Greyhounds and chow chows

[BettyFrillyKnickers]

I have an 18 mth old female chow chow. She is lovely and had her since a pup. Very docile and lazy. Likes a short walk and then sleep the rest of the day. Happy to be left while I'm at work p/t. (dog walker comes in at lunchtime). Good with my preschool DC.

I worry she is lonely and needs the company of another dog. She doesn't really crave human company, such is the independence of the breed and part of the reason I chose it.

I'm thinking the temperament of a retired greyhound would be suitable as in they are laid back, used to being left and quite lazy.

My chow has a prey drive so chases our cat if the cat runs. Cat is stressed and needs rehoming but I know this is very difficult. I think I would wait until I've sorted out the cat before I got another dog.

My chow doesn't go off lead because her recall is poor. She socialises with other dogs at classes but never gets a chance to play with them. She shows dominance but not aggression. E.g. puts her paw on them. She is not very playful with humans. I'd like her to have the chance to be a dog playing with another dog.

I absolutely love greyhounds. Always wanted one. House is small though. I'd have to get rid of some furniture!

I'm wondering if anyone has had experience of chows and Greyhounds together? I dont subscribe to the premise that chows are always aggressive and mine certainly isn't. I am thinking about the thin skin I've read about on greyhounds. Does this mean they can't rough house with other dogs?

I guess I've got to go to a rehoming centre and see really. But at this stage I want to do as much research as I can to scope out the compatibility. And also not sure whether to get a male or female. I've read thst 2 females are more likely not to get on.

My DC are never left alone with the dog or with any other dog. That is just common sense. We use stairgates everywhere. Gosh, would a greyhound jump over them?

Sorry for the tome.

How old is the poor cat ? The only experience I have of chow is the one that lives nearby but he sounds very different to yours as he gets 3 long walks a day , he also never goes off lead but because he is dog aggressive ( doesn't bark though) , he only likes humans that live with him and is apparently very loving . This family are on their 3rd chow and they've all had the same temperament so I wouldn't imagine they were generally very good living with other dogs .

Greyhounds are lovely, but in my experience they only ever play 'properly' with other greyhounds. Mine had the idea that playing involved running in huge circles with each other. They'd meet another friendly dog who would do the usual sniffing and then a playbow, they think 'great, time to play' and race off at top speed, leaving the poor other dog stood there on his own, wondering where his playmates had gone.

I'm sure people have other experiences, but that is what I've seen from mine and their friends at the park.

Was the cat there first? If so, surely you should be looking at rehoming the chow

Greyhounds don't usually play in the way you mean, they play by chasing.

Logistically you'd have a few things to work out, do you have space to separate the dogs while you're out?
Greys usually have dodgy recall and a high prey drive as well, but, they also need space to run - how's that going to fit in with your current dog?

I'm also a bit about rehoming the cat tbh.

eh?

your dog isn't very friendly op - hence you re-homing the cat :)

how on earth is getting another dog in the mix going to end well?

My greyhounds do play with lots of other breeds but reserve the high intensity chasing for each other and fast dogs.

You do have to be careful if your chow is a bit nippy as a playful bite can result in a tear and stitches if they're going at top speed.

Most greyhounds are ex racers though and have not met other breeds of dogs before. They also have no recall and high prey drive.
One of the key things you need to do is socialise them well with other breeds and train a hard recall.

As you have yet to manage this with your chow, it seems unlikely you could do this with an ex racer.
I think, at best, you'd end up with two dogs who couldn't be let off to play.
At worst, the grey would see other dogs as something to hunt and your Chow would merrily join in!

From what I know of chows they are often very good pups and then a totally different story as they get towards adulthood (sorry), I don't think they mix well living with any other animals. Greyhounds can be aloof at the best of times so I think you could easily end up with two very dominant, cantankerous dogs in your house. I think you've got a lot on your hands having very young kids and a chow as it is, nevermind the cat. Greyhounds tend to prefer older kids too, in my experience of ours they like to be left to laze around in a peaceful environment with the odd zoom around. Definitely no rough house playing. You'd most likely end up with them in a fight if your chow tried. Greyhounds also tend to suffer terribly with separation anxiety, so your plans to leave them might not quite work out. In fact as much as I love them, taking in a retired greyhound takes so much time and work, they often need full house training, etc and have never really known other breeds. Even things like patio doors, stairs, vacuums, toys, pretty much everything is a mystery to them. It can be a slog training a fully grown dog. I'm sorry I think it's a total mismatch. You should probably sort the poor cat, and wait until your kids and your chow are older until you add anything else to the mix.

Um...i wasn't asking for advice or judgment on the cat situation. Said cat was foisted on us by a family member a few years ago. We never sought her out. She is lovely and deserves better than her current situation. Since we got the dog as a tiny puppy we expected the dog to be happy with or tolerate the cat. Cat has lived with dogs in the past in another home but she didn't take to the puppy who in turn chases her for fun. It's not fun for the cat. Our local rescues are full and reluctant to rehome new older cats. They were very unhelpful. Not sure what their job is then .

Thanks for the helpful replies here. I wanted to hear from actual greyhound and chow owners, not what people have heard about the breeds. My chow was the opposite getoff , a very challenging pup and teenager but has settled down now into a lovely calm grown up dog. Thanks for your insight into greys. I am still doing my homework. I've adopted rescue dogs and socialised puppies several times in the past so have a little understanding of the work involved. A gangling giraffe dog is new to me!

I definitely wouldn't be adding another dog with the potential for very high prey drive when your existing dog is already having issues with your cat.

Even properly cat tested greyhounds might not be trustworthy if there's another dog in the house who chases the cat. Sighthounds tend to chase first and ask questions later, plus they also love running with other dogs so however fine a greyhound apparently is with cats it's very easy for them to get caught up in the moment when there's another dog giving chase.

Your chow is still young, especially as chows tend to be very slow to mature, so she could well get increasingly serious about chasing the cat. You need to make sure as much as possible that she doesn't get the opportunity to chase by keeping them completely separated when you can and using a house line on your dog when you can't. You also need to make sure your cat has completely safe areas which cannot be accessed by the dog that she can always get to in case your dog does manage to chase her.

It's also worth bearing in mind that sighthounds don't always play in ways that are received well by other types of dog. They can be surprisingly thuggish and play is usually goading other dogs into chasing them or running so they can then pretend to "course" them, including neck/shoulder biting to bring them down. "Bitey face" is also very popular which again, isn't always appreciated by some dogs. Some greyhounds aren't very playful at all and given how aloof chows tend to be you could easily end up with two dogs who don't mind living together but equally aren't that interested in each other either.

I explained that I would not get another dog while I still have the cat. I'm managing the situation now by separating them. Cat lives mainly upstairs with some high places downstairs to escape to and feel safe. Dog lives only downstairs. Its not great though. Anyway this thread is not about the Cat!

Thanks for the info on play. It's interesting. My chow likes to chase and mouth (ie not bite hard just play biting) when playing but she is quite gentle and it's clearly a game and reciprocated by the other dog. I have never seen greyhounds playing together. I will Google some videos.

The rescue I contacted are careful about how they introduce an existing dog with a greyhound to test their compatibility and temperaments before they let you take a dog home. Which is very sensible I think. I can go and visit and walk the dogs first so see which one I get on with then later on bring my dog too for introductions.