greyhound/whippet/lurcher owners

[lurcherlieber]

Ill try to keep this brief as i tend to ramble.

Our beloved lurcher had been ill for some time but went seriously downhill with the arrival of our DD 8 months ago. The crying stressed her out so much and I think it was a large factor in the worsening of her condition. We had to have her put to sleep last tuesday.

It is very soon and we are nowhere near ready but weve already started to research our next dog in preparation for when we are ready to trawl the dog homes.

We would love a greyhound/whippet/lurcher but are worried that our home wont be suitable as they may find a baby too stressful.

Am i being silly? Could anybody please share their experience of having a sighthound with a baby in the house? Should we look at getting a puppy so its not so stressful?

TIA

Pop over to the Pointy Hounds Cushion thread.

We're all sighthound owners on there and have children of varying ages. I know there are a couple of people who took on retired greyhounds when they had babies and they would probably be able to offer you some advice.

My experience is taking on Lurcherboy when he was 16 weeks old. He's deerhound/saluki x greyhound/border collie and I had both an 18 month old and almost 4 year old when he came to live with us. He is the best dog we've ever had around children, loves them to bits and is really careful to be gentle around them, despite being a big lump of a thing (pic on profile). I currently have ds1 who is 11 and has ASD, ds2 who is 9 and dd who is 4. Lurcherboy will be 8 in November and didn't bat an eyelid when dd was born 4 and half years ago, whereas my Soft Coated Wheaten bitch, who was elderly when dd was born, wasn't at all happy.

In your position, I would approach some of the reputable sighthound rescue charities. Most of them will assess your cirumstances and match you to a dog or dogs that best suit your specific needs. Many of them rehome nationally. My boy came from Lurcher Link and I have a great deal of respect for Evesham Greyhound and Lurcher Rescue as well, but there are other people, some of whom are involved with rescue themselves, on the Pointy thread that can suggest more.

Personally, I have found many lurchers to be ideal family dogs, patient, steady and calm in the home, but fun and full of energy when required as well, but a lot can depend on the mix and background of the individual dog. Which is why it's so fantastic that we have such great rescue organisations who can advise us.

In fact, we're so sure that Lurchers are the best, that we picked up our new rescue lurcher pup this weekend! (Pics on profile.) We lost our old border collie x belgian shepherd in April this year and there was never really any other choice for us than another lurcher, when we realised how much Lurcherboy was grieving and missing having a friend to play with.

My lurcher came from EGLR, and as their dogs are all fostered, they really know what they are like with cats/children/other dogs.
Ours is a failed hare courser, so was 6 months when we got him which meant he was old enough to get house trained very quickly, wasn't too mad, and could go out. Nothing worries him, and he is fabulous with children.

Thank you both for your replies they are very helpful (and hopeful!). I saw the pointy hounds cushion thread mamamoose but i didnt want to hijack it. Thank you though i may pop along to interrogate you all soon!

Your messages have seriously cheered me up no end. Home isnt the same without a dog!

Have faith Lurcher! Our DD was 7.5 months old when we got our Greyhound, he's been great :) DD was 2 in June. When we adopted him he was fine, he ignored DD and it's only recently that he's 'noticed' her iyswim?

But yes, please do visit the pointy thread. Don't worry about hijacking it, it's impossible to hijack as it's there for people to ask for help/advice :)

Pops head up but heads back over to the cushion - its more comfortable