When Alan & Jess started fostering Opal, they quickly discovered the transition wasn’t going to be as simple as they first thought. But with time and a lot of patience, Opal blossomed into the gentle and affectionate girl they knew she was.
Opal’s foster home would eventually become her forever home, and now Alan & Jess can’t imagine her being anywhere else. Here we chat to them about their journey.
Can you tell us about Opal and her foster journey?
We had cared for other greyhounds before bringing Opal home – she was very sweet but also anxious for the first couple of days. We were planning to ‘foster to adopt’ assuming she settled in the first couple of months. As first days turned to weeks, Opal wasn’t settling through the night and couldn’t bear for either of us to leave the house, even checking the mail or with one of us at home. She was also freezing on walks and not showing signs of progress. We knew something wasn’t right.
We reached out to our foster manager at Greyhound Rescue who put us in contact with a behavioural vet. We quickly identified that Opal had chronic pain issues and severe separation anxiety (probably stemming from the pain). We started her on medication to address the pain, and within a couple of days, she was sleeping through the night – and so were we!
It took a couple of months to get the medication right and the pain under control. Once we’d sorted that, Opal became much more comfortable at home and stopped freezing on walks. She became a different dog, the gentle and affectionate girl we knew she was deep down. We decided to adopt her after a few months of fostering.
What did you learn during your foster experience?
At first we thought Opal would settle very quickly and we would be adopting her in no time, but her progress wasn’t linear at all. It took a lot of work and patience from us, Greyhound Rescue, and the vet to settle her into home life. We had a lot of support from the Greyhound Rescue community, particularly those who had fostered or adopted dogs with separation anxiety and other challenging behaviours.
We’re still working on the separation anxiety, which we know is a long journey, but we also know she’s a smart (too smart!) dog and happy to move at her pace.
What has been the most rewarding part of your foster experience?
Seeing Opal change from a friendly but anxious hound to confident and affectionate has been great. Our family and friends have all noticed the change in her and they love when she comes to visit. To see her change from a dog that would freeze on any walk, to a dog that comes to Parkrun with us every week, is an amazing transformation.
What would you say to anyone considering fostering a greyhound?
Know that there’s support there and it’s OK to ask for help. Most greyhounds will adapt to family life easily, but all of them will get there eventually with the right foster parents.
Do you have one last fun fact about Opal?
Opal is such a great traveller! She falls asleep in the car so easily, we have to check she’s still there on long journeys. We’ve taken her on several holidays, she loves nothing more than sniffing out a new spot.
If you’d like to learn more about fostering a greyhound, you can head to this link.