Give a retiree a job

It's about time we officially introduced our studio greeter. She is a retiree we hired away from Wal-Mart. She was so enthusiastic and happy we just couldn't pass her up.
Just kidding! This is Lochrima, balance's official greeter.


She is a retired racing greyhound. Her career as a racer was a winning one. She got 1st place 13 times and placed 16 other times out of her 72 races. Lochrima, her track name, is Latin for "tears." It seemed really deep and meaninful to us so we decided to keep it.

Lochrima came to us on Halloween of 2005. We went to the kennels of Greyhound Rescue Inc. to pick up our new dog ~ one they had selected for us, a small red female. Well, that dog was not into us at all. But when we pulled up, Lochrima had both front feet on the fence and her tail was wagging like crazy. She knew we were coming for her, that her new life was about to begin. So instead of a tiny 50 pound red female, we left with the dog who chose us ~ 70 pounds of blue brindle greyhound. Our Lochrima.


Greyhounds are the oldest purebred dog, dating back 8,000 years and originating in Africa. It is believed that every dog breed on Earth evolved from either greyhounds or wolves. For thousands of years, greyhounds could only be owned by royalty and the upper class. Kings usually had a pack (aka "brace") of several hundred greyhounds with their own personal servants that lived outside, as well as 5-10 favorites that lived alongside them. An amazing book about the history of the greyhound is The Reign of the Greyhound, by Cynthia Branigan and it is a must read for dog lovers in general!


As pets, greyhounds are amazing, gentle and well natured. They come crate-trained, walk on a lead and take commands very well. They sleep about 20 hours a day, like big house cats. They are hypoallergenic so if you are normally allergic to dogs, you would probably be fine with a greyhound.

Greyhounds may look big, but they take up very little room since they grew up in crates. They do not need lots of exercise or to run around all the time. That is a myth. At tracks they are forced to run, but if they had their wishes, greyhounds would lounge all day long! We like to say they take their retirement very seriously. The breed's average racing speed is 45mph and the fastest clocked in just under 52mph. Ask any greyhound owner, though and they will tell you their average speed is 0!


If you haven't been to our studio to meet our official greeter you are missing out! If you want to see what a greyhound is really like or adopt one of your own come see us or visit Greyhound Rescue. They really are remarkable dogs with individual personalities.

Just ask Lochrima, she'll tell you all about it. More of Lochrima's adventures to come...
~Nathaniel