Letter from the Editor

It's one of my favourite times of the year.... the nights and days are cooler, the leaves are changing colour and the delicious aroma of warm hot cross buns fills the kitchen. Lets not forget all those delicious chocolates!!

Now, a big congratulations to all the winners of the colouring-in competition and naming of our greyhound mascot! All winners will be published on the website as soon as I get the details :) While I didn't get to attend I was informed that it was a great day, with over 100 people and 40 greyhounds participating.

Also GAP will be having a stall at the Easter Craft Fair at Morphetville racetrack this easter long weekend. If you do go - don't forget to pop over and say hello! :) And thank you to all those that are volunteering and helping out!

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this edition and may you all have a safe and wonderful Easter.

Kylie Mancini
Website Manager/Newsletter Editor

PS - This newsletter features beautiful Clair - photo supplied by Sharon Aimenn. If you would like to have your dog featured in any headings of the newsletter or website - please supply a high quality crystal clear image similar to above with contrasting plain background. Face on headshots preferred.

Looking for something different this Easter? Try sponge painting! You can get creative with different colors and designs.

What you'll need:
* Hard boiled eggs
* Acrylic craft paints in the colors of your choice
* Household sponge
* Paper towel
* Small bowl of water
* Egg holder or empty egg carton

How to make it:

1. Soak a household sponge in water, then ring it out completely. Cut the sponge into several different pieces, enough so that you have one for each color.
2. Using a paper plate as a palette, squeeze out small amounts of several different colors of paint.
3. Place an empty egg carton upside down so that you can rest your eggs on it to dry once painted.
4. Hold an egg in your fingers, and with your other hand, dab a sponge into desired paint color.
5. Dab the sponge onto a piece of paper towel. The object is to remove the excess paint, but not completely dry it out.
6. Now dab the sponge directly onto your egg, using any type of random pattern you like. Paint as much of the egg as you can and place it down to dry.
7. Repeat steps four to six for each egg, using different colors.
8. For a colored background with white sponge marks, simply paint the egg a solid color with a paint brush or with one of your sponges. When dry, sponge on a pattern with white paint.
9. When one side has dried, complete the other side and allow that to dry as well.
10. Place eggs into an egg holder, or fill a bowl with Easter grass and arrange the eggs atop the grass.

Tips:

• To make pastel paints from primary colors, simply add enough white paint until you have reached the shade you want.
• Use a pair of scissors to round the edge of the sponges. Square edge can make your design look choppy, whereas a rounded edge looks softer.
• Instead of painting the eggs a solid color, you can always dye them with traditional methods, then sponge paint them with white. This is an easy alternative if you don't have several different paint colors on hand.
  Get creative! Make different shapes by cutting hearts or letters from the sponges. Dollar stores will sometimes have shaped sponges in the kid's bath section.
• When boiling eggs, start the flame at medium high rather than on high. You will have less cracked eggs this way as they are not bouncing around in the pot as they would at a fast rolling boil.

Letter from Clyde - out in the Donga!

Geeze Kylie,

Ther Missus is at me ter get another letter off ter you, a bloke gets no rest around here! If ut's not keepin' ther bloomin foster dogs in line ut's helpin ter water ther fruit trees an' uf ut's not doin' ther waterin' ut's writin ter you!

I dun mind writin' most uv ther time, ut's not a bad lurk fer an old cocky like me even if me mate Heidi still sus no one ud read me stuff . Nah, I dun mind ut but ut's just thut it takes out so much sleepin' time, yer know?

We've bin busy as a bush full er Budgies up here. Summers always a bit uv a hard slog. Yer knows thut me mate Heidi an me are ready ter kick ther arse off an Emu most uv ther time but blimey Kylie, it ud be a bit average ter want a bloke ter be ther full bottle when uts hot. We're clagged out an down ther tube an about as useful as a glass door on a dunny on hot days. So here we are bang in ther middle uv Summer. Noddys gorn off ter his new home an we've sorted out Abby (she were a real charmer) an are doin our best ter show our new foster hound Cella ther ropes an Angela asks ther Missus ter have another foster hound an ther Missus says yes without even asking us!

We'd had a bit uv a rough trot with Cella ter start with. She's a real barbeque stopper ter look at but she were real nervy, couldn't work out if she were Arthur or Martha. Comin' here gets some uv ther foster hounds like that, uts a bit coasty up here an they gets bushwacked without their kennels. So we earns our crust even though ut is hot an we takes her jaggin' up ter Dog Club an shows her all ther tricks. She turns out ter be a little trimmer, a real bobby dazzler. We reckon she's pretty crash hot an everyone who meets her reckons she's ther duck's guts. She were scared ter play ter begin with but she loved Alyssa ther billy lid playin' with her, Alyssa reckons Cella is her favourite toy!

We sent Cella off ter do her Green Collar test an she comes back grinnin like a shot fox, ut went off like a frog in a sock an she got ter Trish like she'd got ter everyone else so she gets extra cuddles.

So we're all getting along like a box full uv birds an Cella is learnin ter play, an thur Missus goes an brings Bashy home.

Stone ther crows! He comes out uv ther car like a fart in a bottle, he's up and down like a bride's nighty an blattin around ther yard like a headless chook before we even gets a chance ter sniff his bum! He's as busy as a dunny budgie an about as hard ter stop. When he meets ther billy lid he licks her head so hard he knocks her over! We reckons he's got a coupla roos loose in ther top paddock, a brick short uv a load, a bit uv a dopey bastard, yer know? Turns out though that he's just a crazy young galah, he just dun know when ter stop, he's got energy ter burn an a heart as big as Phar Lap. He gets on real well with Cella an helps her learn ter play so that's one fer ther books. Ther Missus still says he's a trial but we reckon she's havin us on, he's real good on ther lead an he's a bit uv all right really. I reckons we're gunna miss him about as much as we're gunna miss Cella when they finds their forever homes.

In ther middle uv all this it got as hot as Hay, Hell an Booligal, real scorcher weather, too hot even fer ther Joe Blakes. Ther Missus is flat chat tryin' ter keep ther orchard an ther chooks alive, she sprays ther chooks every coup'la hours an there's all these buckets uv water she chucks on ther trees. Those buckets smell real good when they come from ther chook sheds but she dun let us drink them. Cella likes ter stick her feet in them an then they come a gutser an' ther Missus does her block. We dun have enough water up here for us ter waste ut she says. We can't see why, there's water tanks everywhere an when ther main one runs out she just pumps water from one uv ther others.

We're glad she's too busy ter put ther bite on us fer a walk, We goes dahn the yard ter drop our barker's eggs an get back ter ther house as dry as a lime burner's bootlace. Ut's too hot even ter go out in ther 'ute. Even our dust bowl what we're allowed ter dig in an lie about in's like a blast furnace. Then when ut does cool down we gets a wind thut ud blow a blue dog off his chain an ut blows our shade cloth ter smithereens. So now uts too hot even when ut's not too hot! Yer wouldn' read abaht ut would yer!

Hey Kylie, yer knows how yer calls me Clyke in ther intro ter ther last newsletter? Dun go doin ut agen if yer can help ut, ther Missus ses ut were just a Typo (What's a Typo? Search me?) but me mate Heidi still whispers "Good on yer, Clyke!" at me when she reckons I'm getting a bit up meself, I dun really give a rat's arse what she calls me as long as ut's not late fer dinner but she get's up me nose a bit, trouble is I cn never cum up with a bit uv back chat when she's chiaking me.

I reckon thuts me abaht done fer now, I'm broke fer me bed.

Catch yer later Kylie, see yer round ther traps.

Dog Obedience, GAP and Fostering...

Meet Jennie who is a wonderful fosterer for GAPSA. This is her article reprinted with permission based on her experience with GAP and the benefits of taking all her dogs to her local dog obedience club and a wonderful article for potential adoption families.

K-nine Connections is a club, based at Clare, for people who have recognized that training their dogs in socialization and basic obedience can bring them a great deal of pleasure and peace of mind. It will resume on Sunday the first of February after the annual summer break. K-nine bases its classes on the principle of rewards based training, this creates a very happy atmosphere. The exercises are fun for both the dogs and their owners and there is a lot of laughter and friendship as we all struggle to understand how best to communicate with our canine companions.

Amongst the regulars are a couple of us who each appear with two or three large, skinny laid back dogs. They look a little out of place in the obedience arena. These are Greyhounds, bred for racing, what are they doing pacing sedately around in an obedience class?

The Greyhound Adoption Program was established with the support of the trainers and owners because most of their racing Greyhounds are gentle affectionate dogs that make ideal house pets when their racing career is over. The hounds are assessed (they have to be calm around small dogs to be accepted into the program) and put onto a waiting list until a foster home becomes available for them.

This is where my husband and I and our neighbors Bev and Mark Chapman come in, we are fosterers for G.A.P. and care for the dogs as they adjust to family life. This can be a very simple or fairly complex task depending on the dog's nature and previous experience.

Life for the first few days with a foster Greyhound can be very interesting indeed, he has never handled steps, slippery floors, glass doors, or furniture before and banging doors, televisions and vacuum cleaners can be very frightening. In addition, when your chin is at the right height to examine any food on tables or benches it can be very tempting indeed; surely this should be one of the benefits of this strange new life?

Fosterers keep clear records on how the dogs cope with all the challenges they face and it is actually astonishing just how well they do cope with most of them. These records enable Angela Webb, the coordinator of G.A.P. in South Australia to place the dogs in suitable adoptive homes.

The Greyhounds stay in their foster home for 4 to 6 weeks, depending on how quickly they settle and the availability of a home. During this time they are desexed, learn basic good manners and are socialized with as many other dogs, other animals and people (including children) as possible. They also have to pass a second assessment requested by the Dog and Cat Management Board in which they have to show conclusively that they are friendly and show no sign of aggression. They must be calm and sociable to strangers, allow the tester (a stranger to them) to remove food from them, and be completely safe around small dogs. Once this second assessment is passed the foster Greyhound gains its Green Collar, this is a badge of honour worn with pride by all adopted Greyhounds; wearing this collar they are allowed out in public without a muzzle.

Greyhounds are by nature non-aggressive, highly intelligent and keen to please, so tend to learn the house rules fairly quickly. Incredibly easy to care for, placid, docile and lazy by nature, they are the ultimate lounge lizards, they only need about a 20 minute walk each day, or a good romp in a large back yard on busy days.

The adopters get a terrific bargain, they are assessed too to make sure they get a hound suitable for their circumstances. They get a dog with a lovely nature that is a guaranteed good pet, house trained, and already vaccinated and desexed. In addition they get a Green collar, a lead, a warm jacket for winter (Greyhounds don't handle the cold very well) and a mat for their new dog to lie on, and all for $220! As a final precaution they get a trial period with the dog they choose, if they find it is not suitable for one reason or another they can return it and try a different one.

And are Greyhounds out of place in the obedience arena? Well yes they are a little, they do not sit like most dogs do, and dropping to the ground is a long slow process but these minor problems aside the Greys do exceptionally well. Our own two hounds work at quite advanced levels and most of our foster dogs gain their Dog and Cat Management Board Obedience Certificate during the few weeks they spend with us, this certificate gives their future owners a reduction in their registration fees.

If you'd like to know more about the Greyhound Adoption Program come down to the showground any Sunday Morning. Bev and I are always keen to talk about our hounds, otherwise look up the G.A.P. website, Angela is always looking for potential fosterers and adopters for these lovely dogs.

KIDS CORNER

Finger Print Tree

By: Amanda Formaro
Difficulty: Very Easy
Age: 3 and up

Hand print and finger print crafts always make wonderful keepsakes. Here's a fun way to celebrate the coming of Autumn while preserving your child's size and age at the same time.

What you'll need:

o White construction paper or card stock
o Orange construction paper
o Scissors
o Acrylic or poster paint in green, brown, orange, yellow, tan and red
o White craft glue

How to make it:

1. Line work surface with newspaper and place white construction paper in the center.
2. Start by showing the child where you want to place his/her arm on the paper, you will be painting the bottom of the forearm, palm and all fingers.
3. Use brown paint to cover bottom of forearm, palm and all fingers, use a generous amount.
4. Help child carefully lay their arm and fingers down on the paper, fingers extended. Hand should go in the center of the paper to allow room for the leaves. Gently press down and roll each finger, palm and arm onto the paper. Lift arm straight up into the air.
5. Wash paint off arm and hand and dry completely.
6. Place a nickel sized amount of each color paint into a paper plate. Have child dip their finger into the paint and onto the paper creating leaves of all different colors. The fingers on the paper are the branches, so put the leaves at the end of the branches and all around them.
7. Use a paint brush to add some grass at the bottom of the tree.
8. For older kids, add a few flowers in the grass. Use a small dot of paint on their finger to create the center and flower petals. You can even add a little squirrel in the tree by dotting on a head, body and tail! Use a black marker to dot on the eye. You can also add a few "falling leaves" by dotting two or three colors falling from the branches and use a marker to add a few squiggly lines indicating motion.
9. Make a frame from the orange construction paper by gluing around the back edge of the picture.
   

Tips:

• This project has fun variations for Spring as well. Make all the leaves green using two or more shades, then add red dots for apples or white and pink dots for flowers. Use a construction paper color for the frame to match the season.
• It's best to show children a finished project first so that they understand what they are trying to create. This will make it easier to envision their own picture.
• Be sure to have a bowl of water and some paper towels handy for cleaning off fingers.
  

Events

APRIL

Easter Art and Craft Easter Fair at Morphettville Race Track.

Held all easter long-weekend. GAPSA will be there!!!

MAY

GAPSA FOSTER EDUCATION DAY

***(FOR FOSTERER'S ONLY)***

Date: 31st May 2009

Location: GRSA Greyhound Track - 55 Cardigan St, Angle Park

This event is for fosterers only and details will be forwarded to fosteres in the near future.