April Newsletter

Health and Safety Issues

Foxtails

It’s spring and the foxtails are coming out in full force after the heavy rains. These evil barbed seeds can easily penetrate a dog’s skin through paws, nose, eyes, mouth, ears, anus, etc. They move forward, never backwards because of the barbs on the seed, and can cause discharge, abscesses, swelling, pain, and death. The best way to avoid the damage they can cause is to avoid areas where they are growing. WebMD has a good article on them and when to see your vet.

Greyhound Bleeding Disorder

Among the many unique greyhound health issues is an uncontrolled bleeding disorder that can occur up to 1-5 days following an injury, a dental, or a surgery. The dog’s blood starts to clot normally, but then the clots start to fall apart, leading to the bruising seen in the photo (

Dr. Couto, formerly the head of the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Greyhound Wellness Program, published an article about this several years ago. He reported that a drug called Amicar, or aminocaproic acid, would, in most cases, stop this uncontrolled bleeding. It is impossible to predict which dog may develop this bleeding disorder and it is unrelated to the severity of the surgery. I have seen this after dentals, routine spays, neuters, and amputations. One incident doesn’t necessarily predict bleeding after another surgery. This disorder is also seen in deerhounds and in Irish Wolfhounds (

It is important that you talk with your vet, both your normal vet, and your emergency veterinary clinic, about this bleeding disorder and make sure that they know where they can quickly access aminocaproic acid. Many vets who have a large greyhound practice keep this on hand, but most do not, and many have not heard of this disorder or the drug. Here is a link to an article about this disorder and treatment. Please print this and give a copy to your vet and your emergency vet hospital:

This is a prescription drug and it is less expensive if you can get it through a compounding pharmacy. Barbara tries to have a supply on hand in case of emergencies, so if you have an emergency and can’t get this drug quickly, give her a call or send an email and she will try and get it to you. If you have a scheduled surgery, many vets recommend starting the drug either the day before surgery, or the day of surgery and continuing it for a total of 5 days.

Collars

Every so often we see photos of our dogs lounging at home with no collars. PLEASE, keep your tag collar on your dog at all times with your tag, the GFFL tag, and the microchip tag attached (this is part of your adoption contract). Although dogs sometimes get away from their humans while on walks, we have had more cases where a dog bolts out of the front door, or a yard gate is left open. If the dog has no collar, the chances of getting the dog back safely and quickly are greatly dimished.

If the jingling tags bother you, put a rubber band around them or invest in a Quiet Spot or other tag container.

Also, if you have lost your GFFL tag with the 800 number on it or have lost your microchip tag, please email Barbara () so that she can send you a new GFFL tag and notify Michele to update the database, and order a new microchip tag for you.

Off Leash Photos on Facebook

I know, nag, nag, nag. We frequently see photos of dogs off leash and sometimes it’s not possible to determine if they are in a secure area. If it isn’t clear from the photo that they are in fenced or otherwise secure area, say in your post where you are.

Mutt Lynch Winery and GFFL

Mutt Lynch Winery hosts Yappy Hours once a month at the Tasting Room in Windsor. These events raise money for animal rescue groups, with 100% of the $10 of the entry fee and a percent of the wine sales at the event going to the designated group. We have been fortunate to have been the recipients of one or two or these Yappy Hours each year for the past couple of years.

This year, Brenda Lynch (the winemaker and former greyhound adopter) and Mutt Lynch have created a GFFL label for their 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon wine, using Patrick Holt’s wonderful image of “The Leaner”. This delicious cab was debuted at the February 2017 Yappy Hour and is available through the Mutt Lynch website, at Click on “Wines that Give Back”, then on the The Leaner image. Thank you, Brenda and Mutt Lynch!!

2018 GFFL Calendar

Last year’s calendar sales were down substantially, despite it’s being a lovely display of many of our GFFL greyhounds and other sighthounds. We have ordered 250 calendars for the last several years, but this year we had way too many left over.

We need feedback from you. My guess is that people are using their phones much more to keep track of appointments, not using desk diaries or wall calendars so much. Because the Greyhound Project prints thousands of the Celebrating Greyhounds calendars, their cost to us is less than half of what we pay for the GFFL calendars. I don’t care too much if we don’t make a lot of money (I really like seeing all of the photos you send of our dogs), but we can’t lose money like we did this year.

For those of you who did not order a calendar, is there something that we can do to make it easier for you to order? Better notification that they are available (they are always released at the reunion)? Make more available at area Meet and Greets? Any other suggestions? Please email Barbara () with your suggestions, input.

Upcoming Events

As you all know from looking at the Events page of our website, GFFL hosts several Meet and Greet Events every month. We are very grateful for our adopters who volunteer and bring their dogs out to these events!

We have several special events coming up, so mark your calendars now! A few of these events last all day. These events are difficult – parking, noise, etc – but they provide great visibility for the group and for the breed. If your dog is social and you can stay for a 2-3 hour block of time, I know that the event coordinators will appreciate it!

Saturday, May 6. Sonoma County Human Race. This walk/run is a major fundraiser for us and several of us with our dogs will be walking. The theme this year is “Innovation”, and we are currently working on costumes – we have won the Best Animal Group for several years now! If you can make a donation, go to our page on the Human Race website:

If everyone receiving this email donated just $10.00, we would meet our fundraising goal!

Please consider setting up your own fundraising page, regardless of whether you can participate in the event. Andif you can join us for the event, please let Jon Cabarrus () or Ilene Reeve () know so we can plan to have enough costumes and t-shirts for all participants.

Saturday, July 15. East Bay Adopt-A-Thon at Jack London Square. This is a shorter event – 10 am to 2 pm - and features over 30 rescue and adoption groups. Get in touch with Julie () if you would like to help at the booth.

Sunday, September 10. Solano Stroll. GFFL has been a fixture at this all-day street fair for more than 20 years! We know that it’s noisy and it’s hard to find parking places, but if you have social greyhounds, they will get lots of attention! Julie Carroll () will get out more information when we get closer to the date of the event.

Saturday, September 16th. Bark in the Park, San Jose. This is another all-day event that GFFL has attended for many, many years.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Sunday, October 8th. The GFFL Annual Reunion Picnic and Fundraiser. This year’s reunion will be held at the Solano County Fairgrounds, next to Great American in Vallejo. Stay tuned for additional information from Vanessa Borrero, our reunion organizer! We already have some wonderful silent auction and drawing items! If you have suggestions for ways to make the event even more fun, please email Vanessa ().

Saturday/Sunday, October 14-15th. Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. We know that this event is a real hassle to get to because of the limited access to Half Moon Bay. For the first time in years, we did not have a booth last year because we did not have a sufficient number of people and greyhounds to be in the booth on even one of the 2-day event. Phil and Eileen Slattery would love to figure out a way to get enough people involved to have a booth again this year on at least one day. If you are interested, please get in touch with them (). They have some ideas on how to make the trip less of a hassle.

Other Fundraisers

Golf Tournaments. Every year, Tammy Harczak hosts a golf tournament for GFFL. This year’s tournament will be held at the Canyon Lakes Golf Course and Brewery in San Ramon on Monday, June 12th. A second fund-raiser tournament is held in the fall, with GFFL being one of three non-profits supported.

Please consider providing an item that can be used in the silent auction or drawing for these two tournaments. For those of you working in the wine industry, see if the wineries you work with would make a donation of wine, a tour of the winery, etc. Use your credit card rewards points to donate a gift certificate to Home Depot, Starbucks, Lowe’s, OSH, a sporting goods store, or a nice restaurant. If you work in the electronics field, see if you can snag a tablet or other gear. Thank you!

New Adoptions!

Jane & VassiliAlexiadis / Pearl
Erico Alia & Gary Houston / Emma (Joey)
Jonna Allen / Devi
Lucy Allen & Michael Stephenson / Candy
Melissa & Robert Amos / Tucker
Lisa & Larry Anderson / Chris
Elena & Oleg Aravina / Harley
Katie & Matthew Arlich / Blaze
Gina Armanini & John Gillis / Uma (Cholla)
Dianna & Duane Aucutt / Reba & Waylon
Ingrid & Don Austin / Zephyr (Carl)
Pamela & Jon Bennett / Durbin
Ken & Gianni Blondin / Prize
Michelle & Mark Bowditch / Shams
Theresa & Gene Brown / Chief & Nutmeg
Erika Bubeck / Makala
Judy & Jon Cabarrus / Nigel
Windy Chien & Gary Baker / Selina
Gretchen & Sean Christopherson / Rees (Wynona)
Laurie & Tim Cordeno / Speedy (Nick)
Dave & Nathan Cota / Tiger
Margaret & Darrell Easter / Brody
Joan & John Falanga / Taco
Kelsey Finlayson / Finn
Jennifer & Glen Giese / Galen
Lynne & John Hackert / Ally
Heather & Steven Hanlon / Ollie (Joli)
Tina Hank & Jim Mezzera / Titan (Thunder)
Katharine Harding & Jonathan Beckman / Pippin
Kathy Helm & Bill Turner / Spenser
Tracy Higley / Willie
Lananh Hoang & Chris Erk / Potato (BJ)
Paula Hoelker-Williams & Bob Williams / Roy (Noah)
Elizabeth Johnson & Lamont Potter / Twila
Peggy Johnson / Sugar
Kerry & Micheael Jones / Ruby (Emma)
Samantha & Steve Kadar / Julietta
Tara & GauranKhetrapal / Tarban
Judy & Bern Lannan / River (Wendy)
Julie Linares & Amanda Hayar / Sookie (Nora)
Lisa & Hugh Lovette / Libby & Rio
JayoMacasaquit / Lyla (Dolphin)
MarttiMallimein & Anna Janicki / Aaron
Wendy Masten / Bodhi
Kimberly & Adam McCowen / Tina
Stephanie & Robert McDaniel / Stark (Robbie)
Erika Miranda / Habibi
Carolyn Mitchell / Finn (Chips)
Sharon Neal / Phoenix
Christina O'Brien & Justin O'Sullivan / Leo
Trina & Norm Oliver / Emilia
Juliette Page & Brent Hetherwick / Daisy
Sara & Gerry Pimental / Harry & Georgina
Elizabeth Plevy & Joseph Woerner / Zen & Terra
ElysaPolley & Matthew McDonald / Annie
Iris Polos & Michael Brown / Oliver
Ilene & Jim Reeve / Enzo
Matthew Sasaki / JD
Michael Sewell / Dinah
Michael Shears / Whisper
Cynthia & Mike Shim / Charlie (Christo)
Lance Shoemaker / Gomer (Monty)
Tanya Smart & Brent Wright / Aurora
Debora Smith / Trey
Star Stevenson & Jennifer Ogne-Stevenson / Lolo (Kes)
Carol Stockbridge / Rumi
Brenda & David Thompson / Lucy
Jennifer & David Trinkle / Rambo
Sue von Baeyer / Morocco (Trip)Bezi (Troi)
Carol Wirth / Prince
Julie & Eric Williams / Leonardo

Have you moved, changed your home, cell, or work phone number, or changed your email address?

Please keep your greyhound’s adoption record and contact information up to date.

Send your address, phone number, and email address changes to , or call 831-659-9225.

Thank You!

GFFL Contacts
Emergency Lost & Found
1-800-GHOUNDS
ADOPTION OR HEALTH ISSUES
Barbara Judson,
ALAMEDA COUNTY
Julie Carroll
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Barbara -510-525-3844
SANTA CRUZ/MONTEREY AREAS
Michele -831-659-9225
LAKE COUNTY
Nora -707-277-9167
PENINSULA/SAN FRANCISCO AREAS
Bonnie Amiot - 650-359-6262

PENINSULA/SOUTH BAY AREAS
Laurie Appling - 650-218-8948
NAPA / SOLANO COUNTY
Deb Chadbourne Dennis - 707-372-9555
SACRAMENTO / AUBURN AREAS
Mary Lynne Strupp - 916-879-5918
MARIN COUNTY
Betsy McGee -415-925-1314
SONOMA COUNTY
Jon Cabarrus -707-575-7120
Lisa Pinto -707-792-9288