I think everybody, not just New South Wales but Australia and probably New Zealand wide as well, knows that greyhounds are a very important part of our lives. You know, the adoption process and rehoming is our number one issueand should be at the forefront, I think, of everybody’s attention. You know, while we obviously love to focus on the racing aspect and, you know, all the good things that people are achieving, I think this is something that, you know, we really have to just keep pushing out and just informing people like we were just saying before. A lot of it is just a lack of knowledge and people either not knowing where to look for information or just not knowing what’s out there available.
Can you just start me off by saying, you know, you obviously work for Greyhounds as Pets New South Wales and just tell me a little bit about your role there? I work for Greyhounds as Pets, the GAP program, where we help participants get their dogs ready for pet life after their racing life. Yep. So what are some of the things, you know, so say, for example, you know, a new trainer or a new owner coming into the sport and they’re going, OK, my greyhound has finished racing. I haven’t got the ability to house it because, obviously, I don’t have the ability to house it. So, you know, housing, again,that’s another issue, I’m sure, which is, you know, unfortunately, making a lot of people having to look to the Greyhoundsas Pets program.
What is the process if somebody needs to put their dog into the program? Yeah, so they obviously can get online to Greyhounds as Pets, Greyhounds, through the Greyhound Racing website, fill out the form and someone from GAP will obviously be in contact with them for an assessment. But before that happens, a participant, an owner, a trainer, can start to get their dog ready, which is so important for that transition from racing life into pet life. It’s a transition that’s very important, that needs a lot of assistance, that needs a lot of work put in. A dog’s had all its vaccinations. A participant, an owner, a trainer can actually start to prepare their dogs, which will help them later on in life, but also with their racing life.
Now, Greyhounds are a breed that can have a tendency to be a bit anxious, a bit nervous. In new places, they get overwhelmed. And if you can start a socialization process and build the confidence of this dog at eight weeks of age, it’s number one going to help it with its racing life because I speak to so many trainers out there that say, oh, my dog was pretty good. It showed ability, but when we got to the track, it used to get nervous. It used to run its race before the race even occurred. It’d get to the kenneling area, it’d get all worked up, and it wouldn’t put in the right effort. It’s because the dog’s a bit anxious. It’s not used to new environments.
So if you can prepare your dog at an early age, from that eight weeks of age, as soon as it has vaccinations, and startexposing your dog to other environments rather than your house where it’s raised, the kennels, the paddock that it runs in,and take it out into rural life, suburbia, urban areas, shopping centers, streets, get it used to different noises, cars, buses,different people, approaching different people, a dog’s going to be more social. It’s going to be more confident. It’s going to have that mental stability that, number one, will help them when they get to the new training track, when they get to a new track, when they get to the breakers, when they get to any new environment, a dog’s going to be more confident.
It’s going to be more stable, and it’s not going to get as anxious. It’s not going to get as nervous. And with its racing life,that means it’s going to put more effort into its racing. But also, after it’s finished its racing life, it’s going to be thattransition into home life is going to be so much easier because these new environments, these new scenarios, the dog’s notgoing to get anxious. It’s not going to get nervous because it’s already been exposed to it. And those early exposures havealways been positive. And a dog’s not going to worry. The dog’s going to go, oh, I’ve been here, I’ve been there, I’vedone this. Everything’s been positive so far. And that transition from racing life into pet life is going to be so much easier.
So that’s the early stages. Obviously, after it’ll go out to the paddock, it’ll get broken in, that’s fine. Okay, we’ll go through the racing life procedures and the plan that obviously trainers and participants should have with. So then obviously it’s racing life depending on how long it is. So usually trainers, owners know when the end of theracing part of their life is coming to an end. They can actually then start to prepare, prep their dog, once again, for that transition into home life. Of course, a dog’s racing life is a lot different than a home life. Running around the paddock on the racetrack is a lot different than knowing just the owner’s house, is a lot different than that pet life that they’re going into.
A lot of, obviously, families that adopt our dogs have got kids. If a dog hasn’t been exposed to kids before, that can be avery daunting thing. Public streets, little small fluffy dogs running around, pedestrians, loud traffic is a whole lot differentthan that racing life that they’re used to. Yeah, yeah. So the more we can prepare our dogs, the more stable they are, themore social they are. The more confident, it just opens up a whole lot of different pathways that we can rehome those dogs a lot quicker and get them out of the participants, the trainers’ kennels, which is obviously they want there for their race dogs, and get them on couches where they can live out the rest of their days.
Now, I can already sort of hear people, you know, listening to this saying, oh, look, I don’t have, you know, the time totake the dog out on the streets or whatever. But I’ve spoken to a lot of people that say, ‘Look, if I’m heading to the vets and I’ve got a dog that, you know, maybe I know is coming towards the end of their career or, you know, looking to socialise, I’ll chuck them in the car, take them for a drive to the vets, you know, get them out, let them have a look around and stuff. Is it just simple things like that for people that are really time poor that can help make a difference? Yeah, there’s just little things that you can do.
Obviously, I know how time poor everyone is, me being the same, you being the same. There’s so much going on. Just little things like I’ve got to go to Bunnies. Pick up. Pick up something for whatever it is, like take them to Bunnings, okay?’ You’ve got to go down the street and, I don’t know, pick up something from the post office. Put the dog in the car, take it with you. You’ve got to walk the kids to school or take the kids to school. Put the dog in the car, take it with you. Just little things like that are so important. And pair that with that experience that they’ve had from an early age as a pup, thattransition will be so much easier. And it just prepares.
It prepares the dog more socially. It builds up a whole lot of different scenarios and environments that the dog’s havingpositive experiences with. So when they come across that in their new life, their pet life, they’re going to cope with it a-whole lot better. Is there a common trait that you see in a lot of the dogs coming into the program that you think,you know, like you just said, people could incorporate something small into their routine that would help them throughthat process quicker? Yeah. Look, just those little things. Sometimes it has to do with the breeding. If a mum’s been a little bit nervous, a little bit anxious. Yeah. And breeders know that. And owners know that. Oh, I’ve had the mum. She was like that.
So those type of dogs that you know that it’s genetic trait as well, the more you do with those dogs is so important. Because genetics do have a big play in environmental. And a dog being able to cope in different scenarios. And other little things like you’ve got friends over, you’ve got family, you’ve got little nieces or nephews or grandkids. I find that the owners and trainers that have got grandkids that incorporate the kids, come and give the dog a pat, all that sort ofstuff. Once again, that is so important if you’ve got little small fluffy dogs running around. That’s another thing, obviously,making sure that they haven’t got contact and all that. We don’t know your dogs because we don’t want any of your actionslike that.
But just little things like that. And transitioning me into home life. I know a lot of people are like, here, I’m not putting my dog inside. Totally understand you don’t want to house your dog full time inside. But at the endof the day, if you’re sitting down, you finish dinner, you’re just watching some telly, wind down for the day or read a book,get a dog, bring it in the lounge room. Just let it sit down. Let it acclimatise, get it used to coming inside of the house. Different floors, different noises. Things like lawn mowers. Have the dog out when you’re mowing the lawn, when you’ve got out your whipper Snipper out, when you’re vacuuming, when you’ve got the washing machine on, the dryer, when you’ve got the television on.
All these different experiences, the more you can replicate what this dog is going to experience for the rest of its life, the transition is going to be so much easier. And once again, it’s going to be so much easier. It’s going to open up morepathways for your dog to get re-homed. Is it the more things, I guess, you know, when you come up and see a certaincriteria of a dog and say, you know, I don’t know the exact criteria, but say, yep, you know, familiar with kids, you know,don’t mind loud noises, that sort of thing. Is it the more things they tick off like that, it’s more appealing and then easierfor them to get adopted out because they’re more adaptable to more situations and environments? Correct, yes.
So the main thing, participants bring their dogs in for their assessment, that’s the gap assessment. So the main things we’re looking for is that confidence, okay? So we take the, we go get the dog off the owner, the participant, the trainer, and we bring it into the assessment yard. We’re looking at how does a dog cope in a new environment? So we look for different traits, like does the dog come bounding in, he’s really confident, he’ll try to get out. Does he, are they sniffing andexploring around the yard? Are they approaching us? Because that’s very important. Have they got that confidence? Havethey got that mental stability to come up to a stranger and approach it? Or is it going to cower in the corner?
Okay, so that confidence, because we’ve got to think of, right, this dog is going to go into a new environment, a newhome, how’s it going to act? Is it going to be that nervous that it’s cowering over in the corner and not being able toapproach someone, or are we going to put into a home? It’s nice and relaxed; it’s confident; it’s going to handle thattransition in. So that’s the main thing, a lot of the things that we’re looking for in that assessment, because I’m sure a lot ofyour listeners have brought their dogs into GAP for their assessment. That’s what we’re looking for, that ability for the dogto cope in a new environment, because the home they’re about to go into is going to be a new environment.
A lot of the times people go, ‘Oh, it doesn’t do this at home,’ or ‘It does this at home,’ it does this at home, and then wedon’t really, we obviously care about if you’ve brought the dog in, you’ve socialised it, and all that sort of stuff, but whenpeople continue to harp on about what the dog does at home, it doesn’t really mean anything to us, because the dog isn’tgoing to live in your home for the rest of its life, it’s going to handle, it’s going to go into a new environment. So thatinitial test is, how is a dog going to cope? This is a new environment, it’s never seen it before. How does a dog cope? Is itstable enough?
Is it social enough to transition from that pet life into that home life? And for people that are listening that maybe thinking about adopting a greyhound, I think the old stigma of, oh, they don’t get along with small animals and cats and all that sort of thing, can be a misconception, because I see quite a lot of photos that pop up on social media of, you know, greyhounds laying next to cats, laying next to other little dogs. So, again, where possible, if they can, you know, socialisethem with those type of animals and, yeah, it obviously, you know, increases their chance of being adopted, particularlyinto a home where they’ve already got, you know, small animals or cats as well. That’s right.
And so many of our applicants, the people that want to adopt our dogs are, they’re in apartments, they’ve got cats, they’vegot dogs and they’ve got kids. Okay? So that’s what, I mean, the more you can prepare your dog for that type ofenvironment, that’s what I’m saying. If you can bring your dog inside, get it used to being inside, it’s going to open up thatavenue of possibly going into an apartment, okay? If you can socialise around kids and it’s comfortable around kids, it’sgoing to open up more pathways to go into a home with kids. Same with cats. A lot of our applicants have cats for somereason. So, GAP has actually implemented a cat workable program where we identified dogs with low prey drive and thenwe put them in.
Once we test them with small dogs and cats, we put them into a training program to make sure that they’re workable withcats and we’ve been quite successful in that. Recently, we’ve placed quite a number of dogs in with cats and they’re livingtogether, they’re sleeping in the same bed. It’s been really good getting through the messages of the cats and the dogsliving as one in a home. So, the more, like I said, the more you prepare. The more you prepare your dog for pet life wherekids, apartments, different environments, the more pathways it’s going to open up. If you bring us a dog that hasn’t beenexposed, that doesn’t know pet life, that doesn’t know streets, that doesn’t know cars, that doesn’t know kids, that don’tknow shopping centres and you bring it in and we assess it and it’s a little bit timid, it doesn’t want to approach us, we canonly put that dog in a very small space.
So, how we want to do this as we come through the Blind Nachoativ style happen. This is us and I think if you’ve got a dog that’s a household registration on your assisted dog, then this is a browser and then this is a link and this is if your dogis not on the list, then it’s aoristal box, we open that up and we do are we a hybrid emotional engagement that does anactual joint action therapy. We obviously can’t put it into a home with three kids in a in a busy suburb, okay? It would benegligent of us to expose a dog and put that into a home. Yeah, a lot of, um, trainers will go, ‘Oh, give it three or four days and it’ll be right.’ Unfortunately, we haven’t got three or four days because a dog goes into a home with kids; it’s notcomfortable.
Us as humans, us as adults, we go, ‘Hey, I’m a bit uncomfortable, I’m a bit nervous, I’m a bit shy.’ We use our voice, wesay, ‘Stop.’ Dogs don’t have that ability when a dog’s uncomfortable; it has fight or flight. It can either run or unfortunately, dog bites may occur. So, that’s the reason why we’ve got to be so careful, that we are which. Are the dogsput them into those right homes, yep yep. The more exposed, the more confident, the more social it is, the more homes we can put it into. Now you were telling me before we started this about some uh basically kind of like some you know I guess some frequently asked question days some you know information sessions that you know you guys are starting to implement around the state for people that yeah may just have no idea what to do and and like we’ve just spoken about just those simple um socialisation or little techniques or trips to the vets etc that they can incorporate into their routines to help them. Get ready for Pet Life, so can you just touch on those for me? Yeah, definitely. So, obviously we’re always trying to think of new ways to help participants, um, to really and also to help the dogs like how can we prepare these dogs better for home life, um, and they’re, and they’re honestly there has been that communication breakdown in previously, fully aware of it, and we’re always trying to be better, we’re always trying to improve ourselves, improve gap, and improve the, the home ability of our dogs which will help our participants out there.
So, we’re running um, it’s a bit of a pilot program that we’ve started up of a socialization. Training day where GAP staff will go right out meet here bring your dogs along that are in the program or are ready for about to start their pet prepprogram to get re-homed and it’s just a socialization day where we meet and we take our dogs for a walk um we’ve runfour so far up here in the Newcastle-Hunter region at Maitland, Raymond Terrace, Morris Head, and Terrigal um whereparticipants have come up and we’ve taken dogs for a walk through the streets um and the community engagement hasbeen off the charts it’s been so good and it’s a way to promote the breed as well there’s a lot of misconception about allthey need a lot of work.
Or they’ve got muzzles, they’re dangerous, and all that. Yeah, it’s breaking down those barriers because the more peoplecan see all these beautiful greyhounds getting walked in public, they come up, they’re giving them a pass, and they’re giving them a pat. We’re promoting GAP. We say, ‘Look, these dogs are available for adoption.’ They go, really, and wehopefully will even get an adoption out of some of them. Um, and it’s really just promoting the breed, breaking downthose barriers, breaking down those misconceptions of of the dog itself, but also the dogs are getting that enrichment, thatso much important training too. Socialization that a new person’s coming up to them, they’re getting a pat, it’s a goodexperience and they’re learning, they’re developing, they’re growing, they’re getting mentally stronger every time they goout in public and there’s that good experience.
So it’s a pilot program we started up here, so far it’s been very successful, and hopefully, um, we will be rolling it out statewide over the coming months. Um, we have got two further training sessions coming up very soon, one at Newcastleon Thursday the 22nd of August at 11 a.m. We’re just going to meet at the um, car park along Wolf Road, I think it’s 118 Wolf Road, at Newcastle at 11 a.m on Thursday, 22nd of August and also at Cessnock um, on North Avenue which is outside the Cessnock Tape there on Tuesday the 27th of August at 11 a.m. It only usually lasts about an hour to an hourand a half. Days are really good.
We start off, we have a chat, we talk about the reasons why we’re here, um, and then we take the dogs for a walk, um, andwe have and the more that us Gap staff can see the dogs, the more we learn about them, the more confident we become,and then when an adopter comes along and says ‘I want a dog like this, this, and this’, those dogs are going to be in theforefront of our minds because we’ve had that much more exposure with Them, yeah, um, and even with these days, I’veseen there’s been one guy that’s brought his dog along every single time, and the growth, development, and theimprovement in this dog has been such, like, so good.
Um, if that person brought their dog in for an assessment without any of the the training and development, we wouldn’thave been be able to rehome it. It was a very timid dog; it was a very shy dog. Every time you approach it, it would likeback up; it would put its head down, and you could see that fear and anxiety in the dog. But every session that we did withthe dog, it improved; it didn’t become so nervous; it was just so much better to a point. the Central Coast walked upstarted giving the tails wagging and the growth and development that dog has been amazing. So, from a dog that wewould have been able to rehome, guess what? Now we’ve got so many more options and more places that this dog can berehomed.
It’s just through these training sessions that we’re providing, yep, yeah, brilliant! No, that’s awesome, and yeah, like yousaid, just something so simple but now has just, you know, the outlook of getting that dog a home so quickly, yeah. Andthat’s just one of the dogs, um, and so many dogs have been rehomed that we’ve seen on these on these socialization days.Because we know the dog is like, we can see it out in public. We’re more confident because we know kids haveapproached it, adults have approached it. The dog has handled buses, cars all that sort of stuff. We’ve seen it for our owneyes and we’re more likely to go, ‘That dog’s confident, I know a dog can go there, yeah, no perfect, probably just… it’sbreaking down the communication as well.
Yes, we’ve got a lot of questions; there’s a lot of rumors everyone’s gossiping at the tracks that’s this, that’s that. Yeah,yeah, come to us, talk to us, we’re an open book; we’re here to answer any questions. Um, we’re here, we’re a team, yeah.We’ve got to work together, that’s the thing we have to work together to get these dogs rehomed. Yeah, the more we worktogether, the more we communicate, the more we’re open, the better everyone off is. Yep, 100%, and you know, like I saidat the start of the episode, this is the number one issue in the industry whether you know people want to deny it or not, itis, and it should be at the forefront of everybody’s mind.
And yeah, so it’s really, really important that people, I think, you know, where they can obviously… you know,circumstances, you know, not always possible, but I think if they put the effort in, uh, yeah, then like you said, everybody,especially. The dogs are going to benefit from it, which is the main thing to lastly touch with you on you know a couple ofthings that you know are on the website about um you know volunteers and foster carers. So obviously, you know weknow not everybody’s in a position to adopt, but is that you know is something that you guys always on the lookout for isfoster carers and volunteers if they want to assist where they can? Once the carers are so important um once again, thatwill help with that transition it’s got that little buffer.
It can we can get you put into a foster home; we know the strengths and weaknesses of the dog before it finds a home and we can get you put into a foster home, and we can get you put into a home. So, and a lot of our adopters opt for dogs that have been in foster care previously. So yeah, it’s really, I that was something surprising to me. A lot of people on their application form will go, ‘Oh, I’d like to have a dog that’s already been in a foster home.’ Security so yeah, the more foster carers we can have, yep um once again and we learn more about the dog, we get more information about the dog, so then we can set it up for a success and then we can put it in that right home because we’ve got that little bit more of information.
Um, yeah, and volunteers that anyone. That come along to these training days, there’s some gap staff but also we’ve had some wonderful volunteers rock up because participants they have might have two three four dogs they obviously can only walk one at a time usually some staff take some dogs but also we’ve had some volunteers or some partners or trainers that have turned up because they’ve seen the benefits of these days um and the days are growing more and more with more people turning up so um once again if you want to bring four or five dogs I don’t mind doing four or five laps of Newcastle that’s the more dogs we can get out there the more we can expose them. The more help we can give them, because that’s what I said, we are a team.
It’s not gap versus participants or anything like that, we’re all in it for the same purpose, yep, um, we’re all here to give these dogs the best life they can after racing, yes, and look, I know trainers are so busy, trust me, I know, um, trials, track, all that sort of thing. If you can just put in that little bit of effort, you will reap the rewards. So instead of having your dog, a dog that’s been finished racing, sitting in your kennel for six to twelve months, putting that little bit of effort, you’ll be able to rehome it so much quicker because it’s going to open up so many more avenues for your dogs.
I encourage everyone possible that that has a dog that’s about to finish racing or it’s finished racing or you’ve got pups that have had their vaccination and they’ve had their vaccination, if we can start the preparation then, number one it’s going to give you a more stable um dog for its racing career and also it’s going to help you two years three years down the track because your dogs are experienced and it’s going to be so much more easier to rehome.
And gapnsw.com.au is the website that’s got… I’m guessing a lot of people either have never visited it or don’t know it’s there, but it’s got plenty. Of good resources, and things like if you want to adopt or foster or volunteer, etc., it’s got all that stuff on there. But I’ll continue to obviously push out those days as well, and there’s some more communication we can put out there. The more people are aware of what they can do and the more people are aware of what they can do, where they can incorporate certain things, again, it’s just going to benefit everyone, and we’ll just keep, you know, hopefully improving this aspect of the industry moving forward, yeah, just a little one percent as you can do, um, I love that word, the one percent. Bring your dog in when you’re watching TV, when you’re going down to Bunnings, take it with you when you’re going down the post office, when you’re walking the kids to school, when you’re I don’t know, whatever you’re doing, just going for a walk yourself, take your dog with you. The benefits it will have will be tenfold.
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