Kathryn and I adopted our first greyhound, Raj (UCME Warp Speed) in February 2013 and immediately fell in love with the breed. Wanting to learn and understand more about his history, we reached out through the Facebook group The Pro Greyhound Movement regarding a possible kennel visit while we were on vacation in southern Florida during Christmas of 2014. A complete stranger and greyhound trainer invited us to tour her racing kennel and took the time to explain everything about racing. We can’t thank Sarah Elizabeth Blanchard , James Blanchard and Blanchard Racing Kennels enough for the time spent with our family educating us about the industry and our dog’s life as a professional athlete. This experience changed our perception of the industry and created new advocates for the sport and the professionals who care, train and love our dogs before we adopt them. During this fateful trip, not only did we gain two wonderful friends, but a new family member made his way into our hearts and our truck. O’Riley (BMF O’Riley) who shares a sire with Raj, made the exciting voyage to Southwestern, Ontario.

This trip made such an impact that we wanted to become more involved with these special dogs and thus began our time volunteering with GRA Canada and Heather Main. This, too was a very impactful time for us as we met so many wonderful people (adopters and industry professionals alike). Since we are now into the habit of making track visits a part of our vacation itinerary, we took the opportunity to meet Kathy Ford from ACT Greyhounds and Stephanie Brooke Elrod from Larson Kennels on our visit to the Sanford-Orlando Kennel Club where many of GRA’s retired racers called their home as professional athletes. We can’t say enough about their generosity and willingness to share information about their dogs.

Speaking of dogs… one very special little dog in particular arrived at GRA from the Steubenville Kennel in Wheeling, WV. One night while Kathryn was doing turnout at GRA, little Miss Kulprit (Kulprit) not only stole Kathryn’s heart, but a cookie right out of her pocket! After much convincing that a third dog would be no more work than two, Kulprit joined the De Jong pack. Happy birthday, Kathryn! We soon found out that we didn’t just adopt a new dog, but a whole new family from the Steubenville Kennel and the Wheeling track: Wayne & Cheryl Piquette, Rhea Lacuesta, Tara Sands and Pamela Webb to name a few. With this new found friendship began our frequent visits to Wheeling, WV. It is only a six hour drive after all!

We are very excited to continue our greyhound journey with Crazy For Greyhounds Adoption and look forward to bringing retired racers and families together.

Recovering from the loss of both of our cherished dogs we now had a huge void in our lives. Our local vet suggested a Greyhound, and when we discussed this, we said…..why would we want a 40 MPH dog that needs lots of exercise??

After finding GRA Canada on the web, we headed there one Sunday armed with multiple questions.
Heather and Rachel, the two members of the group on hand that day, answered all of our questions and made a suggestion to walk one the adoptive dogs to see what they were like. Little did we know that a simple walk down a country farm path would lead us here.

Memphis shortly became an important part of our lives. Months later, while vacationing in Florida, arrangements were made to meet with Kathy Ford at SOKC for a special behind the scenes, all access pass, to the track life of a Greyhound. WOW was the word that kept coming out of our mouths. The love, attention and dedication these professional athletes receive is overwhelming. The best food, the best medical care, and the marshmallows, oh the marshmallows, what a life.

Race one that day at the track was a Maiden race, new hopefuls who have been finished in Kansas and are ready to start their race careers. These Maiden dogs have to prove themselves by winning. Enter from stage left…..Dutch Wren. She did not do very well and thus began her retirement. We pre-adopted her and waited 7 months for her to arrive at GRA to join our family.

Now we need to jump ahead a bit. With the closing of GRA Canada and the formation of CFGA by Paul & Kathryn De Jong at the beginning of 2018, our involvement with retired Greyhounds increased. We became a foster family to help Greyhounds transition from a racing life to retirement. Over the past few months, we became more involved with CFGA. We are now participating in the transportation of the greyhounds from Wheeling, West Virginia to our foster network here in Ontario as well as the fostering of retirees.

Guess we did a good job, because we have been asked to join this incredible organization. As our foster network continues to grow, more families are opening their homes and hearts to these wonderful dogs. The group’s reputation in the industry continues to grow as we strongly support Greyhound Racing and are Racing PROud.

We are honored to be the latest additions to this growing organization. Paul & Kathryn and other volunteers, have laid the groundwork for success, and we hope to be able to contribute in some small way.

Julia adopted her first greyhound, Rosie (CLG’s Wild Child) in June 2015 from GRA. Since then, Julia has been showcasing her love of the breed by talking anyone’s ear off about this fabulous breed, even if they didn’t ask.

Fast forward to the next year, Garrett and Julia met in 2016, and she opened his eyes to the love of greyhounds. After some time, and after losing Rosie too early, Julia and Garrett adopted another brindle beauty, Brucie (Lazy K Keita) in August 2017 from GRA after being the only dog that they met that actively wanted to go swimming! With the Perkins’ love of the water, they knew she was the girl for them. Knowing that Brucie needed a “sibling”, and after some convincing on Julia’s part, Julia and Garrett sought to have another join the pack, and in came Wookie (Brady Wookie) from CFGA. Off they went to go meet Wookie, who was being fostered by none other than the Hickmans. Wookie captured their hearts as their lovable big goof. Julia, knowing the De Jongs from GRA, began to volunteer with CFGA in 2018 by conducting home visits, and soon after began fostering (again, after convincing Garrett that their house wasn’t too small for another greyhound, even for a short time).

Julia and Garrett are honoured to call the “DJs” and the Hickmans their life-long friends, and to be apart of such an amazing organization. Julia has finally found a place where her dog-craziness actually comes in handy, and is accepted.