Aileen

Through her time with us, she’s fostered, attended events on behalf of GAP, and even been awarded for her efforts with the organisation. It’s hard to talk about fostering dogs with GAP without mentioning the outstanding contribution Aileen and her husband, Dene, have made to our greyhounds. So many foster dogs that we lost count! We know we’re over 200 and still counting.

What’s your name, how do you volunteer with GAP, and when did you first start volunteering with us?

My name is Aileen Travis. I am mostly a foster carer these days, but I do volunteer at some adoption events. We used to volunteer at promotion events as one of our Greyhounds Wendy, she was our 13^th foster dog, and we officially foster failed (adopted) with her in 2001.

What made you decide to become a GAP volunteer? 

I saw an article in the Herald Sun back in 2000 about greyhounds not being compulsory for GAP greyhounds with their green collars. We had originally been interested in getting a whippet but couldn’t get greyhounds out of our heads! After having the article stuck to our fridge, my husband, Dene, decided to call GAP about fostering and we were matched with our first foster dog, Angel! She was a pretty little fawn girl who was always ready for a run around. Since Angel, we have been consistently fostering up until today! We used to collect our fosters at the Sandown vet clinic, where GAP started.

What’s your favourite part of being a GAP volunteer?

There are a lot of things I love about volunteering with GAP, but the top two would be the people I’ve met – volunteers and staff – and the dogs I’ve fostered. The dogs always come out of their shells once in the home with us and it’s fun to see their personalities start to shine through. Our 50^th dog, Silver, was adopted by a young couple after his foster with us. I bumped into them a little while after their adoption and was amazed at the difference in his personality with us compared to his new home. That’s one of the things I like the most about fostering, figuring out their personalities and quirks once in the home and figuring out what their person home type is once they’re back with GAP. Now that fostering has increased to 4-weeks periods, I’ve really gotten a better picture of their behaviours before the end of the foster.

I was very lucky to be awarded the very first Welfare Award by GRV a few years ago. While I didn’t get into fostering for rewards or praise, it was lovely to be acknowledged for the hard work you put in as a carer.

What’s your favourite part of being a GAP volunteer?

After 20+ years with GAP, I’ve got a lot of stories and moments to share! Some of my favourites are:

• I had fostered a dog named River who was a big black boofy head boy. He had so much personality that he could win anyone over! However, there was one person who thought he was odd-looking thanks to a shorter tail after a bad case of happy tail and didn’t think he would be adopted as quickly. GAP used to hold greyhound playgroups as part of their Christmas parties and River’s adopter had bought him along. He was so full of enthusiasm, jumping in and out of the water tanks, running around like a mad thing. I was manning one of the stalls and he come over with his forever owner. River stopped, put his front feet up on the table and asked me for cuddles. He hadn’t seen me in months and still remembered who I was.
  
• A few years ago, I had fostered a super nervous boy named Sylvan. We had this boy between our greyhounds and only had our cat, Aster, and Aussie Terrier, Bruce. Sylvan was having a hard time settling into the home and was impossible to catch when it came time for walks. I felt like the meanest person in the world making him go for a walk when he was so unsure. I was getting frustrated as I felt like I was getting nowhere with Sylvan. I had been talking with another experienced carer who had taken on a greyhound who needed more exposure to small dogs. So she came over to expose her grey to Bruce, and Sylvan went with the other carer to remove any distractions. Sylvan’s personality changed dramatically when he was introduced to another calm greyhound. This foster with Sylvan made me realise that these nervous greyhounds often need the company of another greyhound to help mentor them in the ways of pet life. While Bruce was still a great companion, he wasn’t a greyhound. Sylvan was fostered again in a new home with a cat and another greyhound, where he seemed to thrive! Sylvan got adopted once back at GAP.

What would you say to anyone thinking of volunteering with GAP?

I find fostering challenging but a very rewarding and positive activity. You run the gamut of emotions from the joy of seeing the dogs make progress and the personalities blossom to the sadness of seeing them return to GAP after foster. It is worth trying! You learn so much and, not to sound cliché, you do get more than you give. If fostering is not for you, that’s okay! There are other ways to volunteer with GAP through enrichment and engagement opportunities.