Across greyhound racing, finding loving homes for greyhounds once they retire is just as important as looking after their welfare and wellbeing whilst they are racing. Assistant Trainer and Greyhound Ambassador Kelli Windebank talks about the lengths she and her team go to in order to find the right retirement home for the greyhounds in their care.

“Ensuring that the greyhounds in my care go on to lead long, happy lives in their retirement is a hugely important aspect of what we do. Finding the right retirement home for our greyhounds is a team effort and everyone at our kennels plays an active role in the rehoming process as, ultimately, seeing one of our dogs settled into their forever home is just as good as watching them win a race.

When one of our dogs is approaching the time when we feel they are ready to leave the track, we’ll begin looking for a possible retirement home for them. Many of my owners decide to welcome their dogs into their own homes as pets once their careers on the track are over but where this is not possible, we work alongside owners to help match their dogs with the perfect new home.

One of the really important things we do as part of our rehoming process is fostering. This helps the dogs’ transition from the kennel to their new home. We’re extremely lucky to have a fantastic fosterer, Angela, who takes our retired dogs into her own home, usually for a few months at a time and during their stay they get used to the little aspects of living in a house and mixing with other pets. The majority of our dogs take to it like a duck to water but some need a little more to time to acclimatise and get used to a new routine.

This foster period is also great as it gives potential new owners the chance to visit and bond with their dog in a home environment but it also means their racing owners can pop in to see how they’re getting used to retired life.

We have a wonderful local Greyhound Trust branch, Whittingham Kennels, who occasionally take on one of our dogs if our fosterer is full. They are as kind and compassionate as they come. Louise who works there is amazing; she always keeps us updated on the rehoming process and lets us know when our greys have happily settled into their new homes.

The best way to educate people on what great pets greyhounds make is to meet them and so we regularly take our dogs out and about for walks in the local park and even to dog shows in the summer – anywhere that people can see them and talk to us about the dogs.

We also find social media a really helpful tool. We run a Facebook page – GREYS. Finding homes for hounds – where we regularly upload pictures and videos of our dogs that are looking for new homes.

When we find an owner who is interested in adopting one of our greyhounds, we try to pick out a dog who we think will connect with them. We have a real mix of people who are looking to become greyhound owners – families, single people, older people and first-time dog owners. It’s true that there’s a greyhound for everybody – successful rehoming is all about finding the right match.

We recently matched one of our lovely greyhounds, Ryan, with a first time dog owner. He was such an easy-going, gentle and laid back dog and we knew he’d settle in quickly because he got on so well at the foster home.

Another of ours, Captain, is currently at our foster home but we are in touch with a family who we think would be perfect for him. He’s friendly, loyal and has a slightly daft personality so he’ll love the attention of their teenagers, as well as the parents, who I’m sure will dote on him. We also know first-hand how great he is with kids; last year as he stayed in our house for six weeks and got on really well with my young family. His prospective family have visited him a few times now so hopefully he’ll be going home with them soon to find a place on their sofa.

We also have a gorgeous and loving girl waiting for a new home at the moment, Savana Swift. She’s always been a little nervous so I’ve taken her into my home whilst we search for the right home for her and she’s been settling in wonderfully. There’s a big brave girl within Swift – we just need to find a patient, kind owner for her.

Before a new owner takes one of our greyhounds home, we always do a home check to make sure that they can care for the dogs properly and that everything is in order. A lot of our new owners want to know all about their greyhound’s racing career and so if we have any photos or mementos of their dog racing we make sure to pass them on to the owners. These greyhounds want someone to be proud of them and it’s great to see our new owners celebrate the fact that they’ve adopted a retired racer.

Even when the dog is rehomed and settled in with their new family we make sure that we keep in touch. We love seeing our retired dogs and we’re so lucky to have a big field so they can come and visit us whenever they like. We also look after a lot of our retired racers when their owners go away on holiday; it’s so nice to have them back and see that they’re happy and enjoying their retirement.

I’m hugely grateful for the whole team involved in finding our greys their perfect homes and also to anyone who helps spread the message about what wonderful pets they make. Seeing our greyhounds go onto new caring, loving families is fantastic; the hard work that we put into rehoming is undoubtedly worth it.”

Captain at his foster home