| 1. | Jeremy Sauer | Wed May 11, 2011 @ 11:36PM |
I am a retired racing greyhound owner and military officer serving in the Army. If the tracks in Florida do close, I want to ensure military members in Florida, and other areas, that they can provide forever homes to these greyhounds.
My wife and I adopted our greyhound in January 2007 in Tennessee. Since then, we have moved with our greyhound to Alabama, Colorado, Germany, and Virginia. Further, we have traveled across the U.S. and Europe with our greyhound on vacation several times. During all of our moves and vacations, we have stayed in hotels with our greyhound or placed him in a kennel for airline shipment. While we did not enjoy shipping our greyhound, we had good experiences with the airlines and pet carrier companies and our greyhound always arrived in good health and spirits.
My wife and I have been involved in greyhound adoption groups in nearly every place we have lived. In many places, we encountered military members who are not sure if a retired racer will fit in their military life style. I would like to let these families know that greyhounds are great travelers and adjust very well to new places. More importantly, the support you receive from adoption groups is amazing. We know several other military families that own retired racers and their greyhounds are also great adjustors.
Moreover, we have never had a yard to let him roam or relax in. Living both on and off military bases, our greyhound adjusts well to whatever space we live in. As long as he gets his morning and evening walks, he does just fine. Therefore, in our experience, the lack of space at home or in a hotel does not bother our greyhound. He is happy as long as we are with him.
The only advice I have for military members, and all potential greyhound adopters for that matter, is that they allow the greyhound to pick them. In this way, they will ensure that the greyhound they adopt is the best fit for their family and lifestyle.
Jeremy Sauer
Captain, U.S. Army
Student, CGSC-ILE, Fort Lee, VA
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.




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