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The doghouse

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Original poster

Retired greyhounds

26 replies

Penguinotterfoxbadger · 07/03/2015 07:26

Thank you to everyone who replied to my other thread re getting an older rescue vs a puppy.

Quite a few people recommended getting a retired greyhound and I wonder if you would be so kind as to tell me a bit more..

Specifically, how do you find their recall? We will live near a big area of open ground and would love to let the dog off lead to have a good run. If this is not possible how do you ensure they get enough exercise?

On a related note, do you muzzle them when out? Having grown up with a dog in the country my initial thought is that it is totally natural and fine for them to chase rabbits, but then our dog was never fast enough to catch them! And God forbid it chased and caught a small dog Shock.

Any ideas?

Thanks again guys

OP posts:
PacificDogwood · 07/03/2015 07:36

Well, I am not expert and have only lived with a GH for 2 weeks Grin but here goes:

I know GHs with excellent recall who walk/run without leads - one belongs to a man in a wheelchair and his grey behaves like any other dog: goes off sniffing in the undergrowth, head up/ears pricked if he sees/hears anything, but always returns to his master to 'check up' on him and has immediate and very reliable recall.
I concede he is an exception.
There are many greys that will be let off lead when in the countryside here (West of Scotland), they are not usually interested in sheep and anything else is fair game.

I have only let mine off in an enclosed dog-run area yesterday and it was a joy to see him fly Shock - so, so fast!! He did a few laps with a GH buddy and then slept the rest of the day.
They do NOT need a lot of exercise - he will stand at the backdoor and give me The Look when I want/need to go out and he does not feel the need to Grin.

I am going to work on recall - maybe with a long training lead and see how I get on.

Oh, re prey drive: it so depends on the individual dog. Some will chase anything and everything, others won't. I take mine out with a muzzle a. because it's a condition of his insurance as long as we are technically fostering him (we are hoping to keep him) and b. I don't want the stress. So far, he has been v sociably with larger breeds, he does react to smaller white fluffy dogs but more in a 'what on earth is that?' kind of way rather than aggressively - not that he is getting a chance to be nasty to them.

My advice would be to meet lots of dogs, walk them if you can and find the right dog for you - you'll know when it happens. Oh, and yes, go with a rescue that fosters their dogs - this means you'll get a good idea what they re like with kids/household appliances/stairs/other pets/house training etc etc - we will most definitely foster again Smile

There are very experienced pointy owners around - I am sure they'll have more advice.

thoughtsbecomethings · 07/03/2015 07:41

My Dm had a greyhound but sadly she died last year. She loved her walks but would never craze to go out. She was good off the lead unless she saw a bunny and then she was blinkered and would only come back after much coaxing. But she lived with cats and I had rabbits which had the run of the garden and she would lay in the garden with the rabbits running around her!
She was a beautiful gently dogGrin

Original poster
Penguinotterfoxbadger · 07/03/2015 19:35

Bump for the evening traffic..

OP posts:
Bambinho · 07/03/2015 20:48

Also interested in this and cat compatibility. Come on all you greyhound evangelists!

Irelephant · 07/03/2015 20:59

My dad has a bull greyhound that was mistreated and used for lamping (poaching)

He won't let him of the lead. He says he wouldn't trust him not to go for local sheep. He's made a bolt for a deer before.

The dogs fine with the other dogs and cats in the house. I imagine a lot of it's to do with what they've been brought up with.

PacificDogwood · 07/03/2015 21:04

Don't talk to me about cat compatibility!!

Our foster greyhound passed his 'cat test' with flying colours this morning - which is a bummer because we wanted to keep him and now he is going to a family with cats Sad
He's reactive with small white fluffy dogs though even though he was never raced, I don't think.

We are now looking at other young unraced greys, hoping that their natural prey drive will be less pronounced if they were never trained to race.

BumgrapesofWrath · 07/03/2015 21:07

We had a retired greyhound for a short while.

We were told to NEVER let it off the lead, as they are sighthounds, and if they see something they will just run. As they can reach quite high speeds there is the danger, not just of killing other animals, but seriously hurting themselves should they crash into a wall/fence.

I know a lot of people recommend retired greyhounds, but I will tell you I found it very hard work. They aren't used to houses so you have the house-training issue, and all the other issues you have when they aren't used to a domestic setting. Ours was very quiet, and didn't want to interract with us, and apparently this can be normal after a life spent in kennels with minimal human interaction.

Think about it long and hard. With the benefit of hindsight, a puppy would have been much easier than a retired greyhound (though nobody told us this)

PacificDogwood · 07/03/2015 21:10

I think how you 'gel' with a retired greyhound very much depends on the individual dog, Bump - ours was/is great fun and was wonderful with the kids.
Yes, he had to learn about stairs (was a bit like Bambi coming down) and there were some accidents in the house, also some chewing - just far, far less than with a puppy.

Also there are young and puppy GHs in rescues at times - or consider a whippet? Less large, therefore less 'barge' Smile

Mitzi50 · 07/03/2015 21:14

I have an ex racer - he is really loveable but not blessed with a great intellect. I've had him for 18months and his recall is very poor.

I have a staffie x who I let off the lead, but I do not let the greyhound off - he would chase any rabbits and I wouldbe worried that he would not come back. He has unfortunately caught several wild rabbits in our garden. Greyhounds do not actually need a lot of exercise. He seems happy with an hour's walk on the lead and another short walk. On the rare occasion I have not been able to walk him, he has not seemed particularly bothered.

He is fine with small dogs but is nervous of large bouncy dogs. I don't walk him in a muzzle. He is extremely gentle and is a pleasure to own and loves everybody,despite being found starving with several other ex racers.

The people at Greyhound Rescue were brilliant and helped us find a dog that suited our lifestyle. Good luck.

jasper · 07/03/2015 21:16

My sister's retired greyhound chased and killed a cat.
Attacked a small dog incurring a large vet bill for my sister

Mitzi50 · 07/03/2015 21:25

I've just read Bumgrapes post. We had no issues with house training at all - we used a crate for the first week and have had no accidents. He now loves people and is very affectionate. Greyhounds are a perfect height for stroking and when we have visitors, he does a sort of doggy dance as a greeting. He has never managed to learn how to do stairs.

Original poster
Penguinotterfoxbadger · 07/03/2015 21:25

Oh - so sad for you Pacific!

OP posts:
PacificDogwood · 07/03/2015 21:29

Aw, thank you - we will be fine, my boys are already choosing another greyhound online, fickle things that they are. But yes, I will be sad to see him go even though I know we did a Good Think for him.

Having seen him run yesterday in a fenced dog run area, I cannot see myself ever letting a greyhound off lead, but as others have said, he does not seem to be bothered by walking on lead and walks v nicely: no pulling at all.

jasper, how awful! Shock

Irelephant · 07/03/2015 21:45

So sorry pacific just read what you put. They pull on your heartstrings.

Your poor sister jasper I have a terrier who doesn't like other animals at all. He's always muzzled when walked as I just can't risk it. We once had a cat in the garden which i didn't see. If he wasn't old i have no doubt it would of been a goner. It's just their instincts.

sanityawol · 07/03/2015 21:57

We've had up to 3 retired greyhounds at a time... likely that we'll be down to one as of next week as our old boy is looking very ropey now.

Lovely lazy dogs that need surprisingly little exercise and are happiest upside down on the sofa doing toxic greyhound farts (which really are something else). All of ours were retired / rejected from racing kennels. All will / would chase anything small and fluffy given the chance so we kept them on leads for walks, but not muzzled. They're only off lead in our own enclosed field, and when they turn on the speed it's stunning. (There was, however, an 'interesting' experience when two of them caught a rabbit once).

From our dogs though, they don't really need to run to get enough exercise - an on-lead walk is enough for them.

Bambinho · 07/03/2015 22:04

This is making me a bit worried about my cats as it's obviously imperative I get a cat friendly one. The local greyhound rescue places cat test but not having any luck with suitable dogs being available as yet.

I was only planning on the dog going off lead (eventually) at the beach, is that a stupid idea?

Irelephant · 07/03/2015 22:10

No idea with the beach I'm afraid but my mam has five cats and the hound has never bother with them and they do run and play around them.

sanityawol · 07/03/2015 22:14

Bambinho we had an incident once when someone who was walking one of ours and 'knew about dogs' let her off the lead on the beach... being a sighthound she spotted something small running, decided to chase it and pissed off at full speed with no hope of calling her back. It turned out that the 'something small' was a jogger about half a mile away! She was the ex racer though.

Honestly, I wouldn't trust any of ours with cats and there have been some close calls when the neighbours cats visit the garden. (Although I'm obviously not speaking for all greyhounds, just ours)

awfulomission · 07/03/2015 22:17

Ours has an incredibly high prey drive. He's muzzled at all times off the lead, except of course on our land (middle of nowhere, just a couple of very savvy country cats who swerve us by miles). He'd go for fur or feather given half the chance and his recall's... well, there is none tbh.

The ex racers generally seem comfortable with the muzzle though, having used one all the time in their working lives. Ours doesn't bat an eyelid having it on.

Re. the house training. Ours is not the sharpest tool in the box but mastered it fast. They are not normally used to living in houses but they are largely crate/kennel trained and it's just a case of them extending their crate/kennel rules to the whole house.

jasper · 07/03/2015 23:30

the thing about my sister's dog is he was fine for the first few months!

BumgrapesofWrath · 07/03/2015 23:40

Interesting what people are saying about toilet training and having a crate - we never had a crate, and didn't y even consider one (and it wasn't recommended by the RGT) but I wonder if it would have made a difference.

awfulomission · 08/03/2015 07:16

We don't use a crate either. Largely because of the size of the ones we've had-it'd have to be the size of a caravan!

Whippet81 · 08/03/2015 10:19

Mine is he most loving, easy dog you could ever wish for.

He toilet trained within a day and I could count on one hand the accidents we have had in two years - and always when he hasn't felt too well.

He sleeps most of the day. He has a high prey drive and cannot be let off lead. I have a lot of friends who have ex-racers they do let off and I know ones that live with cats quite happily. I am a great believer that unless you can click your fingers and recall a dog instantly it should never be loose in a public place. I wouldn't be bothered about a wild rabbit but someone's pet poodle is a bit of a different matter - also you have the danger of them running blindly into something/onto a road.

Mine doesn't wear a muzzle but he stays on the lead - if someone lets their dog come at us and something happens that's their look out IMO (although he has never shown aggression towards anything stationary I just wouldn't trust him if he saw the opportunity to chase). A muzzle will not stop a greyhound killing something if they catch up with it - they will batter it with the muzzle.

Mine is happy with a twenty minute walk a day. He will go longer if we go on an arranged RGT walk etc. He is fabulous with my baby DS.

I have had lots of different breeds and my greyhound is by far the least high maintenance dog I've ever had. If you want an intelligent, trick performing dog that will play ball with you then they're not for you but most are very soppy, lazy and non-demanding. They can be neurotic, reactive and selectively deaf.

Why not think of fostering one to see what you think and not committing yourself to anything?

Mitzi50 · 08/03/2015 10:24

The crate was indeed huge and was bought specially. Its something like XXL as he obviously needed to be able to stand up and move around. It took up a large part of my kitchen. He wasn't phased by it and would go in quite happily - I am not sure how they travel to races maybe in something similar. It is now folded up in my garage collecting dust. He is very clean and reliably house trained so to my mind the cost and a week's inconvenience were well worth it.

yetwig · 08/03/2015 18:41

I have a rescue Greyhound that has never raced, I bought her home at eight weeks old. She's been by far the easiest dog I have owned, love her to bits. She's ten this year and still acts like a puppy lol lives with two cats and a small dog :) has in the past enjoyed agility and fly ball, has a 100% recall hardly leaves my side. I love her so much :)

I also have a Saluki cross whippet totally different kettle of fish very high prey drive, is scared of everything, muzzled when out but surprisingly has learnt to recall but this has taken 7 years to master, she will be eight this year lol I still have to watch her with my cats and never leave any of my four dogs alone with them, as not only sighthounds kill cats.

Over the years I have fostered Greyhounds it does depend on the dog and how its been trained. But Greyhounds do make great pets. I would have another one in a heart beat. Go for a dog that's been fostered in a home. I have found housetraining comes easily if you treat them like a puppy. Crates are great as it gives them a den to go into as and when they like.

GRWE normally have cat tested greyhounds in foster :) good luck with your search x

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