Swiss Valley Greyhound Rescue

Hearts Owned

By A

Swiss Valley Hound.

If any SVGR hound owners want to have a picture of their companion

and/or a few lines on their latest news included on this page,

 then email Laura or Angie.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributes to this page, your contributions are very much appreciated, so please keep us updated as to you and your hounds exploits!

Here you will find some of our success stories along with updates and pictures of a few of our re-homed hounds from their proud new

‘mums and dads’.

I had an interview along with winnie in a lovely arboretum in Totnes.

We have also applied to become an Authorised Blue Cross Children's Speaker which will entail Winnie & I going into schools & youth centres to advise children on responsible pet ownership. Once again I was made aware that there are many greyhounds on this scheme due to the gentleness of their nature. 

Pauline, I'm so proud of you and Winnie, my fosterling, thank you for being wonderful ambassadors for SVGR and all rescue greyhounds.

Laura xx

For those of you who remember the 3 oldies we took in from a field with very little shelter or companionship, here is a picture of Black Dog  enjoying a new lease of life.

Winnie his sister is living life to the full in her new home

but

Treasure has unfortunately had to be PTS due to cancer,

we miss him and only wish we could have had him sooner.

We have some very sad news 24/6/08 unfortunately Black Dog has had to be PTS to prevent further suffering as he had recently been diagnosed with bone cancer also.

These two beautiful hounds enhanced the lives of their adopters and although gone they will never be forgotten.

and yet another testimonial as to how wonderful our 'Black Beauties' are.

Deb who adopted Star aka Noel could not only see the 'real dog' that his poor condition was hiding but to top it all he was her favourite colour BLACK!!!!.

In a few months Noel has gone from this,

to this

and as Deb says,

"I see that you have loads of black beauties looking for homes, I wish that people understood just how fab they are.  They are my faves and enjoy celebrity status in my heart."

Well done Deb for taking on Noel and all the work you've put into him, he's gorgeous. I look forward to seeing you at the beach soon. Laura

Well done Emma and Queenie on gaining your silver certificate recently.

Everyone at SVGR are very proud of the pair of you.

Here is Emmas opinion on 'black hounds'. Not only does Emma foster for us, she has also adopted needy hounds and performs numerous other tasks for which we and the many hounds, are very grateful.If any of you are in ANY doubt as to offer a home to a black hound then read what Emma has to say.

'Here is a photo of Queenie receiving her certificate for her silver award!  I thought you may like to include it on your Happy Endings section on the website as I know you are trying to encourage people to rehome the black hounds at the moment & I think the black ones are the best!'

  Thanks Emma

I couldn't agree more, my Suzie is my princess and she's black and beautiful too. Laura

Cassie finds a home with hunky Henry.

Cassie is settling in with her new owners Mandy and Helen in Cardiff along with her new hunky friend Henry the cavalier.

It hasn't taken long for Cassie to come out of herself and become a bouncing, happy hound.

Here's Cassie in typical pose.

Mandy, Helen, Cassie and Henry.

Laura says well done to you both on transforming the timid Cassie into such a happy looking hound,

keep in touch and John says thankyou for the visiting rights!!!

Alfie and Judy adored by their mum Jan.

Hi Laura,
Here’s a bit of info about Alfie and Judy our two wonderful greyhounds.

Judy (rear), Alfie in the front.

Alfie came to live with us 3 years ago via Greyhound Rescue Wales,
that's how we first met Angie and Gerry, we had lost our previous dog
an English Bull Terrier (bit of a change) and were very keen to get
another dog to keep our little westie Millie company as she was very
lonely, I had always had a bit of an interest in the possibility of
adopting a greyhound but am ashamed to admit I did not realise how badly
treated many of them are, after they are unable to continue racing,
after some research on the wonderful world of the web we made up our
minds this was the dog for us and saw Alfie then called Double Trouble
on the GRW website, he was looking for a home but he had to go to
someone with a small dog for company, this seemed like a marriage made in
heaven, we went out to see Angie and Gerry at Abercrave with Millie, and
Alfie got the seal of approval, he moved in with us in the April, and I can
honestly say that we haven't looked back, I don't know a great deal
about his history other than his registered name is Kish Bouncer,  he
was retired due to an injury having raced at Swansea track.

 Photo of Alfie

He settled into home life very rapidly apart from the theft of a pound of
defrosting mince and a bag of flour, both from the back of a kitchen
worktop, the flour as you can imagine made a bit of a mess, white paw
prints everywhere.
Having moved to a cottage with a lot more space we decided to attempt
fostering as we thought this would help Gerry and Angie home more dogs
sadly we failed at the first hurdle.  The idea was to get Judy used to
living in a home, Judy has been a different dog to Alfie, she was a lot
more highly strung, possibly treated badly and very nervous of men more
than women. We are now five months down the line with Judy and can see
that the time we are spending with her is starting to pay off. Upon
Judy’s arrival at home she was very restless and anxious at night, never
messing and always asking to go out to do her ablutions. Now as the
light mornings are fading away she is sleeping in a little later. We can
take her out for good walks and she is able to be let off the lead,
though is still keen and does have the odd occasion of going selectively
deaf if there are more interesting things around than us. Judy has been
a challenge but we are glad that we have persevered with her.

 Judy and Alfie at the beach.

We get such a buzz when we can get onto the local beaches and let both Alfie
and Judy off for a run and see them enjoying themselves so much. As you
can deduce we were unable to part with Judy when Angie got in touch with
a possible forever home for Judy, we just could not let her go.

Alfie and Millie would have missed her as well.
Looking a matched pair they are an impressive sight sprinting alongside
each other, often heading into the sea and waves. They both like to
chase a tennis ball not throwing it far enough being the problem.

Since adopting and permanently homing Judy I have carried out a home
check and follow up visit for two of the Swiss Valley Hounds, hopefully
there will be many more locally.
I can say that both dogs are settled into laid back life in
Pembrokeshire. As far as I am concerned every home should have a greyhound.

Judy and Millie snoozing.

Patience, kindness and masses of love are all you need to give to these
wonderful animals the life they deserve after a short hard life as
potential money makers.

Regards

Jan

Another Alfie (aka Cameron) now loved by Lynn.

Hi Laura
Yes we have adopted Cameron, we call him Alfie he has been an absolute dream of a greyhound, a few settling in problems to start with as he is on his own, but only to be expected but now 2-3 weeks later a totally chilled couch potato.
His nose is much better now just waiting for the hair to grow back. I will e-mail you some photos of him when my partner gets around to puting them on the pc for me.
He is good with our cat Dudley, who was furious when Alfie arrived but they both just keep out of each others way, Angie was concerned he might spray in the house but he has been absolutely fine and has been as good as gold on his walks with us, not bothered about anything, all I can say is none of my family could be without him now, he is a really lovely affectionate dog.
Lynn

Rhi and Monty and their pack of fabulous rescued hounds.

Hiya Laura, nice to hear from you.

Basically in the last year I, and my husband Monty have adopted 3 hounds in total. Bear was our first in June of last year, after we saw him on MTR site. Then in October, we spotted another hound on the site and he was being fostered by Angie. When we went along to meet him, he and Bear didn't get on so we met some of the other dogs that Angie had. While we were there we also spotted Cookie, but as she was a brindle, we thought she would be easier to re-home - apart from Cookie all out. We finally met Solo and he just clicked with the rest of the pack (Lilu a 4 year old black ex-racing girl and Millennium - aka Millie a
deerhound/collie/greyhound mix. It was while I was giving Angie an
update on Solo, that she told me she still had Cookie... we rushed our
gang over in January.... and well of course now she is lounging on the sofa as I type!

We haven't really looked back since then. So I will tell you a bit about each of them.

SOLO

Is a 5 year old Irish bred black boy. He came from Swansea track and
was rescued by Angie.
Solo has taken a long time to rehabilitate and we have had quite a few
challenges with him. He was very dominant and intolerant of others
sharing his space. But we worked with him daily and consistently and
after he realised that in fact he was not the Alpha male, he settled
down. Now he is a carefree happy soul, who loves to lounge with the
hounds and comes to cuddle with us every evening - trying to get as many
of his paws on your lap as possible! His favorite past time is lying in
a pool of sunlight on the sofa!
Solo won 3rd prize at the Greyhound Rescue Wales show in may, for best
rescue dog. He has also been on 3 street collections for MTR and helped
raise over £400.

COOKIE

Is a 5 year old Irish bred brindle girl. She was meant to be going to
Ireland to be bred from, but the owner missed the ferry, Many Tears
Rescue persuaded him to give her up and she went to Angie for fostering.
Cookie would melt anyone’s heart, and she melted ours in the biggest way possible. She if often referred to as "too cute" in our house. She
settled in quickly and apart from learning about stairs, has not put a
paw wrong! She is a collector of anything and everything... especially
my slippers, although she never chews them. She has a wonderful sense of humour and loves to play. She actually brought more stability to our
pack and slotted herself in alongside Lilu. Her favorite past time is
snuggling on the sofa and doing the longest, loudest moan of contentment I have ever heard.
Cookie won 2nd prize at the Greyhound Rescue Wales show in may, for
best bitch. She has also been on a street collection for MTR and helped
raise over £400.

BEAR

Is around 3 & 1/2 and we think he is a Pointer cross Greyhound. He was
found wandering the streets of Newport and picked up as a stray. Saved
on the 9th day by MTR he was thin, with poor skin and just a shell of a dog.
What a difference a year makes! Bear is just the funniest, bounciest and most comical dog I have ever met. He's gained about 10kg and is called Mr. Gloss now because he looks amazing! He is such a wonderful fellow and is big pals with Solo. They are often partners in crime and love a good run in the mornings. Its like he has always been here and life would be too quiet with out him. Once he learned about stairs and sat and watched the washing machine go round and round, he decided life is for living and can often be found streaking up and down the garden before bursting into the lounge. His favorite past time is lying up side down on the sofa, legs in the air, with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth!
Bear has also been on 2 street collections for MTR and helped raise over
£400.
I have attached 3 pics of the gang,
Speak later
Rhi

Zeb finds his ‘forever family’ with a pack of cats.

Hi thanks for your email about my beloved grey Zeb.

We adopted Zeb about four months ago after deciding we wanted a family dog that would fit into our large and busy family!

SVGR advertised Zeb through the internet via his fosterer. Adoption using SVGR was really easy. When the home checker came round she was friendly, helpful and supportive. The fosterer was there for us even after the adoption and gave us lots of advice on the feeding and care of Zeb. In the initial 'settling in' period we even had access to a fully qualified dog behaviour therapist to guide us through the first days at home. Our experience was so positive with SVGR that we are considering adopting another using them.

Zeb is a pleasure to have, we have all fallen in love with him.

Greyhounds make the perfect family pet and are ADDICTIVE.

I can and WILL write all day about my grey! I have made loads of new contacts with other Greyhound owners and my perspective of dogs has totally changed since owning Zeb. He has opened up new channels for me. I hope with the new site more people can experience this.

 Thanks Nina, Mike all the kids and all the 4 cats!

 Maple a two year old bitch re-homed in September.

Hey Angie,

Yet another update for you. Maple has been fine!

Clearly nervous - lots of panting and pacing - but just fine.

Griff is in love, but Maple is playing hard to get and keeps looking at him as if to say "wot are you on about mate?"

I feed them separately, but when I got Griff's chicken wings out last night she wouldn't eat her Burns once she smelled them. So she's had some wings, tripe for breakfast followed by a big bone that she REALLY liked, and tonight was minced rabbit and a tripe stick for pudding. Her tummy isn't upset at all so she's taking quite well to the food.  

We've been out walking and she's nice and steady, not ‘phased’ by traffic/people/barking dogs, and she even went for a paddle in the stream tonight (on her long lead, of course).

She is, however, very curious about the cats. I have faith in her though, she'll learn not to bother them.

So yes we're off to a good start. The next few weeks will tell how she settles in and learns about life but I have every confidence in her. I really can't thank you enough for giving Maple and I this opportunity.

I'll keep you posted as things develop. Here she is this morning enjoying her bone!

Jenny

‘JJ’ SVGR hound re-homed through the Dog’s Trust.

Dear Laura I could of course talk for hours on the subject of JJ our greyhound because we are all totally in love with her, even my husband is cooing at her constantly as if she were a tiny baby!

 We’ve only had her three weeks and she has settled down wonderfully.  The first two days she was a little shy- although not particularly nervous, and found herself a position in the garden where she could look back at us in the house through a piece of picket fence- I think it felt like looking through the bars of a kennel and made her feel safe. The shy phase didn’t last long and by day three she was following us around the house and settling by our feet and getting lots of cuddles.  The beginning of the second week she started to wag her tail a bit when she saw us, and now it wags all the time.  About the same time she suddenly took me completely by surprise in the garden one morning by jumping up at me and charging around the garden wanting to play- it only lasted a few moments before she returned to her usual docile well-mannered self- but now it has become a morning ritual - she gets up and we go outside -she runs crazily around the trampoline pounces about chases toys etc for a good five or ten minutes- its lovely to see her playing as I assume she probably never has.  She started to play with stuff in the house too and seems to like collecting stuff on her bed- the latest edition being a life size toy collie that the children had before the real dog!

She is the soppiest dog I have ever known resting her head on your lap to be stroked, rolling over to be tickled and giving us little licks as we pass.

We have had loads of children around since we got her and she has been great with them all including converting 2 very frightened 6 year olds into dog lovers- or at least greyhound lovers. 

 She is great to walk on the lead, and with other dogs she meets, I am not sure how long it will be before I let her off the lead though as although she has excellent manners around the house she doesn’t know the basic commands of coming to her name yet or sit and stay- the first day she got off her lead- obviously she was pretty terrified at that point as we'd only had her a few hours -but she managed to run home crossing the road twice- it was nearly disaster- I now have a martingale collar. 

What more can I say- we had her through the Dogs Trust at Bridgend where I believe Angie passes some of her greyhounds for re-homing.

We weren’t particularly looking for a greyhound although we had talked to a few people who had them and heard only great things, so when we saw her she went straight to the top of the list and the other dogs didn’t get a look in!

I would thoroughly recommend a greyhound as a first dog- they are so gentle and good natured and really no trouble to have around- we have quite busy lives and she comes along or stays at home quite happily- though I'm sure she'd rather come with us every where!  She is fantastic in the car and just hops in and settles down on her duvet- its hard to get her out some times- apparently this is quite typical of greyhounds.

Also just to say there are a group of greyhound owners who meet the first and the last Sunday of each month at Cosmeston Lakes in Penarth at 2 pm for a walk, we went the first week and will keep going- very useful to pick up tips and nice to meet other owners and the dogs enjoy it too!

Yours Jo