We have recently been given the great pleasure of becoming the primary caregivers of a greyhound named Kelly. She is a female rescue dog who was abandoned since her racing days were on the wane. Only four years of age, she still has a lot of life and love to give. Never did I realize how enormously significant she would become to our family of boys. From teenager to toddler, her presence affected them all in a super-good way.
But I needed kid friendly venues to share with our new friend every weekend. Where could we all go to enjoy some suitable quality time?
My answer was to start with the American Kennel Club. It is the nation’s leading purebred dog registry and is dedicated to upholding the integrity of its registry and promoting and protecting responsible dog ownership. But more importantly for us, it also provides expert advice on breeds, health issues, training, grooming, activities, general pet care and much more. With over 193 recognized breeds in their registry, American Kennel Club provides information about each breed, and also offers educational activities for children to teach them how to interact with different breeds of dogs. American Kennel Club events are a great way for kids to learn more about their favorite breeds, meet other dog owners, compete in agility trials and play with lots of friendly pups.
First step was to complete an online questionnaire to find out what our best activity for Kelly would be. It gave us the advice to follow Tracking sports. They said it was a companion sport which was great for our boys to join in. Did you know there are over 22,000 annual events in the US this year?! We had to narrow down our search and still found an enormous amount of events for tracking with a greyhound. The beauty of being spoilt for choice meant I can be the busy working mom who flawlessly blends our weekend family adventures with an awesome child-friendly experience to remember for every month of the year, if we so choose!
We can be participants or spectators and it may be that one will outnumber the other in due course. We can have fun with Kelly at first by joining one of their All-breed Training Clubs where classes in agility, basic manners and obedience can be taken. We will enjoy her at weekends and go to see the locally organized greyhound meetings in our walled-in parks. Here she can run to her heart's content with other greyhounds without any chance of them escaping.
As a family we can travel to some of American Kennel Club competitions and watch those beautiful greyhounds on show enriching our own education. While they run, jump, race and rally we will let them tell us what they like to do best. There is no better way to learn about Kelly than from the experts. Sad to say, it is always worth checking if you can bring your own dog to a dog show if he is not competing. Many say "No" to this.
Our journey with Kelly continues with an understanding of her nutritional and toy needs. Our boys definitely were eager to join the decision making process for her visibility rain coat, her essential memory-foam bed and her "Fred the Ted" toy that was to be mercilessly chewed to near-death but still survives. But, as you can guess, any store that sells gear for dogs is going to be an ace kid-friendly-venue and I enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm of all the varied ages of boy when they were left free to choose items for Kelly.
Whether we’re attending American Kennel Club events or participating in local activities, our family is sure to have a great time with Kelly. We’re excited to continue this journey and learn more about her as she grows up! Let the adventures begin!
Barbara B