Home

About

Greyhound Care

Jack

George

Jerry

Tegan

Buttons

Jet

Mouse

Links

Guestbook

Send e-mail to Fiona

Jet's Story

My name is Jet and I will be seven years old next week (June 10^th if anyone wants to send me a present!). I have been living in my new home for three days, and thought you might like to know how I am getting on. As I am new to all of this ‘home’ stuff, a lot of things will probably change in the coming weeks, so I will write another update soon.

Up until three days ago I had always lived in kennels. First in Ireland (where I was born), and then in England. I raced for three years and people tell me I was very good at it, winning several big races during my career. In February 2003 I broke my hock, and after it was repaired I ran in a few more races, but I never really recovered fully so I was retired. I then waited for a long time for a place to become available in a rehoming kennel. This didn’t bother me though, as I didn’t understand what people meant when they talked about this ‘home’ place. I just knew I wanted to live somewhere with lots and lots of food!

Then one day while I was still living in kennels a wonderful thing happened. I suddenly started to get really huge dinners. This was very good news indeed, and everyone kept telling me that they had to feed me up in case I lost weight when I went home. I wasn’t worried about that though – I was too busy eating.

Finally a lady came to meet me. She told me that she was going to be my new Mummy and that today was my big day. She asked me to be very brave for 24 hours. She explained she didn’t usually ask so much of her new dogs right away, but in this case she didn’t have any choice, and she promised me it would all be worthwhile. She also bought me treats and rubbed my ears in the way that only people who know about Greyhounds can.

Jet in his crate at Heathrow Airport with (from L to R ) Sofie, Tara and Sam

I went for a walk with this lady and a little girl who was pushing a pram. Inside the pram was a very little girl, and although the pram was a bit scary the children were very nice and smelled of good things (food mostly). After the walk I had a quick run in one of the paddocks at the kennel where I was introduced to some other dogs. My new Mum said that this was just incase she decided to come back and get me a friend very soon. I liked the other dogs, but more than that I liked the fact that Mum kept giving me treats.

Then I went in the back of a car and fell asleep. When the car stopped we were in a new place and Mum took me for a walk, before taking me inside a house. There were a lot of scary things in the house, but also lots of lovely new smells and things to wipe my nose on. I walked around and around, occasionally coming back to my Mum or one of the children so they could pat me. Then it all got very busy when two new people turned up to see me and I had a bath in the back garden. After my bath I went for a walk with my Mum and her friend along a street that was filled with scary things like drain covers and new noises that made me jump. I was happy to be back in the house and have some dinner before settling in my crate under the stairs. I was very brave and slept downstairs all by myself that night.

Jet being loaded onto the plane

The next morning Mum took me for a walk while it was still very early, but she didn’t give me any breakfast. We went in the car again, but this time my crate came along too. When we stopped everything (including me) was unloaded, and we had to go into a large and noisy building called an airport. At first I was quite brave, but soon I was very scared indeed. Mum sorted out my crate for me, and I was very relieved to be able to get inside and lay down. It was still noisy, but no one could look at me and I felt better.

I was moved around a bit and eventually my crate ended up outside. Mum wasn’t with me, but lots of men talked to me while they covered my crate in red straps. Then I was lifted up very high and put in a nice dark place which was just like the back of the car. I feel asleep, and the next thing I remember was Mum peering into my crate and calling my name. She said I gave her a big fright because she thought I was dead! Mum pulled me in my crate to a place called customs, and the man there was very confused as he couldn’t see me because I was still laying down. He came over to look at me and told Mum I must be worth a lot of money as in Switzerland greyhounds are very valuable.

Jet and Buttons in the garden

After all of that it was into the back of another car, and when we stopped we were right out in the countryside. Mum went through a gate, and when she came back she had another greyhound with her. I was very happy to see him, and we both ran around together in the garden.

And apparently this new place we had come to is called ‘home’. I don’t have to go to any more scary places like airports, and I can lay outside in the sun whenever I want. The food here is good and I have tasted lots of new things like cheese, sardines, chicken necks and pigs ears. Mum rubs my ears a lot and I like to follow her around, and then in turn the baby follows me. Mum says she feels like the Pied Piper some days, whatever that means.

There are still lots and lots of things that are scary about living in a house. There are new noises all the time, and things I have never seen before, but the other dog who lives here (Buttons) says he also used to be scared of everything, but after a while you realise that you aren’t as scared anymore. So I am trying hard to be brave, and in the meantime I am enjoying having my very own special person around who always has time to make a fuss of me.

THANK YOU

Getting Jet home was slightly more complicated than just driving down and picking him up from my local kennel. So as ever there are several people who made a huge effort to get this boy here safely, and deserve to be acknowledged.

All the staff at Croftview (and in particular Cathy) who guided us towards the right dog, were always honest about the dogs we enquired about, sent photos to keep me going, and who took such good care of our boy until he was ready to come home.

My niece Tara who was an amazing help the day I collected Jet. She kept Sofie entertained the entire time we were at the kennels, and I couldn’t have done it without her.

My sister Sam who allowed yet another of my dogs to stay at her house, and got up (with a minimum of complaining) at 5am to get us to the airport the day we flew home.

And finally to my husband Nigel, who sometimes dreams of a wife who is happy with pet fish, but is wise enough never to say so.

Back to Jet's Page