Thinking of rehoming a greyhound; a few questions....

[RainySmallHands]

We have a dog-shaped gap in our house and have been musing over greyhounds....

Some context: DD1 is 4; DD2 is 1. I am a SAHM. DH works variable hours, sometimes a night a week away from home, sometimes from home. We both grew up with dogs (me Border Collie; DH Labrador) and owned a lovely GSD girl who died when I was pregnant with DD1. DDs are used to my parents' Border Collie / Lab X who is very soft (but a little neurotic).

The little I have read about greyhounds seems very appealing - I like the fact that they seem lazy (like me!), but I am slightly worried about their disposition. We will be doing work on our house in the near future, so may have some upheaval and will hopefully have DC3 within the next year or two. Is it unfair to expect a dog to cope with this? Also, we have a busy house and visit family lots locally (DDog would come with us ) - would that be okay?

Or, would a pup be a better option? I really want to do this right and I am wary of rushing things and getting the wrong dog for us, IYSWIM.

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

Rescue greyhounds are fabulous pets! Whenever anyone asks me what type of dog I would recommend, in whatever situation, a rescue greyhound usually features in my answer!

I don't have one myself (was daft enough many years to go for the beagles of my childhood!) but have worked with them for years via various charities, and have on occasion brought them home with me, and they really are fab dogs! I was amazed at how such a "big" dog can be so quiet and calm (compared to my loopy small hounds!), so easy to deal with, and I have, in 17 years, hardly ever met one that was anything other than a big gentle soul. Do it, do it!!

Eeeeek! Went to visit some retirees today. I LOVE THEM! It is official. DH grudgingly admitted that he liked them more than he thought he would... and that they didn't make him sneezy He is secretly excited though, as he was the one who arranged the visit.

Went to the local race track where they have just opened a new RGT kennels. Only 10 kennels though. We stroked the dogs and asked lots of questions, and have a handful of bumpf to read through and a DVD to watch.

Having never really been up close and personal with a greyhound before, my first impressions are:

BEAUTIFUL!

Bigger (taller) than I expected.

Very quiet (I worked in a kennels in my Yoof and was expecting a cacophony...). Only one dog did a few barks in all the time we were there.

Clean.

So, there we have it. I am officially obsessed now. My DPs say I am becoming a greyhound bore.

However, my only concern with these particular hounds is that they have never been fostered nor lived in a normal family situation. But, is that to be expected with retired greyhounds? Because if that is normal, then there'll be no stopping me...

Think I'll move this over to the Pointy Thread now seeing as I am feeling one of the gang already [deluded emoticon]

The Pointy thread isn't just for owners Rainy! It's for any Pointy loving folk :)

If you love Pointies then you're practically one of the gang anyway :o

My retired greyhound had never been fostered. She was a very nervy girl so probably wouldn't have been suitable for a family with small children as shed have been scared stiff. Like you say a good rescue will match you up with a good dog. Ours was from rgt midlands branch which is near Newark. Maybe a bit far for you but they're very good and offer support, etc for as long as you need it. A friend had a greyhound for one and there was a bit of a blip a few months after getting the dog and that rgt branch paid for a dog behaviourist to help. They have loads to choose from as well!

Sorry to hijack the thread RainySmallHands and sorry if this has already been asked, but when I saw the title of this thread I thought I'd ask! - I have always secretly fancied rehoming a greyhound, but have always been of the understanding that as we have 2 cats, it is a complete no no! Is this the case or is it possible to have both?

Roger you can get cat friendly greys, they are rare but you can get them! Sometimes you get failed racers, that aren't interested in small furries, that have never raced. So don't lose hope, it is possible. We have a rabbit but she lives outside in a hutch, the dog just ignores her. But he is very interested in cats.

Thank you TheCunnyFunt - I guess it would just be a matter of registering with the local rehoming centre and waiting until a cat friendly one comes in then? At least I can still dream!

There's that option Roger, or you can go to GRWE and see what they have, there's a bit on their site where you leave your details and they call you back. They rehome all over the UK not just in the west. I think all or most of their dogs live in foster homes so I imagine quite a few will be living with cats, other furries and small children.

Hi

We have two cat friendly rescue greyhounds both from Greyhounds Galore (they are fab). We love them so much, they are the sweetest most gentle creatures, and lazy with it. One is sleeping next to me as I type the other is on 'thier' sofa also asleep after her Sunday lunch!

Thought I would list a few pros and cons from our experience..

Pro's

Really gentle dogs good with children.
No bending down to stroke them.
If you drop ANY food its hoovered up before it hits the floor
They are so beautiful and graceful and a joy to watch running
Walk really well on the lead
Loving
Not high maintenance at all - will walk if you walk, will nap if you nap.
Mine travel really well in the car.
I'm sure there are more
They dont bark much (mine are an exception here)

The cons
They have the biggest poos I've ever seen in my life
They have the smelliest pumps ever (could be in pros as it gets rid of my inlaws really fast )
They are prone to little cuts on their feet from bits on the floor when running. I have a doggie first aid kit with sudocrem and tape in for this.
They will eat ANYTHING left out - lessons have been learned here

I would never consider another breed of dog now. Mine have had no health problems at all one of mine was a failed racer - he was going to be put to sleep because he wouldnt chase - hes such a beautiful dog. My other little girl never raced but was mistrated by previous owner and is still a little nervous but much better as the months go on.

Training wise - even though our boy had never lived in a home, we only had two accidents in the house. He then started going to the back door and jangling the keys with his nose when he wanted to go out he still does this now 2 years on it works well

Will link some pics if I can find any

fifties x

Little girl not long after she moved in - with the cat - I must add he is rock hard and most of the dogs in our area are terrified of him

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Our boy
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Lazy example
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Both shoehorned on the their sofa
s523.photobucket.com/albums/w356/potty32/?action=view&current=CIMG0769.jpg

Really hope these work

Forgot to mention we have 2 DCs 8 and 12 and a hamster!

The first one doesnt work will try again

s523.photobucket.com/albums/w356/potty32/?action=view¤t=CIMG0759.jpg

we sleep ALOT in our house...

s523.photobucket.com/albums/w356/potty32/?action=view¤t=CIMG0050.jpg

Greys dont have that dog smell either - something to do with not producing oil I think.

fingers crossed this works otherwise I'm giving up!

15-20% of ex-racing greyhounds are cat-trainable. A much higher percentage in the failed racers are as well.

Our greyhound is fab . Never chewed as a puppy. Yes quite lazy but he is 12 years old now. He does like his " bed" to retire to. We have a full house, 4 children, oldest is 14. Brilliant dogs

We have guinea pigs. Following advice on here when we introduced them and they went to live in their garden hutch (about 6mo in as the piggies winter upstairs in our house and the dog is a downstairs only dog) as soon as he even looked at them I squirted him with a water squirter.

He doesn't even glance at them now. Even when he's barking at something they just sit there fatly looking at him from just inside the wire. I don't let the children handle them when he's around and I'd never leave him with them in an unsecured pen.

Not all dogs will be as adaptable as this and some will be more so.

Thank you everyone, Fifties your two are beautiful I loved the one where he is on his back -definitely my kind of dog!! It has given me hope that we will be able to possibly rehome a feline friendly greyhound in the near future...now the only challenge is getting dh to agree to it!!!

Roger I managed to persuade my DP we needed a greyhound. I have a few threads on it actually. He went from telling me to fuck off when I first suggested it to "Fiiiiiiiine, we'll get a greyhound if you'll just shut up about it!" and then to "Come here Sprocket! Who wants a cuddle? Oh you are a good boy aren't you? Yes you are! Oh you're so cute!" etc etc.

Long story short, he's gone from hating to loving!

i will start chipping away at him straight away - I give him 6 months maximum!!!

Have already drawn his attention to 'Vinnie' & 'Lenny' on the GRWE site :o

:o

You should come over to the new pointy cushion :) think I mentioned it earlier on this thread?

I will seek it out! Thanks for all your advice.

No problem, make sure you do come over, there's lovely people on there who are way more experienced than me with pointies :)