Oh my. Yet another participant in Greyhound social media discussion groups has left the fold. Distressed, offended and in dire need of a “safe space”-- where seldom is heard a discouraging word. This seems to occur, more and more frequently, where and when it concerns or impels using the dreaded “R” word.

Reality is what it is, not always what we might like it to be. We can’t just dismiss the reality of the Greyhound. Not if we want to be perceived as his benefactors, in whatever capacity that may be, and not if we wish to fully comprehend and understand from where it is he has emerged, eventually winding up on the sofa.

No one should take offense when another casually uses the “R” word, or uses it to instruct those who may not be aware of the facts. It’s tiresome reading the protestations of those who seem to be in a perpetual state of denial, verbally stomping their feet while up and leaving the room in a virtual, ruffled huff. Boo hoo hoo.

“Racing” is not a bad word. For the vast majority of his adoptive community, it is the very and only reason your Greyhounds exist. Period. You don’t have to like it, approve of it, defend it or participate in it.

But if you truly want to understand your Greyhound, and what it is that has formed, shaped, defined, driven and completed him, from the tip of his tail to the point of his nosey, needle nose, then it behooves you to become informed about the realities of “racing”. Not the aberrational mythology, nor the agenda-driven propaganda---but what is actually the case for the vast majority of those Greyhounds, and why they manifest as splendidly as they do.

So when a person who actually lives the life, 24/7, attempts to avail you of their first person experience, so that your understanding of your Greyhound is enhanced, or clarified, try not to resort to outrage or pedantry, and simply accept the “R” word for what it is. “Racing”---for better or for worse---it is the modifier of the contemporary Greyhound.

copyright 2016