New children's book about a flighty greyhound sheds light on the perils and joys of being an adoptive (pet) parent

According to an article published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, the worldwide search volume for dog adoption and cat adoption peaked in April 2020, significantly higher than the five-year worldwide average. The study also found Australia was one of the top countries contributing to that data.

For adoptive dog owners like Kylie Miller from Newlands Arm in East Gippsland, in north east Victoria, the hope is the hype around rehoming dogs is here to stay.

That's one of the reasons she decided to write children's book Albert, The Greyhound Who Loves To Run, published May 3, based on her experience with a flighty greyhound adoptee.

"My main motivation in doing it all is to encourage people to adopt greyhounds, or any animal that needs a rescue home or forever home, rather than shopping for them," she said.

The story started when the Heroes of Black Summer author and journalist, who grew up in Tanja on the NSW Far South Coast, lost two beloved Jack Russell Terriers within six weeks of each other.

To try to fill the hole in their hearts and the cold spot on their hearth, Kylie and partner Brett looked into adopting a greyhound. It was love at first sight when Kylie stumbled across a greyhound-kelpie cross with some scars, but beautiful big brown-eyes on PetRescue. His name was Albert.

The pair travelled to Wagga Wagga, in NSW's Riverina, in May 2018, where Albert was living with his temporary owner Rhonda Helman, from Country Kats and K9s Rescue. He came with a warning however, that his background - a stray with anxious habits - would likely make him a flight risk.

A previous adoption attempt failed after a week, but Albert's journey with his new owners didn't last more than 24 hours when he was spooked by the family cat and bolted out the front door to scale their five-foot-fence.

He spent the next nine weeks on the run in the Gippsland community while his new owners desperately tried to track him down and bring him home, "even if you called him, he would just run away," said Kylie.

Unbeknown to her at the time, Albert's story was shared across greyhound lovers networks far and wide, after she shared her troubles on a local online community board.

"I'd get up in the morning having been up half the night with my partner trying to get our dog back because that's when he used to come home, and there'd be messages from the UK and the US asking if we had our dog back yet," she said.

Albert quickly became the talk of the town with residents sharing local sightings of Albert on Facebook. There were reports of him running through paddocks and standing underneath streetlights in the middle of the night.

It was the smell of sausages and mince cooking from their front veranda in the dead of winter that ended up bringing him home to eat each evening before he would take off again - well sausages and a trail of Albert's poop to help him find his way back. "I'm sure the neighbours loved that," laughed Kylie.

They even tried to lure him back by building a luxurious kennel - which to this day was still only used by the cat. A retired greyhound named Teddy was also brought in to try to entice him back because Albert loved dogs. It didn't really work, but the pair adopted Teddy and hoped he would help make their yard seem safer for Albert.

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Rhonda, Albert's original rescuer, even ended up driving 10 hours across Mount Hotham in Victoria during winter three times to go looking for Albert. They saw him twice in the flesh, but he would take off as soon as anyone approached him.

Eventually all their hard work paid off when they were able to secure him inside a dog run while he was eating his dinner one night. Rhonda returned to see Albert and there wasn't a dry eye in the room when he and Rhonda reunited again. It was clear Albert needed to live back on Rhonda's farm.

The book took Kylie on a deep dive into the art of storytelling for children. Based on Albert's adventures, her book took 27 drafts before the final draft was approved. She hasn't stopped there though, with another two books based on her loveable two adopted greyhounds Teddy and Dotty already in the pipeline.

"A big part of my motivation and everything I do with these books is to give the stories some kind of purpose, so in the Albert story, the big theme is resilience and overing anxiety to find a happy home."

She said a protagonist in a children's story must be relatable to a child since they are likely to see their own struggles or hurdles within the story and will relate to the resolution at the end of the book.

"In this case the end goal is to be happy, comfortable, and secure at home" said Ms Miller.

Albert, The Greyhound Who Loves To Run can be ordered online from various retailers and is available to purchase in Bega from Candelo Books.

If you would like more information on adopting a greyhound visit Greyhounds As Pets or PetRescue for other creatures great and small.