Approved!

I've been waiting to share this news until Jon and I received the official stamp of approval and happily - we have!

So here it is - we are adopting a greyhound!

We completed our written application a little over a month ago and after a home visit from the rescue group and calls to all of our references, we have been officially approved to adopt.

We are working with the greyhound rescue group, Greyhound Lovers of Hamilton-Wentworth (GLOHW), a nonprofit organization that has been in action since 1997. The group aids in the adoption of retired racing greyhounds, finding families for nearly 500 greyhounds over the last 17 years - an astounding accomplishment. Run entirely by volunteers, the group has a unique approach to adoption - instead of families picking out which dog they want - they pick the dog for the family.

Here's how it works: the rescue group assesses your application, visits your house to get to know you and your home and what you are looking for in a dog. Then, with all of that information they put together a profile of the ideal dog, considering your home, lifestyle, energy levels, etc. They send that profile down to West Virginia (where they rescue the dogs) and the group that they work with there seeks out the right dog for you. From there, GLOHW volunteers drive down to West Virginia to pick up the dogs, drive back, foster them for two weeks to get to know them better and then you get your dog! You don't find out which one is your dog until about a week before the actual adoption as they use the time while they are in foster homes in Canada to get to know the dog and ensure it is the right fit.

It's a huge process, but it's actually something we find comforting. The volunteers (holy moly are they special people) do everything they can to ensure the adoption will work well for all involved, especially considering the work that goes into rescuing the dogs and what the dogs have been through up to this point.

Which leads us to the most important part in all of this and our motivation behind it all - the dogs.

Jon has always wanted a greyhound and I have always wanted all the dogs, so we did our research on the breed and were sold.

Greyhounds are so majestic and regal - they can reach 72 km in three seconds (whaaaat?) - but interestingly enough, they are incredibly lazy and love to sleep! They are sweet, mild natured and physically so impressive.

The majority of racing greyhounds (our dog) spend 90% of their lives in a crate (21 hours a day) and the rest on the track (on average racing twice a week). Crates are stacked on top of each other and are lined with shredded paper. The dogs are kept and raced until they are no longer profitable and are 'retired', usually around the age of three. Many dogs are given steroids (and cocaine shockingly enough), are plagued with injuries (including broken legs, heat stroke, heart attacks), severely abused and are often euthanized (or sold for lab testing) after retirement. Dog racing is absolutely disgusting yet still legal in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Texas, and West Virginia and it is entirely down to money. In West Virginia alone, two dog tracks made over $15,000,000 last year.

I made the mistake of researching greyhound racing one afternoon and was in tears instantly. You cannot imagine the things that happen to these dogs. Truly. I promised myself to never look into it again and I won't share anything else, because it doesn't take much information (or imagination) to understand the importance of rescuing these animals. I think it's appropriate here to give another shout out to the volunteers at GLOHW. You all rock.

At this point, it's also important to focus on the positive. Jon and I are going to give one of these dogs a second chance at life and that is flippin amazing.

When we adopt our greyhound, she won't know how to walk up stairs or know what our glass windows and doors are, so we will have to put masking-tape (temporarily!) on the windows and doors and introduce her to walks slowly because her paws will be bright pink like a puppies from never being outside... and lots of other little things that, but it doesn't intimidate us at all. It's going to be a whole new world for our pup and I am excited to for us to be able to show it to her.

Because of the lengthy process, it may take anywhere from three to six months until we have our dog in our home with Zoe, but that will give us time to do some reading on training and to get all of the things we need.

I'll be providing updates as they happen, but until then... I'M EXCITED.