Thinking of getting a greyhound- any advice out there?

[joystir59]

We are in the process of moving to very dog friendly Scarborough, with a permanent area of beach for dogs, as well as parks and the countryside. almost everyone has a dog and we are really looking forward to getting out own beloved pet. We are late fifties, fit and active, but have elderly frail Mum living with us- also a dog lover but not up to much boisterousness. we are thinking that a greyhound could be the answer as they seem to be calm dogs in doors, would be good for long walks on the lead and regular off lead gallops along the beach. Any advice from greyhound lovers out there would be gratefully received- particularly anyone who has taken on a rescue/retired greyhound- what are the pros and cons

also- we are moving to a house which has a small lawned back garden

There are a huge number of threads on here about the joys of owning greyhounds - quick search will bring them up.

You are right that they are calm indoors and slightly counterintuitively, a larger dog such as a grey can be very good if you have someone frail or unsteady on their feet around - they don't literally get under your feet like a chihuahua or a yorkie, for instance.

There are a number of greyhound rescues in Yorkshire - have a look at their FB pages and websites. Most greyhound rescues organise regular walks and meet n greets where you can come along, meet greys already adopted and ones waiting for a home, ask questions etc in a nice non pressured environment.

Small back garden no problem - but most rescues will insist (quite rightly) that it's fenced securely to at least 6ft. They will pick up on this at a homecheck and good ones will simply not proceed with an adoption until they can see it's sorted, so worth getting that done now, if it needs any work.

My advice would be to get one! We've only had ours for a couple of months but we wouldn't change him for the world. He's lying on his bed now snoozing (actually just popped his head up because DH went in the kitchen and opened the fridge!). He's affectionate, lovely to walk and friendly with other dogs. Bad points, he's very prey driven so will suddenly go deaf if he sees a squirrel but we're working on it! Do it, they're ace ☺

The only other thing I'd say is don't buy too much into the two 20 minute walks a day thing that often gets bandied around about greyhounds. Obviously they're all different but ours gets well over twice that and whilst he'd probably be happy with a little less, 40 minutes a day definitely wouldn't cut it!

Thank you for all the encouraging and helpful posts- everything I hear about this beautiful breed of dog feels good and right. I've read elsewhere that Greyhounds fart a lot- is this true for your's Boynamedsue?

He did when we first got him, and they were as potent as everyone says! He's settled with his food now though and I'm pleased to say that he's pretty much fart free! (Or we've become immune to it, unlikely tho, they really were grim!) We have him on a wheat free diet which really made a difference.

Another thing I love (sorry I'll shut up after this, bit obsesssed still!) is the noises they make, the satisfied 'ah I'm on my comfy bed (or better still your comfy bed )' grunt, usually followed by a deep satisfied sigh. Just lovely

Boynamedsue He sounds lovely and you are clearly very delighted with him. I'd love to see a pic if you have any. We are so looking forward to having a canine companion of our own

Here he is when he decided to lie in a muddy puddle after a good run. What's not to love?!

Advice? Do it! Greyhounds are gorgeous and sound like they would really suit you. I would have an ex racer or three in a heartbeat but we have cats and kids. After much soul searching we bought a pup.

Boy x post. Those eyes!!! Gorgeous. Don't they just melt your heart?!

Ohh lovely dogs. We had one. The walk thing is individual, ours HATED going for walks and would refuse to go past the end of the drive if he didn't feel up to it. He was also appalling off the lead and had no recoil whatsoever. Also a terrible thief (standard for a grey!) and cost a fortune in dental treatment. Oh and do not get one if you have a cat! Ours passed his cat test but was NOT cat proof.

They are the most lovely, kind and comical dogs. They adore the sofa and make wonderful companions.

Hes usually much cleaner though! Good luck finding your canine companion, they really are lovely.

greyhounds are just wonderfull dogs and often in rescues. I love them. It is a bit of a fallacy that they need lots of exercise but it sounds just about perfect what you describe.

They are a bit thin skinned and ptone to tears so avoid letting it disappear inyo bushes etc.

Good luck -one of my favourite breeds

Here is our beautiful tiger - she will be 14 in July.

And our new boy.

My sister has had one for 2 months. She is a lovely dog. Usually very quiet, quite nervous but has a funny half hour where she had to bounce around for a while. They have quite a large enclosed garden that she uses as a racetrack. She does like chewing things though and has eaten the buttons off a cardigan, likes to shred the newspaper and yesterday chomped my dad's phone! She also likes collecting bath mats, which is very weird but hilarious.
She's good on the lead but has no recall at all so they haven't let her off yet

Oh my goodness my heart just melts at these lovely photos- your dogs are so beautiful and thank you so much for sharing! Boy and Scuttle

I've read that you must always keep them on a lead unless in a fenced enclosure- what would you say about this anyone?

I think it depends on the dog, so far I can't imagine letting ours off anywhere other than the secure field we take him to but I've met plenty of other grey owners who have perfect recall with their dogs.

I posted recently asking similar questions and got some helpful answers so have might be worth a search. I think the ex racers have a higher prey drive as they've obviously been trained. Long lines or hiring a riding school/fenced fields in the early days sounds a good option. We have been thinking about a lurcher too as another option which are often in rescues.

My ex racer is cat tolerant. Our cat is dog savvy and lives upstairs where the dogs aren't allowed but the dog doesn't even react when we see one out and about. My lurcher definitely isn't and that is why the cat is so dog savvy!

Recall is a work in progress but really improved over the year we have had her, she really isn't a 20 mins twice a day type of dog either and always fancies a long walk.

We had a special milestone today - our new boy had his first proper off lead zoomie on the beach. He had a whale of a time and it was a joy to see him so happy. What was particularly lovely was also how much pleasure it brought to our little lurcher and our other greyhound girl - finally they could all play together!

Would just add - we were warned about using a long line on ours. Apparently if they run and suddenly hit the limit of it then it can cause serious neck injuries. Recall wise, you could be 3 foot away from Archie shouting his name and he just wouldn't click that he was being called!

Would just add - we were warned about using a long line on ours. Apparently if they run and suddenly hit the limit of it then it can cause serious neck injuries. Recall wise, you could be 3 foot away from Archie shouting his name and he just wouldn't click that he was being called!