Garrett came to us shortly after the passing of Shamus. We were still heartbroken, but we knew immediately that we needed a second dog. Oliver wasn’t moping, but you could tell that he was missing his big brother. A friend who was volunteering at AGR told us about a new intake that we had to see. His name was Garrett, and he had the SWEETEST face you ever did see.
When we went to “meet” him, he was fresh off the track. Not yet neutered, and certainly no foster etiquette training, we were taken. There was no chance we wouldn’t adopt him. His neuter was scheduled, and we picked him up from the operation on the West side, and brought him home. He settled down immediately in the car, and just about as quickly settled into our house.
His new big brother, Oliver, showed him the ropes. He had only one early marking incident, and very quickly settled in. Unlike Oliver, he was gregarious right from the start. He loved people, kids, and even other dogs. However, we quickly figured out that he wasn’t really cat tolerant (good thing we don’t have cats), but he left other wildlife alone.
Garrett was 3 years old when he arrived, having finished a fairly successful racing career. 36 odd races, a bunch of wins and second place finishes, he was quite the stallion on the track. Early on, we would get him running with Oliver, and while Oliver was quick, Garrett had a turbo mode. When he opened the throttle to full, he left Oliver for dead. He has a funny gait, not the classic greyhound movement, but boy is he fast.
Garrett is now 9 years old, and is doing well. His face is getting quite white, and he has arthritis in his shoulders, but he still does a good job holding the couch down. The kids still love him, and he is still a love bug.