Almost Heaven Pre-adoption Program

PRE-ADOPTION PROGRAM

If you have already adopted a Greyhound, I bet you've often wished you could have seen him race, or seen tapes of his races, or been able to find out all the details of his former life. Well, here's your chance to have all that with your next Greyhound!

In our never-ending search to find better and more creative ways to re-home retiring racers, we came up with the idea of "pre-adoption". We chose two brand new litters of pups for our test run. We took the first batch of pictures when they were two weeks old and posted them (see them here). Each of the 14 pups was quickly chosen by one of our friends, who would hopefully get to enjoy watching his or her puppy grow and develop into a racer, and then following that dog's racing career until it came home to live with them. So far the plan is working quite well. One pup dropped out of training and has gone home to her pre-adoptive Dad. The others are still being excitedly watched by their "special humans".

We expect to have more puppies available within the week, and possibly (eventually) some currently active racers. You will be required to go through a partial screening process at the time of pre-adoption, to be followed at actual adoption time by the normal process you should expect when adopting any Greyhound. The adoption fee is locked in at the time of pre-adoption, even if AHGA's normal adoption fee has to be raised.

Those who pre-adopt these dogs are NOT obligated to actually adopt when the time comes, though we do expect you to seriously hope to be able to adopt when the time comes and to reasonably believe it will be possible. But we all know it's hard to tell what our circumstances will be months or years down the road. By the same token, there is no guarantee that the pup you choose will actually be given up for adoption immediately after racing. You have a better chance with the boys (or with a dog currently racing) because none of them are likely to be kept for breeding unless one really turns out to be a superstar. Some of the girls almost surely will go into the Mama Business after racing, though, and while they're very young it's impossible to predict which ones. Presumably all will be adoptable after they finish their motherhood careers.

Our part of the deal includes keeping you updated as well as possible about your dog's current life. If you select a puppy, this will include a few pictures as the pup grows, though there will be a "dry" spell of several months while the pup is in Oklahoma being trained. We do, however, get occasional updates from the farm trainer. On his return to the track, assuming he races at Tri-State, you will be able to follow his career on Rosnet. Some of our pre-adoptable pups go to other tracks to race, usually Daytona which is also on Rosnet. If he races at Tri-State, we are usually able to provide a picture or two of him running in training, and video tapes of his races are available at $5.00 per race. AHGA provides the blank tape and gets the copies made. Then the tape is delivered with the dog at adoption time.

Of course if you happen to live near the track where your pre-adopted dog runs, you'll get to watch "your" dog race. It's every bit as exciting as being an actual owner. If you don't live nearby, we invite you to visit the Tri-State/Cross Lanes area!

Advantages of pre-adoption:

Getting to know some or all of your dog's background and career record.
No wondering about where he raced, how he raced, who took care of him, etc.
Pictures and videos!
You can give your pup a name that might become his kennel name if he doesn't already have one (can't guarantee it, though).
Opportunity to learn more about Greyhound racing.
Locked in adoption fee. (This can be a real advantage with our rising vet costs and other expenses.)

And in all fairness...
Disadvantages of pre-adoption:

Especially in the case of puppies, there's no way to know when adoption time might actually be. It could be as little as 14-16 months in the case of a pup dropping out of training, or it could be several years for a successful runner, especially if it's a female who is later kept for breeding. Of course in that case you will also know about "your" girl's babies and get pictures of them. A bit of flexibility is required for most successful pre-adoptions. If you choose a currently active racer, there's a bit more predictability. We try to find dogs that are expected to grade off in the next 3-12 months.
There's no way to tell ahead of time if a dog will be cat-safe. We test them when they come off the track and about 90% of our dogs do test either safe or trainable.

Ready to pick a dog (or just browse)?

Pre-adoptable puppies (none available yet - please check back soon)

Pre-adoptable current racers