Event - Greyhounds in Gettysburg

Join Fast Friends Greyhound Rescue, Inc. for the fourteenth annual Greyhounds in Gettysburg! If you have never attended this greyt event, please consider it this year. If you are looking for a fun event to enjoy with your hound(s) you will not want to miss this event.

Two and a half days of activities are planned beginning at noon on Friday, April 27 and running to noon on Sunday, April 29. Approximately 40 vendors will be available on Friday and Saturday to sell greyhound related merchandise. Our organization will be vending this year for the fourth year. Come and see all the great merchandise! This event is truly a shopper's paradise. Special activities for the whole family run thoughout the day and into the night as well. This has become one the of most popular events on the east coast in recent years and it gets larger each year.

When you are not participating in greyhound related activities, you have all of historic Gettysburg and surrounding countryside open to you. Gettysburg was the pivotal battle in the Civil War. You can visit the battlefield, museums and the historic town to discover more about this historic battle and the men that fought here.

On-line registration is closed April 1, so if you want to attend, please register by that date. On Site Registration will also be available on site at the GIG Information Tent at Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg, Friday, April 27, 2011 and Saturday, April 28, 2011.

For more information about this event, please click on the title of this post and it will take you to the GIG web site. We hope to see you there!!!

Rainbow Bridge - Ds I'm Coming (Bentley)

June 17, 2001 - March 27, 2010
We are sad to report the loss of another wonderful greyhound. We got a phone call from Judy Riley this past week. Her greyhound, Bentley, was limping and his leg was swollen. After taking him to one vet and the emergency vet, she still had no answers. When she called we advised her to ask her vet for a referral to another vet. However, yesterday, she called to report that Bentley's limping was much worse and the swelling had become much worse. She took him back to the vet and x-rays revealed that his leg had broken badly. Evidently, he had osteo which did not show up clearly on the earlier x-rays. Because of the severity of the break and his age, Judy chose to let Bentley go.

Judy adopted Bentley from our group in June of 2006. Bentley was eleven years old. Judy and her family also adopted another greyhound from our group a few years ago. The family is very broken up and sad about losing Bentley. However, they are great adopters and we know that Bentley had a wonderful home.

Rainbow Bridge - Hahtland (Penfold)

This past week we got a sad email from Hilary Craig that she lost her greyhound, Penfold, to cancer in early January. Hilary adopted Penfold from our group in September 2006 and she was broken hearted to lose him. He was seven years old. Hilary also adopted a female greyhound (Ezzie) from our group last year. We remember Penfold; he was such a handsome boy and very sweet natured. He got along well with Hilary's cat (the one that didn't usually like other animals!). Hilary is contemplating adopting another greyhound and, if she does, we know that another hound will get a good home.

We are always sad when one of the hounds we place passes on. But we know that each dog had the best home with loving adopters who gave them a chance to have a great life.

Run free sweet boy; you were greatly loved.

Spring is Here!

It’s that time of year again! The weather is changing and each day it’s getting warmer and brighter. Soon the “dog days of summer” will be upon us. Now is the time to be thinking of how you are going to prepare your yards and gardens for new growth and for all those great blooms and blossoms.

Don’t forget your greyhound(s) when you start working in your yard and garden. Keep in mind that some lawn care products can be hazardous to your hounds. If you have a lawn care service, please ask them what types of fertilizers and pest sprays they use. Most chemicals today are safe for pets, but remember that our hounds have much thinner skin and can get sicker faster if subjected to strong doses of even safe chemicals. Your hound may not ingest any chemicals directly from your landscape, but a dog licking its paws can unwittingly dose itself with the chemical it walked in.

Also, be aware of the types of specialized products you are using. For instance, although some lawn fertilizers are safe, some products used for specific garden applications could mean a dose of poison for a greyhound. Reports have been published recently of greyhounds dying when they ate snail bait spread around the base of plants in the garden.

None of us want to have to bear the loss of a pet because we didn’t pay attention to the types of chemicals that we used to make our yards look nice. The best advice is ALWAYS BE AWARE.

The warmer weather brings more opportunities for taking walks with our hounds. Now is the time to inspect all collars and leashes for wear. Check all webbing around the collars to make sure there are no cuts or fraying. Leashes that are cut or frayed in any way should be thrown out. Also, check the hardware on the collars to make sure there are no splits. The D-rings in some martingale collars are made from one piece of wire that is then shaped into the D-ring. These are not safe as pressure on this hardware may split the ring and open it enough for the cloth part of the collar to slip through. When buying a new collar, make sure that the D-ring is all one piece. Inspect the clips on leashes to make sure they work properly. Nothing is more frightening to have a hound slip the leash because the clip sticks or comes loose.

It’s also time to bring out the heartworm preventative and flea and tick preventative. Many people do not use these products in the winter and may forget when spring comes to start using them again. We recommend strongly (and hope that you agree) that heartworm and flea/tick preventative is worth the cost of not having to worry about your hound’s well being.

You can get these preventatives from your vet and on line. The heartworm preventative is not available in any pet food or supply stores. Before you give your hound a heartworm preventative, please make sure that he/she is heartworm negative. You do not want to give this medication to a hound that tests positive for heartworms. Your hound can get a heartworm test at your vet. You may also want to check your hound’s vet records to determine when the last heartworm test was done and to make sure that all other shots are up to date.

Heartworm preventative is taken once a month. You can usually buy it in a six month supply. Your vet may carry several brands to choose from, but some only carry one brand. While you can shop on line for this preventative to save money, most companies will require an “OK” from your vet (to confirm that your hound is negative for heartworms) before they send you the product. If your vet objects to this, ask if he/she will be willing to price match.

You do not need a “prescription” from your vet to shop for flea and tick preventatives, and you can most likely save money by comparing prices on line (remember to add in shipping costs!). There are many different products to choose from. However, DO NOT use a flea collar on your hound. These items contain toxic chemicals and your hound’s thin skin will absorb the chemicals quickly and make him/her sick.

If you need advice on which types of preventatives to use, please email us and we’ll try to help.

Health and Nutrition - Dogs and Ticks

With a much warmer winter than usual, we can expect to see a lot more unwanted little critters on our hounds very soon! It's important to keep your hounds protected from ticks as they carry many diseases that can jeopardize your hounds' health.

There are many products on the market that will help keep ticks off your pet. We feel that most work well. However, you may want to discuss with your veterinarian which products may work best in your area.

We have found that tick collars work well and they are safe for greyhounds. You can purchase these on line. They are called Preventic Tick Collars and they will work for three months. The only issue with them is that they should not get wet.

Just remember that you should never use flea collars on your hound! Stick with the various topical products.

If you want more information on which tick borne diseases are more prevalent in your area, click on the title of this post. This web site provides an amazing amount of detailed information about ticks and provides maps of which of those diseases are found in your area.

We hope that you will use this information and pass it along!

Save Purina Weight Circles and Help FFGR, Inc.

More angels among us! Thanks to all of those angels who cut all of the Purina weight circles off their bags of dog food and donate them to us. Thanks to your efforts our group has just received checks in the total amount of $1,350 to pay for any future vet bills! We save the weight circles and then Bill adds them all up and sends them in to Purina. Since we started our group, we always got checks for $500. This time, because of the efforts everyone made, we now have a credit at our vet for $1,350!

If you are using Purina products, here is what you can get the weight circles from. Each weight circle is worth a certain number of points and the points add up to money or products. We always choose the money for the vet.

The list of which foods have the weight circles:

Pro Plan Selects: 12 points
Pro Plan Performance: 12 points
Purina Veterinary Diets: 12 points
ALL OTHER Pro Plan and Purina One foods (including puppy foods): 11 points - there are a LOT of products under this category, too many to list. You will have to check the bags for a weight circle.

The points also vary by the weight of the bags.

Other participating Purina Brands: 8 points (these include Beef Complete, Bonz, Butcher's Burger, Chezy Chews, Chew Morsels, Chuck Wagon, Lucky Dog, Moist and Chunky, Kibbles and Chunks, Nature's Course, Praise, Prime and Ribz brands (these must really be low end!)

There are no cat food products listed.

Thanks to all of you! See what you did? And you didn't even have to leave home except to buy the dog food!