The Adoption Process 

You have decided you are interested in adopting a Retired Racing Greyhound from Hounds of the Heartland. Congratulations! Here is some information about the adoption process from start to finish.

Required Reading

We require our potential adopters to read these books in order to familiarize you with the breed and learn what to expect when adopting a Greyhound. You may choose either (or both!) of the following: 

-          Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies (Lee Livingood)

-          Adopting The Racing Greyhound (Cynthia Branagan) 

If you have children:

-          Childproofing Your Dog (Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson) *required if you have children or your greyhound will be interacting with children on a regular basis* 

All of the above are available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Half Priced Books and many other local bookstores. They are also available at your local library. These books contain extremely useful information about greyhound specific things like tattooed ears, & martingale collars as well as information about their unique anesthesia requirements. They are easy reads and we are confident you will learn a great deal from them.  

Adoption Application

Our online application is located here.

or you may pick up a paper version from us during a show & tell. The application is intended to ensure your family is committed to providing a forever home to a greyhound and helps us get a feel for you and your family’s living situation. When listing your current veterinarian, please let them know they will be receiving a call from us and permit them to release your vaccination & heartworm preventative information to us.

If you have any interest in a specific dog from our website or show & tell event, please let us know. Ultimately we will suggest specific dogs for your lifestyle but it is good to let us know if you have made a special connection. Please remember that although we may only have 5-6 dogs available in our foster homes, there are thousands waiting to be placed with our group and we will always be able to bring in more.  

Once we receive your application, one of our board members will follow up with your veterinarian and then give you a call to talk about your application. After we have spoken with you we will follow up with the references you listed on your adoption application. We ask that you give them a heads up that we will be calling so they will speak with us.  

Selecting Your Greyhound

If everything checks out with your veterinarian and references, we will decide together which greyhound may be right for you. There are many factors in choosing the right dog for you. Whether or not you have children, cats, small dogs, a fenced yard, etc. as well as the hours you are home during the week and what activity level you are looking for. Your new companion will be spayed or neutered, current on vaccinations, free of intestinal parasites and heartworms and have clean teeth. 

We will make an appointment to bring the greyhound to your home and will do a home check at this time. We will look for any major areas of concern such as broken fences, unlocked gates, sharp objects in the home or yard, etc. At this time we will also be able to see the interaction between you, your family, and your other pets (if you have them) and the greyhound. If you do not have a 48” crate at this time, we may be able to loan you one until you make the decision to adopt and can purchase one. After the home check we will leave the greyhound with you and follow up with you about its progress.  

We are lucky to have great foster homes that can learn the personalities and temperaments of our foster greyhounds in order to place the right dog with the right family. The adoption is not finalized until you feel comfortable with the dog in your home and think it is the right match. If for some reason it is not working out, we can work to place a different dog in your home in order to create the best environment for the dog and your family. Remember, it is just as important that the dog feel comfortable as it is for you and your family. 

Finalizing the Adoption

Once you have decided to adopt your greyhound, we will set up a day and time to finalize the adoption. At this time, you will sign an adoption paperwork agreeing to all of our Policies on greyhound ownership  and receive their veterinary records as well as their very own matching martingale collar & leash set and ID tag. During the adoption we will collect our $175 adoption fee. 

After the Adoption