On a quiet Monday back in December 2013, I had phoned my partner to visit AWLQ, where I worked as soon as he could. I was excited, because there was a beautiful greyhound who needed a home, and I thought we’d be a great family for her.
My partner was less enthusiastic about such a different and funny looking dog, but he didn’t need much persuasion to say ‘yes’ to adopting Gracey; she needed a home, after all. My partner, who had warned me she was not to be let onto the couch under any circumstances, was the first of us to cave (and rather early on too), and the one who now declares that she needs yet another bed to add to her collection. He buys her as many squeaky balls as he can and on his days off, plays on the beach with her for hours. It’s now a common occurrence to find the two snuggled up together on the couch by the time I come home from work.
Gracey, on the other hand, has adapted to being our fur-baby with few, if any, problems. She was toilet trained from the start, and within a couple of days had figured out that the couch was the best place to wait for us to come home from work. She was rather reserved and shy to begin with, but now wags her tail like mad when we get home, or when it’s dinnertime!
At first she got super excited when seeing small, fluffy dogs run (rabbit!), but now just stares for a while, then goes about her business. She does funny things we would never have expected, like rubbing herself against the couch like a cat when she wakes up, play-bowing to her chicken wings and stealing ugg boots and blankets, which I later find unharmed out in the yard (why?). She is the quietest girl- we’ve heard her bark once and it scared the daylights out of us. She often stares at us adoringly from her bed, a typical greyhound thing, and runs laps of the yard just for fun, called ‘zoomies’. She now absolutely loves a cuddle and often comes up to us to say hi (or pant in our face, which is less wonderful). We’ve even taught her some commands, such as ‘bow’, ‘wait’ and ‘on your mat’. Pretty good for a dog who was only ever expected to run around a dirt track.
Greyhounds make seriously amazing companion animals- if only everyone knew!
We couldn’t imagine life without Gracey Grey and her silly antics now- she is the most wonderful dog!
Amanda 🙂
