Pointy hounds thread! For new, old and prospective owners!

[SpaghettiTwirlerAndProud]

Share stories, advice and ask for help if you need it! There are a few resident hound experts (myself not included) in the doghouse, so, feel free to share! :)

Hello.... I am officially lurking!

We are hoping to get a dog (first time owners) some time in July/August and are becoming increasingly keen on a greyhound (or whippet or lurcher) rescue, probably from GRWE as that would be our "local".

Do you mind if I canvas some opinions?

About us (and yes, I have posted this on about 4 "which dog" posts!): DH is a SAHD so would be out about 1 or 2 hours a day tops; DD is 16 months but as dog savvy as she can be at that age (we are living with my parents' very, very bouncy lab collie x for 5 months and she's adored him since she was tiny); we will have a small IMO (usual terraced house size) but secure garden; we are active and like walks; we are commited to doing some training etc; no other pets.

Above all, we want a dog that is going to work as far as DD is concerned. In an ideal world, and with that in mind, we would like a 2 year old or so dog rather than a bundle of puppyness and we would love for the dog to be already housetrained.

I think we would make a lovely forever home!

I guess I would just appreciate your views on greyhounds as family dogs.... as far as I can tell, then only "down side" is the fairly likely possibility of not being able to have the hound off the lead on walks in case it chases. We would be really prepared to so some concerted recall training though. Is it a problem for those of you who don't have massive gardens for the dogs to run in? But primarily - greyhounds as family pets for young'uns?

Also, I am very attracted to all the accessories... [hides and berates self for being shallow]!

As an example... if we were actively looking now, I am thinking along the lines of Wolfie here -he's the first, featured dog on GRWE, although in a way we (DH in particular for some manly reason ) would love a dog that is actually a retired racer.

Ah,now you're entering the wonderful world of "pointy porn"

Sumptuous collars - here

Gorgeous coats here

Snuggly jammys for cold winter nights - here

Here you will be among friends. Here we will understand the requirement for multiple coats, velvet leads, and elegant tassels. After all, as a pointy owner, you will have the supermodel of the dog world, an elegant athlete, with a swan like neck, and forever legs. A dog who was the exclusive possession of royalty for hundreds of years. A dog who in fact think of themselves as being true aristocrats.

And you need something to compensate for the farts.

Wolfie is almost certainly a retired racer. Bear in mind the racing industry spits out thousands of dogs who don't make the grade at a pretty young age - racing owners don't want to keep a dog unless it's earning its keep so most greyhound charities are awash with young healthy dogs of eighteen months to two years. If they have had some success on the track they will be got rid of at a later age - usually around six or seven though often sooner if they pick up an injury. A very small percentage will stay in the industry for stud or as brood bitches.

If Wolfie raced, he will have ear tattoos. You can use these to look him up on the racing database, and you will be able to trace his pedigree back to the early 19th Century and look up all his race results (location, times, places etc). Many of the GRWE dogs come in from the Swindon track, although they also take dogs from further afield. Lurchers of course will have come very often from "working" homes and some greys also will have this provenance.

OK legallyblonde we have a retired racer. Our DSs are 3 and 5 and welcoming Billy into our family is one of the best things we've ever done. I shall count the ways and list them for you after school pick up, Billy walk and extended pancake dinner (that the dog will watch jealously from his bed and probably end up with a bit or two in his bowl afterwards.)

Far be it for me to say DO IT but I'm going to say DO IT anyway!

Right. Kids are stuffed with pancakes and in bed. Dog stuffed with fresh sardines and kibble and pancake and in bed. Now then.

We love having an ex racing greyhound in our family because:
-He's great with people;
-He's gentle with the children;
-He's really affectionate with all of us but not in a jumpy uppy way, just in a quiet, 'I'm coming over to press my head against you/power leaning/put my head in your lap or your shoulder' sort of way;
-He gets us out twice a day in green spaces. My DSs, particularly the elder, have definite couch potato tendencies and this curbs them;
-He arrived pretty much ready house trained, despite a few accidents/protests;
-He is well mannered around food and a gentle nudge out of the way with my large rear or a sharp 'uh uh' is enough to stop that long nose finding tasty smackerels not meant for him;
-He's mostly great on the lead and them being on the lead for the whole walk gets you way more exercise than if you were standing around throwing a ball;
-He is a lazy, lazy dog in the house and sleeps most of the time. We have left him for a 3-4 hours absolute maximum and would never leave him longer but he just seems to sleep for most of it. No destructive behaviour and no crying or barking (we have asked our neighbours who seem to hear most things .)

Our issues have been:
-We had very few 'requests' from the kennel we adopted him from - just that he should be fairly relaxed with other breeds and good with the children. He is very sweet and calm with the kids but is very very nervous around other breeds and when we reach the wide open spaces of our walks where there are lots of dogs off the lead who want to come over and say hello to him he has to be muzzled. He's OK if they're calm but very very jumpy, growly, snappy and defensive if they are at all bouncy;
-Constant explanation of muzzle wearing dog to nearly everyone plus the snide 'Aww, what are you making him wear that for' from other dog owners who know bugger all about rehoming retired racers;
-Tummy issues at first - very runny poo - but this settled down with kibble trial and error and very gradual tastes of human food the good stuff;
-He knows no self control AT ALL when a squirrel, cat or duck are involved and really bolts on the lead. So eyes peeled for all of the above on a walk and adopt brace position;
-Basic commands using clicker training (eg. 'Lie down') are taking a long time;
-No recall at all yet, though we've not worked on it much due to a lack of safe spaces to try him in;
-When he has a playful 5 minutes of dash he is to be given much space to do it in - 40 kilo is a lot of dog to be charging around very small children - they quickly got this though and enjoy just watching him being goofy from a safe distance;
-The hammering my bank account has taken in accessories. The latest was a rather lovely leather matching sighthound collar and lead...

So, essay over. We love him. We can't imagine life without him and happily cut short/add an extra layer of organisation into days out so we can get back to him or make sure there's someone walking him or keeping him company. Our issues are ours and Billy's - and might not be the same for all dogs or Wolfie

A question and a recommendation from me tonight.

Question - what are the tassels all about? Why are the for pointier? Surely they'd just chew them.

Recommendation - PAH do puppy sausage you can buy a small bag or a massive box. I cut them up and theyve really helped with recall as our Lurcher loves them.

Thank you so much MissBetsy - really really helpful!

My only worry really is the exercise for the dog if lead is always on for walks...

Also, I assume a greyhound can manage a good long walk if the family goes for one at the weekend?

Not too worried about the muzzle - surely you can just say "he/she is an ex racer so will chase and catch small furries..."? I guess I wouldn't like silly cautious parents terrifiedly pulling children out of the way as I approach with a dog with a muzzle though.... but that is only a minor problem (and I am more anoyed on principle by parents assuming a cute little westie, say, with is fine for a child to go and stroke without asking!)

I do worry about other breeds though. In particular, its really important that whatever dog we get gets on well with my parents' very bouncy (but not at all small and fluffy!) heinz 57 (black, size of a skinny lab, lab x collie x lurcher x type of generic bouncy dog!) of a dog. I suppose most good rescues would be willing for the dogs to meet before we decide?

As for the training issues... I think I am happy to accept a nearly perfect dog(!!) My parents' rescue dog for instance CANNOT (and they have tried, a lot) learn to walk to heel properly. Really they have worked for months and, frankly, have given up (they say they don't care... so you pick your battles and this is one they are happy to lose). he is food orientated and have tried doing some kind of clicker training to do with touching their hand and having their hand in the right position he would be to be at heel (I think - I wasn't around for the daily ins and outs) but, when it comes to this, he isn't interested!

As I said, our top priorities are, in order: lovely with children, lovely with us, gets on with my parents' dog, house trained.... and I think we'd be willing to work on anything else.

We still have a few months, so plently of time to do lots of research (and oggle the lovely snoods and collars and everything!)....

I think it's worth remembering that there is quite a bit of variation within greyhounds. We have three, all ex racers, one bitch, two dogs. They are all different. One is absolutely bombproof with everything - children, other dogs, people, squirrels, etc. He's about as dangerous and predatory as an iced fairy cake. He's done his Gold KC class and I'm always being nagged to do PAT with him - he'd be a star. He's a natural at "meet and greets" - loves meeting new people and will quite happily have a snooze in the middle of Ikea's lobby or at a busy dog show. Our bitch is equally good with people, a real love sponge. Likes nothing more than cuddles and fuss. However, she has a rampaging prey drive and has also suffered from too many out of contol lunatic Labs bouncing into her while out and she has bad arthritis in her shoulder. She'll tolerate her pointy friends but is a grumpy mare with other dogs and would like to eat anything small and fluffy, whether that was a yorkie or a rabbit. Accordingly she stays muzzled on walks and only comes off lead in tightly defined circumstances. Dog three is a total flirt with women but very nervous around men he doesn't know (and also hugely protective of me if out with me and a man approaches). Children - wary but tolerant. Excellent with our nephews who are sensible and he knows. Other dogs, OK around other greys, wary around others, but again high prey drive around smalls - not to be trusted.

Three very different dogs, though with broadly similar backgrounds. I'd stress that most greyhound charities would match you with a dog like the first one for your first greyhound, particularly as you have children and other dogs in your life. We took on the two with issues because we were an experienced doggy home, have no children and were willing to accept and work with the limitations they came with. Our bitch was a bounce to the charity because she was living in mid Wales and she was allowed into a neighbour's field where she chased sheep - a capital offence in that part of the world. Fortunately downtown Cardiff is light on the woolybacks so she fitted right in here.

I think what I'm trying to say (probably not terribly well) is that the right dog is matched with the right owner - charities want you to be a good match, they don't want dogs coming back and they want you to be happy, so they will go out of their way to match you with a dog who will get on with others and is right for your circumstances.

Interestingly, some academic research has been done into return rates to charities/rescues who rehome. For an all breed rescue, the rate is around 14% but for greys, the rate is lower, around 8%, so in that sense they are a safer bet.

Aahh the mightily wise scuttle has spoken

Well I think i'm going to have to muzzle Sprocket at all times now, he snapped at a lab earlier although tbf the lab was harrassing him and trying to hump him stupid owner was miles away up the path.

I also have a bit of a dilemma, I don't know whether I should buy him a proper bed or not. At the minute whenever he manages to sleep downstairs he has the run of 2 sofas. when he sleeps upstairs he has an old duvet and he spends all frigging night rearranging it and disturbing us. BUT he's petrified of the stairs and refuses to learn them so far. DP carries him up and down. He'd only use his bed upstairs, we're hoping to teach him them at the weekend using a towel as we still haven't got round to doing that yet. To buy or not to buy? That is the question.

Oh, I'd buy I think. If it means a good night's sleep it's worth every penny.

Billy doesn't like labs either - something to do with the bounciness and friendliness I think. I muzzle him when we get to the bit of our walk where the dogs come off the lead and try to approach him.

legallyblonde I think the RGT kennels our chap came from did trials at home. We just went and adopted Billy and I don't know whether or not trials are considered good but that might be an option?

What kind of muzzles are you using I was told not to get the mesh type but a basket one. As Mr Lurcher has a long snout the basket muzzle is huge on him as I don't want his nose to rub against it. I'm still waiting for the one from the Greyhound trust to arrive but I think it must be the mesh type.

Mesh? I've never heard of mesh muzzles! We use a plastic basket, the one we got with him. Is it a lurcher size one you've bought him?

Think I'm going to buy that bed I linked to on ebay, £25 for a grund sized bed? Far too good to turn down imo.

I'm being silly now . I'm unfortunately too fat but I would definitely wear that for larfs.

And if only the DSs ate eggs

this I love.

Our muzzle is the one from the RGT. It's plastic with a leather pad over the top of his nose. I think it's called a 'kennel' muzzle on the sites?

Miss BetsyT I think thats the one I've ordered. Not sure about the mesh comment it was something someone else said to me.

AARGHH! Sodding crap bloody other dog owners.

We were out for our walk today when from nowhere we were accosted by a lab who started hassling Billy. Jumping at him, circling us... Billy started to growl and whine and was not a happy dog. His tail was way between his legs and he started snapping and lunging at this other dog.

I got between them. I tried 'Sit' and 'Stay' with the other dog. It worked for a second then he started up again when we walked off.

Owner nowhere to be seen. I could not hear any whistles or calls. This went on for about 5 minutes.

Eventually, Billy was so distressed (and I was PISSED off tbh) I kicked the other dog. Of course, that was the moment at which the owner cycled up and was all 'WTF do you think you're doing to my dog?' I am ashamed to say I lost it. I hissed explained that his dog was not under control, that mine was on a lead, that he was nervous, that had Billy not been muzzled his dog would be a lot worse off than a small kick from me.

The owner eventually apologised but I'm still furious.

How do I tell if Billy's putting on too much weight? (Without taking him to the vets to be weighed.) Someone on our second walk yesterday told me he was getting fat.

His ribs are distinct and the back one is slightly prominent. He has a small double chin perhaps I think but this only seems to be the case when he's in his sighthound collar (which isn't too tight for him.)

They told you he's fat!! Ironically, most people who are not grey owners often think they are too thin as so many dogs these days are obese, and most greys are lean and healthy.

Firstly, a pet greyhound doesn't need to be at their racing weight - depending on size you could gain comfortably between 2- 5 kg on the racing weight and probably still be fine. How are Billy's hip bones? When you look at his back, they should be sticking out like two little bumps but not really boney, if that makes sense? With ribs, you should be able to see at least three clearly. If you can see more, that's usually fine, but they shouldn't be really prominent.

Do you think they are getting confused by his muscular thighs? I know when one of ours is wearing his coat, he is a very big boy, with a deep chest and huge cyclist style thighs. We were told once he looked fat because all the person could see was the enveloping coat and these big thighs - - though once the coat came off you could see that he was actually fine, with clearly defined ribs and hips.

Arf at his double chin.

Also, so sorry you had the problem with the Lab. Why is ALWAYS bloody Labs? They are like out of control missiles. Grrrrr.

betsy that's almost exactly what happened to us the other morning, except the lab was trying to hump Sprocket, but as it was half his height it was only succeeding in humping his back legs Sprocket was not amused at all and was snapping at it. It's the black labs he hates the most. Must be something to do with their eyes, one of MILs dogs hates anyone/thing solid black, dogs, people in black clothes, people. But he is a ridiculously vicious animal that one is.

I did a long reply and it just got disappeared when my connection went phut!
Gritters I remembered when you said about that evil lab - it right gets my goat that they've got this reputation as 'family' dogs but so many it seems can be a right handful! And when greyhounds, who often make great family pets, get so sidelined. My Billy's cuddly! And gentle around kids! Have you seen the bonkers lab again? As one of my dog walking friends said today, if someone's so laid back about their dog to let him out of their sight for so long and not attempt to call him back, then they also have to be so relaxed as to accept that other people will do whatever it takes to keep their animal safe from being worried by them.

Re the weight gain, his ribs are distinct but it's definitely only the back one that pokes out a bit and I can feel the knobbles of his hips but they're not even slightly prominent! I think we might have to cut back his food a bit. We've measured it out but might have to give him a little less as we do always mix it through with fish or meat for dinner. I know the lady who remarked on it and she's a proper old east ender; a lot of the older people around here are used to greyhounds and trained them as amateurs as there were 3 tracks within walking distance of our area. I suppose she'd have been used to seeing them at race weight? Billy's sister is not long retired and I can see from her pictures she's much skinnier than him. Not that I am secretly holding out hope to adopt her too!

I am afraid I am continuing to lurk if that's ok... we have decided that we do definitely want a greyhound from GRWE when the time comes, and will only look (and wait) with them for the right one, so I am hoping for tips!

So sorry to hear about your walk Betsy - at least Billy was unharmed. Had a horrible moment about a year or two ago taking my parents' dog out (on lead as we were in town having just left the park) and an off lead terrier type literally went in for the kill. Thankfully, no harm actually happened as the owner arrived fairly promptly, but it was so, so vicious, and the owner laughed and said "what can you do!".... err . I was too shaken up to be assertive and hurried away, which I regret now. My parents' dog was fine (although the poor boy had just been given a treat by me for perfect recall in the park to go back onto the lead and he sicked that up from shock).... I love dogs but find that sort of situation really scary.

All the vets say my greyhound girl is overweight. I just say 'you're wrong'. Her weight has been stable for a while now and she has a good diet.

MissBetsyTrotwood- if your grey has settled on a weight I wouldn't worry too much. IMO you can tell if a greyhound is overweight quite easily as they don't look 'right'.

Question, how long can you keep bones in the fridge bedore they start stinking the house out? Went to the butchers today and he'd saved me a bag of beef ribs, bloody hooooooge they are, there's about 4 or 5 in there. Is he ok to have 1 every day?

I keep our bones from the butcher in the freezer in separate bags (important this, otherwise they coalesce into a giant rock of inseparable bone) and then just chuck him one straight from the freezer. Seems not to bother him that they are cold and I get no meaty bone stink in my fridge.

I can't work out if my boy is overweight or not. He's huge for a 16 week old puppy but I'm telling myself he's just an early grower and he'll average out. To think I chose him because his mother was so dainty his paws are massive. Luckily an exceedingly lovely lady who owns three whippets has just sold me a crate for him that doesn't make him look like alice in wonderland for just £5 (lovely, lovely whippet owning friend).

How do I cope with his increasing randiness? He's not 4 months old until march 2nd but he is starting to hump anything that moves. DS1 (12) is mortified. I've heard so many different ideas about when to get him 'done', 6 months, when he cocks his leg, not to soon or he will grow really big (?) what to do wise members of the doghouse (pointy section).