Digby greyhounds enjoying their down-home lifestyle

Jan Barr of Digby took delivery of his first greyhound, 5-year-old Mathias, in January. Pooky, a 3-year old female, arrived a month later. Although Barr figures two is about right for his household, he knows of a woman who has eight.

The vast majority of greyhounds in Nova Scotia—Mathias and Pooky included--have been bred for racing. Greyhound Pets of Atlantic Canada (GPAC) has brought them to the region and found homes for them once they have retired from the sport.

A non-profit organization, GPAC has been bringing shipments of greyhounds to Atlantic Canada for the past 18 years. Jeannette Reynolds, GPAC’s founder, says that adds up to close to 2,500 dogs. A truckload of 28 arrived in Dartmouth just last week.

Most greyhounds begin their racing careers at around 16 months and finish between the ages of two and five years.

Greyhound racing is banned in Canada and the official position of the Humane Society of the United States is that it constitutes animal abuse.

Nevertheless, there are tracks in 15 of the United States and there are thousands of dogs bred specifically for the sport.

Reynolds says she deals only with breeders who have a no-kill policy.

“We get our dogs from eight different breeders. The greyhounds we bring in have essentially been hand-raised, and have had lots of interaction with people.”

She says the most recent shipment includes four dogs that ended their racing careers because of injuries; the breeders spent thousands of dollars on surgical repairs.

“We have a breeder who also races his dogs in Ireland—and he has brought them to Atlantic Canada because he wants us to place them for him.”

All GPAC dogs are profiled according to personality. Barr’s female, Pooky is very shy, a fact that made her unsuitable for racing. She was placed in foster homes prior to joining Barr. Before making the decision to adopt her, he was made aware of her personality, likes, dislikes, and history.

Profiles also include how each dog gets along with children, other dogs, and cats.

Reynolds says her organization conducts in-depth interviews with families and individuals interested in adopting, to ensure there is a good match.

The charge for adopting a GPAC dog is $275. “They arrive spayed or neutered, and with clean teeth,” says Barr.

He says that many people assume greyhounds require lots of space and lots of exercise, but that’s not the case. The dogs are sprinters—and are not known for endurance. “A dog that races only does it once every five to seven days,” he says.

Barr walks his dogs once or twice a day—but says they are basically pretty low maintenance. They greet him at the door enthusiastically when he comes home from work, and then tend to calm down and lay down. They enjoy their outings, but aren’t particularly demanding dogs.

Because their hair is short, and they have very little body fat, they wear jackets or sweaters for winter walks.

To his knowledge, Barr has the only greyhounds in the town of Digby, but that could soon change.

GPAC’s booth, where people were invited to meet, touch and hang out with greyhounds, was one of the most popular on the waterfront during Scallop Days.

Several local people went home with a new understanding of the breed—and the rewards of having one as a pet.