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Hello GRRers and friends -
The lazy, hazy days of summer have arrived, but things at GRR are hopping so the days are anything but lazy.
To update you all on the Bill in Florida, making a long story short, an amendment was attached before it went to committee which bounced it back to the House where it died on the table. The immediate crisis for adoption groups was averted to some extent, however, the need to move the Florida dogs into adoption is huge!!! Some kennels aren't making enough money racing to adequately care for their hounds and the "calls to action" are coming in fast and furious. GRR jumped through hoops in a cooperative effort to save 12 hounds that were at risk of being abandoned. They came from Sarasota in a special transport called the Freedom Run. Two drivers and 12 hounds made the trip all in a large van. It was a wonderful, rewarding experience and six of those hounds, Mae, Shania, Girl, Rich, Hilco and Andrew, are currently in a boarding kennel waiting for foster homes. They are listed under the available hounds on our website so please take a look and see if you might consider taking one into your home. There are 5 more hounds arriving this weekend from a track closing in Alabama, so we need all the help we can get!!
The picnic is shaping up to be a fun filled event this year and I hope you'll all be there to join in the activities.
Be sure to read the article on heat stroke. You may save your hound's life!
Be well and be careful,
For the hounds,
Christine Johnson
President, GRR |
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GRR Annual Picnic
Saturday, June 25th is our annual picnic at Bennett Memorial Park in Bethel, CT. It's lots of
 | | This guy had a fun time at last year's picnic! |
fun with good food, things to buy, activities and it's GRR's biggest fund raiser of the year. We will be holding a silent auction and raffle to benefit the Florida hounds along with our 50/50 raffle. Raffle tickets are attached at the end of the newsletter. We will also have the favorite GUGG (gently used greyhound goods) tent championed by Andrea Guttman. If you have greyhound items in good condition, i.e.: clothing, coats, beds, leashes and collars (please be sure all items are washed & clean) contact Andrea at williesmydog@aol.com.
We are also looking for new items to be donated for the silent auction and raffle. These don't have to be greyhound specific. Anything goes! Sports tickets, vacation get-a-ways, jewelry, etc. are all welcome. If you have items to donate, contact either: Christine at greys4ever@aol.com, Cindy Stickles at newyearsbaby67@yahoo.com, Karen Marcelynas (CT) at drivinmsdaisy5@att.net or Cathy Zadany (in Dutchess County) at mocha48@verizon.net.
We need a few able bodies to help set up for the picnic. Contact Christine at greys4ever@aol.com if you can help out. See you there! |
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1st Annual GRR Greyhound Photo Contest!
Don't forget to send in your favorite hound photos for our1st Annual Greyhound Photo Contest with the winners to be named at the picnic. There will be a black and white photo category and color photo category so there will be two winners. The photos must contain at least one greyhound.
E-mail your digital photos to Christine at greytest1@yahoo.com or mail your photographs to GRR, P.O. Box 572, Cross River, NY 10518. Make sure to include your name, the dog(s) name and anyone else's name who is in the photo, your e-mail address and your phone number. If you're sending actual photos, do not write on the front or back of the photo. Photos mailed in cannot be returned. Submissions must be received by 6/15.
 | | Happy Chatty |
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Featured Hound for Adoption
 | | Ellie |
Ellie
Sex: Female
Color: Blue
Age: 3 years
Cats: No
Ellie is an outgoing and playful three year old female. She is loving and enjoys the people in her foster home. She has adapted to pet life quickly. Ellie gets along well with the other dogs in her foster home, but she likes to be the one to make the decisions. She is also content to be an only dog. Ellie is very interested in small animals, though she lives with a guinea pig and, after initial interest, she pays no attention to it. However, she is not a candidate for a home with small dogs or cats. She loves to romp in the fenced in yard, but she is also good on a leash. Ellie is a favorite among the children in her foster home. She'll make a great pet!
 | | Ellie with MacKenzie |
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Danger - Heat Stroke by Christine Johnson
Greyhounds don't have much body fat (or at least they shouldn't). Body fat acts as an insulator so as the hounds are easily susceptible to the cold, so are they to heat. Over-heating can quickly become fatal and dogs with dark colored coats are more at risk.
A dog's body temperature is normally between 100.5°F and 102°F. Dogs regulate their body temperature by panting, expelling heat through the breath and evaporation from the tongue. If he can not expel the heat fast enough, his body temperature rises. A rise of three degrees to a temperature of105°F is all it takes to send your dog into a dangerous situation. At this temperature, the dog can no longer reduce his body heat by panting and he can no longer satisfy his body's increasing demand for oxygen. Thus, his temperature will continue to rise out of control.
When the temperature hits 108°F, the heart, brain, liver, kidneys, and intestinal tracts start breaking down at a cellular level, and damage can progress at an alarming rate. Even immediate treatment and effective cooling to bring his temperature down can leave the dog with internal damage that may affect his health in long term ways. The early signs of heat stroke are:
- rapid breathing
- extremely heavy panting
- dry mouth and nose
- rapid heart rate
- gums that are dull, grayish-pink, or red
- glassy looking eyes and discomfort
This is an EMERGENCY! Even at the earliest stage of heat stroke, you may be fighting for your dog's life. You must get him to a veterinarian as soon as possible. These early symptoms can be followed in minutes by collapse, seizures, coma and death.
So, what should you do if your dog shows these symptoms?
Cooling: The most important thing you can do for your dog is to begin the cooling process. For MOST situations all you will need to do is get the dog in a cooler environment, i.e. shade or in a vehicle with the air conditioning on (driving around so the vehicle does not overheat and the AC is more efficient) and get cool water immediately on your hound; soaking the paws in cold water and iced towels between the front and back legs will help but the most important thing you can do is get your hound to a vet ASAP!!
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 | | Our Prior Foster Diggs |
Fostering Greyhounds
by Joyce and Bill Stillman
As Bill and I were preparing for our new "guest", I could not help but think back over the past year and a half, and the wonderful greyhounds we have welcomed temporarily into our home, to help prepare them for their new families. What a great experience it has been.
We are relative newcomers to fostering; some of the other GRR members have fostered many, many more times than us.
For us, the most rewarding aspect of fostering greyhounds is when, only after a few days, the "light bulb" goes on and they start to realize that this is a whole new world: Good food, a soft warm bed, lot of hugs and kindness, trees, grass, car rides and black and white slow - moving things that smell bad: Oops!-that's not a cat!
It's a pretty big and sometimes scary world in the beginning. They stick this close to us and Rita, our patient Grey, learning and building confidence in preparation to go to their forever homes. Like sponges, they just start to absorb all the great things that they never knew before. We laugh at some of their antics.
Diggs (Nitro Golddigger), was so curious about everything, and had to put many things in his mouth to "taste". One day, he took my daughter's cell phone, brought it into his crate, and gently chewed it. How he managed to call her friend in the UK and text "T" will never be known, but he did! That is one smart hound!
Is there some extra work? - - Sure. Inconvenience, sometimes, but in the long run, the rewards are great.
People often ask, "How can you bear to let them go?" Yes, it's sad for us for awhile,
 | | Our Current Foster Iron Mike |
but I know all of our foster hounds are happy, well adjusted, greatly loved and alive.
As I am writing this article, we had recently picked up our new foster, "Iron Mike". What a guy! His nose goes overtime, checking everything out. So curious about this new world. He ate well, and slept all through the night. He is going to make some family VERY HAPPY! Anybody thinking of "chipping", this is your boy.
Please consider fostering. It is truly a wonderful experience, and you are saving a life. These wonderful creatures are so grateful for the smallest kindness. They just need a chance to prove they will be a best friend, confidant, and loving family member.
Joyce and Bill Stillman live in Peekskill with their grey Rita and are foster parents for GRR. |
Thank you to our Current Fosters!
We'd like to thank the following who are currently fostering:
Amy Wilbur with Vanna
Jen Spagnolo with Louie
The Puglisi Family with Jelly
Britta Betzin with LuLu
Patty Murphy with Mocha
Brian Thomas with TK
Allison Pascuzzi with Beauty
The Stillmans with Iron Mike
The Reiger Family with Ellie
Art with Wheeler
Mary Carter with Kitty Cat
Christine Johnson & Chris Procopis with Bowie
Below are the hounds making their trip north in the "Freedom Run". Foster homes are needed for these dogs. Please contact Christine at greys4ever@aol.com if you can foster.
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 | | Andrea Guttman's Felix turning on the charm! |
Knights of Columbus Review by Art Reiss
The Knights of Columbus invites GRR every first Sunday each May and October to be at their Flea Market with our Greyhounds. We recently attended the May 1 Flea Market. It was a beautiful day at Greenwich by the Long Island Sound, just perfect for the dogs. We draw a lot of attention and many people cannot believe how calm the dogs are.
There were probably 60-70 vendors there and everyone stopped to pet our pups even those unable to adopt. We received several applications from this event and did well with donations.
 | | Here's Felix again working the crowd! |
Many thanks go to the volunteers who attended: Pete O'Gorman who stayed with me all day from 7-4. Pete helped setup and do breakdown. Thanks to Ruth Tara and Anne Quick who took care of the GRR table and helped with the handling of the hounds. Also thanks to Andrea Guttman, Janet Levy, Jane Plant, Michelle D'Angelo, Chris Hepburn, Barb O' Gorman, Britta Betzin and Christine Johnson who brought the ambassadogs and foster dogs and helped to spread the word about greyhound adoption.
 | | Pete, Ruth, Art and Janet with Felix, Annie, Chela and Sabine |
Volunteers are always needed at our events. I'm still looking for volunteers at Mamaroneck on June 5th. E-mail me at hounds68@yahoo.com if you're available. Or check out our website calendar and think about volunteering at one of our other events.
Art Reiss lives in Rye with his greys Chela, Lisa, Josh and Howard. Art chairs events, visits nursing homes with his dogs, does transport of new dogs arriving and takes them to and from the vet for their medical appointments and frequently fosters.
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Pet Travel Site
This site was recommended by Marty Stricks. It has worldwide pet travel guides listing dog-friendly hotels and motels, etc. - http://www.dogfriendly.com/ . Great information for those of you taking your pets along on vacation. |
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June Calendar of Events
6/4 New Milford Agway 11-2
6/4 Choice Pets Hartsdale 12-3
6/5 Mamaroneck Harbor Fest 11-6
6/11 Petco Brookfield 10-3
6/11 Petland Discounts Yorktown 11-2
6/18 Adams Fairacre Farms 10-2
6/18 Petland Discounts Southbury 10-2
6/18 Petland Discounts Thornwood 12-3
6/25 GRR Picnic Bethel 11-4
For more information and to see all of our scheduled events, see the website calendar. |
Recent Placements
The following hounds found homes:
Silvie Aerin & Joe Dittmer
Treasure aka Treat Margaret Manetti
Feisty Colleen Mannion & Holly Farmer
Judy Nenni Family
Katy & Bill Christine Johnson & Chris Procopis
Lucy aka Guadalupe Rich Durand
 | | Feisty in her new home with Colleen Mannion & Holly Farmer! |
Congratulations to these lucky dogs and their new families! |
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 Help Wanted
Event Coordinator - Responsible for scheduling events, maintaining the event calendar, advertising events and needs to occasionally attend events so preferable for the person to be in the NY/CT GRR adoption area. The event coordinator also contacts the foster homes about attending events. If interested, please contact Mary at greysrus11@yahoo.com.
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Keep this part for your records
Greyhound Rescue & Rehab 50-50 Raffle
Raffle drawing date: June 25, 2011
www.greyhoundrescuerehab.org
If you would like additional raffle tickets please contact greys4ever@aol.com or 914.763.2221 |
Return this part with your check (made payable to GRR) to:
GRR, PO Box 572, Cross River, NY 10518
Name________________________________________
Phone________________________________________
E-mail________________________________________ | |
Keep this part for your records
Greyhound Rescue & Rehab 50-50 Raffle
Raffle drawing date: June 25, 2011
www.greyhoundrescuerehab.org
If you would like additional raffle tickets please contact greys4ever@aol.com or 914.763.2221 |
Return this part with your check (made payable to GRR) to:
GRR, PO Box 572, Cross River, NY 10518
Name________________________________________
Phone________________________________________
E-mail________________________________________ | |
Keep this part for your records
Greyhound Rescue & Rehab 50-50 Raffle
Raffle drawing date: June 25, 2011
www.greyhoundrescuerehab.org
If you would like additional raffle tickets please contact greys4ever@aol.com or 914.763.2221 |
Return this part with your check (made payable to GRR) to:
GRR, PO Box 572, Cross River, NY 10518
Name________________________________________
Phone________________________________________
E-mail________________________________________ | |
Keep this part for your records
Greyhound Rescue & Rehab 50-50 Raffle
Raffle drawing date: June 25, 2011
www.greyhoundrescuerehab.org
If you would like additional raffle tickets please contact greys4ever@aol.com or 914.763.2221 |
Return this part with your check (made payable to GRR) to:
GRR, PO Box 572, Cross River, NY 10518
Name________________________________________
Phone________________________________________
E-mail________________________________________ | |
Keep this part for your records
Greyhound Rescue & Rehab 50-50 Raffle
Raffle drawing date: June 25, 2011
www.greyhoundrescuerehab.org
If you would like additional raffle tickets please contact greys4ever@aol.com or 914.763.2221 |
Return this part with your check (made payable to GRR) to:
GRR, PO Box 572, Cross River, NY 10518
Name________________________________________
Phone________________________________________
E-mail________________________________________ |
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