Some greyhounds live for the chase. Kiki never did.
The greyhound, bred for racing in Sunderland, is heading for California instead after refusing to take to the track and finding a new home with musicians Natalie Angst and Tomas Antonic.
Professional greyhound trainer Yvonne Bell, who bred and raised Kiki, said: “She’d play all day and chase a ball, but all she wanted was to be fussed by people. Not all of them have that instinct to chase – she was one of those that didn’t really have it.”
Kiki was one of a litter of seven, with most going on to race. But Bell said it was clear during track trials that Kiki was different.
“You can feel it in the body when you’ve got hold of them,” Bell said. “She wasn’t really fussed… she might jog after it [the hare], but she wasn’t keen.”
Bell said Kiki’s temperament showed she was better suited to life as a pet. She was assessed for how she would behave in a domestic setting and was found to be calm and gentle, including around young children and other animals.
“She ticks every box,” Bell added. “She’s very, very loving.”
Andrew Isaac, a greyhound rehoming volunteer from Home Run Hounds, said Kiki’s story was not unusual.
“These dogs are often unraced for two reasons – either injury or they’re simply not interested,” he said. “Kiki just wasn’t interested.”
Isaac said groups like Home Run Hounds try to match dogs with suitable owners, often sourcing animals from across the country.
“We’re a bit like a dating agency for dogs,” Isaac said. “People come to us with what they’re looking for, and we try to find the right fit!”
Kiki was matched with Angst and Antonic, an American couple currently living in Germany. She has been living with them there for one month and will go with them to California when they return home in about two years.
Angst, 31, said: “We’re both working musicians, and we do travel a lot. And we just knew that whatever dog we got needed to kind of fit in our lifestyle in that way.”
The couple contacted Home Run Hounds in the UK after their search abroad was unsuccessful.
“It was just love at first sight,” Angst said of meeting Kiki. “She was just like, so happy to see us.”
Antonic, 30, said Kiki leaned into him and gave him her “big brown puppy eyes”, and that was when they decided she would be going home with them.
He said Kiki likes relaxing with her purple dinosaur, Snaggletooth.
“She just gets very curious about my guitars and just kind of pokes around, ” Antonic added. “She just always wants to be near us.”
Kiki also has her own Instagram account, where her profile reads: “I would rather be friends with bunnies than chase them”.
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