Page 18 - AutumnWinterNL23

A Galgo Love Story, Healing and Inspiration...

As long time Greyhound adopters we had been unaware of the plight of the Galgo until
lockdown and a lot of time spent of Instagram meant that we saw the terrible things that
these beautiful dogs suffer. After losing our much-loved greyhound boy in the summer of
2020 we were devastated but determined to adopt a Galgo once we felt ready.
We spoke to the lovely Sue at Greyhounds in Need about what we could offer (we live
on a narrowboat) and two potential hounds were suggested for us. One was a tripawd boy who had
been overlooked a bit due to his disability. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about that especially
as we lived on a boat and sometimes that involved negotiating a gangplank when the floods
came….. However, Sue remained positive and just said come and see how he moves……

So, we jumped in the car and drove down to meet them and see who would choose us! When we
met the first boy, Tyson as he was called then, it was love at first sight for us and Sue seemed to
think he would be a great fit for us. He was a confident lad who happily took treats from us and
showed us his zoomie prowess. He seemed very agile which allayed some of our concerns. We went
home and I embarked on a project of contacting anyone I could find on social media who had a three
-legged hound to try and get some kind of idea of how life with a tripawd might look and what we
would need to do to make life for him as comfortable as possible. We had only ever had hounds with
4 legs, and it felt a bit daunting, as ever knowledge is the key (for me anyway). I found a lovely lady
who remains a good friend, a senior vets nurse now working as a hydro therapist who has three
galgos of her own, two of which are tripawds! She was such a help and support and patiently
answered all my questions.
We decided that with a little modification to make the small steps into the boat easier for him that we
would love to give this gorgeous boy his sweet life if he would like us to, so we arranged another visit
to collect him and began making preparations for his arrival.

The day came to collect him, and we excitedly picked him up amid a flurry of coats (it was winter and
funnily enough we had always bought GIN Blizzard coats for our other hounds, so we stocked up
while there) and set off for home. We had decided to change his name to Tai which means great in
Chinese. Well, what a confident boy we had! We were so surprised, he walked in the boat like he
already owned it and straight on to his new bed. He was calm
on his first walk, and I will never forget how he jumped straight
up on to our bed for a bedtime cuddle and snuggled himself
down between us as if he had been there since a puppy. He
still likes to sleep curled up with you, what a cuddle monster he
is.

18