SEQUIM — Emma, Love Bug and Gabe are magnificent, yet not stuck-up.
And Copper, Anna, Katie and Manny are the mellower members of a big household.
These dogs’ owners could go on gushing, “like a new mom with her new baby,” as Nancy Naslund says.
Naslund lives in Port Townsend with her four greyhounds — that’s Copper and company — plus six teenagers, two other dogs, some indoor cats, a few barn cats that came with the house, two cockatiels, a hamster, a guinea pig and some chickens.
“Still looking for that partridge in a pear tree,” Naslund joked.
But seriously, Naslund and other members of Greyhound Pets Inc. are hunting for others to adopt or foster the animals they consider the most elegant of the dog world.
Greyhound Pets, like other greyhound adoption groups around the country, is facing an influx of homeless ex-racers.
The recession has brought on two factors: dog-racing tracks are closing down, and it’s become harder to find people who can afford to adopt — and who have room for — the leggy hounds.
Naslund and Jeani Penn of Sequim, meantime, hope that people in rural Clallam and Jefferson counties — including retirees looking for easygoing companions — will consider rescuing a greyhound.
‘They are very loving’
“They are very loving; they just want to be with you,” said Penn, who adopted her first, Emma, in July 2006 after meeting Naslund and getting acquainted with Greyhound Pets Inc.
Penn spent much of her life working in California’s crowded Silicon Valley. Then, in 2002, she and her husband, Phil, retired to Sequim, to a home with a half-acre fenced yard — which meant they finally had room for a dog that loves to run.
These days, Penn is as passionate about finding good homes for greyhounds as she was when she first began learning about the breed.
There are misconceptions about greyhounds, Penn said.
Some see their slenderness and speed and think they must be nervous or hyperactive. But Penn and Naslund give the opposite description.
“They are very polite animals, just by nature,” said Penn.
Emma, she added, is intuitive, almost like a horse. Penn’s 90-year-old husband suffers from congestive heart failure, and Emma seems to notice when he is having an especially difficult day, sometimes before Penn does.
Naslund added that her four greyhounds get along well with her kids — Ella, 18, Bereket, 17, Grace and Michael, 15, Frehiwot, 14, and Forrest, 13. They also coexist with the cats, the birds and the foster dogs who come through on their way to an adoptive home.
“Our house is full of life. It is wonderful,” said Naslund.
Of course, the women understand that not everyone wants multiple pets. And they take care to understand the particular preferences of prospective greyhound owners.
If you’re interested in adopting, “I would come to your home, bring one, two or all three of my dogs, depending on what you’re up for,” Penn said.
She would spend a few hours discussing greyhounds’ needs — a fenced yard is one — and after a successful visit, she will match the household with a foster dog in the area or invite the prospective owner to the Greyhound Pets Inc. headquarters in Woodinville.
The kennel there currently houses 30 dogs.
Greyhound Pets, which adopts dogs out to homes all over Washington, southern British Columbia and the western edge of Idaho, has adoptees come from the four corners of the country.
Emma, for example, is from Massachusetts, Love Bug ran in 144 races in Arkansas, and Gabe raced 80 times in Florida.
Naslund said her Copper came from a greyhound farm in Oklahoma, while Katie was shipped out of Australia after she was deemed too slow to race.
Greyhound Pets Inc. tests all incoming dogs for diseases and makes sure they are spayed or neutered, wormed and microchipped before they go to an adoptive home, Penn said.
“We won’t release them,” she added, “until they’re perfectly healthy.”
Adoption fees
The adoption fee is $200, plus $20 for a leash, collar and muzzle to fit the particular dog.
Penn added that she and her greyhounds will make an appearance and talk with people interested in adoption today at Petco, 1205 W. Washington St., in Sequim. They will be at the store from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Both Penn and Naslund look forward also to this spring and summer, when they plan to set up information tables at the Port Townsend Farmers Market and the Sequim Open Aire Market.
In Port Townsend, the Saturday market on Tyler Street opens May 1, and in Sequim the greyhounds will appear at the West Cedar Street market on May 8, and on the first Saturday of each month after that.
Penn, acknowledging that her descriptions of the breed sound too good to be true, invites the curious to come and see for themselves.
Greyhounds were once the European aristocrats’ dog of choice, she said — and to her eyes they’ve retained a dignity and grace, even if all too many have been cast off of racetracks.
“They are just very noble creatures,” she said.
For more information about greyhound rescue and adoption, visit www.Greyhound PetsInc.org or phone Penn at 360-460-0131.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
