Los Galgos Guapos ("The Handsome Hounds"): photo-essay on greyhound rescue in Tijuana

Photojournalist (and author) Erin Siegal has a wonderful photo-essay up on the The Reuters Photographers Blog about "Fast Friends," a group that adopts/rescues "retiring" greyhound dogs that have been used in racing in Tijuana, Mexico. On Erin's personal blog, there are more photos that didn't fit in. What beautiful creatures.

• [Stefan Jones]

  I’ve met quite a few retired greyhounds. They’re really mellow dogs. Not brilliant like a shepherd or Border collie, but perfectly trainable and very agreeable.

• [jahxman]

  Waaah! I miss my grey now – beautiful Twyla who was the best dog I ever had…

• [Alex Giedt]

  I owned a rescued Greyhound.  He was an awesome dog.  I’d take him to a field and he would run about four huge loops and then come and lie down.  They are more chill than one would suspect.  I would get together with some other owners once in a while where a track was set up with a “lure” (a rag on a wire than ran through a bunch of wickets, looped with a motor).  We’d let the dogs “race” after the lure.  Man, they can run.  They are gentle, loving dogs.  Great pets.

• [Nicholas Peihl]

  We recently adopted a greyhound from Fast Friends. “Maggie” came to us after her previous adopter passed away. Surprisingly, Maggie is quite lazy and prefers very short walks, something I didn’t expect from a greyhound. I expected her to be far more energetic and requiring a large yard to run in. Instead, she slowly plods through our small urban backyard with her nose held to the ground following the scent of one of the neighborhood stray cats, occasionally lifting her head to whimper at the unseen neighbor boxer beyond our fence.

  Indoors, she spreads out on one of her beds where she’ll lay quietly contented for hours. She ignores our two cats unless one of the curious felines bravely (or credulously) approaches too closely and interrupts her slumber. A quick bark reminds the cats of their place in the food chain and they scamper away.

  Though nervous around other dogs, Maggie is extremely happy to meet new people in the neighborhood. Many people remark they’ve never seen a greyhound in person before, often mistaking her for a whippet. Others maintain they’ve never seen a greyhound in her color before (she’s dark brindle). We’ve taken to asking what color they usually know and receive answers such as white or blue (blue being a rather rare trait that I’ve personally only seen occur on the sides of buses).

  By reading the identifying information tattooed in Maggie’s ear, we were able to locate her racing stats online on the website http://www.greyhound-data.com. Maggie participated in 32 races, with her final six at the Caliente track referenced in the article. She placed first only once during her maiden run. Her father was quite the stud siring over 10,000 of Maggie’s step-siblings!

  We adore Maggie and she is a perfect fit for our low-key lifestyle. Anyone looking for a low-maintenance dog in a quiet household should seriously consider adopting a retired greyhound.

• [chgoliz]

  Our mutt from the pound is part greyhound.  I agree with everyone else, greyhounds are fabulous dogs: love to run when they get the chance — and oh how beautifully they run! — but otherwise they’re calm and actually quite sedentary.  Great with kids, even young ones who don’t know how to treat dogs well yet.  They don’t bark much, just appropriately, which is great for city living.  Smart, but not TOO smart (smart dogs need smart owners!).

• [lavardera]

  Also a past Greyhound owner here. Incredibly sweet and mellow dogs. And very easy to live with given their fondness for a bed/soft place to lie down. They will hang out wherever you put their bed, and remind you when its time to move the bed upstairs to go to sleep! Best dog ever.

• [snailspace]

  We have a darling greyhound boy who raced for 5 years and is now 10 years old.  As everyone else here has said, greyhounds are sweet, gentle, lazy, and really low-maintenence.  We adopted him precisely because greyhounds are docile and calm and don’t need to herd sheep or retrieve ducks or run 30 miles a day to be happy.  Along with being quiet and practically never needing baths or grooming, they’re the perfect city/apartment dog.  Yes, really.  Much better suited to it than terriers!

• [senorglory]

  I really like the phrase “Los Galgos Guapos.”

• [Guest]

  I have one. Sweetest, derpiest, most amazing dogs ever…

• [Erin Clerico]

  Hello – we are a foster family for FastFriends.org and we thought you may enjoy a couple of YouTubes of these wonderful dogs at our home…
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYXGoW61q6o
  and..
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IipmS_DFLo

• [Courtney Clerico]

  Want more? Please LIKE FastFriends on Facebook!! http://www.facebook.com/FastFriends