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

Accept that your sofa will also be their sofa, that they have bladders that can wait until the rain stops and that you can never leave the Sunday joint out to rest!

Ours took a couple of months to settle in, and then he was a dream. He shredded the post once, and used to collect hats and tea towels. He once got my mobile phone out of my bag and chewed it, and I found my purse tucked in the corner of his bed (after I was convinced I'd been pick pocketed). After that though he was pretty reliable, until it came to food. I've lost a number of jacket pockets to greyhound teeth after I've left the coat on the banister with a dog biscuit in the pocket and then gone out. He was also a heat seeking missile if he thought I'd gone out and left the door to my bedroom open so he could get on my bed.

He learned by osmosis - you couldn't do a training session with him and think that he'd learnt anything, he picked things up from years of repitition - standing nicely while I put his harness on, coming when called (nosiness combined with food obsession made that relatively simple) and he even learned things like 'this way' while out on walks. His general behaviour was good anyway so anything we had to teach him was just preference rather than necessity.

We had a fleece harness for him as they can slip out of their collars due to big necks and small heads (and brains!) - ours wasn't from here but cosydogs.com seem to have the same ones. We walked him on a flexi lead with that as he loved to meander about but lots of places aren't suitable for them to be off lead. We kept our wits about us and never had any problems using a flexi lead although caution is advised.

He was such a friendly boy - dogs, people, children.... anyone except for cats and squirrels really. I miss him massively and would have another grey in a heartbeat.