Support greyhound adoption by visiting the GAP cafe

One of my earliest memories as a child is being in the backyard making mud pies, carrying a bucket of water back and forth with our greyhound ‘Lefty’ by my side keeping a close eye on me.

In fact many of my childhood memories include Lefty, who lived to the ripe old age of 17 years and only ever raced once before becoming our family pet.   Always patient and loving, even with a toddler running around his yard and a yappy toy poodle to contend with, Lefty was the perfect example of what wonderful family pets greyhounds make.

I hadn’t really noticed many greyhounds as pets for a long while after that, but in recent times and since the establishment of the Greyhound Adoption Program (GAP), it seems people are beginning to understand the benefits of having a greyhound as a pet.

Despite their running prowess, greyhounds are quiet, lazy and gentle dogs that thrive on human companionship.  They love to sleep and only require small amounts of daily exercise.   They are low allergen, very clean and tend not to bark much, if at all.

Greyhounds are great with children and, if they have been socialised correctly and/or have passed the GAP training program and temperament test, then they are generally good around other dogs too.   Darcy and I have had a couple of GAP greyhounds come stay at our place, and he most certainly still rules the roost with little bother from them.

To help spread the word about the Greyhound Adoption Program, Pooches at Play co-host Gyton Grantley visited the recently opened GAP Cafe, which is a dog friendly cafe in the heart of Melbourne.

Unlike most other cafes in the city, dogs are allowed inside the premises as well as in the outdoor area and the cafe provides a showcase for Greyhound Racing Victoria’s GAP adoption program, and helps promote animal welfare.

You don’t need to already own a greyhound either. Any dog breed is welcome, so you can bring your dog in for a puppaccino whilst you enjoy a coffee or a bite to eat, or even register to adopt a greyhound.

All greyhounds that enter the program are temperament tested, desexed, wormed, microchipped and vaccinated by a vet and those that are adopted through GAP are awarded their special green GAP collar, which means they don’t need to be muzzled in public.

If you live or are visiting Melbourne, the GAP cafe is situated just opposite Flagstaff Gardens at 477 King Street and is open 7 days a week.

Gyton makes a visit to the GAP Cafe in  Episode 5 of Pooches at Play or for more information about GAP click here.

About the Author: Lara Shannon is co-Host of Pooches at Play and has completed a Certificate III in Dog Behaviour & Training with the National Dog Trainers Federation. Lara also runs her own dog training, minding and walking business in Melbourne’s Bayside area.