Greyhound Leaders

This is not a Greyhounds & Grey Hairs story, but it is one of the most meaningful encounters that I have had with greyhounds and people.  Several years ago I worked as the assistant director of the Jasper County Youth Leadership Camp, which lasted for about two and a half weeks.  The camp was intended to develop leadership skills in the approximately 30 middle and high school students who attended.  Many of these students had severe problems, whether behavioral, family, etc.  In other words, they were a pretty tough crowd.

One morning during camp, I brought in Cosmo and Mr. Spock.  I talked with the students about animals being part of the world just as people are and that we need to look out for them all.  Also, I explained how I am the pack leader for Cosmo and Mr. Spock, giving a simple demonstration by walking them easily on their leashes around the room. Some of the students wanted to take turns walking the dogs, too, which worked great.

Several of the students who were initially kind of scared of the greyhounds relaxed as they saw Cosmo and Mr. Spock greeting and interacting so well with everyone.  One girl who had been a particularly hard nut to crack during camp asked a very poignant question.  She asked, “Why are they so friendly?”  I suspect that she had never encountered anything but a mean dog.  I told her that if you treat a dog with kindness, respect, and love, it will respond the same way to you – the same way it works with people.  I guess I had never really thought of it exactly like this, but adults are the ones who make mean dogs and mean children.

Go Ahead - Make My Day

One of my favorite people to visit was “Mrs. Gaines.”  She was in her nineties, but her mind was as sharp as a tack.  She loved to read and was a great conversationalist.  When Cosmo, Mr. Spock, and I would stop by her room, she literally would cry out with delight.  I can’t tell you how many times she said that she had been feeling kind of down, but that our visit made her day.  That always made my day.

Common Denominator

Before “Miss Alice” moved to The Retreat, the greyhounds and I visited her at her house several times.  She usually hung out on her screened-in back porch.  The greyhounds climbed the dozen steps to the porch and lay quietly on the floor while Miss Alice and I talked.  I think she was always kind of amazed at how well mannered they were.  During one of these visits, the sun shone on Cosmo’s lower legs in such a way that the thin, delicate skin and underlying veins – typical of a greyhound – were particularly noticeable.  Miss Alice marveled, “His feet look just like my hands!”

Headlock

“Mrs. Bishop” always loved seeing the greyhounds, and so we always made sure to visit her.  One time when we went to her room, she was awake, but she didn't hear us knock or see us come into her room.  I spoke softly to her, leaning toward her.  She was so excited that she reached out, grabbed me around my neck, and gave me a big kiss.  I didn't know that a nearly 100-year-old woman could be so strong!  It reminded me how vital a human touch is for the residents.  A hug, a gentle squeeze of the hand, or a pat on a hound’s head gives them a little contact with another living creature.  Fortunately, such contact usually doesn’t involve a headlock.

Rabbit Dogs and Good Eats

I remember the first day that “Mr. Matthews” was at The Retreat because it happened to be a Greyhounds & Grey Hairs day.  I met his daughter in the parking lot as I was arriving and she was leaving.  She had been getting him settled in and, understandably, was rather upset with this major life change.  When she saw Cosmo and Mr. Spock, she smiled a little through her tears.  She was so glad to learn that he would get some regular canine visitors because her father had always loved dogs so much.

I met Mr. Matthews when I went inside.  It was the first of many wonderful visits.  He always looked so cute in his fedora and denim overalls.  As soon as he saw Cosmo and Mr. Spock, he would say, “I had a couple just like them.”  I don’t know exactly what kind of dogs he had, but they were rabbit dogs.  He affectionately described how they knew it was time to hunt as soon as he got out his gun.  Even if I heard the same story every time we visited, I was happy knowing that he was having some happy memories.

After Mr. Matthews had fondly reminisced about his rabbit dogs on a number of our visits, one day he described cooking what he hunted.  He loved rabbit, squirrel, ‘coon, and possum.  I asked him, “Isn’t possum really greasy?”  He replied, “It’s good!”  Then he started to explain how you cook a possum.  After you clean it (no instructions on that, thankfully), you put it in a big pan with some grease.  Actually, you use two pans – I’m not sure if that’s because you have more than one possum, or maybe you have a side of ‘coon.  That’s as far as he got with the recipe.  It’s probably just as well.  I was glad to go home to my supper of chili and baked potato.

Gentle Giant

Greyhounds can make excellent pet therapy dogs because they are so calm and mellow.  Their unflappable-ness was illustrated vividly one time when we visited “Mr. Thomas.”  He suffered from dementia and usually did not respond very much to the greyhounds.  One evening, however, was different.  As we approached Mr. Thomas, Cosmo stepped forward in a friendly manner.  All of a sudden, Mr. Thomas grabbed Cosmo around the snout and started squeezing!  I panicked inside, fearing that Cosmo might try to bite Mr. Thomas.  Outwardly, though, I calmly and gently loosened and removed Mr. Thomas’s fingers from Cosmo’s snout.  No harm was done, and Cosmo seemed unfazed.  It was as if Cosmo understood something about Mr. Thomas’s condition.  I think that greyhounds – and all animals – understand a lot more than we give them credit for.

Small Miracles

“Mrs. Hughes,” an Alzheimer’s patient at The Retreat, had difficulty communicating.  It had been a long time since I understood anything that she said.  However, during one of our visits, she pointed to Cosmo and said, “Brown.”  Then she pointed to Mr. Spock and said, “Whitish.”  She was exactly right because Cosmo is red fawn (essentially the same color as a deer), and Mr. Spock is white with brindle spots.  Who says that there aren’t any miracles these days?