Sent in by a member of the Italian Greyhound Club of America Rescue

I'll never bring about world peace. I won't single handedly save the rain forest. I'm not a brain surgeon and I'll never transplant an organ to save a life. I don't have the ear of a powerful politician or world power. I can't end world hunger. I'm not a celebrity, and God knows I'm not glamorous! I'm not looked up to by millions around the world. Very few people even recognize my name. I'll never win the Nobel prize. I'll never save the rain forest or end global warming. There are a lot of things that I'll never do or become. But today I rescued a dog! It was a small, scared, bundle of flesh and bones unwanted by unfeeling people that didn't care what happened to it... I gave it a chance at a home... a place where it will have contentment and an abundance of love. A warm place to sleep and plenty to eat or maybe a child has a warm fuzzy new friend who will give them unquestioning devotion and teach them about responsibility and love. A wife and mother may have a new spirit to nurture and care for. A husband and a father may have a companion to sit at his feet at the end of a hard day of work and help him relax and enjoy life. No, I'm not a rocket scientist but today I helped save one of God's precious creatures. Today, I made a difference!

I adopted my first ex-racer, my beloved Megan from an organization in San Diego. She was the tender age of 18 months, did not know her name, and fortunately for me, did not pass racing "kindergarten". She was a red brindle with wide, scared dark brown eyes and extremely shy. In fact, she had to have a leash put on her to coax her to come out of the doghouse at the kennel to meet me. She seemed very sweet so I said, "she’s the one". We drove back to the Los Angeles area where she would meet my other grey, Ransom, a very large male from conformation show lines. Upon our arrival home, she spent the entire evening sniffing every blade of grass in the yard. She settled into our routine fairly easily. It took about a week though, before I saw a very minor tail wag from her when I gave her a cookie. Our bonding had begun which would increase tremendously over the years, but as far as her being sociable with other people, it took about 6 months before she would allow anyone besides me to touch her. Recognizing Megan’s shy nature, I thought some basic obedience training might help develop her self-confidence. We enrolled in a class that my friend taught, using positive motivational training with food, toys and lots of praise – not one of those "yank and jerk, do it or else" classes. She shivered and shook for 8 long weeks, so not being enthusiastic about obedience training myself at that time, and since she did not appear to show any enjoyment or progress, we dropped the training. Several years went by (I had lost Ransom) and I adopted Tess, who seemed to enjoy the obedience training. In fact, with the positive motivational training, we competed in obedience trails and obtained her obedience title ("CD" which stands for "Companion Dog"). For those unfamiliar with obedience trials, you need three passing scored to earn the title. Then a friend asked, "When are you going to train Megan? She’s so focused on you and devoted." So back we went to class, Megan now 6 years old. We signed up for class after class, played obedience "games", and practiced on our own with much patience and lots of goodies. Tess came along with us to be Megan’s cheerleader. The shyness seemed to take a back seat to her self-confidence. She wanted to please me, and she was enjoying all those yummy treats she got to consume during training. Megan began enjoying life more by becoming more self assured, and we were able to spend a lot more time together doing something we both enjoyed. Our bond continued to grow stronger. We were finally ready to compete in some obedience trials. Would Megan withdraw and revert back to her shy self? I’m happy to say "No" – she earned her CD title in three straight shows!! I was thrilled. We were a team, and I was bitten by the obedience "bug". We continued with training to try to earn her CDX title ("Companion Dog Excellent"). This was much more of a challenge as you must guide your dog with voice commands through the exercises. We practiced and practiced and practiced some more. We were finally ready to compete. After some disappointments, Megan got her first passing score! My supportive friends and I were so proud of her. Quite some time would pass before we would see another passing score, but again Megan made me even prouder by getting the last two passing scores needed on the same weekend.

My shy little girl had become one of the honored greyhounds who had earned a CDX obedience title. Sadly, I lost Megan four years ago due to disease and still miss her terribly, but I’ll never forget our times together, her devotion and accomplishments. I guess the point of my story is I feel like I never am able to spend enough time with my greys. I found that obedience training is one avenue to accomplish this, not to mention the help it can provide to assist our greys in becoming happier and better adjusted in their lives in the outside world. The strong bond that develops between dog and owner with obedience training can never be broken. Even through they are "retired" racers, I encourage you to not let your greys become bored and lazy – as you know, they can easily slip into that "couch potato" mode. Exercise their minds and bodies with some positive motivational obedience training. It’s incredibly rewarding to see what the greys can do with patience, time and training on your part. You might even get bitten by the obedience bug as I was and still am!

With Halloween approaching, please remember the safety of your greyhounds. Chocolate is especially dangerous and toxic to dogs. Keep candy and goodies out of reach. In the past, one dog was inventive enough to open several plastic treat containers to consume the treats – wrappers included. And before you open the door – where’s the dog? That open door is an invitation for misadventure. You may want to keep your animals closed in a back room, particularly if you have a spook (pun?). Some greys just can’t handle the activity or the spooky kids. If your grey is extremely noise sensitive, consider closing yourself up in the back with your scaredy cat! Other greys just hate being closed off - Tanner just has to be the first to the door to see who’s coming to visit him. At the door, along with the treats, you might want to keep a short slip lead, the kind used at your vet’s or in the show ring, to put on before you open the door. A very safe solution for the curious hound (particularly when more than one nosy dog is involved) is to put up an x-pen or gate off the front door. They still have the run of the house but don’t have the opportunity to bolt through the door. Plan ahead for a safe and happy "Howl"oween!

• Ron and Beth Adams for the loss of Harley
• Robert, Marie and Ann Mason for the loss of Sedona
• Cari Russell for the loss of Miss Lucy
• Gordon and Jerri Van Houten for the loss of Mathew
• Dick and Sharon Lehman for their loss of Sierra