Susan Gow has owned lots of different dogs including a poodle, a corgi, a German shorthaired pointer, and a couple of terriers, but having now owned greyhounds she would never get another breed.
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"These dogs... they're different," Sue said.
"I feel when you look at greyhounds they look at you like they've been here before.
"They've got old souls and they just look at you and you feel better."
Sue, from Austinmer, has sisters Audrey and Rosie, and while she only planned on one greyhound, 'that look' got her. "Audrey came as Dusty, but she just wasn't a Dusty and I love Audrey Hepburn so it suits her.
"I got Audrey from Greyhounds As Pets at Londonderry and some previous owners want to see where their dogs go. Audrey was Kerry Drynan's dog."
Kerry is a long-time trainer and her mother Doreen was mentor of champion chaser Chica Destacada.
"Kerry is so nice and we've become friends. Kerry sent me a picture of Rosie and said, 'if you ever want to expand your family, I'd be willing to let Rosie go to you'. That was in 2022, and it wasn't a good year and I said to Kerry the timing was just not right. My brother had melanoma and I was back and forward looking after him. He died at just 57.
"But I was often thinking I might get another one. Anyway last November we organised to go and visit Kerry with Audrey.
"Audrey remembered everyone, and they were all over her and it was lovely. Then we went down and looked at the other 40 dogs, and then Kerry said 'here comes Rosie'. I looked at her and I made eye contact, and she jumped up and gave me a hug. And that was it."
Sue admits there was some adjusting. Audrey likes to "go, go, go and could do 10km. Rosie, she's a 100m girl.
"I did question, what am I doing? But they're lovely. They're just different, both a bit quirky, but not high maintenance. It's great now."
It's not that surprising that Sue would end up with a greyhound. Her father had dogs when she was young, and she recalls her dad putting them on the train from Gosford and taking them down to Harold Park to race.
"And my mom's father had a couple of greyhounds too, and I used to walk them when I was a kid."
Sue was an intensive care paramedic for 35 years and only last year retired from life as a first responder in an ambulance.
Greyhounds are now being trained to be companion dogs for first responders who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but Sue says that's not why she got her girls.
"I do have PTSD, obviously from the job I've done. But I've escaped the bad stuff. Some of my friends it really took its toll on them.
"I do get periods of PTSD when you see something that will trigger it, and I've noticed by having the dogs... they are very grounding.
"Having the dogs to come home to, they just lie there and just look at you, and I'm lucky to live at the beach so I take the dogs there. It's very therapeutic to walk with them and they don't judge. They just really... I can't explain it. They help wipe away any troubles, and they just make you feel good."
Sue, Rosie and Audrey will be attending a special GAP Adoption Day at The Groundz in Dapto Showground this Saturday. Full details can be found at gapnsw.com.au.
This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.
