Retired greyhounds: questions before committing!

[luckylambchop]

Hi all

We saw 3 lovely dogs at the RGT today, with one unanimous favourite. We have a cat and three chickens and the dogs they showed us had not been cat tested, but were chosen for their temperaments and their likelihood of being successfully cat trained.

After going away and chatting about it we are all agreed we want to apply to adopt our favourite, we haven't had a home check yet so will have to have that of course. This will be our first dog so I'm keen not to make any mistakes! Therefore, can you think of any questions I should be asking at this stage, before taking the leap?

Thanks in advance!

My one question before you commit is more about your cat than the dog tbh - is it a skittery cat or the type that will just give anything it doesn't like the evils? We have two lurchers, 3 cats until recently (alas one has died) and 3 chickens. Evilgingercat has never had a seconds trouble with the dogs, another has mostly ignored them, but the third moved everywhere at 100 miles an hour and the dogs did tend to just run after her because it was so tempting. No harm ever came to the cat, but it was a lot of 'Leave IT'.
We have a baby gate on the kitchen to allow the cats to eat in peace and so they could go in and out without a dog being there.
The dogs are crated at night, and the chickens (who have the freedom of the garden) do have a run they can go into if the dogs are running round at speed. We used to shut the chickens in there when the dogs were out until we were sure all was well

Thanks guys. CMOT, to answer your question, she isn't a skittery cat but will calmly make herself scarce when uncomfortable. I imagine her spending some time upstairs after the dog arrives and we may well get a stair gate so that only she can get up there. For night time we are thinking we'll do as you do and have a crate for the dog, but I hope that will be temporary.

I'm not sure what to do about eating tbh. I hadn't realised that might be an issue. We don't have a kitchen door as such so no option for a stair gate there, but I usually feed the cat as soon as I get up at 6.15, so do you think it would be feasible to delay letting the dog out of the crate until after the cat has eaten?

Anyhoo. As my DH said, "we will make it work". I just need to make sure I am going into it with my eyes wide open.

My mum keeps cats and retired greyhounds. Keep them muzzled while you home test and your cat will be safe, you just need to find the right one! Like all dogs there is variety within a breed but my mums prefer sleeping to chasing- my terrier is far worse

Also can't you just feed your cat on a high surface with the bowl pushed back far enough for the dog to not reach? I know some say its gross to feed cats on a worktop but if you disinfect and their bums not on your plate i dont see the issue

If it doesn't work out with the dogs you like try Birmingham Greyhound Rescue. The lady that runs it tries her best to match a dog for the situation.

Lol at putting the cat food on the work top "out of reach". Be prepared for work tops to no longer be somewhere "out o reach".

I have a cat friendly rescue greyhound. She's bloody lovely. Was so patient with my DS who has autism - he didn't stroke her for a year and she never bothers him, it's like she gets it. She does love him though and always walks protectively near him on walks.

Def be sure of cat testing. Mine has zero prey drive, and excellent recall, which I know I am lucky with.

our cats have always been fed up high...it's the only way to keep the dogs out. Cat food is irresistible to them. As is the resulting cat poo. ...disgusting beasts.

we haven't got grey hounds though....it's somethign we have talked about for the next dogface.

The cat temperament is really important, we have two gsd's, both very trustworthy, but one finds a scooting cat almost impossible to ignore....and the cat that likes to scoot knows it is the one way to give the dog into trouble. Having had a skitter about the kitchen she likes to jump onto the kitchen chair and beat the living daylights out of the dog through the chair back....he never learns.

Thought I'd join your thread seeing as we bought our retired greyhound home from an RGT branch today .

As you know, we have a cat too so it took a little while to get a match but not as long as we thought. We've put our cats food in the downstairs toilet and he'll be fed in there from now on. I hope, as he has now been missing for two days, he's done a day and half disappearance before but I knew he'd be home, I feel a bit different this time and have a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach . I feel a bit sick writing that.

But back onto the subject, our lovely grey has fit right in, she's currently snoring in her crate and went straight to the toilet outside when we took her both times. Fab girl. I think this is the start of something good .

I hope it all goes well for you too.

Well we have just been given the go ahead and can collect him whenever we are ready. So excited!