Greyhounds For You - G4U - We Home Greyhounds

About Greyhounds For You

Page updated 11/02/2008

In the beginning... Greyhounds For You (G4U) initially started in 1999 by Debbie Buxcey after she took her first greyhound home at the end of 1998. At that time, the kennels was run by a man who loved his dogs but due to the very long days (and nights) that running a kennel requires, could not find the time to home his retired dogs. He also believed that no dog should be put to sleep unless at the recommendation of a vet for health problems.

Debbie identified that many dogs were just waiting for the right person to come along to provide love, care and that all important sofa!

By this time, Debbie had acquired a second greyhound and people began to approach her to ask questions about greyhounds. Above anything else, people could not believe that Debbie was quite happily living in a cottage with 13 cats and 1 rabbit.

So Debbie, working with the owner of the kennel matched greyhounds to people and their own unique set of circumstances. Gradually friends and acquaintances adopted their own greyhound. But there are only so many friends able to adopt.

 

G4U Across The Years....

 

2002 - Greyhounds For You (G4U) began a very successful association with Greyhounds in Need when 11 dogs were homed. There was a slight drop in 2003 due to the fact that Debbie was unable to carry out the homing work for nearly six months as a friend's border collie had knocked her over, broken her ankle and severely damaged her knee! However, in 2004 there was a huge improvement in the number of dogs homed as Debbie was back on her feet.

2004 - kennels had a change of ownership and the new owners help Debbie as much as possible in finding the dogs homes. The kennels and feeding of the dogs has been improved vastly and all the dogs are happy and contented. Abuse cases are given as much time as they need to re-establish their trust in humans and injured dogs are only homed once the vet has given the all clear.

2005 - saw the launch of the new and improved web site. In its new format the web site has enabled Greyhounds 4U to reach many more people and consequently resulted in the best homing year to date. The homing team has increased in size (see below) and the team are busier than ever. 2 homeless hound walks were organised so that the homeless hounds could be socialised in a large group and 1 homed hound walk was organised at the end of the year to enable like minded people to get together, discuss greyhounds and compare notes.

2006 - was an excellent year for homing and 51 more greyhounds are now living as pampered pets. The homing team continues to grow and are still busier than ever. As the team grows, everyone has their own "job" to do, making G4U a much more efficient organisation. Two Homeless Hound Walks were organised in order to raise funds and to gain publicity for the dogs needing homes. Between Christmas and New Year, we also had our traditional Homed Hounds Walk which again raised funds for the homeless hounds.

2007 - has been excellent on the homing front so far. Halfway through the year we changed homing kennels which is proving to be a very positive experience. Robert Alleyne, canine behaviourist, trainer and known to many from BBC3's Dog Borstal programme agreed to support Greyhounds 4 U after working with Debbie and Casper. Two Homeless Hound Walks have taken place and the Christmas Homed Hounds Walk will take place on Saturday 29 December 2007.

2008 – this year has started in the best way possible with Greyhounds For You becoming an approved partner in the Pets at Home Support Adoption Scheme. It is a fantastic achievement to receive the backing and support of such a well known organisation. We already have 2 homeless hounds walks planned together with various meet and greets at Pets at Home

 

The areas we cover:

 

Greyhounds 4U are a British independent greyhound rescue and homing centre. We home UK and Irish ex-racing greyhounds as pets to people who live in the Southern Counties of England.

The Counties we cover include Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Worcestershire, Avon, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent and the Isle of Wight.

Due to the restrictions of our home checker network and in some cases the travel distances involved we are unable to home greyhounds to people living in London, Essex, Gloucestershire, Bedfordshire, Wales, The North of England, Scotland, The Isle of Man, The Channel Islands, mainland Europe or the rest of the world. Only the following towns and close surrounding areas in the Midlands are ones we can home to, although anyone living here must be prepared to travel some considerable distance to meet their prospective pet. Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Walsall, Birmingham (East & South), Coventry and Hinckley are covered by our home check network.

Our priority is the long term care and well-being of our retired racers and as such every greyhound adoption is subject to a successful home check. The only exception to the home check rule is if you have already adopted one greyhound through us and are returning for a second, third or fourth greyhound pet. It has been known! However, if you have moved house since the 1st greyhound adoption we reserve the right to home check your new premises.