Greyhound Trust - West Scotland

23/06/2024

20/06/2024

Weather looking good for Ayr walk on Sunday.🌞🌞
1.30pm at the car park next to Horizon Hotel.

As always please give us space to get the dogs from the van, this is for the safety of the dogs and the volunteers. If you are there to walk a homeless dog one of the volunteers will bring a dog to you
Remember to bring p**p bags. Dogs have to be kept on lead at all times.

13/06/2024

Jack is improving after his recent accident which has needed 2 surgeries to get him repaired. He still has a way to go and understandably is feeling a little embarrassed by the cone to show his face for a photo. He hopes to be joining us again at our walks soon but for now he’s on the easy list

12/06/2024

Ariel has heard that a family would really like her to join them so she has been moved to the reserved list pending a successful home visit.

10/06/2024

We are often asked (especially in the summer months) about fund raising and how people can help out. Well what about organising your own event ? Sounds difficult well it doesn’t have to be. Here are some simple ideas that are easy and fun to do that can raise funds and awareness of greyhounds looking for homes.

* Home Baking - why not take some home baking into your work place to sell.
* Having a summer clear out why not attend a car boot or a table top sale with your loot at many of the local summer fayres that are held.
* Sponsored walk- do a little of walking then why not get sponsored for doing it.

These are just a few ideas and if anyone wishes any help then please get in touch.

09/06/2024

Annie is reserved pending a successful home visit this week.

05/06/2024

Ariel is the darker brindle girl in the photo.
Let’s get her a forever home. Here is what her short term foster family has said about her.

We had the beautiful Ariel as a short term foster. What can we not say about her! She is a fantastic hound. She is very chilled, loves going on walks and soaking up the sun. Ariel is very clean in the house, in the time we had her she only had two accidents. She will let you know she needs the majority of time by either going to the front or back door. She loves to be curled up in the corner of a couch for a long nap.

She was living with our 8 month old Lurcher which meant her patience was tested! She was amazing with him and put up with his boisterous nature at times. However, when it came to nap time the two loved being near each other with snoots touching while they napped. They made the perfect hound pair and even managed to get up to counter surfing mischief together! She would make an amazing addition to any family.

04/06/2024

Troy has now moved on to the reserved list.

04/06/2024

Remember Sunday 1pm at Drumpellier park for our first walk of June. Looking forward to a good day. There will be several of our homeless dogs attending looking to be walked, fussed over and potentially meeting new parents.

02/06/2024

June is the month of Pride so let’s join in and and be greyhound proud. Adopt, share the news about how great greyhounds are as pets.
All greyhounds want is a loving home and by doing this you join a greyt community.

31/05/2024

Major is the latest boy to find himself reserved pending a successful home visit which will be arranged soon.

30/05/2024

Is anyone looking to upgrade their sofa ? If so why not consider donating the cushions from your old 1 to the dogs as they make ideal beds for them. The ones pictured were from a 2 seater settee (both rear cushions and sitting cushions) to give you an idea of what we are looking for.

29/05/2024

We would like to say an enormous thank you as this morning we received a very generous donation. This donation will be put to good use to help out with a couple of unexpected vet bills we have had recently.
From us and the dogs we would like to personally thank you for thinking about the dogs in what has been a hard and sad time for yourself and we hope to catch up soon. (We won’t name names but you know who you are)
Scott and Janice

29/05/2024

Troy is the latest boy to have had a potential family enquire about him. A home check and visit has been arranged for next week.

28/05/2024

Paddy would love to share a sofa with you now that he is ready to move out. His needs are pretty simple
He would prefer some doggy company, not necessarily greyhound as he’s been fine around other breeds.
Paddy would prefer a young child free home.
Paddy does like his walks or outdoor time so a place with his own secure garden where he could lounge about would be ideal.

What are you waiting fur pick up the phone you know you want to.

27/05/2024

Annie is currently under an enquiry

27/05/2024

JUNE DATES FOR THE DIARY
Sunday 9th - Drumpelier Park - 1pm @ visitors centre.
Sunday 23rd - Ayr Beach - 1.30pm @ car park next to Horizon Hotel
Sunday 30th - Strathclyde Park - 1pm Centre car park.

If you are free to walk a homeless hound please let us know.
Look forward to seeing everyone 😊

27/05/2024

Buster sees his kennel mate go off to her home this weekend and hopes that his turn isn’t too far away. He has a lovely nature, friendly and greets you with a happy waggy tail.
Whilst untested with us we have been informed Buster has previously spent some home time with a cat.

27/05/2024

Troy is looking out to see if there is a family willing to offer him a home. This boy has a delightfully happy go lucky nature. Full of fun and such captivating eyes. Loves a bounce about but overall very easy to walk.

26/05/2024

Massive thank you to Auntie Linda for making it her mission to take Lewis under her wing the last couple of months and finding him his perfect home. Well today was the day Lewis went off with his new family. This day has been a long time coming. Happy home Lewis.

26/05/2024

Snowflake boy Major was a superstar today at Strathclyde Park. He took everything in his stride non greyhounds, swans, ducks you name it not an issue to him.

25/05/2024

Black Dog Syndrome: Effecting More Than Just Greyhounds

The Black Dog Syndrome (BDS) is an odd phenomenon, and one that has rolled around rescues and rehoming centres for many years, and while it is a noticeable trend within greyhound rehoming, it isn’t just limited to greyhounds. Historically, the preference for lighter coloured animals has heavily impacted many animals such as cats, and even smaller creatures like guinea pigs!

While there are various opinions and studies, some with conflicting results, anyone that is on-the-ground in rehoming and welfare will tell you it is very much a thing. So much so that in America, it even has February as it’s awareness month to bring attention to unwanted black animals across the country.

We have long seen a preference for the lighter coloured animals. Black dogs, particularly the big black males, are typically the hardest to home with many people specifically requesting a coloured hound when first applying to adopt.

Although there is always that one beautiful soul that calls and says they specifically want a black one because they know they’re overlooked. It always makes our day whenever we hear those words!

Thankfully, it is through the power of social media that many people are far more aware of the plight of black animals. It has brought about big improvements, at least from our point of view, in the number of people specifically asking for a black hound or in not specifying a preference for any colour at all…but there is still a majority preference to the lighter colours.

Black is the dominant genetic colour amongst greyhounds, many of the most prolific sires used in breeding greyhounds for the racing industry were, or are, black…and you can’t argue with genetics!

Even in breeding two fair coloured hounds, the whole litter may come out black.

Given this fact, statistically, there will always be a greater number of black greyhounds in need of homes. So, when the one fawn hound amongst twenty black ones gets adopted very quickly, it can appear as favouritism.

But statistics be damned, behind the scenes, it is absolutely favouritism!

Fawn, blue brindle or white with brindle or fawn patches often get countless applications, regardless of their personality, temperament, and overall suitability for that applicant’s home. While the black hounds who would be the perfect fit for those applicants, receive nothing.

We once saw a rescue get so sick of people doing this, that they chose to forgo uploading any images of the hounds to encourage people to apply for dogs based on their personality and suitability! At the end of the day, that is what is important!

But colour, and gender, do fuel unconscious bias. Some people don’t even realise they are doing it!

Black animals, particularly dogs, wolves, and cats, have been portrayed as aggressive, evil, or unlucky for decades. This is probably a large influence as to why people have such a poor opinion of dogs such as rottweilers, Dobermans and various bull breeds, as they’re always portrayed in a negative light in films and television shows.

Many people are raised with these images, and these can be compounded by the influence and opinions of family and friends. It can be difficult for people to break away from pre-conceived ideas.

We’ve heard it all when it comes to people applying for specific colours. The majority of the time it is purely for aesthetic reasons, they like the look of them. In scrolling through pages and pages of black greyhounds, there is a dazzling fawn one. Of course they’re going to home in on them!

Some believe they are too hard to photography clearly (obviously you must have an Insta perfect companion!), others find their facial expressions harder to read. We’ve even had people tell us they all look the same and that they find black dogs unattractive.

Then there are the people who don’t want black hairs on their light-coloured furniture!

But regardless of this, there are some genuine reasons as to why people might request a lighter coloured hound. The most heartbreaking one is that people do not want the reminder of their previous hound who has passed away…and while we’ll always do our best to respect that in choosing a hound for them, sometimes a black hound is still the best option.

If you are looking at adopting a hound, bear in mind that colour has absolutely no impact on personality, temperament, and suitability. They are all equally beautiful, inside, and out, but adopting a dog is a lifelong commitment and one that should be decided on their suitability for you as a person, as a family and as a household…not on the colour of their fur.

They will give you the love, happiness, companionship, and loyalty regardless of what colour their fur is.

Also…black hound’s fur shines like no other. It gleams with every colour of the rainbow when the sun touches them. It is one of the most remarkable things about black hounds. You definitely don’t get that with the fairer coloured hounds, just saying!

Let’s show everyone how remarkable black hounds are, drop a picture in the comments!

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24/05/2024

Lady is the sister of Betsy, she is more confident and playful than her sister. Again absolutely fine with other greyhounds and has met other breeds with little issues

24/05/2024

Betsy is a little bit timid until she gets to know you. Once she settles she has such a sweet nature. Absolutely fine around other greyhounds and there has been little reaction to other breeds

23/05/2024

It’s Week 2 of Foster Care Fortnight in the UK! 🐾

Most ex-racing greyhounds have never known life outside of kennels. Fostering a is a unique way of helping them learn the different routines, sights, sounds, smells and surroundings of home life! 💚

If you can’t home a greyhound 🐾 (or another one!) but still want to help, fostering is a great way to do just that. As well as helping greyhounds transition into a home environment it also assists our teams in finding them the perfect match for their forever home! 🏡

We’re always looking for more people to foster dogs on short term basis. If you think you could help, please get in touch with your local Greyhound Trust: greyhoundtrust.org.uk/regional-branches.

📸: Bruno 🐾

23/05/2024

Please remember Linda is running a stall for us this coming Sunday at this event. She will selling natural dog treats and also please remember these treats are for any breed of dog so if you fancy to spoil a non hound then no problem.
All money raised at this event will be going towards a couple of unexpected vet bills that we have incurred recently so even if you can’t make the event please share and Linda hopes to see as many people as possible. It looks to be a busy enough day with loads to do

22/05/2024

Bella is now reserved and will be moving on to her new home soon.

21/05/2024

Homeless kennel boy Tanner just giving a shout out to show just what you are missing by not considering a black coated greyhound. Gleaming in the mid morning sunshine whilst out his walk