Greyhounds - good with babies??

[dizzymama]

Dh is desperate for a dog and seems to have fixed his heart on a greyhound. Dd is now 4 months old and we have two housecats - how wise would fulfilling his dream be??!!
Also... rescue centre or puppy?

I grew up with Greyhounds and i think they are my favourite dog,but,in my opinion not the ideal pet with such a young baby and two cats.Dogs are such hard work i think you should wait until your baby is older,just thinking about how much of your time it would take up.(i have a dog and cats by the way)

Rescue Greyhounds are hard work. Cats are 99% a no no as they have been taught to chase furry animals. You also have to consider that a rescue greyhound will be at least 3 years old and possibly lived in a kennels all their lives. Mine was excellent with my daughter but my mothers has gone for my DD on a few occassions and so it's hard to tell what they will be like. In general resucues are very nervous to begin with and so wont be able to handle a toddler jumping on them straight away although you may be lucky. I think they are hard work contary to common beliefs.

I have a whippet/greyhound cross. I'm expecting in November and was a little concerned, but she's great with my friends baby and loves children in general (she has her own "fan club" in the area who come and fuss her whenever they see her). She's 10 this year and very mellow now.

I'm not sure but it may depend on the dogs and the owners they have had. My old neighbours owned several greyhound bitches over the years and always had them at home for weeks at a time when they were in season and couldn't race. They certainly fitted into family life with no trouble. Maybe that's unusual though?

Echo comments about cats: greyhounds are one of the few dogs fast enough to catch them, and cats do bear more than a passing resemblance to a rabbit in a greyhound's head.

Have you thought about a whippet? My mother has one and she is a beauty: extremely gentle, very clean, pretty hardy (she holds her own against three gigantic bloodhounds) yet small enough to find an assertive cat a handful. My DS loves her.