Etsy Pets: Handmade4Hounds

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:13:00 -0000

Handmade4Hounds is a team full of creative energy dedicated to inviting people to open up their hearts and homes to retired greyhounds and other sighthound breeds, such as whippets and Italian greyhounds, in need of rescue and adoption.

Greyhounds are sighthounds, which means they possess characteristics such as long legs, small heads, and a lean, streamlined body structure unique to this special family of dogs. All sighthounds possess the ability to track their prey with exceptional sight and extreme speed. Greyhounds can run up to 45 mph, reaching speed in 1.5 seconds or 3 strides! This speed is what launched greyhounds into the long-lived world of track racing dating back to the 1920’s.

“I remember when the Simpsons welcomed Santa’s Little Helper, the abandoned greyhound racer, into their home. That was my first introduction to the breed, and although the antics played out on the show were often ridiculous, one thing is true: so many greyhounds need homes (hopefully better than the Simpson household). Please consider adopting this gentle breed into your family!”
- Ellen (classichound)

About 10,000 greyhounds retire from racing each year, typically between three and five years of age. Many flunk out of racing or are forced into early retirement as a result injuries. Others retire after a successful career on the tracks, but every greyhound that retires from track life desperately needs a new home.

Despite being one of the fastest animals on land, greyhounds are known as the 45-mile-an-hour couch potato by those who know them well. Most greyhounds are gentle, quiet, and extremely laid back. With short and easy to maintain coats (which are easy on the allergies!), notable patience, and gentle acceptance of other pets and young children, this friendly breed may be the perfect companion pet!

Greyhounds are unique dogs with unique needs. The absence of an undercoat that reduces shedding and allergic reactions also means this lean athlete requires a coat to keep warm during the colder months. Sighthounds are inside only dogs — which really means more companionship for you! And remember that high-prey drive instinct to run 45 mph towards small moving objects? That includes squirrels, so a leash is required out for walks. And their smaller heads need strong cinching martingale-type collars so that they can’t slip away from their owner.

Greyhounds are strong, graceful, and striking creatures who get a lot of attention for their good looks. People love to see them depicted in beautiful art. Handmade4Hounds is happy to serve all the special needs of this special breed with crocheted sweaters and snoods, collars and leashes, comfy dog beds, and gorgeous paintings, sculptures, and jewelry that captures the elegance and charm of these well deserving hounds.

Our members support a wide variety of greyhound adoption programs in the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and Ireland. We have two primary goals: promoting the support of independent artists and to raise money to support greyhound adoption. Many programs are in desperate need of funds in order to continue serving retired racers. These programs perform medical procedures and injury repair, keep these dogs fed and housed properly, and work endlessly to find thousands of homes for these gorgeous animals.

All of the products in our Etsy shop are donated by Etsy sellers from the Handmade4Hounds Street Team. The proceeds from every purchase supports greyhound adoption groups and various whippet, saluki, and Italian greyhound rescue programs. The individual members of the Handmade4Hounds Team support Greyhound Adoption in several different ways including:

• Donating a portion of the sales of their individual Etsy shops
• Creating handmade items to be used in auctions and raffles at Greyhound Fundraising Events and Reunion Picnics
• Adopting and Fostering Greyhounds
• Attending Meet & Greet and Adoption Awareness Events
• Maintaining a Handmade4Hounds Etsy Shop where 100% of the proceeds goes to the hounds

“In 1995, I called the Greyhound Pets of America 800 number for the nearest Greyhound adoption group. I drove a ten hour’s drive to meet Sterling, a fawn-colored male who had flunked off the track before he turned two years old. Sterling graciously served as the model for many of the art works I created while earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Minnesota State University - Moorhead. It was this amazing breed with the sensitive and gentle nature that captured my imagination.”
- Sarah (greyhoundart)

Please join us in our efforts to both celebrate hounds and help these "greyt" companions find new homes all over the world! Every month a new adoption group is highlighted and selected by our members to receive the proceeds from our sales. Every donation and purchase helps! Items in the Handmade4Hounds Etsy shop need not be hound related, all donations welcome!

Further Resources:
More info on greyhounds:
www.greyhoundgang.org/adopt.php
www.snips.8m.com/pages/greyhound%20adoption.htm

Info on how and where to adopt greyhounds:
www.greyhoundpets.org
www.adopt-a-greyhound.org/directory/list.cfm

More info on h4h:
www.handmade4hounds.com
www.handmade4hounds.blogspot.com

Yahoo Group - groups.yahoo.com/group/handmade4hounds

To join, contact:
Ellen at contact@classichound.com
Lenora at amazinggreys@msn.com

To Shop, visit:
handmade4hounds.etsy.com

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Etsy Pets: Handmade4Hounds