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The doghouse

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Original poster

Tell me about greyhounds? With children?

26 replies

whiteliesaregoodlies · 14/11/2010 10:41

We're seriously considering rehoming a greyhound. I'm home all day and would love the company, exercise wouldn't be a problem and a dog would very rarely be left alone.

My main question is children - we have 3 ds, aged 8,6 and 2. They are all gentle boys and know to respect animals (although our last pet was a cat as until recently I was at work) - my parents have a dog and I've never seen any roughness with him. BUT .... we're not a quiet household,there's plenty of noisy play and running around.

Do you think a greyhound could cope with this? They look like such gentle creatures - it's my only worry.

I'd like to book to see some dogs at our local greyhound rescue place - presumably they would have a pretty good idea of which dogs are good with dcs and which aren't?

OP posts:
Decorhate · 14/11/2010 10:44

The only greyhound I know does seem very quiet but not nervous as such - seems to be fine at school gates with lots of kids around

Original poster
whiteliesaregoodlies · 14/11/2010 10:48

Thanks decorhate for the quick reply.

OP posts:
cookielove · 14/11/2010 10:53

My Aunt rescued 2 greyhounds, she had young children and the dog wasn't affected by them.

Original poster
whiteliesaregoodlies · 14/11/2010 10:55

Thanks cookielove. Forgot to mention as well that the dog is likely to be at least 3-5 (they're not wanted once they're no good for racing Sad).

OP posts:
lljkk · 14/11/2010 11:08

The greyhounds I know are mugs for attention, love children, not in the least nervous or worried about being dominant, definitely talk to your local shelter, OP. I suppose every pet deserves a private place they can withdraw to if they are feeling overwhelmed,but if they've got that, I expect they'd be lovely pets for you.

Original poster
whiteliesaregoodlies · 14/11/2010 11:29

I feel like that sometimes though lljkk .... have been known to sneak a quiet 5 minutes in the kitchen while the boys are running around!

OP posts:
vjg13 · 14/11/2010 15:04

We have two lurchers who came to live with us earlier this year. They are 8 and 4 and were from a very quiet home. They have adapted brilliantly to our lively household and are gentle, affection seeking dogs.

JamieJay · 14/11/2010 15:13

We've got a lurcher (lives with my mum) who is fabulous with the baby and loves it when the house is busy.

Also know someone who has 2 greyhounds and toddler twins and they are fab with the children.

It would be good if they have somewhere they can retreat to but I would definately recommend greyhounds

Original poster
whiteliesaregoodlies · 14/11/2010 15:35

Thank you so much for the replies. I guess any reputable shelter will do a home visit so will get the chance to see the family anyway?

Good point though about the retreat space, we have a quiet snug in a bit of our kitchen that could be perfect.

OP posts:
WhereTheWildThingsWere · 15/11/2010 14:13

You will need to check if anyone will re-home to you with a 2yo. Most greyhound rescues won't.

LemonDifficult · 15/11/2010 14:26

I have two boys 3yo and 1 yo and our rescued lurcher is brilliant with them. I'm thinking of getting a rescue greyhound myself next year.

The main thing is to go to a go rescue centre. They should know the dogs well individually, have spent time with them and assessed them properly. They'll know which ones are going to be good with children, or bad with cats, or strain on the lead or whatever.

There's no guarantee with any dog of course, but greyhounds are very gentle loving dogs on the whole. I can't wait to get another!

Have you tried Greyhound Gap? They seem very thorough.

mrsjuan · 15/11/2010 14:34

We have a rescue lurcher who is a dream with DD. He is a dream full stop really except for being a terrible thief and bin raider Grin. Greyhounds are lovely. One thing I would say though is that I'd never let a child hold the lead of our lurcher, especially near roads etc. as they wouldn't be strong enough or quick enough to respond if he pulled to try to chase a cat / squirrel etc. Something to bear in mind with greyhounds too.

Second recommendation for Greyhound Gap (or Lurcher Link if you fancy a hairy one)

Greenshadow · 15/11/2010 14:41

Another one with positive experience of Lurchers and young children. Very gentle and patient.

Only thing I would say is a rescue lurcher can be very insecure to start with and can feel like having another baby around - not wanting you out of it's sight etc.

Original poster
whiteliesaregoodlies · 15/11/2010 15:05

Thanks all, have spoken to the shelter and the lady said to come in and see the dogs with all of the dcs in tow to see how they react. She has two boys in mind for us and we can take them for a walkies! Am going this week so watch this space .....

OP posts:
LemonDifficult · 15/11/2010 15:29

WLAGL, I am so excited for you. Good luck!

VivaLeBeaver · 15/11/2010 15:38

We have a greyhound, DD was 7 when we got the dog. I think the important thing is that the dog has a quiet corner with their bed in it and the children are under strict instructions not to pester the dog when they're on their bed.

I do love my dog very much, DD does as well but she sometimes says that she wishes we had a dog that plays more. They don't chase sticks/balls/play with dog toys IME. Saying that the dog and DD do seem to spend quite a bit of time chasing each other round the garden and having races.

mrsjuan · 15/11/2010 16:40

Yes - agree about having a 'leave the dog alone when they're on their bed' policy - We have had to start enforcing this with DD who is 18months now.
Reading my last post just wanted to clarify that a child would only not be string enough to hold our dog if he tried to chase something - he otherwise walks beautifully which is why he could lull a small person into a false sense of security.

Have fun walking the dogs Smile

LemonDifficult · 15/11/2010 17:06

We've taken the opposite line with the bedding and food and so on.

Our lurcher has to accept the children playing in his bed or being around his food so that he always knows he's 'beneath them' in the pack hierarchy. The reality is that we discreetly discourage the DCs from doing things like this. I think the idea is that the dog is supposed to accept whatever the children do to him. But then DCs have been crawling over his 'space' since they could move, so we wouldn't really have been able to teach them otherwise.

Just a different way of doing it, I guess.

Original poster
whiteliesaregoodlies · 15/11/2010 17:42

I wish the dc would leave me alone in bed, 8 years and never a night to myself (grrr).

OP posts:
vjg13 · 15/11/2010 18:45

Totally agree with mrsjuan about not letting a child hold the lead in case of pulling when they go into chase mode. One of our lurchers is bullet proof around cats and fine to walk by anyone, the other always needs an adult holding the lead.

NurseSunshine · 15/11/2010 18:49

We had loads of greyhounds, lurchers and whippets when I was growing up and they were all great with us kids. I'm going to adopt one after I move into a bigger place and before my baby is born. Can't wait, they're such lovely, loving dogs :)

TCOB · 17/11/2010 19:58

We have a rescue greyhound and he is amazing with my 7 yo DS and 4 month old DD- I could not recommend these clean, loving, gentle (and surpisingly lazy!) dogs highly enough. As a breed their plight is awful and if you rescue one you are doing such a great thing. But do be fussy about which greyhound charity you go to - we used GRWE (Greyhound Rescue West of England) who in fact cover most of England now. They'll do a home visit and make sure you get an especially gentle one - we've even got one who is fine with cats (we have two). Take a look at the website (www.grwe.com. You won't regret it if you get one - they are lovely animals. Can you post to say what happens next?

Arseface · 17/11/2010 21:33

Hi, we have a rescue grey with 3DCs, ages 1-9.

Fab advice from everyone else but asked DS (9) what message he'd have for your DCs if you decide to go ahead and he said:

Greyhounds are really clever and you can teach them loads of tricks like down, shake paw, kiss kiss, roll over, catch it, fetch and things but they'll only do it if you ask them kindly, make it really good fun and not frighten them.

You have to be gentle with them at first because they may not have met children before or seen things like TVs or windows or traffic on the roads and they might be very scared.

If they are scared they will get more worried if you make a big fuss of them and cuddle them a lot. It helps them more if you just stay in the same room as them doing something calmly nearby.

Sometimes they sleep with their eyes open so you must call their name and wake them up before you touch them.

The best place to kiss them is the tops of their heads which is very soft.

They are the second fastest land mammal and you can get films of your dog racing on the internet. Your friends will think this is amazing.

My dog comes and cuddles me if I get told off or I'm feeling sad about something. Even if no one else knows.

Please let us know how you get on, they are such lovely dogs and seem to have a real affinity with children.

Icoulddoitbetter · 17/11/2010 21:56

I'm sooooooooooo jealous, I would love a greyhound and I wish you lots of luck with your beautiful new boys. Arse that is such lovely post from your DS, especially about kissing the tops of their heads!

Ripeberry · 17/11/2010 21:59

I'm amazed that a rehoming center would let you have one if you have children under 10yrs old.
I would like one, but I've got cats, chickens and ducks...it would have a field day Grin