Go greyhound and adopt a dog with special needs

Kris Hill

Saturday, Dec. 2, 2000 | 9:30 a.m.

To reach the Southern Nevada chapter of Greyhound Pets of America, call Bev Doan at 392-5822 or on the Internet ( http://www.wizard.com/gpa-nv )

Put a greyhound in a house right after it's been on a racetrack and it won't have a clue what to do when it sees a mirror or tries to climb stairs or encounters a glass door.

Greyhounds need to be in a foster home for at least a month after retiring from racing before they can be adopted out. They need to experience the world outside the kennel and off the track.

"They need to learn how to be pets," Bev Doan, president of the Southern Nevada chapter of Greyhound Pets of America, said.

Greyhounds are a different kind of dog, and they have different needs and require a certain type of owner.

In a foster home, a greyhound like Cindy Lou Who, whose owner is Rhonda Evans, needs to have green sticky notes posted on every glass door that surrounds Evans' living room. The little green squares let Cindy Lou -- a 2-year-old sand colored female -- know that she can't run through the door.

She also needed to teach Cindy Lou about stairs, how to get into a car, how to be social around other dogs and a variety of other things that are totally new to a greyhound.

Evans had initially agreed to foster Cindy Lou about five weeks ago to see how her 5-year-old male greyhound, Skip, would get along with other greyhounds.

But within 24 hours she decided she wanted to adopt Cindy Lou.

Evans failed greyhound fostering 101, Doan said with a smile. And Evans agrees, but she doesn't regret it.

"We took our first walk and she was head in the air, eyes wide, just in wonder of it all," Evans said.

At 54, Evans has had dogs all her life. About a year ago she lost two dogs 14 and 16 years old. Evans decided to wait before she thought about getting another pet.

She found Bev Doan and the local Greyhound Pets of America on the Internet, filled out the application and then went through the rest of the adoption process, which included interviews, a chance to interact with greyhounds and an evaluation of her home and her lifestyle.

Skip arrived in February. Cindy Lou came along in early October. Evans will be able to adopt her within the next week, once Cindy Lou has been spayed.

The loss of longtime canine companions is a common thread among greyhound owners.

Greg Courrier and Judy Laws were looking for the right dog after their two golden retrievers died last year. They recently adopted a 4-year-old female greyhound named Happy.

The couple was in a pet store one Saturday in early October buying cat food. Representatives from Greyhound Pets of America were in the store with their dogs and were talking to anyone who was interested.

Courrier and Laws filled out an application, did an interview the following Tuesday and were told that it would probably take about a month before the organization would find them a dog.

That Thursday they received a call that a dog was available in Southern California. A pilot was flying a group of greyhounds in from Los Angeles, and if the couple wanted, Happy could be put on the plane with that group and they could pick her up at the airport on Saturday.

They spent the next day getting ready to welcome their new pet to their home. They bought food, a collar, beds, and everything else they could think of.

And they absolutely adore Happy.

"She is the perfect dog," Laws said. And neither of them have had a second thought in the six weeks since Happy arrived.

As sports enthusiasts, adopting a dog that had been a professional athlete was perfect for them, Courrier said.

Greyhounds sleep most of the day. In the kennels they spend all of their time in a cage with just a few exceptions: to eat, drink and race.

Racing -- which usually lasts less than a minute -- uses a lot of energy. The combination of confinement and racing created a dog that sleeps a lot.

"They're the 45 mile-per-hour couch potato," Doan said.

That is just one of the many differences that Doan strives to educate potential adopters about. A greyhound grows up much differently than most other dogs.

When she's talking to potential owners, Doan may seem as though she's trying to talk someone out of adopting a greyhound.

Doan is passionate about greyhounds and is a greyhound encyclopedia. For example, greyhounds must be indoor pets, she said, because they have very little body fat and fur.

And they have to be on a leash at all times when out for a walk, unless they are in a secure place. Often a dog will run out into the street and get hit by a car because they don't understand that vehicles are dangerous.

Some greyhounds aren't cat-friendly, and even those that are might chase the family cat if it dashes by, she said.

The list goes on and on.

After several years of having a greyhound and being involved in the organization, Doan is an expert.

She decided to adopt a greyhound after she had lived in Las Vegas for two years. Doan is originally from New York and when she moved here, she left all of her friends behind.

During a trip back East she met her niece's greyhound, and decided that she would look into adopting one when she got back to Las Vegas.

"I needed a girlfriend," she said. "So, I adopted myself one."

After adopting Jazz, a 9-year-old female, she began volunteering with the local Greyhound Pets of America chapter. Shortly after that she joined its board and two years later she became president after serving as vice-president.

Doan later adopted Chrissie, who is 10. She is also fostering a male greyhound named Ragi (pronounced Rahjee) who is nearly 2 years old. Ragi is three weeks off the track and will be with Doan until a good home is found for him.

Greyhound Pets of America's local chapter has adopted out 30 greyhounds in the past year and a half, Doan said. And only a few have been returned.

The group brings in between six and 10 dogs about once a month from a racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico.

"They're not a harder dog to take care of, just different," she said.