Questions about a rescue lurcher/greyhound

[Flippetydip]

Hello - we have been considering getting a dog for ages and ages. We still won't be able to have one until after August this year as we're going on holiday and wouldn't want to have to put one in kennels when we've only just got one. We were thinking of a terrier as they are "small" but I'm not sure about the recall issues.

I have now started thinking along the lines of a rescue lurcher (I grew up with a large deerhound x lurcher so am very biased) or even potentially a greyhound, although DH will take some persuading on this.

So my ream of questions.

DS 8 and DD 6 - should be old enough now for a dog I think. We live in a suburban setting, albeit within 20 minutes drive of a large moor (so could do long walks at the weekends) but in all reality would only be able to manage an hour walk a day (30 mins morning, 30 evening). Would this be enough for a lurcher? I guess that probably depends on the mix of breeds but in general....

Is it a risk getting a rescue dog with small children? Would we be better with a puppy?

I run; would a lurcher be able to run with me in a town setting (i.e. on pavement)? I assume a greyhound would not?

We live in a medium size house but not massive. DH is worried that a greyhound would feel too big. Thoughts?

I work from home but there will be occasions when the dog would be left for a few hours. Are these breeds suitable for this? Again, I'm sure this depends on the dog, but as a general rule?

If you've got this far, thank you :) I am quite excited about the whole idea but don't want to go into it half-cocked.

Following....in a similar situation to you!

Wow,lots of questions there
We have previously had an ex racing,rescue greyhound & now have a rescue lurcher ( not sure of mix,possibly saluki/greyhound?)

Our lurcher has 2 x 30-60 minute walks a day,one very early in the morning & then one at about 2ish.We are now able to let her off & are lucky as we have lots of open fields across & behind our house.She LOVES to run (& chase our JRT) & I feel this definitely tires her out.
We have 2 children,1 who is 16,so thats ok but our other daughter (9) has special needs,so we were worried how that would go.DDog is wonderful with her,very patient & gentle & I think this is true of most lurchers,but rescues usually say if the dog is good with children.Lurchers do have a tendency to jump up (in a playful,affectionate way) & are big dogs,so could knock small children over easily.So thats worth bearing in mind.

Not sure about the running aspect,sighthounds although having good recall are mostly in a little world of there own,so may not stick to your side when running & if they see something small & furry,may bolt.This is especially true of ex racers.

House size is not a problem,sighthounds,large or small will happily fir into any space,as long as they have a comfy bed (your sofa/bed) to curl up on.

We leave our lurcher home alone,no longer than 3 hours & she is always fine,BUT beware of the fact that (& I have found that lurchers are far worse than greys over this) they will counter surf,open cupboards ( we have a child lock on the bin cupboard)& search out ANYTHING that is remotely edible.Even the compost bin is not safe.The other morning I came down to find the fruit bowl on the floor & she was asleep with an untouched orange!!!!!We have to put food up high or in high cupboards or the fridge.She ate DH's tea last week off the window ledge,a steak & kidney pie & croquette potatoes!!!

But they are adorable dogs & I couldn't be without one

I have a rescue lurcher - we got her when DS was 7. She's been a dream (OK, apart from the fact she was 2.5 and had never been in a house and was therefore not housetrained, but we got over that). Yes, an hour week days would be fine (based on mine), particularly if you can get somewhere where you can have some off-lead time. Mine would be very happy to run with you.

Some lurchers curl up smaller than others so space would not normally be a problem.

Lots of places with lurchers do get lurcher puppies so of course this would be fine, but I wouldn't discount an older dog if you get it from a reputable rescue that knows their dogs and would consider perhaps a foster stay initially until you found out whether you were the right home for the dog...

We inherited a 7.5 yo terrier (border) after we'd had the lurcher for a year or so. She is so much more hard work than the lurcher!

Thanks both - lots of positives there :)

Mistle that's really interesting - we were seriously considering a border terrier before we stumbled on this idea. Chickens I did laugh at the eaten dinner but probably wouldn't have had it been mine!

Definitely there are parks (and an enclosed field behind us) where we could have off-the-lead time. All sounding good so far....

Philpot let me know how your search goes! Where are you looking so far?

I was befriended by the sweetest little lurcher yesterday, looked like a collie whippet. He was having a lovely play with my dogs when I heard a whistle and he turned on his heel and ran back to his owner - it was very impressive! and quite lucky he had good recall or he would have come home with me

My lurchers love running with me - on lead, or off lead in the woods (where they zoom off and run back to me, repeating at frequent intervals). They like going mountain biking too which follows the same pattern!
OTOH, on wet days they aren't bothered, and many week days they get a quick walk twice a day and are fine.
Ours are happy to be left for 4 hours, and all day if someone pops in to let them out - obv I wouldn't do this everyday though. I work from home and they spend the vast majority of the day asleep.

DS was 6 when we got ddog1 who was 6 months old at the time, and it was great timing.

As the dogs aren't under your feet, it doesn't feel like they are as large as they are somehow. My friends JRT and chi are much more in your face and fill the house more.

With children, I would def recommend rehoming via a rescue who foster their dogs as the fosterers have a better chance of knowing what the dogs are really like. I foster for EGLR, and the pups with me go out in the car, to the park, into town and have to put up with children and cats in the house - all things they'd never see or do in kennels

@Ilovecaindingle has a gorgeous lurcher up for rescue and can probably advise....:

CMOT I remember you from the running threads - I think I was under another name there - lost my log-in and password - doh. What's the deal with running dogs on pavement? I've always heard that it's bad to run dogs at a constant speed which would happen if they were on a lead on the road. Any views on this?

I'm currently training for a marathon so am doing 15-odd miles on my long runs. I assume this is not recommended?!

I will show DH this thread, particularly with the reference to terriers being more underfoot than big dogs.

I know this is all a bit premature as I don't feel we can home one until after the hols but still - it's very exciting!

Hello!! Felt my ears burning!! Our handsome boy is just what you have dreamed of I promise you!!

He looks adorable!! Don't tempt me - we're not ready yet! (Unless you want him back for the holidays :))

For my lurchers, running with me is not really running tbh, they sort of bounce along at something like a trot which seems totally effortless. My top sprinting speed might just prompt them into a slow run for a bit. With both of them I built up their distance, and they have never shown any tiredness at all after 10km. I don't usually do more than 14k with them on lead, but thats only as I get fed up of wee/sniff stops and my long run route is on the side of a busy road all the way.
We do a bike trail sometimes thats 10 miles and they do get tired after that, but thats because its a lot faster and they still do twice the distance

We are currently doing a star chart for him to socialise him more with other dogs and new environments. . He is great with my 3 dogs and kids but long-term there is better than staying with us!! We haven't really time for another dog as it is but keen to find him a family forever home as he really is a lovely dog. And being bullied by mn to keep him also!!

Where are you Ilove? We're in the far South West.

Looking at Evesham rescue and hounds first - they had a sweet terrier lurcher!? Good compromise!? Ideally a pup of 5/6 mths ish.
We aren't getting anything quite yet.....

Just be mindful that the lurcher is likely to inherit some traits from its breeding - so if you get a terrier/whippet you could well get something that has a terrier nature... and saluki lurchers will have saluki traits etc.

I agree with CMot - my lurcher just trots at different speeds and manages about 2 strides of 'run' if I sprint and then reverts to a trot which is effortless.

mistle yes, let's not get ideas above ourselves here - my speed is really nothing to be reckoned with so frankly unless I was running with a pug, they'd probably just walk at normal speed .

Yes I did think that with lurchers about inheriting breed traits. If truth be told, I don't want a wildly intelligent dog, just one who can be obedient and enjoy life, so probably anything with collie is out for us!

My lurcher definitely doesn't have collie in her. I was at agility with her last night and at times you could see the cogs working.. and I couldn't go on with that exercise too long as she was wearing her brain cell out. We think she's something like 1/2 greyhound with a bit of deerhound and bedlington and possibly a shot of Shepherd in there somewhere - mainly around the ears but certainly not brain wise. And, yes, we're glad we didn't get a collie cross.

mistle how big is your lurcher. DH is slightly concerned about size in our house.

Lurchers can vary in size.Ours is about the size of a big greyhound,but you can get ones a lot smaller.Our intention was to get a whippet sized sighthound but we fell in love with a big one!!

Our lurcher is not a 'normal' shape for a lurcher - they tend to be roughly the same length from collar to top of tail as they are to the shoulder (TTS). Ours is just under 23" tts, but 27" long. So when lurchers are split into two classes she just fits into the smaller one - but she doesn't feel like a small dog! She does curl up quite small - but can also occupy the whole length of the sofa if she stretches out!