Jim is a wag outside the fast lane

The jury is out over whether Jim is WA's most confused dog or a breeding myth-buster paving a new way for greyhounds.

But Jim - known among dog show elite as Jumping For Joy - has made a career from destroying his breed's stereotype.

Despite a disease that could kill him at any second, Jim happily climbs hay bales, rides wheelbarrows, jumps, dances, swims and sits quietly with the blue bloods of the show rings.

Amid the scandal hitting dog racing, owner Vanessa Joy wants Jim to be a poster boy for everything good about greyhounds. "I'm a bit biased but he's unique," Ms Joy said.

"Our goal isn't really to be the best, just to prove greyhounds can do what any other breed can do."

Jim had little future as a show dog in his naughtier early days when he failed his puppy assessment but then graduated quickly with a recent first in an obedience trial.

Ms Joy has owned the four-year-old since getting him through WA's Greyhounds As Pets program at 16 weeks after he was rejected for the track because of neospora, a potentially lethal disease.

She then had to campaign for two years for Racing and Wagering WA to let him be registered for show duties with DogsWest because greyhounds usually cannot be named except for racing or breeding.

Stress can bring on Jim's condition, such as when Ms Joy went on holiday and he had seizures that cost thousands.

Now they are constant companions because "we try to do a lot because you never know how much time he's got".