Gino, Luigi & Maria
by: Laurie Gregoire.

Over the past four years, we have adopted three special interests greyhounds. Gino was the most special interest greyhound that we've had. Gino was a beautiful fawn dog with a black mask. He had an acid reflux problem that required special care at feeding time and would throw up about once a week. This of course meant more time and work (and laundry detergent) dedicated to this particular dog. However, Gino's personality greatly outweighed his problem. He was the most exuberant Greyhound that I have ever met. He was happy just to be a dog. At 6:00 a.m. Gino was the only one of us that was thrilled that it was time to get up. He'd be wagging his tail and giving kisses. When it was time for breakfast, he would do his "happy dance" and go into his crate. He loved going for walks and visiting with the neighbors.

Last April we lost Gino very suddenly at the age of four. He had thrown up in his crate and stopped breathing. We tried reviving him but we lost him within a matter of minutes. We had rushed him to the emergency vet even though we knew it was too late. The vet said that he might have thrown a clot and that's what caused his untimely death. We really miss Gino. He brought us so much happiness in the two years that we had him.

Our previous special greyhound was Luigi. My husband worked with a woman who owned Luigi for five years and decided to return him. When asked why she wanted to return him, she said that her granddaughter was afraid of him. Luigi came to us very thin at the age of seven. He had a soft fawn coat that reminded me of a teddy bear, which is exactly the type of personality he had. He was extremely gentle and loved to cuddle up with a human or another dog. Unfortunately, our female didn't like him invading her space so she'd growl at him. He'd just get up and walk away. Luigi was very laid back and not the least bit aggressive. I think that Luigi would have made a great pet for any home.

Maria is the third special interest greyhound that we adopted. She is a black medium size female who is anything but a lady. Maria had been returned twice before she came to us at the age of two. She had a bit of a "potty problem". We worked with her and praised her every time she did a "good potty". For about the first two months she had an accident about once a week. It was always right beside the door. Maybe she didn't know how to ask to be let outside. Eventually she started doing a half whine, half bark and a little dance when she had to go potty. Maria hasn't had an accident in the last five years. She just needed some extra care when it came to potty training.

We've tried teaching Maria how to be a lady greyhound, but haven't gotten too far in that department. The following is out some ground rules we told her that ladies don't do:

1. Ladies don't sneeze on human guests.
2. Ladies don't noisily clean themselves during Thanksgiving dinner.
3. Ladies don't use the picnic table as a chew toy.
4. Ladies don't eat things in the backyard that other dogs have left behind.
5. Ladies don't push male greyhounds out of the way so they can go to the window and bark at the squirrel in the next yard.
6. Ladies don't find the muddiest area in the backyard to play in.
7. Ladies keep their nose off the kitchen table.
8. Ladies don't steal food from the male greyhounds.
9. Ladies don't burp after finishing a bone.
10. Ladies don't dry themselves on the drapes after having a bath.

In conclusion, special interests greyhounds are very special in their own way. It's a great feeling giving one of them a home and working with whatever special need they may have. I look forward to adopting more special needs greyhounds in the future.