Buckle up, it’s a long one!
I’ve always wanted to adopt a Greyhound, & we were finally ready once I moved into my partner’s house.
Having grown up around dogs, Owen & I are both reasonably dog savvy. We went into the adoption process with the thought of getting a dog who needed a good home. Those were the ones who needed our love the most.
I first saw Beau on Facebook post & was immediately captured by his colouring & how handsome he is! We read about his story & thought ‘this could be the dog for us’. We arranged to meet Beau & his foster Mum’s, Eve & Bobby.
For us it was love at first sight, for Beau not so much. Beau had been beaten quite badly, & as a result had a lot of fear-based aggression.
We did a lot of meet & greets with Beau to start with. Eve & Bobby put so much work into Beau, & he’d already come so far before we adopted him. This gave us confidence we could continue to see progress.
I want to express my eternal gratitude to both Eve & Bobby for how much time & effort they put into Beau. Seeing change in all you do for the greyhounds & potential owners who come into contact with you makes us blessed to have had a lot of guidance from you. We were also helped & supported by the team at Greyhound Adoptions WA for which we are also incredibly grateful for. The work you all do is inspiring.
I wish I could say it was an easy process but that would be far from the truth. From Mexican stand-offs in the living room with Owen & I on one side & Beau on the other, to the little moments in-between when Beau would relax momentarily & we’d see how much he wanted to be loved, to biting, to cuddles on the couch… The first 6 months were a rollercoaster.
Around the 6 month mark, Beau come to the realisation he was safe, we wouldn’t hurt him & the only thing we wanted from him was to just be himself. It was like a switch flipped in his brain. We continued to work on boundaries, making sure he was physically & mentally exercised, socialising him with both humans & animals, & everything else in between. Over time, we had a different dog.
Beau completely relaxed, & a lot of his anxiety disappeared. It was like he understood we had everything under control & all he had to worry about was being himself. We took him down south to a farm, made greyhound & whippet friends for him to run with, showered him in affection, but also gave him space to just be.
Beau bonded quite quickly with me, mainly because I’m a female, & he wasn’t sure about males in general given his history. But now he will cuddle on the couch with Owen, play “rough” with him, follow him around, & go on solo adventures with him, something we had to work on as Beau wouldn’t move past the mailbox without me.
We are 2 years in now, & the Beau we have today is so far from the Beau we first met. It’s been a hard but a rewarding process. From the dog who tried snapping at me on our first meet to the dog who now sleeps on a raised bed beside me with a paw touching me, (as close as he can get without being in our bed!) it’s been an incredible journey.
He loves everyone he comes into contact with, male & female alike but will also happily take himself off to a quiet spot if he’s had enough. He loves to play, hang out with all his paw cousins, & every other dog he sees. He now has a brother, Maverick, who most of the time he loves, & other time’s he puts up with.
I hope Beau’s story doesn’t put anyone off greyhounds or even “troubled” greyhounds. The changes are possible with love, patience and time. I hope this inspires the dog-savvy people to take a chance on the dogs who need our love the most. I met my doggy soulmate through taking a chance, & you could too. Beau’s journey has taught me so much about life & everything in between and also that greyhounds are the strangest yet greatest dogs ever.
A huge thank you to Hope for sharing your “Success Story” with Greyhound Adoptions WA.