LAST WAIKATO GAP WALK FOR 2011

By Fatima |

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

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Victoria (GAP Regional Coordinator - Waikato/Taupo/BOP) just sent us a lovely update and pictures from the GAP run last weekend, held at Victoria's property in Hamilton:

Well – what a terrific Sunday walk we had! The sun shone brilliantly, fresh produce was bought at the orchard mid walk, the hounds zoomed around the paddock with big smiles on their pointy faces and the table almost groaned under the weight of all the delicious goodies and bubbles…wonderful chocolate slices and cake, mini pikelets, crackers and cheese, chicken, strawberries, dainty coconut cakes, a pavlova, slices, apple and custard twist, savoury nuts, buttered date loaf, lashings of cream, crusty bread, biscotti and more….and all washed down with tea, coffee, juice – and large quantities of bubbly stuff.
Many thanks to all who came – it really is you who make the day into a special event.

Of course it is all about the hounds and Lily and Dougal were most pleased to welcome their friends Spud, Jolie, Kourtney, Roy, Angel, Baz, Gibson, Riley, Fritz, Khan, Chelsea, Yonce, Jules, Tina and Rook and Ritchie the lab. Eighteen four-legged friends and all beautifully behaved.
It was certainly the biggest group by far and included many of our wonderful local owners such as Joy, Jacquie and Tony, Sandra, Nan and Susan, Sheila and family, Tanya and Trefor, Gary and Lea, Rowan and Kat, Ross and family, and Rosemary and Ron.

A special welcome also to our guests Linda with Ross; hopeful soon-to-be-owners Janet and Ineke, and John and Maureen – all the way from Colville no less (absolutely hours away….). We all approved of you by the way – so now as long as your fencing is good and you get a big tick on your home visit– you too will be coming along with your own hound very soon :)

Fabulous to see some owners from afar…our Waihi representatives Jan and Tom; from Rotorua Shaun and Karen; from Tauranga Anne and from South Auckland Emma and Hayden. Many thanks to you for making a special effort – we do appreciate it.
Prize for the farthest travelled – apart from John and Maureen - has to go to Barbara - from Florida, USA!. Well she was actually visiting her daughter Nan – but it sounds good!

We had some GAP Shop items courtesy of Sheila and some treats for the hounds thanks to Jan. Do remember Jan’s duvet and blanket collection idea for the kennels. This is the time of year to empty out the cupboards and pass on some soft bedding to our somewhat bony canine friends.
Lovely gifts for the raffle were donated: some lovely Hound pieces - a brooch, necklace and socks – from Shaun and Karen; a martingale collar handmade by Penni; a ball-thrower and a bag of delicious treats in a Christmas ‘HamBag’ from Jan (well the treats were in a plastic bag inside the HamBag). Many thanks to you for these items. Thanks to you and the generosity of all who attended – we raised just over $100.00 for GAP hounds still waiting for a home. And Joy didn’t have to twist too many arms either!


The last BOP walk for the year is next Sunday at the Waikino Train Station on the way to Waihi. Please check the website for details and I will send a separate email shortly. By supporting each other we grow – and of course that means more chances for a hound to find their new forever home.
Hamilton Christmas Parade is Sunday December 11th – and we are on a float no less! Stay tuned for details..
Again – many thanks to everyone for making it such a special day…and yes…can you believe it…there are even photos attached! :)

The wonderful, the amazing Terry Stanley

By Fatima |

Sunday, November 27, 2011

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Terry Stanley grinning after coming second in Wanganui :)

I was thinking how to title this post -and then Danielle (Terry's foster Mum) came up with a perfect title :)
Amazing Terry (Terry Stanley) is truly a special greyhound, who has performed superbly on the racing track:
he had a very successful racing career in Australia, before coming to New Zealand in July 2010, just after he won the Cairns Cup.  He had 78 Starts in NZ with 39 wins and 16 placings, winning a total massive $53,640 in stake money. Terry won Auckland Sprinter of the Year 2009-2010, 2nd in the Group 2 race Dash for Cash in Wangunui.

He was trained by Steve Clark and Kathy Wilson in Albany (Steve and Kathy also train famous 'Swift Fantasy' , and many of their greyhounds have retired via GAP).


Terry with his trainer Kathy, Tony (one of his owners)
and Danielle (his foster Mum :)



Same team, different track :)

 Needless to say, after such an awesome career, Terry  deserves a well earned couch to sleep on. :) However, Terry will not be coming to GAP, he is off to live with one of his owners in Ashburton. Terry's foster Mum Danielle wrote:
Mr Terry Stanley  is owned by "Now Thats Value" syndicate, comprising of Blair Wederell, Craig Rendle, Tony Valentic, Brad Jackson and David Scott. All these gentlemen are very involved in greyhound racing and between them own a number of racing greyhounds. Now that Terry is retired with a minor hock fracture (which is healing nicely) he is going to live with one of his owners (Blair). Blair works for the TAB and sets the fixed odds (not a popular job!)so Terry will most properbly spend most of his retired days sleeping and watching racing replays.
Mr TS in now with me (Danielle) until he gets a ride to Ashburton to join Brad and his family; he is learning how to be a pet which he has taken to very well. He has learned to respect the cat, is nice and clean in the house and loves to sleep in the sun. Mind you he did eat the Sky controller one night but has now learnt that is not such a good idea. Fluffy toys are much more fun, as you can see in the video below: :)

Terry will always be the winner :))))

Just in: Update from Tina ( Wild Gunnadoo) :)

By Fatima |

Friday, November 25, 2011

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Sunbathing with my cat Whiskers

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Hello everyone, my name is Tina (Wild Gunnadoo), I had my 9th birthday in September and I am one very lucky hound. I had a wonderful loving home for 5 years but sadly my mum got sick and I had to go back and stay with Sonja and Irene for a while. They are wonderful and it was fun but I was sad and missing my mum and home comforts. Then they told me another lady was coming to get me and take me home to join her and 2 other things called cats. I wasn't too sure about that but decided to give it a try. The lady must have been very keen to get me because she and a friend drove all the way from Mt Managua through the snow!!! Boy, did I make the right decision, I'm living the life of Riley in Bay Of Plenty! There were a few little hiccups at the start because I was still sad and unsure of what was going on and those cat things were a bit scary but we came to an understanding - you ignore me and I'll ignore you, and now we're all good pals and even lie in the sun together.
 My new mum has lots of friends with dogs of all sizes and we all have fun together. Some even have cats but that's okay, I just pretend they're not there. I have 4 lovely comfy beds spread around the house (even have a pretend mink blanket on my night-time bed) and a special one for outside on the patio where I can leisurely recline in the sun so I just go from one to the other as the mood takes me. Sometimes Whiskers, the 18 year old 3 legged cat, joins me on the patio. Cleo, the deaf white Chinchilla is a bit snooty and thinks she's superior to us so lazes further away.


I love my toys :)

My mum takes me for lots of lovely long walks and now I'm even allowed off the lead because I'm getting pretty good at coming back when I'm called although there have been a couple of occasions when I was on a mission and didn't respond which didn't go down too well with "her who should be obeyed"!!! We have a lovely big park near our house and we go there nearly every day and often meet other dogs taking their humans for a run. It's nice to say woof and have a sniff but I prefer to be independent and trot along on my own. We sometimes meet up with Graeme, who recently adopted Snow (Cawbourne Snowy), and go to the racecourse for a good run and it takes me back to when I was young and hooning around the racing track - aaah those glory days!!! Oh well, at least I can still step it out even if it is only for a short burst.

Our lunch stop after BOP GAP walk.
I didnt mind Snowy using me as a leg rest because he let me share his blanket :)

I love the beach but unfortunately a ship ran aground recently and we're not allowed on the beach for awhile because of the oil.
When we're walking in the street I'm very good on the lead as long as there's no grass or shrubs around to sniff at and then my "good lead behaviour" goes right out the door. We're working on it but I think it will be a while before I get a tick for that test.
I just LOVE going out in the car and every time my mum goes into the garage I charge down the passage like a lunatic hoping she's heading for the car. I can spend hours curled up asleep in it if necessary, I'm such a laidback easy going girl. I do have a mattress, duvet, pillow and mink blanket in there so why wouldn't I be happy? We went up to Auckland to stay with my mum's cousin and she had a little thing which they said was a dog but I find that hard to believe because to me it looked like a ball of white fluff that moved. She also had two of those cat things but they hid most of the time we were there.
We went to a BBQ the other night and that was awesome. Every so often the human doing the cooking would "accidentally" drop something and of course it just happened to be where I was standing so being a nice tidy little lady I had to clean it up so he didn't get into trouble. Everyone thought I was beautiful and made a big fuss of me which was rather cool. I love the GAP outings and spending time with the other hounds and doing fun things with them then going for lunch at someone's house or coffee at a nice cafe afterwards.

Mum and me with Lily (Praise) and Victoria

So all in all life is really fantastic. I'm so lucky to have found two wonderful homes in my retirement and I thank GAP millions for finding my second mum for me and I just hope there are lots more humans out there who can find it in their heart and home to give another greyhound a happy ending. My mum keeps giving me lots of cuddles and telling me how adorable and beautiful I am and of course I can't argue with that because it's so true!!!
Love Tina xxxx

Yes I am 9, but i still like a good zoom! :)

 

Update from Jacko (No Help Indeed)

By Fatima |

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

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Selwyn and Angela just sent us an update on their handsome Jacko, whom they adopted in July this year:

Jacko is absolutely wonderful. He settled in so well, and is loving life. We love him to bits. Our day begins with an excited greeting from Jacko and a routine exchange of cuddles. He's so well socialised with people, and is quite a character who soaks up the pats. He has a habit of leaning firm against anyone who he meets for the first time, which can be quite alarming as Jacko is a tall boy whose racing weight was around 36 kilos, and his home/pet weight has settled at 40 kilos, so when he leans his full weight against people you can see them have to steady themselves! This is always an affectionate gesture by Jacko and is his way of saying hi, I like you, and know you like me too. The children in the area love him and when we are out on our walks (twice a day) almost everyone stops to say hello. It is kind of nice for us both.
Jacko came to us after having fractured his right rear hock in a racing trial at Cambridge. His fracture was a bad one but luckily his trainers loved him a lot and had a skilled orthopedic vet plate his broken bones.
He was in plaster for six weeks and defied predictions that if he was to survive he would need to have his rear leg amputated. With tender loving care from his trainers, and courage from himself, his bones fused and he is now pretty confident using it, and running on it. Occasionally it might ache a bit, I notice him resting it a little. But he never complains and when it was winter we kept him nice and cosy, especially at night. We have to let it mend more yet before he can run free and at speed. But already he is very active, loves his trotting walks, and has recently galloped with ease and without discomfort on KareKare beach west of Auckland.

Jacko's a young boy and quickly figured out what it is like to live in a home. Initially, some things confused him, like food cooking in the oven. We had to be very wary and set clear boundaries not letting him near food that was being prepared. He has figured it all out now and is very well behaved and knows good things come to a good dog who waits. :)
That said, Jacko loves his food and has an acute sense of time. If we are a bit slow to get things moving in the food stakes, Jacko soon lets us know it is time. His favorite food seems to be, well anything really, but particularly he loves chicken and rice. There really is a lot of joy in seeing Jacko enjoy a meal.
I suspect, like many who live with greyhounds, we have found that our boy Jacko is intelligent and learns things through us understanding him and his ways, being consistent and patient as he discovers what is right
and expected. He has acquired a keen understanding of many words, and has taught us a few things too like how to really really relax, and how to take time to smell the flowers (he loves sniffing the flowers in the window boxes when the windows are open in our home), and to have a nap and save energy for the big action when on our walks!

We can tell he misses his old Greyhound mates from the racing kennels. There is a whippet that walks in a park near us, and when Jacko sees her when out and about he really picks up and watches her keenly. He also seems to have a keen liking for vans and 4WD vehicles, we suspect he fondly remembers many long trips to racing events around the north island.
We are very proud of Jacko, his courage and good nature defines him. He's a big athletic handsome dog, he's a head-turner, he did his very best in his races when working, and gave almost his life after that track accident in March. But he's got through all that and is living a well deserved retirement now, enjoying life each day with us. It is a privilege. Thanks to GAP for helping him through the transition stage and to his trainers for making all this possible.

Meet gorgeous Ricki (Validiction)

By Fatima | 2 comments

Beautiful Ricki

We just got an update from Janet and Tony, who are currently fostering Ricki (Validiction).
They wrote:
Ricki has heaps of character and is very people orientated (dependent?). We think he’d do well where he was very much ‘it’, not to say he couldn’t share the stage, but a family/person where there was lots of ‘together’ time, is I think, very Ricki. :)
He is a real clown and has us in stitches with his squeaky toys - especially when he thinks it’s food time - which is most of the time! He’s again had us in stitches as we watch some (useless) video clips - but he can hear my voice and his toy - he cocks his ears in a “what’s that all about” question! Needless to say he does not get to sleep with his squeaky toys at night!

Ricki is very affectionate, he knows his name and quite good at ‘come’ (within the boundaries of the property) - and when it suits him! No idea about ‘sit’ - just an immovable object; learning stay/wait - but we’re not challenging him too much with that.
He also has a liking for paper back books - ripped up three thus far, and has twice stolen Tony’s work pad off his desk! Attention seeking tactics we think, after all it’s all about ‘me me me’.  :)
I loved the description of a dog recently on the site - popcorn - that’s Ricki too - when we come home and food time - so funny!

The photos with Ricki with his GAP coat on are from a charity walk we did and the photos from Tracey Finlay(www.tracephotography.co.nz). There were a group of GAP dogs there and you can see others on her facebook page  too :)

Update on Mila (Bronze For Macos)

By Fatima |

Sunday, November 20, 2011

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Mila in her bed :)

Rachel and Michael from Wellington adopted their beautiful Mila (Bronze For Macos) recently and sent us an update and some gorgeouys pictures :)
Btw -we fostered Mila (then Fiona) for a while too -she was loads of fun! :) It is so wonderful to see her so happy in her forever home! :)

Rachel and Michael wrote:
Mila has been with us in Wellington for a month now and has very quickly become a big part of our little family. She is fascinated by the number of cats that we have living down our street and will run around the house trying to find the other dog whenever she hears barking coming from the TV!
 She loves being around people and has earned a reputation as my big black shadow (because she would follow me around the house all day if she could). She absolutely loves her squeaky toys, which she takes to bed with her each night and are never far away from her during the day. Her current favourite is a fluffy pink pig which has lost its squeaker and is starting to look very dirty, but still provides hours of entertainment!
The “sticking up ears” are always a good sign that she has found something interesting and she still absolutely loves to be in and around water.

Mila proudly suppporting the All Blacks on her first weekend with us!

We have been on a few adventures in the time we have had Mila - she loves going for rides in the car which makes it really easy for us to get out to see the sites of Wellington. Last weekend we visited a farm in Ohau where she got to hang out with two Waimaraners (Heidi and Jazzy) and she kept us busy trying to make sure that she did not harass the chickens too much (good thing we had our muzzle with us!). We have also just started Obedience classes in Karori with another GAP greyhound (Senso) and she is quickly getting the hang of sitting, lying down and staying on command. The cheese incentives are really helping us out there! :)

I have attached a few pics of Mila above (obviously, there are many, many more than this but I thought I had better not inundate you - and look like a crazy dog person!).  :)

Mila in the car :)

Mila helping out in the garden
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Mila's very first walk with us!

Some cute pictures of Del-Boy

By Fatima | 0 comments

Michele and Eric sent us these two cute pictures of their Del-Boy :) They wrote:
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Having had a successful Awatere Run last month (culminating in a delicious lunch at Ugbrooke Estate, for the humans that is), Del-Boy is now starting to get on Bertie The Cat’s better side. They are both a lot more relaxed around each other. He has also obviously been taking notice of the TV adverts relating to NZ’s “clean, green” image and has decided to join in. He’s by-passed the “clean” bit and gone straight for the “green” part. This was not achieved by sneaking someone’s hair dye but by rolling around in the recently mown grass (I can’t call it a lawn just yet). And here is the proof:

He’s obviously leaving the “clean” part until later.......
:)

Meet the kennel sponsors: Ben Craik and family

By Fatima |

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

2 comments

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Auckland greyhound trainer Ben Craik, and
Ben (Cornwall Road), whose GAP kennel is
sponsored by Craik Racing

GAP kennel sponsors donate all the kennelling costs asociated with a particular hound.

As a new feature on my blog I plan to acknowledge our wonderful GAP kennel sponsors, so I will try to feature them all here.
GAP name and thank each sponsor personally on 'We Need Homes' page. As soon as a sponsored greyhound goes out to their new home, their kennel sponsorship carries over to the newly-entered greyhound who will occupy the sponsored kennel.

Kennel sponsorship is based on 30 days per month at $8 per day ( $240 per month). Sponsoring a kennel makes a huge difference to GAP as it allows us to bring more dogs into the programme at busy times.

Some people choose to sponsor a kennel for a finite period, such as one month or three months. Others are able to sponsor kennels long-term. Whether they sponsor a kennel for one day or for a lifetime, all our kennel sponsors make a huge difference to the lives of many greyhounds.

Auckland greyhound trainer Ben Craik and his family have just started sponsoring one kennel in Sanson.
 I had the pleasure of meeting Ben and his wife Barbara last week. Ben and Barbara , with their daughters Lisa and Tracey, are great supporters of GAP -so far, they have given over 50 of their retired greyhounds to the GAP programme. Ben has also often transported GAP greyhounds up and down the North Island too, in his blue van  :) The whole family are great animal and greyhound lovers, as well as very successful and respected greyhound trainers.
They were kind enough to answer two questions which are very close to my heart:

1- WHY DO YOU SUPPORT GAP?
We have been involved with greyhound racing for a long time and during the early days we retired many  greyhounds in our home -well,  as many as our house could fit! When we heard that an adoption programme was going to be implemented in NZ we were very happy and knew that this was a cause we would support whole heartedly. For the past twenty years greyhounds have been our livelihood so it's just and fair that we provide for them in their retirement.
Since our first adoptive greyhound to present we have received great feedback from their new owners and the GAP staff and we will continue to support this great programme.

2- WHY DID YOU SPONSOR A KENNEL?
We have always been interested in sponsoring a kennel and through our involvement with Jacqui (GAP Programme Director) we made the decision to become a kennel sponsor. For us sponsoring a kennel is another way we can support GAP and make sure that our much loved greyhounds find their families.
Thanks for recognizing our family - but we must thank you all for your continued hard work and dedication to these wonderful greyhounds.

Ben and Barbara met their sponsor-dog this week in Sanson GAP kennels. Their sponsor-dog is aptly named:  Ben! (Cornwall Road). Here's a couple of pics of Ben and Ben :

Ben (Cornwall Road) meeting Ben and Barbara Craik
at the GAP reception in Sanson :)

Two handsome boys: Ben and Ben :)

Ben The Greyhound was sure there was a treat in Ben Craik's pocket!
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I also asked Ben and Barbara for some photos of their racing greyhounds and their retired greyhounds, and they were kind enough to oblige!

These are a couple of photos of their pet greyhounds - Rose (Rivette Reason), Jesse (Keroma Safari) and Tanya (Reba Keroma).:

Jesse (Keroma Safari) lounging :)
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Rose (Rivette Reason) and Tanya (Reba Keroma)

 
Here's a photo of Ben, Barbara and their daughters Tracey and Lisa with greyhound trainer Carol Derecourt:  

Ben and Tracey Craik with their racing greyhound Beatrix Kiddo :)

Meet Deo (Impulse Buyer)

By Fatima |

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

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Danielle , Deo's foster Mum,  wrote a few paragraphs on him (thanks a million Danielle!). Danielle works for Deo's trainer, and she has known Deo ever since he was imported to NZ from Australia:

I remember when Impulse Buyer (Deo) first arrived in NZ. I picked him at at the airport - I opened his crate and was greeted by a huge nose followed by a lick. I thought how handsome he was. We then delivered him to his trainers in Palmerston North, Lisa Alhern and Bredon Cole. I watched him race a few times, and then got a call informing me that he had hurt his foot (minor injury), and would I be able to take him and look after him until his place came up at GAP. Well of course I could!!!
Deo arrived to my house late at night and was put straight to bed, in the morning he went out in the dog paddock and immediately started to play  -  what a big puppy!! He was such a big boy, but very gentle. He would run up to the kids but never knock then down and he would let them lead him around. :)

Next it was time to meet the cats! He took it all in his stride and after a quick sniff and a hiss from Gypsy the cat, Deo went to sleep! :)

His most favorite game was fetch with the ball and him and Toots (my Bichon Friese) would play for ages running around the garden. Mind you I had to limit the running as his foot was still sore and sometime he would limp a little. His foot is now well healed, and he went to GAP kennels in Sanson :) He is now waiting for a special home with very special humans. I must say Deo was one of my favorite dogs that i have worked with; whomever gets to take him home is very very lucky! I know his owners, Bbc Syndicate ( Brad Jackson, Bredon Cole and Craig Rendle) and they  are all looking forward to hearing all about his new forever home and his new family :).

Deo has a very Roman nose! :)

Cloe (Flying Nun)

By Fatima | 0 comments

With Irene :)

Cute Cloe :)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Little Cloe (Flying Nun) recently arrived to GAP and is looking for forever home. She is a gorgeous, soft and gentle girl,  a bit worried with all the changes at the moment, but getting braver every day :)

Meet cheeky little Venus! :)

By Fatima |

Monday, November 14, 2011

comments

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Venus is a small black greyhound pup -she is only 1 year old :) I met her this morning in the GAP kennels -she is a little livewire , interested in EVERYTHING and very food focused.

I think Venus would excell in agility, fly and Rally O training -she is very 'tuned in', works for food treats and would LOVE to have a job!

Yes -greyhounds can excell at agility, obediance etc -our Lucy is a prime example!
Overseas, ex-racers do great in this, just have a look at http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/

Venus saying hello to Chuck, a Malamute puppy
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Venus does not only have agility training potential,
she also has great looks!