An enthusiastic group of Napa Valley people is making sure a select group of retired athletes live full and happy lives here.

These people — including Carol Hellman and her husband, Ron Kane, Bobbie Jurgenson and Mary Catherine  — are a special breed of dog owners who care for greyhounds rescued from race tracks. They are members of Wine County Greyhound Adoption, an all-volunteer non-profit group.

“We are a whole network of people who can rely on each other,” Hellman said.

The career of a racing dog typically begins at 2 years old and ends by the time the dog is 5, yet the breed typically lives to between 12 and 15 years old.

When the canines are no longer profitable for racing, the owners put them up for adoption.

Hellman said her greyhounds, Tigger, 9, and Sunny, 8, were rescued from a track in Dairyland, Wisc. Most of the tracks where the rescue dogs raced are on the East Coast and in the Midwest.

Hellman said greyhounds are docile, and hers did not even bark when the door bell rang. Neither greyhound showed much interest in the family cat, Daisy, a purebred Siamese who was content to sit on Hellman’s lap during the interview.

Originally, greyhounds were bred for hunting and are known for having keen sight and exceptional speed. These sleek dogs with soulful-looking eyes typically weigh between 70 to 90 pounds and can run as fast as 45 mph. If a rescue dog ever did get out of its yard or away from its owner, a network of owners band together to go out and begin scanning neighborhoods for the runaway.

Despite their size, the dogs don’t require a lot of exercise. They do not require large yards and actually prefer to stay indoors. On a recent warm afternoon, Tigger and Sunny were comfortable just sleeping on their beds in the living room until dinner time.

Some dogs are not big fans of water, Hellman added, saying that owners can buy a special life jacket should the pet ever venture into the water. It all depends on the personality of the greyhound.

All owners must go through an adoption process and if things don’t work out, the animal must be returned to the rescue center, according to Hellman.

Hellman became interested in the dogs after watching a show about the breed on the Discovery Channel.

“I wanted a dog that was special and I wanted to get a rescue dog,” Hellman said. The rest is history.

It can take up to three months for owners and dogs to fully bond. But typically the process goes much faster as everyone gets used to each other.

Many of the racing greyhounds come already housebroken, because they have been living in a three-foot by five-foot crate. They are used to coming out of the crate only to go to the bathroom, eat and race. That has been their life.

Jurgenson and Catherine first discovered greyhound rescue after learning about them from the Farmers Market, where the charity used to have a table, about five years ago. “There was a greyhound named Seth there and we just fell in love with the breed,” Jurgenson said.

But it was several years later before they adopted their first rescue dog.

Their greyhounds are Eddie, 8, and Cammie, 11. Cammie arrived in September and Eddie came to them directly from the race track, at age 5.

“They are one of the calmest breeds. When we go for a walk, they walk with us. There is no straining at the leash,” Jurgenson said. “They are such sweet dogs.”

During the interview, Cammie raised her head a couple of times to check on the visitor, while Eddie preferred to not be disturbed from his sleep.

Jurgenson and Catherine tested out the water by getting a foster greyhound, Paco, who was rescued from a track in Mexico. That dog has since been placed in another Napa home.

The women have never heard their dogs growl. Only once can they recall Eddie barking at a squirrel. Occasionally, if he starts acting a little frisky, Cammie will give him a quick bark and he will calm down. “She is the alpha dog of those two,” Jurgenson said.

“They are really a shy dog. They act more like a cat. They have very little body fat. They are definitely a house dog,” Jurgenson added.

Heather Castro, president of Wine Country Greyhound Adoption, said there are always more racing dogs requiring rescue than there are people willing to adopt them.

“In the United States, it is estimated that anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 racing dogs are put down each year,” Castro said.

Castro has three greyhounds of her own, getting her first one around 10 years ago.

She recalled at last year’s annual gathering around     50 dogs who showed up with their owners. “There was not any barking or a scuffle between any of them,” she said. “As far as I am concerned there is no better dog to adopt. It is kind of like having a cat.”

For more information, call (800)-WC-GREYS or go to their Web site at www.winecountrygreyhounds.com.