Pointy hound owners - we are getting serious. Well, almost….

[PacificDogwood]

DS2 and I are off to meet some pointy hounds tomorrow (one of the local rescues does a monthly walk in a local park to meet and greet potentially interested future owners/fosterers).

I We have been thinking long and hard about dog ownership, now that our youngest DS is a bit more sensible (he's 4.6 now). I grew up with a number of dogs (mainly mutts), but DH has never owned or lived with a dog. We have 4 boys; the oldest is 11. We both work, but our nanny is always in the house when we are out and is happy to have the dog/s around.

So, other than the obvious (food, bed, vet, fence, insurance etc) is there anything in particular I should ask tomorrow?
I have no sighthound experience, so the whole 'high prey drive' and 'poor recall' thing worries me a bit (I used to love walking our dogs off lead), but I understand every dog is different and training can rectify a lot of things.

We arrived at greyhounds/lurcher/whippet-type dogs by a process of elimination: I did not want a pup, no barker, no 'nervous' breed', no breed that needed hours of daily exercise to not go stir-crazy, not longhaired, I was keen on a rescue dog, no particular genetic problems - et voila: pointy hounds

Our garden is small and not dog-proof at present - tomorrow is really only a first contact and of course there would be a home visit.
We share a long party wall with an awkward neighbour - I am dreading having to have the 'we need a higher fence' conversation with him tbh.

Sigh.

Any pearls of wisdom to share?

[CMOTDibbler]

Ooh, how exciting! The whole prey drive/recall thing does vary massively, by type of sighthound and why they've ended up in rescue. My older dog ended up in rescue at 6 months as he has no prey drive and so wouldn't hare course. He's afraid of the chickens, though he will run after a squirrel if he sees it moving. But as soon as it stops or goes up a tree he loses interest. he recalls beautifully. Puppy also recalls.
Today we were out in a local country park and met several lots of sighthounds off lead, from whippets to lurchers and one greyhound.

I think you do need to be prepared to put in the work with a dog in establishing recall, lead walking etc (will your nanny be happy to do this, or just letting the dog out?)

[PacificDogwood]

Thank, CMOT, that is encouraging to here. Is your puppy a sighthound too?

Nanny has dog-experience and would take the hound on school/nursery run (so on lead and, I would imagine, muzzled - at least initially). We'd do a short walk in the morning and another one in the evening. We are very lucky that we are v close to a wooded river walk.

The vast majority of hounds in this charity are ex-racers, but all will have been fostered for a while so should have some idea what life in a home (not a kennel) is like wrt stairs/french doors/hoovers. Some apparently are also small furries tests, although I think I would lock up my guinea pigs extra safe should a dog join our family

For fast bursts of full-pelt running: are there places you can let a greyhound off lead? Like dedicated fenced runs for them? They cannot always want to be on lead, surely not?

[CMOTDibbler]

Yes, my puppy is a lurcher too - he was born in foster at EGLR, where cmotdog came from too.

If you get an ex racer, then they do tend to have more issues on recall/bogging off chasing things due to the way they are trained.

For those who can't go off lead outside the garden, then there are sighthound playgroups organised in secure spaces so they can hooly round together which is lovely to see. Mine loves nothing better than running with other sighthounds as they are the only dogs who will get him into afterburner running, and they love doing big circles together.

[PacificDogwood]

Oh, they are both beautiful

Do you know what their story was/how they ended up in a rescue?

The playgroup thing sounds like fun - and I bet, amazing visually

[NoraRobertsismyguiltypleasure]

One thing I would bring up is the fact that they can be very nervous, but in odd ways. Our lovely girl mostly refuses to go out for a walk during daylight hours unless we are getting in the car and going to a particular 'doggy field'.
This is annoying. It also takes us up to an hour at night to get her to get up and go up the road for her last wee at night (she refuses to wee in the garden at night). To be fair we've had 2 greyhounds and the first one was a lot more chilled out, but it's worth knowing that you might end up with one with peculiar habits.

[CMOTDibbler]

The white/tan one was with travellers who found he wouldn't course, and handed him into the rescue. He's upside down snoring on the sofa with me, and is as soft as butter.
The blue one is one of Aris' puppies - she was found stray a couple of days before having her litter.

[TooOldForGlitter]

Hi
Mine is my first sighthound. He has a fairly low prey drive, he'd chase a squirrel if he could, but no more than any other dog. His recall now is excellent, I called him off a pheasant recently and two squirrels today. I've bought the book Total Recall and followed it to the letter and I'd say he's now 90% of the way to being reliably recall trained.

I agree with the PP about the nervousness , mine is skittish around the strangest of things and really shuts down but he is getting better every day.

We have had him a year come October and I don't think I'd ever have anothr breed.

Best of luck!

[PacificDogwood]

Thank you, all.

Interesting about the 'odd' nervousness - I had not heard that before.

TooOld, lovely to hear that you have had a good experience of first sighthound ownership. I'll have to have a look at that book.

I am still getting odd remarks from people when I mention we are considering a greyhound or similar: "aggressive" "needs lots of exercise" "I'd never have one of them around children" "prone to illness" - erm, NO, "liked by gypsies" - that statement is so wrong on so many levels, I don't know where to start!

The rescue seems to know their dogs well (they only ever have a couple dozen dogs) and seem to be really keen to match dogs and new owners well. We'll see… we still have a fence to build.

[Scuttlebutter]

They are liked by travellers - there is an extensive use of sighthounds by travellers for hare coursing and illegal working. Not just greys, but lurchers too. There is also a flourishing non-traveller usage of pointies for racing and working - pursuit of live quarry, both legal and not. For this reason, they are often vulnerable to theft, and you should never leave one unattended or in a garden where they can be seen/pinched.

Training (as for any dog) will do a lot to strengthen recall - we have four greyhounds and now can let three off regularly. Much will depend on the individual dog and whether they have experience of working/racing, and their individual prey drive. Bear in mind that many young greys come off the track because they aren't good at chasing things - these will often make excellent companions and can often be cat friendly too. We had one like this previously - had virtually zero interest in chasing and excellent recall, very laid back, ideal family pet. At the other extreme, one of our current four has a phenomenally high prey drive and still wears a muzzle while out even though he is 10.

Most rescues will advise you (as with any dog) to be sensible and cautious initially, work on establishing good solid recall, and only let off lead where it is safe to do so. TBH, this is good advice for any dog. I am constantly aware at our local park, how few dog owners have solid recall - many dogs are happy to blatantly ignore their owners.

Many greyhound rescues will have either their own or will know of secure environments where greys can be let off lead safely. We are going to our favourite field tomorrow morning. There are also regular sighthound playdates/socials, again where hounds can meet up and frolic safely.

just to note, it's not fair to expect your nanny to be involved in training the dog, and personally I wouldn't ask her to walk it until you've established a routine and the dog is a completely known quantity. A muzzle is sensible when you are near strange DC.

I do find the mention of guinea pigs quite worrying - I homecheck for various sighthound rescues and that would be a huge red flag. You should bear in mind that, like terriers, you can't get away from the fact that these are dogs which have been bred for generations and often trained (very thoroughly) to chase small, furry, squeaky things.

The fence also needs to be addressed - lurchers can often be nimble and surprisingly bouncy and even small ones can often clear amazingly high fences/walls.

[SpicyBear]

You've had some great advice here but I would just add that it's a good idea to bear in mind that lurcher are crosses. There is no "lurcher" temperament as they will, to a greater or lesser extent, reflect whatever has been bred in (often collie, terrier or different hound such as saluki). So they need to be considered as individuals.

[PacificDogwood]

Thanks you again for taking the time to post.

Scittlebutter, I would never contemplate having any dog without a high fence in place.
Today is a fact-finding mission, not a 'let's get a dog' day .
The GP worry me too - I would never want to set up a dog to 'fail' by exposing it to what is natural and normal to them (chase and catch small curries).
Oh, and I know that grays are popular with traveller, it was just the expressed sentiment that they are somehow 'unsavoury' because of that association the I found rather …
The nanny is v dog-experienced and will not be expected to train ours, but will have to either a) leave them at home when on the school run (approx 30min there and back) or b) take them with them on 5 occasions/week (2 1/2 days).

I am not really set on any particular breed of dog, more the right dog for us; or for us to be the right family for whatever dog.

Wish me luck!

[Lovethesea]

We are in a very similar position of small children, 2 cats and wanting a lurcher to join us!

Jealous of your day to meet a crowd of them. I keep slinking up to people with lurcher type dogs and engaging them in chat about their hounds....at least yours is organised to be that!

[PacificDogwood]

Well, we're back!
It was fabulous - there were at least 20-25 hounds there with owners or fosterers and DS2 and I got to walk a couple of them

We are home, not with a dog, but with the contact details of an owner who also does fencing - apparently he has fenced the gardens of most of the people present and gives good rates to futures ground owners .

So.
Will have to have The Talk with DH.
Will have to get whole family to come to next once-monthly walk.
Will have to get fence/gates sorted if we are still keen to ahead.

Much as there were some lovely dogs today who we were both aching to sign up for, I know there (sadly) will always be more, so there is no rush.
I want to get this right more than anything.
DS2 wants a dog now, however…

We both arrived home with dog poo all over our shoes, so that's what I am now off to clean. Deep joy, but it's not put me off

[Lovethesea]

Brilliant! Glad you enjoyed it.

We also need to get the fence finished around the garden , but have a local contact who i know can do it at short notice. I'm waiting til we have a dog in mind so I know if we need him to also add trellis to the existing fence too!

[Scuttlebutter]

I am liking the idea of chasing and catching "small curries"

Taking your time is very sensible - sounds like you are approaching this the right way.

I see what you mean about the association. For numpties like that, I point out that greys are the only breed of dog mentioned in the KJB, that it was once punishable by death for commoners to own them, or for commoners to harm one, that Henry 8th and Ann Boleyn were keen greyhound owners, as were Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (they took theirs on honeymoon with them). You could also point out that most greyhounds have traceable pedigrees dating back to before most poncey show dog breeds were even a twinkle in some dog breeder's eye.

[PacificDogwood]

Yes, to all your points, including the small curries - they do sound cute; thank you, autocorrect

There was no full-pelt running yesterday, only v civilised being walked, and they were just the most beautiful, dignified creatures ever. The only barking there was, was from passing small, white, furry dogs - v few greys reacted with a bark, but some did of course, and nobody lost their composure. I was very impressed. All the 'available' dogs who were fostered where muzzled anyway (required by the rescue's insurance, apparently) so no stress.

We saw a lovely blue boy, 2 years old, the most striking light-coloured eyes, who is currently fostered in a 5th floor flat, but now needs to be moved because (after managing all the stairs just fine) he is now refusing to go down after he had seen/heard a street performer cracking a whip .

I keep having to tell myself that it does not need to be him; there's always another one and anyway, I would prefer a girl. Sigh.

[CMOTDibbler]

He sounds lovely - my puppy has the same sort of pale eyes, and the blue colour gets a huge amount of attention. When I took the dogs to my parents last weekend my dad couldn't believe how many people stopped us to talk about him

Older dog does stairs no problem at all in the house - but metal stairs terrify him in spite of our efforts, and he has to be carried.

[PacificDogwood]

Ok, so tonight I am bit depressed on the dog front: saw a friend who told me that a) 'DH would be livid if you got a dog' - I would never just 'get' a dog if the whole family was not on board AND he has never intimated anything like that to me. He has no dog-experience and is understandably apprehensive.

And b) she told me that 'greyhounds are aggressive'. Apparently she has a friend who had 4 grounds and when the oldest became a bit frailer the other 3 'turned on him'. Is this a thing with greyhounds??

Not that I am looking at getting 4 (I know that one hound often leads to another, but I cannot see it for us tbh), but my understanding was that they have a well-developed prey-drive and that depending on the individual dog cannot easily be trusted off lead in the face of something small running away from them, but 'aggressive'? I thought the opposite, accepting that any dog has the capacity to bite and injure.

[Scuttlebutter]

Studies on dog aggression by breed have shown that greys and whippets actually have the lowest levels of aggression, on dog/dog, dog/people.

We have 4 greys and one was recently very poorly - had cancer, now recovering. Absolutely no difference in how the others treated her - if anything I'd say they were slightly more careful around her, and she was understandably a bit more grumpy if one of them disturbed her. We've previously had seriously ill/frail dogs and have never seen aggression from the others, usually the reverse.

Of course, they are not angels and you will (as with any group of dogs) get the occasional grumpy outburst but I'd say that's completely normal. In general, it's worth remembering that greys, unlike virtually any other breed (apart from working foxhounds maybe) are bred and raised entirely with other greys. They then spend their entire working lives solely with other greys, both living with them and racing them. In their racing environment, they are constantly meeting/racing with other greys who are strangers, yet fights are incredibly rare. Greys that are bad tempered don't last long in a racing environment. Most are used to being handled by strangers and meeting other pointies. It's amazing how greys recognise their own, and enjoy being around other pointies, and this is one of the reasons why so many grey owners attend things like the walks, playdates etc.

If you attend a greyhound event like the forthcoming Greyhound Gathering at Nottingham Racecourse you'll see hundreds (literally) of greys, all either lying regally on the grass, strolling happily or possibly in the show ring. You won't hear any barking (except from non greys) - it's remarkably quiet and peaceful.

As you have discovered, there are a huge number of myths and misconceptions about them.

[SpicyBear]

I would not be paying any attention to your friend trying to tell you how your own DH will react to getting a dog! What a ridiculous thing to comment on.

I think a lot of people that don't understand the difference between predation and aggression get the idea that greys (or any other dog with a prey drive) are aggressive. As scuttle says, it certainly isn't a "thing" that they are aggressive. However of course as with any breed there are individual dogs that will have issues with other dogs. A reputable rescue will know their dogs and in your circumstances would not place a dog with "issues" with you.

[PacificDogwood]

Thank you for your reassurances - they can of confirm what I thought and had read.

I've ordered 'Retired Greyhounds for Dummies' which sounds daft, but comes highly recommended.

DH has agreed to go to the next monthly walk (1st Sunday of the month) so we shall see.

[PacificDogwood]

Eh? That first sentence does not make any sense.
"They kind of confirm what I thought"
Sorry.

[Besom]

My dh wasn't massively keen but taking him along to a gathering changed his mind. Now he's soppy on them ( yes we ended up with two!)