By popular demand, Liz & The House of Earl decided to bring back the Annual Spaghetti Dinner with the GT&A (Greyhound Trust & Alliance). The event included raffle prizes and a delicious dinner of spaghetti (meat and vegetarian), lasagne (also meat and vegetarian), Caesar salad, dinner rolls, fruit salad, and assorted deserts. Half the proceeds were shared between eligible greyhound adoption groups (including Needle-Nose!), with the other half supporting the work of GT&A. Thanks so much to all of those who took part!

At Needle-Nose Greyhound Adoption, we commit to every single dog we bring up from a racetrack for the life of the dog. We do our very best to make sure that each dog is going into a loving home that understands the needs of the retired racing greyhound.

Our adoption process

1. Download and print our membership form and adoption application and mail them to the address provided, along with a $30 cheque or money order payable to Needle-Nose Greyhound Adoption. (Fee is refundable should an adoption not take place.) The forms may be viewed with any PDF viewer such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.
2. Upon receiving your application, you will be contacted by one of our adoption representatives to set up a home visit. This is a great time to ask any questions you may have and to meet one of these wonderful greyhounds in your home.
3. After we have talked to your references and your home is approved, a profile for a dog that will best suit your home will be sent down to our contacts at the track. They will pick out a dog for you based on the profile of your family. When the dog arrives in Canada he/she will be put into one of our foster homes where the profile will be verified and the transition from working track dog to pet will begin.
4. Whether the dog needs to be vetted here in Canada or has had his/her vetting done in the U.S. will help to determine how long your dog will be in foster care. One to three weeks is usual.
5. Once your dog is ready to go into your home we will deliver him/her to you. The adoption fee will then be required.
6. The waiting period for a dog is usually between 4 and 8 weeks. However, it can take longer, depending on a variety of factors. We will do our best to let you know how long we expect your adoption to take place when you are approved. Please note: While we do accept applications year round, we do NOT place dogs in the month of December.

Adoption fee

Our adoption fee is currently $350. This fee covers the vet care your dog receives, any transportation costs involved in bringing the dog to Canada, a martingale collar, a leash, and a basket-style muzzle. The vet care will include spay/neuter, dental, fecal test, heartworm test, and vaccinations including rabies and anything else that is determined by the vet to be needed. All Needle-Nose dogs will be dewormed, “de-fleaed” and “de-ticked.”

Foster care is one of the cornerstones of the Needle-Nose adoption program. All of our dogs go into foster care when they arrive in Canada from the race track. This foster period generally lasts 1 to 3 weeks and gives the dogs a chance to begin their adjustment to life in a home. It also gives the foster family a chance to evaluate each dog’s personality and make sure it matches with the profile from the kennel, helping to ensure a good fit with the adoptive family.

Who can foster?

Foster families must be Needle-Nose members in good standing. They go through a process similiar to that of adoptive families, including filling out an application and having a home visit by Needle-Nose representatives. Once approved, the new foster family can begin fostering newly retired racers as they arrive. We are always happy to receive applications for foster families, so if it is something you think you may be interested in, please fill out our foster application. The application form may be viewed with any PDF viewer such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.