Bettina and I finally made it to Sandy Paws yesterday and had a blast! Jekyl Island (on the coast of S. Georgia) is beautiful. It's a small island that is underdeveloped, so that it only has a handful of hotels and houses on it. The beach is all public property, there are bike trails everywhere, several golf courses including one mini-golf course, a historical district, and there are no fast food joints (we tried to find one and failed!).
"What is Sandy Paws?" you may wonder. Sandy Paws is an annual event sponsored by greyhound adoption advocates and clubs, as well as other groups and vendors, that raises money and awareness for greyhound adoption. Sandy Paws provides opportunities for greyhound owners and volunteers to connect, brainstorm, learn more about the breed, participate in lots of seminars and activites with their dogs, and simply enjoy the Georgia coast with other greyhound enthusiasts. Greyhounds, known primarily as racing dogs, usually have short racing careers and are in need of homes after their racing career ends. These adoption groups provide foster care, health care, socialization opportunities, and find homes for these ex-racers. Adoption groups are non-profit and are usually run by volunteers. Since Italian Greyhounds are a cousin of the greys, we decided to go and show our support for the cause.
We had no idea really on what to expect upon entering the hotel, but I can say for sure that we were not ready for what we encountered. I'd say that there had to be at least a couple hundred greyhounds and their humans, walking the grounds, checking out the vendors, hanging out, etc. They were their in every color, shape, and size. One funny, and often unknown, thing about greyhounds is that they are actually really lazy and they love to just lie down and sleep. In one of the vendor rooms (there were 3), there was this one grey who just plopped down in the middle of the room and decided to sleep. So, you had to watch where you were going or risk stepping on a sleeping ex-racer.
The IGs were definitely in the minority, but we found into others, including a friend of ours, Buster, from the dog park. A lot of the greyhound owners mentioned owning IGs as well. It's an interesting combo because some greys and IGs do very well together and live harmoniously. However, some greys have such a high prey drive, that they cannot live with smaller dogs, such as IGs (especially since they like to run!). There have been instances where greyhounds have injured or killed an IG when their prey drive kicked in - they are awfully strong dogs. However, it seemed like most of the greys at the event were fine with our smaller dogs and many big grey owners mentioned owning both breeds.
Unfortunately, I didn't get many photos from the event, since we were trying to maneuver around the hotel with our dogs in tow. Maya, Bettina's 4 month old IG, was the star of the show and was adored my many. By the end of our visit, she was fast asleep in Bettina's arms. Louie, her big brother did not seem to like the idea of his little sister getting all the attention and was constantly asking me for kisses (he's such a lover!).
We ran into several IG and greyhound friends and the Hammers (Sadie, Gunnar, and I) were happy to meet our friend Trish, from
Dog Dayz, who makes awesome collars. She wasn't there as a vendor, but came to meet Ace, her newly adopted grey- straight off the track. She totally caught me off guard because she comes up to me and says, "who are they?" (pointing to Sadie and Gunnar).
I reply, "They are Italian Greyhounds" (usually that's what people want to know).
She says, "No, what are their names?"
Unsure of who this person is, I reply, "Sadie and Gunnar."
Her response: "I'm Trish!"
Me: "Trish! Oh my gosh! Hi!!"
It was like we were long lost relatives or something. Ah, small world.
Being with all those greys definitely made me miss my old grey, Boki. Boki, our small, black greyhound, who was found as a stray, but had the tatoos that identified racing dogs, was not the perfect dog (let's just say my parents had to replace our basement carpeting and couch after Boki was gone). But, he was a sweetheart and a goofball, who loved his life with us. Boki was always well-behaved and was fun to have around. I remember his favorite game to play was hide and seek - we would hide and he would seek. When he would find us, his tail would start wagging like crazy and he'd do a little jump for joy at his fortune. Just like a retriever fetching a ball, that game never got old for Boki.
A greyhound's calm, but pleasant demeanor is greatly underestimated; this breed is so pleasant to be around. They always seem to be at peace with the world, whatever their circumstances were prior to adoption. Some of these dogs came from poor racing conditions, wheras others were treated well. But you'd never know from the peaceful demeanor of a grey. Regardless of background, these dogs accept their new life with such grace and gratitude. We can learn much from these sweet creatures.
How fortunate to have events like these that promote the adoption of such a unique breed. I feel so lucky to have been a part of it.
