Nuthin' But Hound Dogs -- Owners Love 'Em Anyway

By Mark Havnes
Salt Lake Tribune, May 3, 1999

KANAB - A 45-mph couch potato that likes nothing better than to hang out with you.

That best describes the fast and passive greyhound, which through history has had a special relationship with humans from its regal beginnings in ancient Egypt to this weekend in Kanab, where more than 150 of the sleek racing dogs and their adopted owners gathered to show off and swap stories.

It was the first Greyhound Gathering -- Kanab 1999, one of the largest conventions of greyhounds ever in the western United States. It drew aficionados of the racing dog from states all over the West and from as far away as England.

The dogs were often abused by owners and trainers who killed or abandoned them when their running careers were over -- usually by age 3 or 4. Those abuses have tapered off in the past decade as exploitation of the mild-mannered dogs became publicized.

While Utah does not allow dog racing and its attendant betting, Arizona and Colorado do, and those are the states where Claudia Presto gets the animals she adopts out through her Kanab-based organization, the Greyhound Gang.

Presto organized the Kanab gathering that in addition to a parade down Main Street, featured vendors selling greyhound-related items, hikes in the surrounding desert, question and answer sessions, and a lunch on Saturday at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, just north of Kanab in Kane County. It is the largest no-kill animal sanctuary in the country. Although Best Friends is not associated with the Greyhound Gang, both organizations are dedicated to caring for animals.

Adoption Groups: The Greyhound Gang is one of more than 200 adoption groups around the country adopting out ex-racing greyhounds and bringing attention to the plight of the racing dogs.

Presto says trainers and owners now want to work with adoption groups to find good homes for dogs who begin to lag behind in chasing a mechanical rabbit as it zips around the railing of an oval track. She said a decade ago more than 50,000 greyhounds a year were killed for not earning their keep. That is now down to between 7,500 and 15,000. "But that's still too many," says Presto.

Over the weekend, Presto became effervescent around greyhounds, running around the motel in Kanab where most of the participants stayed, answering questions, chatting with dog owners and setting up events.

She says she fell in love with greyhounds in 1987. "I was in Putney, Vermont, with my Afghan at the time. I was attending a dog gathering when a van pulled up. Its door opened and there were two greyhounds and I've been smitten ever since."

She worked with a greyhound adoption agency in Connecticut, where she lived before loading up her silver pickup truck to get away from the hectic East Coast and headed West, arriving in Kanab just by chance.

"I liked Kanab immediately," she says.

Greyhounds and their owners began arriving on Friday, and that night an auction was held on donated items featuring anything greyhound. In addition to collars especially designed for a greyhound's neck, there were drawings and paintings of the dog, clothing emblazoned with the gathering's logo and special coats and sweaters to fit the lanky dogs.

Canine Parade: On Saturday morning, participants gathered on the lawn of the Kanab Middle School with their leashed hounds for the parade. To the blaring strains of Elvis Presley singing "You Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dog" and a handful of puzzled residents, the group and their dogs sauntered the length of Main Street.

The parade was led by a group of greyhound buffs from Arizona dressed in Renaissance-era garb to represent the status the greyhound once enjoyed when they could only be owned by European nobility.

It is important to have a greyhound on a leash when in public. Because of a high prey drive that relies on sight rather than smell for hunting, once a dog sees a potential quarry, it goes after it with a tenacity that makes it nearly impossible to call the dog back.

Most of the time, however, the dogs are docile and loving, and they are rarely annoying. That was the overwhelming consensus of those attending the gathering when asked why they adopted the dogs.

One of the more unusual adoptions was that of Connie Wessendorf of Bountiful, who said instead of her picking her greyhound, Bean, the dog picked her.

"I was riding a horse outside of Phoenix one day, when this half-dead dog out in the desert just started following me for 10 miles," says Wessendorf, decked out in western gear from her black cowboy hat to her black cowboy boots. When she stopped riding and was caring for her horse, "I turned around and the dog just jumped into my car."

Meeting of Fate: Before the curious episode with Bean, Wessendorf said she had been talking about adopting a greyhound, so when she got Bean, her husband called it "out of the universe."

"It's the first [dog] I've ever had that didn't bark, shed or drool, and is very affectionate," says Wessendorf.

Those who owned the most greyhounds at the gathering were Tom and Margo Gilliand from Conifer, Colo., who since 1990 have adopted seven of the animals they describe as "gentle giants."

The Gilliands adopted their dogs -- including a black and white spotted one with a Mickey Mouse-like pattern on its flank -- from a racetrack in Denver. They said the dogs all tolerate each other well. That was apparent this weekend by the unusual lack of barking or snapping at each other one would expect from a congregation of almost 200 dogs.

Greyhound Tips: Other facts about greyhounds from the Web site www.greyhoundgang.org include:

They make lousy guard dogs. "A burglar could take the dog with them along with everything else," one greyhound owner said.
Some greyhounds are pack rats, collecting items to take outside or store in their beds. "If you're missing something, check with your greyhound," Presto says.
The dogs sweat through their feet and nose, so to get one cool, hose down their paws.
Greyhounds love to be petted more than most dogs, particularly on their necks, rear ends and snouts.
Because they have a low percentage of body fat, greyhounds will likely sink if they try to swim.
- Because of this lack of buoyancy, owners of swimming pools who adopt greyhounds are warned the dogs will not instinctively understand the "blue stuff" is water.
  "They will be dashing around your yard, and suddenly -- plop -- right into the water and you'll have to jump in and save them," says Presto.

To adopt a greyhound costs about $150 to $200. This fee goes toward getting the animal spayed or neutered, dental work and shots the dogs need before they are allowed to be adopted.

Those interested in an adoption in southern Utah can call Presto at (435) 644-2903. In northern Utah call John Burt, at (801) 571-3664.

"Everyone was so generous at the auction," said Presto on Sunday night. "They came here to enjoy their dogs and in addition were incredibly generous."