By Malik: Age 15
We have all heard of transformers. They are a children’s toy that changes from a car to a robot. This is the story of how a race dog was transformed from one of the fastest dogs on the planet to a house pet.
Greyhounds are the world’s fastest dogs. Some of them could speed up to 40 miles per hour in just four to six steps. That means they are just a bit slower than a cheetah. I tried to see how fast I could go in six steps. I am not fast at all.
People actually race the dogs and make big money at racetracks betting on which dog will win. Unfortunately, a greyhound can only run fast enough to win for about two years.
Once these animals slow down just a bit, they are put up for adoption. If they do not find a new home quickly, they are put to sleep (killed).
Greyhounds used to be called Great Hounds. They are big and need a lot of food, so only kings could afford to have such a large animal.
Jethro is big! “He weighed 68 pounds when we got him,” said Pilot John. Ms. Pat adds, “Now he has fleshed out, he is 73 pounds.”
Pilot John continued, “But it's not just the weight; it's the size. Stretched out on his side, he occupies at least 12 square feet.”
Pilot John and Ms. Pat want Jethro to feel like a member of the family. They have placed three beds in the house for the greyhound and one on the outside on the patio so he can lie in the same room the couple is in. Each bed is three-feet by four-feet. But Pilot John admits “he frequently slides off the bed to one side or the other.”
This is a happy story about Jethro. He was a race dog in Mexico. He retired at age four. The average race dogs work from age two to four.
Jethro was born on July 20, 2013. He raced at the Caliente Hipodromo racetrack in Mexico. His race name was Mega Cruiser. His first race was on September 26, 2014. He was 14 months old. Mega Cruiser would race 73 times. He won 10 races. His last race was October 18, 2015. He raced for just 13 months.
The soon-to-be-called Jethro was brought to the states by a dog rescue group called Operation Greyhound, located in San Diego, California. Jethro was lucky. Pilot John Baker and his wife Pat adopted Jethro on January 20, 2016 and took him to their home in California where they are slowly transforming him from racer to be a pet.
The beds were a big change for the greyhound. All his life he lived in cages. He would be brought out of the small enclosure to train or see a veterinarian. But there was little human contact.
“Jethro is very much a house dog now,” agree Pilot John and Ms. Pat. “He has a nice fenced in back yard to run and play and we walk him through the neighbourhood on a leash at least once a day. On the walks, he greets the neighbours and gets hugged and petted by many of them.”
But Jethro still has a few racer tendencies, like when he is wet. Pilot Baker or Ms. Pat will use a towel to dry him off. I try to do that with my dog, and he thinks it is play time and grabs the towel in his teeth, starts shaking his head and it is tug of war time. Not with Jethro. He pulls his tail between his legs and stands perfectly still as he was trained to do.
Jethro is nine years old now. He enjoys his walks and does not seem interested in chasing things. Not even a thrown ball. He also does not like to be touched while he sleeps.
But he shows his love to the couple. Ms. Pat does not like doggie kisses (licks on the face) but Pilot John does.
Jethro is so smart when Ms. Pat is not looking, he licks Pilot John... and they both smile. When it is time to get up, Jethro is often first up. He goes over to the human bed and lets them know his ears need a good rub and pet.
Pilot John and Ms. Pat agree adopting a race dog is a really nice thing to do. But they warn, “You will need to have time and patience to teach your greyhound about things he has never seen before. Racing greyhounds usually have never seen stairs, so this takes some coaching. Most will want to chase birds until they discover that birds fly away – no fun! Most have never seen a human baby, so we have to teach them to be careful of little ones.”
They concluded, “Greyhounds in general are NOT aggressive. They love everybody. You might even get your face licked.”
