Thank you to GRACE supporter Cindy Aldridge, who has kindly written this guest article, which explores strategies for balancing your daily entrepreneurial duties while welcoming a new dog into your life.

Starting and running a new business is a challenging task in itself. The idea of welcoming a new pet into your home during this stage of your life can seem downright overwhelming. However, with the right knowledge and tools, you can effortlessly help your new companion acclimate to life in their forever home. 

Plan to take your new dog home at the weekend

If at all possible, plan to take your dog home at the earliest part of your weekend. The workweek is filled with enough deadlines and duties as it is. Adding the responsibility of picking up and starting to help your dog settle in, on top of everything, is a recipe for overwhelm. By bringing your dog home at the start of the weekend, you will optimise your time. If you have the option, consider taking an extended weekend to have more one-on-one time with your dog. 

 Create a space for your dog in your office

While you may not be able to do this the entire day, if you work from home, consider keeping your dog in your home office. Create a space that is their own to make him or her feel as comfortable as possible. Include a bed, toys, a dish for water and treats for training. By having your dog in your office during the day, training will become much easier. You can praise good behaviours and help your dog get used to the pace of life during the workweek. 

Use the latest apps and technology to make life easier

Various apps and technology have made it far easier to raise a happy and well-behaved dog. Rather than trying to do all of the work and research yourself, download and use some of today’s top pet apps. Have an extended period of time where you’ll need to focus on your business? Find dog sitters in your area using one of today’s top pet sitting apps. There are also apps to give you the tips and advice needed to be your own dog trainer. 

Delegate tasks to free up more time in your day

As a business owner, outsourcing and delegating tasks is essential. Even if you start off running your company solo, this ultimately needs to change to keep your business growing. When you are concurrently welcoming a new pet and starting/running a business, delegation becomes even more necessary. Continue to develop and grow your business — while being attentive to the needs of your new dog — by outsourcing at least two types of tasks. Whether you need a graphic designer, virtual assistant, mobile app developer or web designer, there are experienced professionals waiting to help you. Simply post what you need to the right freelance jobs board and get connected with reliable and capable candidates. 

Develop a routine around your workday

Although you might be tempted to create a special routine for your new dog, you will eventually have to meet their needs within the confines of your work schedule. From as early as possible, start developing your dog’s eating, sleeping, walking and play routine around your day.  

Planning is key when it comes to continuing to smoothly run your new business while bringing your new dog into their forever home. Following the above strategies will keep both you and your dog as happy as possible for the long-run. 

A huge thank you to GRACE volunteer Doreen, who has pulled out all the stops to raise much needed funds. This week alone, Doreen has sent £613.57 to GRACE! The money is a huge help towards our veterinary and dog food bills.

Helped by her furry assistants Sky and Max, the money raised includes £373.57 from an online auction on our fundraising page (search for GRACE Fundraising Page on Facebook). There was also a lovely £20 donation from Sox. Plus £99 was raised from our regular 100 club and £29 from our weekly bonus ball.

Thank you to everyone who has made donations, bought items or has weekly numbers in our draws. Doreen says if she can find some more donated items, she is hoping to run another auction at Easter time. So, if you are doing out your cupboards and find something you won’t use and think we can sell it, please get in touch with Doreen via our contact page. Thank you.

This is a particularly hard news post to write, as the whole GRACE team are so devastated by the loss of the wonderful Tag.

Tag came to us several years ago, along with his brother Curtis, when he was rescued by GRACE founder Tracy Cook. Initially, Tracy found Tag a great foster home, where he could forget his past traumas and enjoy just being a dog. And it wasn’t long before Tracy found Tag the perfect ‘forever home’ with Linda, Terry and their family.

Tag was totally adored by them all and had a life of unconditional love, home comforts and treats!

Good night sweet boy Tag. We will always, always love and remember you.

We have had some devastating news this week. Frank who was rehomed with Gem sadly passed away very unexpectedly with an embolism.

Unfortunately there is nothing anyone can do and an embolism cannot be predicted. Frank had gone out for a walk with his sister Gem and collapsed. He was rushed to the vets but nothing could be done. All at GRACE send love and hugs. We are so sorry. Rest easy lovely boy.

Thank you to everyone who supported our two recent GRACE auctions via our main GRACE Facebook page and our GRACE Fundraising page. A special big thank you to Doreen, Jackie and Tracy for doing an amazing job in making these important online events happen. The final figures are still to be confirmed, but together we have raised over £700!

So, thank you to everyone who bought items in the auction or numbers in the draws. Also thank you to the following people:
– Lainey Oldaker for donating the knitted hats which made £51, which was fantastic for 2 items.
– Dereth de Pee for all the handcrafted donated items, which made £137
– Louise Brown from Hearts and Hounds for the kind donation
– Helen Mitchell for the donation
– Jackie Debbage who crafted and donated lots of items, including some beautiful beds
– Ali Dooling for many donated items and support
– Marie and Rob McCrone for the donation of the bed for the number draw

– Emily Ashley for her kind donation from the sales of her purple remembrance poppies

We’re really sorry that we can’t mention every single person individually, but a ‘greyt’ big thank you to all of you!

Our Christmas auction to raise money for GRACE is now live and runs until 22 November! See our Facebook fundraising page for lots of goodies to bid on and to help kick start your Christmas shopping:

Facebook.com/GRACE-fundraising-page

A special thank you to Jackie and Doreen for organising it.  And as if that wasn’t enough excitement, we also have a fundraising auction on our main GRACE Facebook page too, which will run until 17 November:

Facebook.com/RescueAGreyhound

We have so many wonderful supporters. Sorry that we don’t always have an opportunity to thank every one of you in person, but please know that we really appreciate everything you do for the GRACE hounds.

Today we’d like to give a special thank you to Jackie and Doreen for making lots of goodies to raise funds and organsising our forthcoming Christmas auction – see our Facebook pages for details:

Our main GRACE Facebook page:

Facebook.com/RescueAGreyhound

Our GRACE fundraising Facebook page:

Facebook.com/GRACE-fundraising-page

We’d also like to give a shout out to ‘Joyful Sewing’ and ‘Levriero’ handmade hound accessories who support our work and have also made recent donations to GRACE.

Our lovely GRACE boy Scout had to have tarsal arthrodesis surgery, but is now back at his foster home with Tracy and Gary, where he is receiving lots of TLC. He is feeling a bit worse for wear, but will soon be his happy playful self. The only plus side is that he’s got a purple bandage which is GRACE colours.

Unfortunately, his vet bill was over £4,200, which has taken a big toll on our funds. If you would like to support Scout and make a donation towards his vet bill, or help any of our other GRACE boys and girls, why not take a look at our fundraising activities on our two Facebook pages. Details as follows:

Our main GRACE Facebook page:

Facebook.com/RescueAGreyhound

Our GRACE fundraising Facebook page:

Facebook.com/GRACE-fundraising-page

Thank you to Martin and Tracey Swales who have been busy making these wonderful nativity scenes for our Christmas dog show, which unfortunately will not be going ahead this year due to COVID restrictions.

They made three in total and a lot of work has gone into them, so have kindly donated them to us to raffle or sell to raise funds for GRACE.

It’s been an incredibly sad week at GRACE, as we received the tragic news about two GRACE beauties. Devastatingly, Ted and Nina have both crossed the rainbow bridge in recent days.

A lot of you will have met our very own fashionista Master Ted Baker. Ted was always the first to meet the public at GRACE events and made hundreds of appearances showcasing greyhounds as amazing pets. Ted was happy to meet everyone, regardless of age and he really loved people. Ted also helped at meet and greets, always dressed impeccably (helped by Ann who designed and made Ted’s accessories to Ted’s high standards).

The gorgeous Ted has been lovingly supported over the rainbow bridge by his devastated mum and dad Ann and Mike. Ted, who was only 8 years old, tragically lost his short battle with osteosarcoma. Unfortunately, there is very little that can be done with this horrific cancer. Our hugs and love go to Ann, Mike and family at this tragic time.

Nina had been living a healthy and happy life with her family since 2017 and sadly her young life has been taken far too soon, leaving her family totally devastated. Nina was a beautiful greyhound girl, who was also cat friendly. She had such a caring personality and loved everyone she met. She really was a gentle soul. Sending hugs and love to Helen, Lloyd and their family.

Ted and Nina will always be remembered and in our hearts here at GRACE.