Rescued greyhounds are coming to the aid of humans in need.
An Australian-first pilot program that brings rescued greyhounds to aged-care homes has helped improve residents' wellbeing and prompted welcoming smiles from older participants with dementia.
Horsley’s HammondCare facility is one of three involved in the Hounds Helping Humans pilot, a joint venture by care services provider HammondCare and not-for-profit rescue organisation Greyhound Rescue.
Greyhound Rescue president Nat Panzarino said: “There's really something magic about greyhounds, and I don't think people understand that until they spend time with one.
“It's really hard to quantify, but they just have this really calm nature about them, and you can't help but find yourself feeling more relaxed when you are just hanging out with a greyhound and pat their super-soft ears – they're really beautiful animals.”
Since June last year, three teams of handler and greyhound from Greyhound Rescue have paid fortnightly visits to Illawarra residents at the Horsely aged-care home, with a further two teams visiting Wahroonga and four teams visiting Darlinghurst.
Nat said the dogs' gentle, docile nature and stature – they're the ideal height for residents who are in wheelchairs or confined to beds – makes the breed the perfect choice for this initiative.
“I had a greyhound that was involved with a different program – we were taking him into the mental health unit at Royal North Shore Hospital – and I was like, 'Greyhounds are just so good at this, and wouldn’t it be awesome to see more greyhounds doing it?'
"They're a good height, they don't have that doggy smell, they tend to be quite calm, and we know that people who love greyhounds are generous people, so we thought this could be a real winner.”
The nine participating greyhounds – just some of the hundreds that have been matched with adoptive families by Greyhound Rescue since its inception in 2009 – were rehabilitated after being cast off by the racing industry and received a temperament assessment and specialised training before starting the pilot program.
Hounds Helping Humans is the first initiative of its kind and Nat was surprised by its early success.
“We were really surprised with the pilot program; how many people were interested in signing up and how successful it's been,” she said.
“[There’s been] overwhelmingly positive reception from everyone involved, not just the residents, but also their families, [who’ve] given us the feedback that they're seeing a real difference in their parents, and they feel that it's such a great program and it gets them talking and gets them engaged, and they really look forward to it.
“The staff love it as well, not just because of the positive effects that they see it having on the residents, but also because they really love it themselves – everybody loves a visit from a dog.”
For both dog and handler, the task of delivering a moment of joy to the home's residents is immensely valuable.
“I think for the handlers, it's being able to see that their greyhound can make such a big difference to somebody – it's almost like sharing that magic,” Nat said.
“People who own a greyhound, or our volunteers that are involved with Greyhound Rescue, they know how magic they are, and they know how special they are, but being able to share that with more people I think is really, really rewarding.
“They've all sort of said, 'I thought I would like doing it, but I love doing it and I really look forward to it and it's so rewarding.' So it's great to know that it's not just the residents that are seeing the benefit, it's everybody… the hounds as well; they tend to light up a little bit when you get their little uniform out and put it on.
“And [Horsley is] a really beautiful facility; they've got really great gardens and grounds, and each cottage is set up really like a home, so it was a really inviting environment for us to be taking the hounds into as well.”
As an internal review of the pilot found the greyhound visits elevated mood, strengthened relationships and offered benefits for all participants, plans are underway to expand the program to more sites across New South Wales, before branching out into Victoria and South Australia. This means Greyhound Rescue will be seeking more handlers.
“It's a really, really beautiful program… I’m really keen to see it grow,” Nat said.
“We're hoping that we can expand initially to three more [homes] in the very short-term and then early next year hopefully more than that again.
“Our kennel facility is in Wollondilly Shire, so it's not too far from the Illawarra if anyone's interested in volunteering – it's a really great time and we're always looking for volunteers.”
If you would like to support the program, the HammondCare Foundation is collecting donations here or to find out more about how to get involved, visit the Greyhound Rescue website
