Cat Testing 1, 2, 3... Cat Testing 1, 2, 3

NOTE: No animals were harmed today! http://www.great-greyhound.org/

An important step of placing a greyhound into an adoptive home is first fostering it to start the acclimation to normal routines. One part of a normal routine might be dealing with another family pet.

So, before a dog is place in a foster home there are many things that happen - one is the 'cat test'. Basically you show the dog and cat and see how he/she reacts. Many items are noted such as salivating, tail wagging, chomping in the muzzle, etc.

The local cat tester is out of town so I was asked if I would help test a group of greys that need to get into foster homes ASAP. Liz noticed that when Dice arrived my cats hissed and reacted in some manner that she felt would make them cat testers. Or, maybe she just needed a cat because the cat tester is out of town.... ha ha either way, I agreed to try it out with two of my felines. Zoe is the youngest of my pack and is fully clawed while Daisy's age is undetermined because she was dropped at a no-kill shelter when her owner passed and no info was given. I was going to take both and switch them, give them a rest, etc. However, I decided to take only Daisy because she has no front claws and I think she is down to one tooth. She is also the best tempered of the three. I considered taking Abbey just to see if maybe that would throw her into cardiac arrest but I just couldn't do it. Her time is near and if you know her history lately you completely understand why HER TIME IS NEAR. I will need lots of support soon because the day is getting close.

Anyhoo, back to the cat testing.....

I put Daisy in an old harness I have -she wouldn't fit in Elsie's harness and then I put her in the princess carrier. Elsie went into orbit when she realized that the CAT was going OUT and she had to stay home.

Jimmy went with me as the official photographer and I also thought he'd like to see the grey 'farm'.

The 'farm' is an actual breeding farm. They greys in all stages - even cute puppies. They bring dogs in and out and when they are done racing they work with local adoption agencies to place all dogs. It was very sad for me but I know the conditions are much better than they were just a few short years ago. There are many farms just a few miles from my home and they are monitored regularly.

We arrived and eventually they started bringing the dogs out. First they walked them a little behind the building.

Then they would check the tattoo with the stats on the list. Next, the dog was walked over to where we were sitting.
Daisy has always been a great boxer. She let it really show today. She did a great job and didn't really seem that stressed. I kept petting her and she wasn't losing lots of hair like animals usually do when upset. In fact, she would purr sometimes too.

However, the look on her face.... .
Here comes another...

...and another one....
.... back off buddy....
OMG what is that headed my way??
Whoa - that one caught me off guard too! I have to admit it was kinda funny but I wouldn't advise doing this with a clawed cat.
Put up your dukes.
Liz and one of the many who were tested by Daisy. Some of them were so scared of her they wouldn't even look at her.
I don't think this one came up to me at all. Would you if you saw that thing hissing at you???

Is this done yet? May I PLEASE go home now.
This one was curious but not aggressive. Dogs are rated as NO, YES, and other comments like 'supervision', etc. Most of the dogs today were ok to go to a home with a cat or other small animal. Some earned big fat NOs on their notes but that's ok. Not all homes have small pets.
All dogs were fully muzzled and on leash. In this instance the dog wouldn't come near us so I held Daisy out towards the dog. This dog is OK to go to a home with small pets. It was terrified of Daisy.
This one we weren't too sure about so I put Daisy down and the dog ignored her.

Yippee! Whew! Time to go home.

Daisy tested over 25 dogs. I'm not sure of the grand total and we were there approximately an hour. She did a great job and I will do this again for the greyhound group if they need me. The kennel is full of dogs and they need to get into foster homes ASAP so that more retirees can start the fostering/adoption process.

http://www.great-greyhound.org/