I'm about to become a greyhound foster carer!

[bluetongue]

As a lifelong cat and horse person but greyhound and whippet admirer I'm about to take the scary step of living with a dog by fostering an ex racing greyhound.

The greyhound adoption people have assured me that I'll be fine even though I've never owned a dog before and I work full time. I'm still somewhat nervous. This is a big responsibility and I don't want to mess up. I tell myself that I've owned horses before so a greyhound can't be too hard in comparison.

I'll try and see if I can post a photo once I have my new charge

[chickensaresafehere]

How exciting!
Greys are addictive,once you've had one! Ours had a stroke in September last year & had to be put to sleep, she was an ex racer (90 odd races at Belle Vue),we had never had a sighthound before,so it was a steep learning curve. We were told to not let her off & keep her muzzled but after we got to know her better we were able to let her off & unmuzzle her. She was terrifically lazy,hated the rain & tiled/shiny floors & was pretty aloof(probably due to her being in kennels most of her life) but we adored her & are looking for another sighthound after our summer holidays.
Good luck, they are wonderful dogs

[HaywardGrey]

We have owned several racing greyhounds and taken some home for their retirement. We lost our last one three weeks ago. The best advice I was given by a trainer was that they like routine as they are used to it. Don't worry if they sleep a lot, they are not unwell just very lazy between bursts of energy! Be careful if you have patio doors - they tend not to realise it's solid glass.

[bluetongue]

I have a dog there was an information session first which naturally went through the worst case scenarios. There were some moments I thought to myself 'this is all to hard, it's not too late to pull out. ' There were around 20 dogs available for foster and I had the chance to try walking a few of them. The one I really wanted, a gorgeous black girl called Ivy was out for me as she needed another dog for company.

In the end I picked Bluey. He's a large black and white greyhound and very scmoochy. He fitted on the back seat of my car and slept all the way home. He's already been in a walk to the end of the street abd back and was very good. He also seems fine with the floorboards, tiles and carpet in my house. Fine with the TV as well. I think he'll be ready for a permanent home in no time

Will post pictures when I work out how to.

[thiswould]

Love greys. Congratulations!

[bluetongue]

He didn't get the memo about 'greyhounds may lose their appetite when they first go into foster care'. He finished all his dinner and wanted more

[DownstairsMixUp]

Greys are lovely. We had one (ex racer) he did in 2012. He was a coach potato but did have the odd burst of energy! Soppy bugger to. He liked weetabix for breakfast

[DownstairsMixUp]

Died*

[chickensaresafehere]

Photos please !!!!!

[bluetongue]

Let's see if this photo works.

[bluetongue]

Yes, I know I have a bed situation

[thiswould]

He clearly thinks the bed situation is absolutely fine!

I love him. I'm so jealous!

[bluetongue]

Well it's been and bad day today. Yesterday was a total write off as I had a hideous migraine with vomiting. Stupidly I was determined to buy Bluey a rawhide bone and a Kong so when my headache wasn't quite so bad I drove to the pet supply shop and mad it back to my place just in time to vomit in the front garden. Classy!

I was off work sick today but my migraine finally stopped around midday. My mum came around so we took Bluey for a walk to the local cafe. He's still got some work to do on the lead training but is pretty good overall. He was a pro at the cafe. As I hadn't eaten for a day and a half I decided to get a meal as well as coffee. He relaxed and lay down and we told him what a good boy he was. On the way home a couple of trucks started their engines right next to him which did startle him. He was also starting to lean on me as we got closer to home which is something I need to work on.

Once home, we left him for about five minutes and when we got back he was sitting on his bed with a half eaten loaf of bread! My mum had bought it for me but haf left it on the edge of the kitchen bench. Whoops! I rang the Greyhound people to make sure he'd be okay and they said just give him half his tea and he might get a bit of diarrhoea.

He's a sweety though and he loves my mum already.

[thiswould]

Oh the thieving. Yes nothing is sacred.

Happy memories of a whole pat of butter being vomited after whippet theft! Eugh.