Fostering a Greyhound: A Guide to the First Few Days with Honey
Do you have a big heart, a love of dogs and some room for a new friend? Perhaps you want to help rehome hounds but don’t have the finances to adopt for yourself.
Have you considered greyhound foster care?
Fostering is a key factor of our organisation and the main reason we are able to help so many greyhounds. It is the essential first step for greyhounds in our program and we could not run a rescue without volunteers like Bex, who open up their homes and their hearts to a temporary greyhound stay. Thanks to our foster families, who are guided by our experienced team and qualified IAABC behaviour consultant, we are able to get these dogs into a safe and loving home where they can learn all about couch life and get ready for adoption with their forever family. Gumtree Greys pays for all food and vet bills, so you can focus on helping your new friend to thrive.
We asked Bex (@poppy_the_anubis) to tell us about her time fostering Honey the Greyhound and sharing with us the tips she has picked up during her time as a carer.
Honey, discovery the joys of beds and toys
It can help to have a resident dog to help with transition (but isn’t a prerequisite!)
We adopted Poppy from Gumtree greys back in 2021. Poppy is the most timid, shy, scaredy dog I have ever seen. Yet she is quite a peaceful foster sister, and Honey is her second foster that she has helped guide into pet life.
No two greyhounds are the same - get to know your foster dog
If this is your first time looking after a dog or fostering, I think the one thing I have learned is to throw all stereotypes and preconceptions of dogs that are typically taught by society out the window. Every dog is so different, and will have different loves, fears, anxieties and habits and will exhibit them in different ways, no matter the breed, sex or age. Not all greyhounds love people, yet not all are aloof and antisocial. Not all greyhounds are couch potatoes, some will want to run whenever they see an open field, yet some will want to turn around and go home once they've done a pee.
For example, when it came to toys, Honey and Ricky (our foster before Honey) both loved toys and took to them very shortly after being rescued out of the kennel. Poppy, on the other hand, took months to truly play with her first toy. It happened at 3am and I was so astonished, I got out of bed to take a video.
Honey was previously in other foster homes for two weeks before she came to us, through no fault of either party, it was deemed Honey may be more suitably fostered at Casa Poppy. Many greyhounds come into pet life not knowing how to climb stairs and bonking into transparent glass, but Honey came to us already confident about all of that, thanks to the care she received at her previous fosters.
The first few things I wanted to understand about Honey on our first few days with her were:
What her schedule was like; how often did she need to pee? What was her appetite like at feeding times if we fed her twice a day?
Did she have any anxieties around toys and food security that resulted in resource guarding? If so, would this be directed at people, another dog, or both, and what was her tolerance threshold?
Did she enjoy walks? Was she fearful of anything in the external environment? Other dogs, people, objects (ie. Bikes) and if so, why? Was it the sight of them? Was it the noise? The unpredictability?
How did she interact with possums, cats and small dogs? If a greyhound has strong prey drive, you need to use appropriate leash handling skills, or even a muzzle, if there is a chance of spotting small furry creatures in your neighbourhood and consider managing your walk pathing/timing if possible.
Could she be left alone in a separate room or space from us? If I went upstairs, could she be downstairs? How about sleeping arrangements overnight?
As our frame of reference, Poppy was very fearful when we first fostered her (and then foster failed and adopted her). She was afraid of trams, bikes, men, skateboard noises, suitcase wheels dragging across asphalt, people in general who were not men but talked loudly, other dogs who stared at her for a heartbeat too long - the list goes on.
Honey, like her namesake, turned out to be very confident and sweet. She wants to say ‘hi’ to everyone in the street. She wants to sniff every dog!
Establish what your foster greyhound needs to learn from you
Once we have established a baseline of these behaviours, I began to think about what we may want to work on to slowly help Honey adjust to pet life. I determined it might help if she could learn to wait when a door opens instead of rushing out, and it would be good if she could look at me instead of tugging to play with every dog she spotted across the road. These are mainly things to do with her operational safety.
Try and find the right diet for your foster dog
Honey also has a bit of anxiety around chewing hard food like kibble; she does better right now with softer SPD rolls. Gumtree Greys very generously ordered SPD rolls for us to feed Honey, however I am hoping she feels more secure in the coming days to be able to eat different types of food, including kibble - to give herself and future adopter more options. However, she is getting cheekier by the day and certainly knows what treat bags look like - she took two bags of dog treats to her bed last night and tried to get into them!
Show them love and safety while they adjust
These things don't happen overnight, so we will provide Honey a safe environment in the meanwhile for her to develop more confidence and see more of the world day by day, away from the racing kennels. It is truly a rewarding and joyful experience, and as a foster carer I feel very privileged and fulfilled to play a small part in it all.
Gumtree Greys update:
Honey was adopted, after just 4 weeks with Bex. She met her new family at the Carlton Farmers Market, where Gumtree Greys have a meet and greet stall every fortnight! (see our calendar for our next appearances!).
She is happy and thriving in her new home - see for yourself by following @thegreythoneybee on Instagram!
Are you interested in fostering a Gumtree Grey? There are dozens of dogs on our waiting list, ready to start discovery the joys of pet life. Find out more.