Our Greyhound Giselle

You are visitor 4996 since October 4, 1998. Thanks for visiting! (Woof)

When I came to my new home, I met my big sister Willow, and she's a cat! Visit her page!

My "mommy" Lisa and "daddy" Mark want to tell you about me!

Giselle is a retired racer! She's a wonderfully sweet, gentle, and fun greyhound. We adopted her from Greyhound Adoption Service of Salisbury, Massachusetts. Greyhounds make wonderful pets - they are calm, loving, and eager to please. There are thousands of greyhounds waiting for homes - and they can't wait long. Once they are retired from the track, they need to find a place that can take them immediately, or else they may end up being euthanized or worse...used for research.

Giselle's last race (under her racing name "Ima Ms Iris") was on Saturday 9-19-1998. She lost, and on the very next day she was sent to a greyhound adoption service. Luckily there was room for her - because someone else on that day had adopted another dog and opened up a space. We adopted Giselle on 9-26-1998, and on 9-27 a new dog that lost too many races had a chance, because Giselle had come to our home. Space is really that tight and turnover that quick - so please save a life. You'll be saving your dog - and giving another dog a chance to find a home. Although the Greyhound racing industry has improved its adoption record, there aren't enough homes yet. Maybe your home could be home to a greyhound!

Greyhounds are often called "40 mile-per-hour couch potatoes". When they aren't running, their favorite thing is to just lay around. Giselle is no exception!

Sometimes you just have to stretch those long legs. Of course, when you're a pet, you can just roll over on your "mattress".

Want more information on adopting Greyhounds? Here are some links:

• The Greyhound Project. A greyt clearinghouse of greyhound information, links to many adoption agencies around the country, greyhound books and calendars, with proceeds supporting greyhounds.
• Greyhound Adoption Services, Inc. of Salisbury, Massachusetts. We got Giselle from these fine folks. On the North Shore of Massachusetts, near southern New Hampshire. All reputable agencies "cat test", but this greyt place also has rescued many of the feral cats in their neighborhood. They have several cats they have spayed and released, and then feed. Greyhounds (on lead, of course) have several opportunities to meet cats. So when they say a greyhound is "cat-safe", it has met cats several times. Important if you are a cat-owner (cat-ownee is more like it) or if you have lots of "cat friends" in your neighborhood.
• Greyhound Friends of Hopkinton, Mass. Yes, the same town as the start point of the Boston Marathon. Good vibes for racers human and canine. We first met greyhounds and fell in love with them, from a booth they had at a country fair in our area. Good online catalog for greyhound supplies - including the important special coats for cold weather, beautiful sighthound collars, and other cool stuff.
• No adoption center near you? The National Greyhound Adoption Program can help pick out the right greyhound for you, and ship your new pet to you by air, anywhere in the continental United States.

Winning the most important race:

Giselle is really happy she has a home now, and she acts like she's lucky that she got to retire right away after just a few races. She only began racing in August 1998. We're just thrilled she won the most important race, the race for a home. But she was a racer, and she's very proud of the race she won at the track. Here are the results from the one race she won at the track - it's the 6th race at Seabrook Greyhound Park, on September 5, 1998 (as Ima Ms Iris). She's the same kind of racer as her "parents" were on running marathons and road races - we did do it, we could do it, we just didn't feel like keeping it up! So we're a great fit with Giselle as a family - and now our races are family jogs with the dog!

Visit our Family Homepage with links to our family members's own pages and e-mail addresses, Boston area information, links to our personal and professional interests, and other fun links. Giselle's "sister" Willow, our part-Siamese cat, has her own page too!

This page last updated on October 4, 1998