viewing a greyhound next week

[groovejet]

Going to be a long week this week, waiting until we can view our potential new dog.

We decided to look for a new addition to our family after some long discussions over what to look for we were fairly set on waiting until we came across a cat friendly greyhound /lurcher.

Last year one did come available but with a terminal illness in the family it was not the right time and would not have been fair to a dog to come into a pretty stressed out home, and we had to decline.

Yesterday, whilst doing a look over of rescue dogs I came a small greyhound who is cat friendly, sent of an email today and the rescue called back. Sadly or I suppose happily for her she had just been reserved but they do have another cat friendly girl in who would actually be better suited to us as she is much calmer. She has been in a foster home who were fostering with a view to adopt but they felt she needed to be rehomed with another dog.

Stupidly excited, and so hoping that she and ddog hit it off next Saturday when we go and meet her.

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

Aww, do you have any pictures yet? What's her name?

[groovejet]

Here is a pic, her name is Elsie, she looks like a pretty girl, only 2 years old.

I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas, just hope the meet goes well and if so the home check goes ok, although I did share an awful lot of info in my email and they were quick to call so hopefully ok on that front.

[Borogoves]

She looks lovely! Just a word of caution, I would check how they have checked she is cat friendly. If she is living with cats then that is great. However we have recently adopted a so called cat friendly greyhound and he isn't at all and it is obvious he has a high prey drive. I have been in touch with the rescue that we got him from and it turns out that the cat test was done when he first arrived after a long journey and was obviously shell shocked and exhausted. They showed him a cat, he didn't reach much and so was declared cat friendly. We were a little naive and should have quizzed them more on this. I wouldn't rehome another dog unless they had actually lived with cats already. It is proving immensely stressful trying to keep the cats safe.

[groovejet]

That's bad Borogoves, I would have thought all rescues would only declare cat friendly after repeated testing., especially rescues with sight hounds.

Will double check off course but I am sure she has been living with a cat it is just the lack of dog company for her which has lead to her becoming available again.

If all goes ok, their policy is that we foster for a month and then go ahead with adoption if all are happy at the end of the month, sort of a trial period to ensure personalities gel and to make sure she is happy in our home.

[tigerdog]

Ah, I think I recognise this rescue! If it is the one I'm thinking of, we didn't get beloved DDog (ex racer) from them, but we have fostered two dogs from there, and boarded our greyhound with them, and I'd be comfortable with their assessment of the dog being cat friendly. Of course, caution is always necessary during the introductory period as their behaviour can change and they can be reactive in different situations. Our DDog is so different from the timid little thing in kennels - her personality took a few months to develop.

When we got her, she was described as 'cat friendly with training', which I thought was a bit odd, but in some ways better, as it transferred the responsibility on to us as the owners to ensure she recieves the right training, and to proceed with caution. We don't have a cat so it isn't a issue but we've done muzzled introductions etc with my brother's two cats and she isn't reactive around them now.

Good luck, I hope she is the perfect fit for you. Always love seeing another greyhound homed...if only I could persuade my DH to have two!!

[Whippet81]

She's lovely - at two she probably hasn't raced or not been very good at it so she's much more likely to be cat friendly