the most amazing feeling of satisfaction you could ever hope for. We are now addicted to greyhounds (sad, isn't it!) and know that Plugger is in for a great life in his new home.
- The Lonie Family

I am writing to tell you of the enormous amount of pleasure Sally has brought me. I adopted her in November, one week after the death of my much loved heeler, Mo. Sally came home and met Harry (Yes, I know, "When Harry met Sally"!) my ten year old spaniel and they have formed a nice bond. She's a bit boisterous for him at times, and he, like me, knows to stand very still when she's doing her zoomies around the garden. This is one of the delights of my day and I am always disappointed if she isn't in the mood for a mad dash. She has learned not to push past me to come inside and also that jumping up is not a good thing. These lessons were taught by the delightful young man who came for her obedience lesson. She still wants to sit on my knee - all 30kg of her - and I am fighting a losing battle there as I find her so hard to resist! Sally visited the people who surrendered her to GAP recently as they live only 20 minutes away. They were pleased to see how well she has settled and I was relieved when she came home with me very happily. Thanks to everyone at GAP for caring and placing these lovely dogs. I can't tell you how much it means to me to hear Sally's tail thumping against the garage door when I come home from work at night.
- Marg

We wanted to share with everyone how much we love our beautiful boy "Max" who we adopted through GAP in September 2006. Max was perhaps not as popular for adoption at the time as he was known to "mouth" you when he got excited. Well, he rarely does this now and if so it is mainly when he knows he is going for a walk. Max has settled into life with our family with ease. He gets along famously with his "adopted sister" Jasmin the whippet and their favouirte past-time is wrestling and sprinting around our yard for about 30 seconds at a time. Then it's time for a sleep and a rest thank you very much! Max is certainly a couch potato and there is not much room left when he has claimed it and sprawled himself out on his back with legs in the air!! Max is very affectionate and gentle and is certainly a hit with everyone he meets. We are amazed at how many people stop us to have a chat and a pat of Max and ask us about him, it's great! We always recommend to whoever we can that they should seriously consider adopting a greyhound as they are so fantastic. Thank you to GAP for the opportunity to provide Max with a loving, safe home (after all his hard work as a racer). He is definitely a very spoilt "Maxy boy" now and is enjoying the good life!!
- The Coleman Family

Buffy (was Blanche) has settled in really well to our family. She and our other dog Spike (an American Bulldog) have a great time together, but he sometimes can't cope with her licking his ears. Most of the time they get along really well. I am so glad that we decided to adopt - she has added so much to our home.
- Jennifer

Herewith some lovely pics of our beautiful girl, who came to us on 19th December - nearly three months ago now! I hope you will share this with Peter as he nurtured her for us prior to the adoption. We changed her name from Pixie to Dixie simply because she is a strong lady with a lot of life experience and some tough times, so Dixie says it all! She is just the most loving, beautiful girl, putting on weight steadily, happy sleeping on the human bed in the day time. My husband is on sabbatical, writing at home and he is with her to give her chicken wings at lunch time. We feel she deserves some luxury in her retirement. Her thyroid condition is much improved. In fact the vet thinks she is going really well. I think a steady stream of pigs ears and trotters has helped enormously! She meets a lot of GAP dogs in our little nook and is merely tolerant of them. Doesn't love puppies! But who can blame her?! I cannot tell you the joy she has brought us, we are forever grateful. Thanks so much.
- Kathryn and Chris