Stella, a sweet, slender, brindle greyhound, is best friends with a Lab-Rottweiler mix.

Although Stella's ear bears the green numerical tattoo indicative of a dog whose early life is spent on the race track, she now lives the happy life of a free canine, alongside her good pal, Lopsie.

"That was one thing, when I got her, I was definitely not going to put her in a cage," said Lopsie and Stella's owner, Woody Fowler of Post Falls. "I did not want to have a muzzle on her. I wanted her to be a dog. And she is, she is a dog, as all of them are."

Fowler is not positive if Stella experienced much of the racing life, although her name appears on the online greyhound registry as "Naughty Stella." He said she was shy when he got her three years ago, but she has become a fantastic companion dog. And racing is still in her blood.

"I take her to Montana to let her run," he said. "She'll be gone about five, 10 minutes and come back. She won't leave my side, she won't go far at all."

Fowler and several other greyhound owners attended the 11th annual Greyhound Picnic beneath the grandstands of the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Saturday.

About 30 different greyhounds of all sizes and colors enjoyed the occasion with their people as they sniffed new friends, showed off their long noses and participated in a musical "rooing" (greyhound howling) session that put smiles on everyone's faces.

The event also included a live and silent auction, vendor tables and lighthearted contests for longest tail, baldest butt, thickest thighs and more.

"When they had the race track here, I had seen an ad in the newspaper for adopt-a-greyhound, so I met them and just sort of fell in love with them," said Martha Frohboese of Hayden.

Frohboese is the president of Greyhound Pets of America Greater Northwest, a nonprofit dedicated to finding good, loving homes for retired racing greyhounds. The annual picnic serves as a main fundraiser for the organization, which adopts out greyhounds for $275. The funds raised help with expenses such as spaying and neutering, teeth cleanings, shots and travel fees.

Frohboese explained that treatment of retired greyhounds and numbers of adoptions have become better through time.

"It's not like it used to be," she said. "I grew up on a dairy, and when you're through with cows, what do you do? You kill them, you know, and that's the way the mentality was way back. But once they realized that people were willing to adopt the greyhounds, then 99 percent of the dogs that are adoptable are adopted out. It's changed a lot over the years."

A couple adoptable greyhounds were on site at the picnic, including Smiley, a red fawn-colored male who never went through race training because he cut his leg on a piece of tin when he was a pup.

"It doesn't slow him down, he still runs," Frohboese said as he nuzzled against her. "He does have a brace that he wears sometimes, he hates it. He'll sort of stand there and not move when you put it on."

She said greyhounds are very affectionate pets, and even though they might race around the backyard, they do enjoy their downtime.

"They're couch potatoes," she said. "45-mile-per-hour couch potatoes."

Frank Traver and his wife, Donna, of Rathdrum, brought their 6-year-old, 72-pound, black-and-white greyhound Graham Cracker, or "Graham," to the picnic. They got him when he was 21 months old and have since discovered his running style is not quite the same as other greyhounds.

"They're born on a greyhound farm ... they kind of prepare them for racing, and if they don't cut it, they have to get rid of them and adopt them out," Donna said, beginning to grin. "If you saw him run you would understand. His bottom goes down and his head goes back."

Frank, who is in a wheelchair, takes Graham and their other greyhounds for runs, and while they like to pull sometimes, he said they're generally easygoing and patient.

"They're the most awesome dog," Donna said. "They're sweet-natured, they love to play, they love to run. They follow Frank everywhere."

"I go outside and (Graham)'s got to be right behind me," Frank added.

Donna said the only disadvantage is that greyhounds must be kept on leashes, but otherwise, they're the best dogs.

"They are genuinely sweet, their spirits are just like that," she said. "It's like they know they were rescued."

Info: www.gnwgreyhounds.org