These Greyhounds Give Up Racing but Win Owners' Hearts

That’s the weekend when Dewey and Rehoboth are literally oh-so-politely overrun by a hoard of the most sweet-tempered, sleek, and lovely dogs imaginable. And their owners are pretty cool, too.

I spoke with Sally Daniel, who, along with her partner Melanie Hoelter, are the adoptive parents of three retired race dogs and who have gone positively gaga over the breed.

The family room in their home in the Bay Vista section of the Rehoboth Beach Yacht and Country Club is one big lounge area for the pack. Gracie (age 13) is the matriarch, Lucy is six and Allie is just over two. And it’s hard to tell whether they are listening to Sally tell the tale of their origins or they’re just taking a leisurely snooze.

“It started about a dozen years ago when I lived it Baltimore. I saw an ad for rescued greyhounds and I was curious so I checked it out. We went to see the dogs and one named Darla climbed straight up a 12-ft fence to get to us, then hopped in the trunk of our car. We were hooked.”

Darla lived with Sally and Melanie until she passed away at age 11 from leukemia. In their years together, Darla taught the couple lots about the care and feeding of greyhounds.

“Even though they are trained as racing dogs, at home they are real couch potatoes. They get attached to you very, very quickly and want nothing more than to please,” says Sally. “They can run up to 40 mph, so you can NEVER let them off a leash because they’ll just run, run, run.”

But, Sally notes, they seem to prefer sleeping on their backs with their feet in the air, spending their time with their adopted humans and forging a unique level of pure trust with their new family.

As for the transition from racetrack life to Rehoboth suburbia, it’s not too tough. Sally explains that the dogs need to be taught to negotiate stairs, and get over cases of separation anxiety when they are left alone.

Oh, and their teeth need brushing. The breed doesn’t seem to do a very good job of dental hygiene naturally, so every night Sally and Melanie helps the trio of hounds by brushing their teeth. “Yep, this is a five toothbrush family,” Sally says.

Out in Sally and Melanie’s fenced yard, Lucy and Allie demonstrate their ability to stalk a plastic bag, run a lap or two, then curl up into garden-hose-sized circles. For big dogs, it’s amazing how little space they can take up.

“They really don’t know much about obedience,” Sally explains, but each dog has a way of bonding with a person, probably left over from their racing training. “When they are walking with you, and you stop, many of the dogs just naturally lean up against you and wait for you to go again.”

It’s clear from watching Sally’s brood that these are extraordinarily sweet, trusting, and exceptionally gentle dogs. It’s also clear from the thousands of greyhounds who come to town with their people each October, that greyhound rescue has become a huge success story-one that has given great pleasure and comfort to the rescued dogs and adoptive families.

On this weekend in October, at least 50 hotels and inns around town will open their doors to pets as well as people. Over 3,000 dogs are expected this year. There are festivities on the beach in Dewey for man, woman, and beast, there are vendors selling greyhound-related goods, there are social events (for people and dogs), a blessing of the hounds, and more.

“I remember walking by one of the hotels last year, and you could see into some of the rooms, with the curtains open, and almost every room had one or more greyhounds lounging on the bed. It was hilarious,” says Sally.

You can find out more about The Greyhound Reach the Beach Weekend by calling 617-527-8843. If you want to find out about adoption, you can contact Greyhound Pets of America/MD,Inc. at 1-800-600-8607 or check out the website www.adopt-a-greyhound.org.