Seen at the Mall - Greyhounds and Rabbits!

We always have interesting experiences when we do our meet and greets at the County Club Mall in Cumberland, Maryland. Our meet and greets are held in Center Court in the mall and that is where all the action usually takes place. Every month while we drive up to do our meet and greet event, we always wonder what new adventures we'll experience.

It was no exception last Saturday, March 26. When we arrived, there was a long line of people and children waiting to get photos with the Easter Bunny! We enjoyed watching the activity and laughed at the idea of our greyhounds and all the rabbits sharing space together at the mall.

We decided to take the chance and we asked the photographer (and Easter Bunny) if they would mind taking a photo of our hounds with the bunny. They were more than happy to oblige!

The photo above is what we got. We really enjoyed the day! We had a great time, the hounds got to get a lot of attention from the crowds, and we got this great photo!

Event- Spring Dewey 2010

If you enjoy going to Greyhounds Reach the Beach at Dewey Beach, Delaware each year in the fall, you will also enjoy Spring Dewey! It's Springtime for Greyhounds in Dewey Beach again - join us for Spring Dewey VI April 9-11, 2010. Spring Dewey is small and friendly and almost free and ocean-breezy and the weather was beautiful for 2009, so join a bunch of beautiful greyhounds for a relaxed weekend of uncrowded beaches, low-key activities, and the spectacular Sunday Send-Off Beach Walk and Box Lunch Picnic.

Register Now for Spring Dewey 2010. The registration fee lets the sponsors, among other things, book a warm dry location for the Sunday Celebrations (to ensure good weather) and cover expenses. Each person who registers may enter their favorite greyhound-related group in a raffle. All leftover money is donated to the group whose name is drawn at the Sunday Box Lunch.

If you have the required Dewey Beach licenses for your dogs, greyt! It's a lifetime license. If you don't have Dewey Beach dog licenses, you need to stop by the Dewey Beach Town Hall and get them.

BIG NEWS!!! For the first time, FFGR, Inc. will be vending at this greyt event! Jimmy McClellan and George Quinn are going for the weekend and will manning our sales tables. We will be selling all of the usual greyt inventory including greyhound garden statues (always a winner!).

Please think about attending this laid back and fiendly event if only for a day. You will not be diappointed. For all the information you need about attending (including registration, motels, signing up for lunches and programs), just click on the title of this news thread.

Hope to see you there!

Rainbow Bridge - Cheerios

Cheerios - August 2009 - March 2010

It seems almost unbelieveable that we are including a very young puppy in the Rainbow Bridge section of this blog. But we sadly report that our group is deeply mourning the loss of a wonderful and sweet young dog that passed way before his time. Cheerios was born at the farm in August of 2009. His mother died shortly after his birth, leaving him and his littermates without a mom. However, the puppies were successfully fed by another brood mom who took them in as her own. All of the dogs did very well.

But Cheerios became very ill and for a long time, it was not certain whether he would make it through this illness. But after his caregivers refused to give up on him (and he spent a long time in the hospital), Cheerios rallied and bounced back into a normal happy puppy.

He spent his days on the farm in foster care and got lots of love and attention. When Helen Coleman asked us to find a puppy that she could adopt, we immediately thought about Cheerios. Because of his illness, he needed to go into a home where the adopter was not only experienced, but knowledgeable about taking care of possible special needs dog. Helen never flinched when we told her about Cheerios. She immediately said "YES" when we asked her if she could handle a dog like Cheerios. Helen had raised two greyhounds from puppies to adults. She was no novice.

We brought Cheerios to her in mid March. He was happy and healthy and raring to go into his new home. Helen had already started posting Cheerios' antics on our forum. We had a separate puppy section in our on line forum and everyone was looking forward to reading about Cheerios' exploits and seeing photos as he grew.

Shortly after arriving, Cheerios came up limping after running in his back yard. Helen knew that it was more than just a bump. They went off to the vet and x-rays confirmed that Cheerios had a problem with the growth plate in his rear leg. He was scheduled for surgery the following week to correct the problem and be neutered. He came through the surgery wonderfully.

He was in good hands with Dr. Benson, a very experienced greyhound veterinarian. Dr. Benson was pleased with how the surgery went. However, Cheerios had a seizure shortly after the surgery and nothing Dr. Benson and his staff did could revive him.

Everyone is shocked and in grief over the loss of a beautiful and sweet puppy. It's hard to put into words how this has affected all of us at FFGR, Inc. We know that Cheerios had a wonderful home with loving people while he was alive. We know that he is romping and playing and getting into trouble at the Rainbow Bridge. God speed sweet little boy.

Grapehounds Virginia - Update!

The Plans for Grapehounds - Virginia are moving along nicely! We have a few more updates to report:

You can now order a Grapehounds T-Shirt from FFGR, Inc.! The design is shown in the photo above. These are bright white Hanes preshrunk 100% cotton Beefy T's which run a little large in size. They are not a lady's shirt or a women's cut but they seem to fit men and women pretty well. We have sizes Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large available. They are $12 each. If you wish to order one, go to our web site home page and to the "donate" button. You can designate "T-shirt, size ____" and then send the payment of $12. Will will hold your T-shirt for you if you are attending Grapehounds or Greyhounds in Gettysburg. If you are not going to be at either event, we will send your T-shirt to you (we will cover the postage).

You can now register via Paypal to attend Grapehounds. Just click on our title above and you will be able to send in your registration fee. Paypal registration will be $21 for each wine tasting ticket, with the additional $1 to cover PayPal costs for the event. (Mail registration is $20.)

It will be essential for you to provide registration information in the comments section on PayPal, including 1) your name and address, 2) your email (so you can receive an ebooklet and where someone can reach you if something is not clear), and 3) the name of the hosting adoption group to whom you would like to designate a portion of your ticket. ($5 of each ticket purchase goes to a group you designate.) If you do not designate a group, that portion of your ticket will just be divided evenly among all nine adoption groups.


BIG NEWS! FFGR, Inc. will be vending at this event all day on May 15! We will have the same inventory to sell that we will be taking to Greyhounds in Gettysburg. If you can't make the GIG event, you will have another opportunity to purchase something at Grapehounds.

If you are interested in helping out while we are vending, please email us or call us and let us know in what way you would like to help.

We will continue to update this event as we get more information. We hope you will be able to attend! This event promises to be GREYT and it's not far from home!

For the Love of the Greyhound

''THERE IS SORROW ENOUGH IN THE NATURAL WAY FROM MEN
AND WOMEN TO FILL YOUR DAY; BUT WHY WHEN WE ARE
CERTAIN OF SORROW IN STORE. WHY DO WE ALWAYS ARRANGE
FOR MORE? BROTHERS AND SISTERS. I BID YOU BEWARE OF
GIVING YOUR HEART TO A DOG TO TEAR.' RUDYARD KIPLING

IT IS TRUE. THAT WHEN YOU TAKE ANY PET INTO
YOUR HOME, NO MATTER WHAT ITS AGE, IT IS
CERTAIN THAT WHEN IT LEAVES YOU, YOU WILL FEEL
THE PAIN OF ITS LOSS. THE QUESTION I POSE - IS IT
WORTH IT?

NO ONE ENJOYS HEARTBREAK. YET, TIME AND TIME
AGAIN, WE LOSE A GREYHOUND AND ADOPT
ANOTHER ONE. SOME PEOPLE ADOPT RIGHT AWAY.
OTHERS WAIT FOR A TIME. PERSONALLY, I HAVE
ALWAYS FOUND THAT THE ROUTINE OF TEACHING A
NEW GREYHOUND THE ROPES, TOOK SOME OF THE
STING OUT OF THE LOSS I WAS FEELING. THIS
DOES NOT MEAN THAT THOSE WHO WAIT FOR A
MONTH OR EVEN A YEAR OR MORE ARE WRONG.
EVERYONE DEALS WITH LOSS IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

OVER THE FIFTEEN YEARS I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED
WITH GREYHOUNDS, I HAVE HAD TO EAT MY WORDS
MORE THAN ONCE. I HAVE VOWED, LIKE MANY
OTHERS, 'THERE WILL BE NO MORE GREYHOUNDS
AFTER THIS ONE.” GUESS WHAT? WHEN I LOST MY
FIRST GREYHOUND AT SIX MONTHS OF AGE, THE
VERY NEXT DAY, I HAD A FOSTER DOG. MY
GRATITUDE TO THE FOUNDERS OF THE GROUP WILL
BE FOREVER. I DID NOT HAVE TIME TO DWELL ON
THE LOSS. MY FOSTER DOG CAME WITH A BAD
FOOT AND NEEDED IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. THREE
TIMES A DAY I SOAKED THE FOOT, BANDAGED AND
UNBANDAGED THE PAW, TAUGHT HIM WHAT HE
SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT DO IN A HOME. WHEN
I FINALLY REALIZED THAT MY HEART WAS BROKEN
BUT THAT IT WAS NO LONGER BLEEDING, MY
SECOND GREYHOUND CAME INTO MY LIFE.

LOSING ONE OF THESE MAGNIFICENT GREYHOUNDS.
IS LIKE LOSING A CHILD TO A LOT OF US. I HAVE
BEEN ACCUSED OF LOVING MY GREYS MORE THAN
MY CHILD. SOMETIMES, THAT HAS BEEN TRUE. AT
LEAST I LIKE THEM MORE THAN HIM ON OCCASION.
I WILL TELL ANYONE. THE MORE I SEE OF HUMAN
NATURE. THE BETTER I LIKE MY DOGS.

WHEN WE ADOPTED THESE CREATURES. WE COMMITTED TO
TAKE CARE OF THEM. IN MOST CASES, THAT IS A
COMMITMENT OF FIVE TO TEN YEARS. WOULD YOU
AGREE TO THAT IF YOU DID NOT HAVE COMPASSION
AND LOVE FOR THESE GUYS?

WHILE WE ARE COMMITTED TO ALL ASPECTS OF
CARING FOR THE GREYHOUNDS, NOT MANY OF US
THINK ABOUT WHAT WE WILL GO THROUGH WHEN
THE TIME COMES FOR THEM TO LEAVE US. YES, IT
IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT, IF NOT THE MOST
IMPORTANT ACTS WE WILL EVER PERFORM FOR OUR
GREYHOUNDS.

KNOWING WHEN TO SAY 'THIS IS THE END” CAN BE
QUITE A CHORE. WITH ALL THE MEDICAL MIRACLES
IN THE LAST CENTURY, SOMETIMES WE LOSE SIGHT
OF GOOD OLD FASHIONED REASON. OF COURSE,
YOU WANT TO DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO
HELP YOUR DOG. IN SOME CASES, THIS MAY NOT
BE THE KINDEST THING TO DO. HOW DO WE
DISTINGUISH BETWEEN QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF
LIFE? SOMEONE GAVE ME A WISE INSIGHT INTO
HOW TO HELP MAKE THAT DECISION.

THINK OF THREE OR FOUR THINGS THAT YOUR
GREYOUND MOST LOVES TO DO. IT DOES NOT
MATTER HOW IMPORTANT IT IS IN YOUR LIFE - ONLY
THE DOGS’. CAN THOSE THINGS STILL BE DONE BY
THE DOG?

DOES YOUR DOG STILL HAVE A ZEST FOR LIFE OR.
IS IT JUST DOING THE THINGS YOU ASK TO PLEASE
YOU?

DOES YOUR DOG SEEM TO ENJOY MOST OF ITS
DAYS?

DOES YOUR GREYHOUND STILL ENJOY EATING OR
ARE YOU HAVING TO COAX IT TO EAT? REMEMBER
WHEN YOU FIRST GOT YOUR DOG AND FOOD
SEEMED TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE
WORLD?

CAN YOUR VETERINARIAN TELL YOU THAT THERE IS
A CURE OR MEDICINE THAT CAN HELP YOUR PET
ENJOY LIFE OR MAKE IT EASIER FOR THEM?

ARE THE MAJORITY OF YOUR DOG’S DAYS PAIN FREE?
I DONT MEAN A LITTLE TWINGE FROM STIFFNESS OR
THE OCCASSIONAL ACHE AND PAIN FROM THE
WEATHER. ARE THEY IN PAIN EVERYDAY?

WHEN YOU LOOK INTO YOUR GREYHOUND’S EYES, IS
THAT SPARK FOR LIFE YOU SO ADMIRED WHEN YOU
GOT YOUR DOG STILL THERE?

AND THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: WOULD YOU
WANT TO LIVE THE WAY YOUR DOG IS LIVING?

IN MOST CASES, THESE QUESTIONS WILL ASSIST
YOU IN MAKING THE RIGHT DECISION FOR YOUR
GREYHOUND.

I BELIEVE IT IS WELL WORTH THE PRICE WE PAY,
FOR THE HONOR OF LOVING AND BEING LOVED BY
A GREYHOUND!

HELEN COLEMAN

Rainbow Bridge - Sasha

WV's Precious - Shasha
10/28/1999 - 3/13/2010

It's with great sadness that we report that another one of our first adopters (after we established our group), Sean and Lisa Feeley, called to tell us that their hound Sasha went to the Rainbow Bridge this past weekend. Sasha is a special story. She was the sixth dog our group brought in when we started in 2005. What made her so unusual is her age. She was born October 28, 1999 and when we got her she was ready to turn six years old. She had a long racing career. When we picked her up, the man who turned her over to us said, "By the way, she doesn't have many teeth!" When we looked in her mouth most of her teeth were missing. We were not sure that we would ever be able to find her a home. An older dog with few teeth wouldn't be very popular with most of the people we were meeting!

Sean and Lisa came to one of our meet and greet events and then turned in their application to adopt. We processed their application and did the home visit and then told them about Precious. They took a few minutes to decide and agreed that she should become part of their family!!!! They adopted her the same week that she turned six!

All these years they have had her as part of their family. She did fine with the teeth she had left and it didn't seem to bother her at all! In the recent past she lost what few teeth she had left (except her canines). She had a wonderful home with the Feeleys and they loved her very very much. We heard from them often and it always made us feel good to know such good people.

Shasha had a wonderful home with lots of love from the whole family. I know they will all miss her very much.

Rainbow Bridge - Tara

She Knew - Tara
March 4, 2002 - March 10, 2010

It is with great sadness that we report that our FFGR, Inc. family has lost a wonderful greyhound. Randy Wixom and Liza Brown lost their sweet greyhound Tara. Tara got very sick recently and did not make it through the illness. Tara was born March 4, 2002 and was eight years old. Randy and Liza adopted Tara in January of 2006. She was the light of their lives. Randy, Liza and Tara have been like family to our group. From the time they adopted Tara, they volunteered steadily for our organization. Tara was in attendance at all of the picnics, lots of meet and greets, all of our yard sales and all of the Bon Ton Community Day events. Randy and Liza have continually helped our group in so many ways.

This is one of some very serious losses the family has experienced recently. In the last two years, Liza has lost her two brothers to cancer, her mother became ill and had to move in with them (along with her two scotties), and most recently, her mom had to be placed in a long term care facility for alzheimers. When her mother moved in with Liza and Randy, the FFGR, Inc. annual yard sale was held at their house because her mom donated all of her belongs to the sale and then they donated all of the proceeds from the sale to our group. Randy and Liza fostered numerous hounds for us over the years.

Liza and Randy live on the same street as Kip and J.D. and they have been like family together for years. Tara was always at Kip's and J.D.'s house and their dogs always visited with Liza, Randy and Tara. They were like one big family. We have always been amazed at how many people on that street all know and love the greyhounds because they all knew and loved Tara.

We know that Tara will be greatly missed. But we also know that she had the most loving and caring home that any greyhound could have had. Run free sweet Tara.

Award for FFGR, Inc.!!!

It's with greyt pride that we announce that our group has been awarded one of the 2010 Greythound Guardians ANGEL AWARDs for our work in finding homes for Craiger's List dogs. The award was presented to Hettie at the organization's Sandy Paws event held in Jekyll Island, Georgia from March 5-7, 2010.

Greythound Guardians, Inc. is a non-profit organization that raises funds to help greyhound adoption groups. The Sandy Paws event is one of their primary events for the purpose of raising money for their organization so that they can pass it on to other groups through grants.

Our group will now be added to the Greythound Guardian Angels

Halo of Fame

which contains the names of eleven other inductees since 2006.

We thank all of our volunteers and adopters who made this award possible by working hard to place Craiger's List dogs and especially to those who adopted them. You are all special people.

We have long advocated for the individual greyhound. We do not place an emphasis on how many hounds we place, but how many of those hounds stay in their homes for their lifetimes. To date, our return rate has still remained under 8% when averaged over a nearly five year period. This is what gives us the most pride! We thank those people who know what the word commitment means when it comes to adopting a pet.

As our motto goes, "WE FIND GREYT HOMES FOR GREYT HOUNDS!"

Seizures in Greyhounds

THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST FRUSTRATING AND HARDEST
DISEASES TO DIAGNOSE. SINCE IT IS RARE FOR A "FIRST" SEIZURE
OR EVEN A RECURRING SEIZURE TO HAPPEN IN THE PRESENCE OF A
VET, DIAGNOSIS DEPENDS HEAVILY ON THE HISTORY OF THE DOG.
FAMILIES ARE THE BEST SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR VETS. MOST
ATTACKS HAPPEN AT HOME; SOMETIMES A DOG CAN BE HAVING
SEIZURES AND THE FAMILY IS UNAWARE OTHER THAN FINDING THINGS
STRANGELY OUT OF PLACE.

UNLESS THERE IS AN OBVIOUS MEDICAL PROBLEM OR RECENT
TRAUMA, THE CAUSE OF A SEIZURE SOMETIMES DEPENDS ON GUESS
WORK. A THOROUGH MEDICAL WORK UP BY YOUR VETERINARIAN
SHOULD BE DONE TO ELIMINATE KNOWN CAUSES.

CAUSES INSIDE THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM INCLUDE:

●TUMOR
●ABSCESS
●INFECTION WITHIN THE BRAIN (BACTERIAL, FUNGAL, VIRAL OR PARASITIC)
●INFLAMMATION WITHIN THE BRAIN
●MALFORMATION OF THE BRAIN (BIRTH DEFECT)
●SCAR TISSUE IN THE BRAIN (MAY OCCUR AFTER A HEAD INJURY)

CAUSES OUTSIDE THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM INCLUDE:

●ORGAN FAILURE, PARTICULARLY OF THE LIVER AND KIDNEY.
THESES ORGANS ACT AS THE WASTE TREATMENT PLANT OF
THE BODY; WHEN THEY MALFUNCTION, A LARGE BUILDUP OF
TOXIC WASTE PRODUCTS CAN OCCUR, CAUSING SEIZURES.

●GLANDULAR DISEASE WHICH RESULTS IN BLOOD SUGAR
THAT IS TOO HIGH OR LOW (AS MAY OCCUR IN DIABETICS).

●POISONING. MANY TOXINS CAN CAUSE SEIZURES IF EATEN
BY DOGS, SUCH AS SOME DRUGS, PLANTS, LEAD, HEAVY
METALS, ANTIFREEZE AND CHOCOLATE.

●SEIZURES CAN ALSO BE CAUSED BY EPILEPSY. THE CAUSE OF
EPILEPSY IS UNKNOWN, BUT SOME ANIMALS HAVE A LOWER
RESISTANCE TO SEIZURES THAN IS NORMAL.

SIGNS

●BEFORE A SEIZURE, THE DOG MAY SEEM DAZED, OR
ANXIOUS; MAY SEEK YOU OR SEEK A SAFE PLACE.

●ACTIVE SEIZURE. THE DOG WILL OFTEN FALL OVER,
TWITCH, URINATE, DEFECATE, DROOL AND WILL NOT
RECOGNIZE YOU. SOME SEIZURES MAY JUST LOOK
LIKE THE DOG IS STARING INTO SPACE OR AT INVISIBLE THINGS. THEY MAY JUST APPEAR TO BE
STIFF LEGGED AND UNABLE TO BEND THE LEGS.

●AFTER A SEIZURE THE DOG MAY BE DISORIENTED,
WALK INTO WALLS OR APPEAR TO BE BLIND. A
FEW APPEAR TO BE PARALYZED IN THE HIND LEGS
FOR SEVERAL MINUTES. SOME DOGS MAYALSO ACT
NORMAL FOLLOWING A SEIZURE.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW - FIRST AID

I . MAKE SURE THE ANIMAL IS IN A SAFE PLACE (NOT AT THE TOP
OF A STAIRCASE OR ANYWHERE FROM WHICH A FALL IS
POSSIBLE.

2. RECORD HOW LONG THE ACTIVE PHASE OF THE SEIZURE
LASTS.

3. KEEP A LOG OF THE SEIZURES. INCLUDE THE DATE. TIME OF
DAY, TIME AFTER A MEAL, AND HOW I..ONG THE ACTIVE SEIZURE
PHASE LASTS.

4. KEEP YOUR HANDS AND FACE AWAY FROM THE DOG'S MOUTH.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HOLD THE TONGUE ( IT WILL NOT
SWALLOW IT). YOUR DOG DOES NOT KNOW WHO YOU ARE
DURING A SEIZURE'AND MANY PEOPLE GET BITTEN WHEN
ATTEMPTING TO HANDLE A SEIZING PET.

5. DO NOT DISTURB THE DOG DURING AND AFTER AN ACTIVE
SEIZURE. YOU MAY TALK QUIETLY AND CALMLY TO YOUR
DOG TO REASSURE THEM BUT DO NOT MAKE ANY LOUD NOISES;
LET LAYlNG DOGS LIE.

6. IF THIS IS YOUR DOG'S FIRST SEIZURE, CALL YOUR VET.
THE DOG SHOULD BE EXAMINED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

7. SEIZURES LASTING MORE THAN TWO MINUTES OR CLUSTER
SEIZURES (REPEATED SEIZURES ONE A AFTER ANOTHER) ARE
MEDICAL EMERGENCIES; THESE ANIMALS ARE AT RISK FOR
VERY HIGH FEVERS AND BRAIN DAMAGE. ANY DOG HAVING
CLUSTER SEIZURES NEEDS TO BE EXAMINED BY A VET
IMMEDIATELY.

IF YOUR DOG IS PLACED ON ANTI-SEIZURE MEDICATION, IT IS
IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT SUCH MEDICATION DOES NOT
CURE THE CAUSE OF THE SEIZURES; IT SIMPLY HELPS TO
REDUCE THE .NUMBER OR SEVERITY OF EPISODES. IT IS ALSO
IMPORTANT THAT THE MEDICINE BE GIVEN AT THE SAME TIME EACH
DAY. YOU MUST BE AWARE THAT YOUR DOG WILL PROBABLY HAVE
FUTURE EPISODES AND REQUIRE FREQUENT VETERINARY CHECK UPS
AND BLOOD TESTS.

Written by Helen Coleman