After the Christmas and New Year period, 3 of our dogs came back into the kennels.
One case said that it was not the dogs fault.
Another case said that the dog had been vicious towards another small dog.
In these two incidences the dogs were returned safely to GRF.
But the third case chose to plead ignorance or ignore articles 5 and 13 of our rehoming agreement stating that dogs should be returned safely to us when a rehoming breaks down.
They stuck Spot on Gumtree where anybody could obtain him for free.
Do you feel your heart chilling?
Spot is gorgeous and looks like he has been sprinkled with snow. He has the gentlest nature. This is the third time our dogs have ended up either in the dog pound or gumtree. How often does this happen?
How can we impress on people to return our dogs to our care?
Please also bear in mind though that unscrupulous people can start to return them at say ten years old. This way GRF would pick up the vets bills which would be high in older dogs. We'd also get the bills for euthanasia.
I would not be cuddling our lovely Spot tonight if he had been free to a good home on Gumtree. I can thank a very observant lady from Dundee who put 2 and 2 together and e mailed that he was there. I can also thank Nic and Michele who for the second time this week have gone immediately to pick up dogs and deliver them safely back to the kennels.
What do we do to try and stop this ?
Everybody is supplied with a spare copy of the rehoming agreement which they signed. Obviously many people after the rehoming pay no attention to it whatsoever.
Celia.

Celia and Jimmy

I think as is the case in lots of things, people sign the agreement without properly reading it. But having said that, I do remember when we rehomed Ace from you, you did say if there were any problems then he would have to come back to you.

I can only suggest making that section a bit more obvious in the agreement, maybe bigger and bolder print.

As well as making sure the new owners are verbally told at the time of signing for their dog, I don't really see there is anything more you can do.

Such a shame for these dogs. Give them all a cuddle from us.

Kaz, Pat, Ace and Jade

Oh dear! Thank goodness somebody noticed, and Spot is back in a safe place! I do hope he finds a more suitable home soon.

I wonder if it might be worth putting the clause about returning dogs to GRF on the Adoption Procedures page? Perhaps in bold? Another possible suggestion might be to put a complete copy of the Rehoming Agreement on the web site. Then if people should lose their copy they can still double check before taking any other action concerning this or any other aspect of the agreement.

I appreciate that not everybody would use this facility. However it might at least prevent this sort of thing happening too frequently.

Best wishes, Jo

Agree with all the above points. The only thing I might add is that there should be no posts on the forum critical of those who do bring a dog back. It is a bit like dog racing, no matter what our private opinion is, it could be detrimental to a dogs wellbeing. If someone who is considering bringing their dog back to you for whatever reason sees those who have being laid into on the Forum then it could be very offputting for them and putting the dog on Gumtree or worse may just be an easier option for them. Its not the correct option obviously but a "neutral" stance towards those who bring dogs back could be in the best interests of the dogs.

Just recently I did a home check in Glasgow the home was perfect the young couple were very keen to take one of these fantastic dogs,I spoke at great length with them to impress on them what they would be taking on.
The couple said they realised what they were taking on and had researched and read as much as they could find regarding retired greyhounds.But alas 2 weeks later the dog was returned to the Kennel. The couple said that the dog didn't fit into their life style.
I totally agree with Fiona ,we can all have our opinions but our job is not to humiliate or slate anyone on the forum our job is to rehome these fantastic dogs into a safe and loving homes so please be careful what we put on the forum

This is a tough one because you don't want greyhounds coming back without being given a fair chance but it's important that they do come back when new owners decide they can't cope and have made a mistake in rehoming the dog.
You do a great job of matching dogs to humans but there are always unknowns when new relationships are being established. Remember the beautiful Ariel, who was a fiend in the kennels but proved to be a lamb in her home environment, such that her owner returned her muzzle, saying she was 'a gentle wee thing'.
Apparently puppies have the greatest ability to learn in their first months of life, so it's much more difficult for an older dog to adapt, however willing they may be to please.
I remember worrying about Bryn in the early days and phoning Celia because I already had 2 hounds and I felt he might have been better homed as a single dog where he would have more individual attention. She persuaded me to be patient and the results are hugely rewarding, as he's a gem of a dog now, and much more relaxed about life. Although she encouraged me to hang in, Celia did stress that he could be returned, without fear of failure, and that is the balance to be found.
In addition to the very valid suggestions above, perhaps new owners having second thoughts could be encouraged to discuss the situation with GRF before making the decision to give up on the dog. That would allow you to remind them of their promise to return the dog to you if that is the only way forward.
In the case of older dogs, it saddens me that they can lose their homes so late in life. Of course, people have their reasons, be it lack of funds, changes in domestic circumstances, or age and infirmity of their own. History shows that GRF do manage to find new homes for older dogs - I think immediately of the Boy Blue .

Just wanted to say i am so glad that Spot arrived back safely with you and to thank you for the lovely e-mail that Jimmy sent to me. He is a handsome boy and i dread to think where he could have ended up.

This IS a very difficult one ... whilst we don't want dogs being sold on social media sites, or left at a railway station (as in the case of Kai the sharpei cross), neither do we want to see them being returned, to the Kennel, as you would an item of clothing that didn't quite fit, or match, to a department store.

There is a very fine line to be walked here ... I know what is being said about not lambasting people who return dogs, but I also think it is VERY IMPORTANT that people who are considering re-homing a dog give it plenty of thought beforehand, and aren't just caught up in the emotion of the 'poor dog' when they come to visit the Kennels.

A greyhound DOES need a lot of attention and understanding in the beginning, some DO suffer from separation anxiety to begin with, they CAN be destructive if left alone for a long period - this is the same with ANY rescue/ dog. Bootsie suffered badly from separation anxiety when he first came to us three years ago - he still does to some extent. We found a wonderful dog minder for the times when he has to be left alone for any length of time (The Dogfather), and if we are only going to be out for a short time, we crate him - it is safer for him, and gives us peace of mind that he is unable to hurt himself. That having been said, Bootsie is very rarely left alone as I no longer work.

Jimmy is so right when he says 'they're not on wheels' - if you want one that is, go and buy a stuffed toy out of a toy shop!

A dog has feelings, and to remove him/her from the Kennels and give him/her a warm bed and love initially, then return that dog is bound to have an effect ... the poor dog wonders what he/she has done wrong.

I openly, and readily, admit that when we had had Bootsie for some time, we tried to introduce a female dog from the Kennels, however, it was IMMEDIATELY clear that the situation was not going to work, and we returned the wee girl the next day, before we disrupted her routine too much. The night she stayed with us, Mo had to sleep in the lounge with her because Bootsie was just not accepting of her, and she cried all night (Mo, not the dog!). That, however, WAS a case of us feeling sorry for the wee soul and making a rash decision based on emotion.

Perhaps this is where the answer lies ... whilst it is wonderful when someone decides to re-home a dog, perhaps more caution needs to be exercised. Maybe the would-be adopters could take the dog into their home for a day and just see how it feels - after that, perhaps a few days to consider all of the practicalities is required before the dog is handed over. That may reduce the number of dogs being handed back.

Of course, there will always be unforeseen things happen in life that mean changes all round, however, would you give up your child because you had lost your job, become divorced or moved house? When you take on a dog it becomes (or should become) a part of your family.

My message to people who are thinking about re-homing one of the beautiful dogs at Baltree is to think, think and think some more. Talk to other people who have greyhounds first, and PLEASE be PRACTICAL.

We don't want distressed dogs OR humans.

I agree with susan any animal isnt for the short haul its for the long haul, we all face difficult times in our lives that doesnt mean we give up and disgard animals like a piece of trash, makes me so bloody angry.

People will be people, and there will always be a few who have the capacity to disappoint you. I think we should reflect on the fact that there are many, many more successful rehomings than unsuccessful ones.

As far as forum criticism goes, I very much doubt that anyone who has put their interests ahead of their dogs (for whatever reason) will care about the opinions of strangers on an internet forum.

COMPLETELY agree Steve ~ well said.

Susan.

I agree with you Susan, a short trial, possibly over a weekend, might be something to try, before the contract is finally signed and the dog is rehomed. It would be especially helpful for people who have no experience of having a dog before, or who will be taking a Greyhound into a home with children, or perhaps other pets. We had previous experience of having dogs before, but caring for a Greyhound needs a bit more patience and training we found out, but worth all the effort you put in.

They need a lot of love and understanding and time to adjust to their new life. They have such a lot to learn when they are rehomed, as they come from a completely different way of life and not always a very happy, or safe one.

Before adopting our first Greyhounds, Leo and Carrie, we read every book we could find on them and about their care and training etc, and also read lots of articles on the internet about them, but what we found was the best way for us to learn all about Greyhounds, was to look after a couple's Greyhound, every Sunday and Monday and occasionally for much longer, to help them out, as they were not able to take him out for walks very often, due to ill health and he was only used to being allowed out in the garden most of the time.

He was so friendly with humans, but terrified of everything outside the home. He hated going for walks and would not stop shaking when you tried to take him out, which we found very difficult at times and so sad to see him like that, but after a lot of coaxing and patience, he now loves going out with Richard and his 3 Greyhound friends. We learned so much more about Greyhounds from having a trial run of looking after one, than from anything we had ever read about them.

Harvey, is the biggest Greyhound we have ever seen and is very beautiful. He is golden in colour, has big eyes that look like he has black eyeliner around them. He was around 3 or 4 when he first came for sleepovers at our house, and he is now 11. So when we eventually decided that we loved the Greyhound breed so much and had to have one, we ended up going to see Auntie Celia and Uncle Jimmy and came home with 2! That was around 4 years ago, after I had retired from work for medical reasons. Then when our big, beautiful Leo, who was nearly 12, sadly died in October this year from cancer, our hearts were broken, so we went back to see you know who! We thought that rehoming another Greyhound might help to take away the pain of losing Leo and guess what - we came away with another 2! Carrie was a bit put out at first, but is loving it now, having 2 new brothers to boss about.

So like Susan, we think that maybe having a short trial of looking after a Greyhound, before signing the adoption contract, might be a good thing to try out for future adopters. It definitely made us learn so much about the breed, before we finally adopted and has left us so much in love with them, that we now have no floor space left in the living room of our little cottage, especially at weekends, when our part-time foster dog comes for his sleepovers, making 4 large Greyhounds in total. It can a mad house at feeding times and going for walks, but what fun and joy they all bring us. The best decision we have ever made in our lives was to go and visit you know who, over in Fife!

We love beautiful Spot, who is now sadly back in the kennels. He looks so much like Carrie, when she comes in from the snow! Good luck you beautiful boy, I don't think you will wait very long for your forever home. Wish we had a bigger floor and could grow another set of arms! How could anyone give him up, he is so majestic looking and so good natured.

Thank goodness we have so many great people who love their Greyhounds so much, long may they keep adopting them!

My thanks go out especially to Amanda with 6, for what she has done for her beautiful 6 dogs - wow!. I read what she was said on the forum, about her dog who is maybe going blind and cried my eyes out, then ended up laughing so much, as she described that she did not have a whole dog amongst the 6 of them! What a kind lady she is, giving so many of these beautiful hounds a forever home.

Our 3 have a few bits missing also. Squeek has half a tail, and a lot of teeth missing, but is so elegant and loving, Spot has no bottom teeth and is crackers, but a lovely dog and Carrie has a big scar on her front leg from a racing accident and a few more scars and bald bits on her back, due to being attacked by a dog who was not on a lead. She has several teeth missing and looks quite goofy when she is roaching, especially when her tongue is hanging out of her mouth, on the opposite side of her face from the way her head is lying. She is also a bit nutty, but a delight to have and so cute.

We are all so lucky to have them in our lives. Sorry this has been so long a read, if you managed to get through it all. I do go on a bit when talking about my favourite thing - GREYHOUNDS! Liz x

I don't think there's a single answer to this one. Its a combination of all the above great suggestions and possibly more. How about ...

Give 'new' owners an information sheet (as oppose to T&Cs) with some of the following. Something big & bold that is easy to read & keep to hand. Maybe laminated?

- explain what to do when a new dog doesn't settle
- ask them to call you if they're having second thoughts
- direct them to this forum so they can ask questions & get reassurance
- Place a 'sticky' at top of this forum with similar information
- 'Encourage' them to attend at least the next upcoming walk in order to meet other owners & feel part of the family
- Finally ... REMIND them again to return to GRF if they decide to give up the dog

Apologies if you do some / all of this. Its 18 months since Sox joined us & that day is a bit of a blur (after Celia got hold of us )

Do you follow up with a call / visit to all new owners after say 7 days?

Forum Members ... how about taking a note to check Gumtree once a week? Save a Favourite Search and run it when you get a chance. Will take less than a minute. I'm guessing Gumtree is the most obvious place someone would use.

I was going to say that maybe more home checks should be done before and after adopting the dog, keep in touch with the people that adopt them xxx

I wonder if a brief 'short-notice / unexpected visit' could be made somewhere in the first six weeks ... this would need to be done by Volunteers, as we can't expect Jimmy & Celia to go trailing all over Scotland. Perhaps, if we had a few people in various locations, ie. Tayside / Fife / Glasgow / Edinburgh, who we could call upon to do this, we could make it work. We would need to tell adopters, prior to re-homing, that this would happen, and explain why. It is not just for the dog's welfare, but for that of the adopters too.

Most of the problems / questions arise during the first days / weeks, so this could be a great opportunity to pick up on any issues for either adoptee or adopter.

What does anyone else think about this?

Susan.

When I do a home visit in Edinburgh I always say to the adopters "You have my number and Celia's number. If there's a problem at all or you want some advice about anything, phone one of us."

Could you maybe add a clause to the effect that if the owner breaches the agreement under any clause, they agree to pay all legal costs and fees incurred by GRF to enforce the terms of the agreement?


Otherwise it would appear the agreement is not worth the paper it is written on ...food for thought.

It's a hard one to balance.

Anji

I dont think people would call if there not coping i totally agree with we will be coming to your home to check after six weeks or so, might make adopters think twice , if your giving animals new homes, we need to think of there after care we could be rehoming to anybody xxx

Jimmy made it very clear to me what to do if things didn't work out. Return them straight back to GRF. I recent asked my Son who wasn't there at the adoption and even he knew, back to GRF

It can be daunting for the first few weeks/months and greyhounds are different to other breeds. Perhaps we could set up a buddy network. Mary, Susan and Mo supported me in the early days and are always available if I needed help. it was nice to socialise with other owners and learn from their experience.

Mac and Maisie are now nice and settled in the house, though we can have a minute of madness on the walks. A small price to pay. I notice the other dogs, border collies, spaniels etc also bark as much as my two