Any Greyhound owners around?

[blackgreyhound]

We are going to meet a little greyhound tomorrow who we are hoping to adopt. I've always wanted an ex-racer but because of our circumstances it wasn't really possible (old dog didn't like other dogs, have a cat, have small children) but I've found a young girl who was never raced as she doesn't have much of a chase drive.
Anyway, please tell me everything I need to know! I've done research of course but I don't know anyone who actually owns one. AS on here tells me they often sleep with their eyes open- is this common?
I've heard a bit about them having really sensitive stomachs and easily getting stomach upsets?
Also I see a lot of people in our local park with greys off lead, does anyone have one that can be off lead and if so how did you get there? (We're a loooong way off that, I know!)
Any other quirks/ common problems or issues you've experienced?
Thanks!

Currently dogsitting a greyhound while owner is ill which I know is not the same as long term ownership.

Been here two months and no upset stomachs yet although we're probably more careful than we ever were with our own dog. She's very sweet natured. Sleeps almost all the time - sometimes with her eyes open. Or maybe she's just thinking deeply. She'll come out for walks and doesn't seem too bothered about length but I do get the impression she'd be just as happy lying on our blanket (our own dog was very energetic and wanted walked all the time). She isn't bothered by other dogs but does get excited when she sees deer or squirrels. Haven't let her off her lead just incase one appears and she gets lost.

Overall very calm temperament. She doesn't get excited when you come into the room and I miss that - old dog would almost burst with joy when he saw you. (Maybe she just doesn't find us that interesting!)

On our second greyhound. No, they don't sleep with their eyes open - or at least ours haven't!

Sensitive stomachs - bloody hell I could write a book. First one was a nightmare all his life. Second one has been a lot easier to feed, but it has been trial and error to find a feed that suits her. We feed Dr Johns Silver, which is incredibly cost effective. She gets barely any meat, just a couple of spoonfuls to make the Dr Johns a bit more interesting. And the occasional tin of sardines (good for the coat). A lot of "supermarket" type foods may not be suitable. If you find that you do need to feed a specialist sensitive stomach food be aware that they are pricey!

Neither of them travelled well. I do wonder if this was because they were both seasoned racing dogs and so associated travel with the stress/excitement of racing. I am seriously considering a travel crate for current dog as she just WILL NOT settle in the car.

They are lovely gentle dogs, but neither could be trusted with small fast moving furry things (like cats). And I will never be able to let current dog off lead - her chasing instinct is hard wired. She goes ballistic if she spots a rabbit! We can take her to a nearby facility with a 10ft fence for some off lead time though, and our first dog had a massive garden.

Our first dog was the stereotypical greyhound couch potato. Current bitch is much, much more energetic and loves to play and loves long walks. They are all different, but I have heard that bitches are generally more playful than dogs.

Current bitch also digs the garden if not supervised. And is a bin raider. And chews paper. Well, chews most things actually.

But they are wonderful pets - they have the most gentle temperaments and if you get one of the laid back ones you really won't know they are there.

Our greyhound is our first ever dog and the best dog in the world

She was 3 years old when we adopted her 5 and a half years ago. Ex-racer.

She's very laid back but jumps about with excitement when she knows we're going for a walk. She's content with 2 x 20 minute walks per day (when time is tight) but also enjoys longer walks - especially in the Lake District 😊

She loves being driven around in the boot of the car (without the parcel shelf, of course) - we often have journeys of up to four hours and she's fine.

Food wise - she has low protein biscuits and cooked chicken. If you get a grund with a sensitive tummy you could try feeding them raw meat.

We started letting her off lead several months after we'd adopted her. There really is no rush as they're perfectly content to be on the leash. We started off in an enclosed paddock, then started to let her off in fields and parks but, like I said, we took our time. I would never walk along a road with her off lead.

She's also content to be left in the house for several hours as she just sleeps.

See, I told you she was the best dog ever 😀

Thank you for the replies!

Let us know how you get on!

Ooooh exciting! The most excited I've ever been as adult (including before our wedding!) was the week before we were going down to the greyhound sanctuary to meet and collect a rescue greyhound.

I would agree with greys being the best dogs ever. We've had ours for 9 months now and she is superb. Adapted really easily to life in a house.

Eyes-open sleeping - yes she does, and it's very unnerving particularly when she does it on her back with her head lolling off the sofa. She looks dead. She doesn't have sleep aggression (where they snap when disturbed) but I gather some of them do and I was very careful to warn the kids never to approach when she wasn't very definitely awake.

Sensitive stomach - meh - probably a bit but didn't show any signs of distress when she stole two - yes two - Victoria Sponges off the side (waiting to be taken to the church fete) or half a pound of butter. She's certainly better on one food than another and was very dicey after a lamb bone the other day but it's not catastrophic.

Definitely be aware of the counter surfing tendencies - they are very tall dogs - perfectly tall enough to swipe things of counters and tables.

I would recommend getting a crate for at least the first few weeks/months. It's good to have somewhere for her to go when she doesn't want to interact with everyone. It's an absolute rule in our house that she's never touched or disturbed when in her crate. It's also really useful to have somewhere to put her when you need to have the front door open for a bit. She's fine now but was dicey with leaving the house when we first had her which was slightly hair raising.

Also worth getting a raised feeding bowl as their legs are so long it's more comfortable for them to eat with a raised bowl.

Off-lead - we can with ours if she has a ball to occupy her - otherwise we muzzle. Recall is decidedly sketchy but that's our fault for not working on it enough. You'll probably be fine without a muzzle if she's not raced but I wouldn't risk it until you know her very well.

But yes - definitely best dog in the world. She doesn't bark, she stays in the house happily, will walk as little or much as you like, gentle, calm round the house. We love her.

Come back with pictures!

Blimey - sorry that was a bit of an essay!

Greyhound owner here. We've had our girl for 6 1/2 years. They are without doubt the best dogs ever, and you won't regret it.
Ours is the gentlest dog I have ever met, sweet-natured, kind, lazy, loves her sleep, amenable to being left for sensible periods of time. She has known my daughter since she was born and apart from walking into her a few times (she can't see very well these days) she has never hurt my daughter in any way. If she gets scared she walks off, and my daughter knows how to behave around her.
She used to steal things and take them to her bed, so if you were missing something like the oven gloves, that's where it would be. She never counter-surfed. She sleeps with her eyes open, and in her time loved her walks.
She has only been off lead in enclosed spaces, as we never bothered that much working on recall, and she gets scared of other dogs unless they're greyhounds. She wasn't bothered by just having lead walks.

The major problem, of course, is that sooner or later they get older, and suddenly you realise that your beautiful girl doesn't have long left, and they are so loved and so much a part of your family that watching them slowly (and then more rapidly) decline breaks your heart. Which is where we are now.

But I wouldn't change a thing.

My Greyhound is 12yrs old now, had her since she was 8 weeks, shes great off lead, eats anything and everything and doesnt get upset tummy, sleeps with her eyes open and lives with a cat whos the boss lol

I think like most dogs some have tummy troubles some dont, they are great dogs, shes very bright and has enjoyed flyball and agility in her younger days.

Good luck with your new greyhound x

We have one, he's lovely. He's on lead because his prey drive is very high but we do take him to a secure field for a run. Where he runs around for 15 minutes and then decides to have a nice lie down.

He's good with other dogs, loves children and likes to play with his cuddly toys. He really is the best dog ever. He does have a slightly sensitive stomach but we seem to have his food sorted now and haven't had any problems in a while.

They are notorious wimps and we had our first experience of the greyhound scream the other day when he ran into a door frame (stupid dog). He screamed the place down and I thought he'd broken his shoulder. 2 minutes later he was fine.

He does sleep with his eyes open which can be a bit disconcerting! Ours is very sensitive which I think is quite common for greyhounds. He's a very confident dog and not much scares him but he hates change and will sulk if we dare to move any furniture or change his routine in any way.

This has turned into a massive essay sorry! But one last thing, although he is quite lazy there is no way he'd be happy with 2 x20 minutes walks a day which is often said about greyhounds. He loves to be out, meeting other dogs and people.

Good luck with your greyhound. They are ace dogs and I'm sure you'll be very happy.

We’ve had our three year old ex-racer for 6 months now. She’s pretty laid back for a grey. We had no problems settling her in, she eats anything, was unmuzzled from day 2, and off lead after a month or so. Her recall isn’t great though, so we only let her off well away from roads.

She is a bin raider, particularly for choice bits of cardboard to shred. She has to sleep on the sofa (sometimes eyes open) as she’s usually filled her bed with shoes and gloves.

She sheds everywhere (she’s got an unusual coat for a greyhound) and loves cuddles so we’re all permanently covered in white fur. Her breath is like death. She has totally destroyed the lawn. She chews the legs of chairs if we’re ignoring her.

She is the best dog in the world.

Thank you everyone, we're going to see her this morning. I'll let you know how it goes!

Sending you happy grey vibes! Am looking forward to the update.

Oh the other thing to be aware of is the inevitable "help, what have we done" feeling that will be with you for about 7-10 days where you think you've made a massive mistake. It WILL pass and you will wonder what you ever did before you had this gangly, skinny, stinky streak of love in your life.

So after a home check this lovely little lady will be ours! She's so lovely 😍

If they haven't raced and are young, expect them to be more lively and bouncy than most greyhounds. The laziness doesn't kick in until they get closer to two. Train her well and don't let her get away with anything. A lovely choice of dog, greyhounds are super.

Yay!!! She’s the spit of ours! (Flippetydip here - can’t work out these name changes for phones). So excited for you

She's beautiful!!! I love the black ones. Has anyone mentioned a raised bowl stand for eating? You do realise you will now never own another breed of dog :)

Good luck and let us know how she settles in.

Oh what a beauty

Thanks . She's 20 months, bred for racing but no good at it. We do have a cat so we've been advised to keep her muzzle on all the time unless she's eating for a while, I really really hope it goes well and she's not too bothered about the cat, the people at the kennel seem to think it'll be ok. It'd be so sad to get that far and have it not work out! She hasn't been in a foster home or anything so we'll just have to wait and see.

Beautiful black, great for a Collar---- addiction collection

I adopted 2 racing school dropouts, they're a bit more puppyish but good fun. We used a muzzle early on as they'd not had any socialisation with other breeds but they were fine with all sizes & we went to dog training classes, clicker training was more successful with them.
Our local options for off leading were bit too risky for my liking but we had a large garden they could have a quick blast & always quite happy exploring on lead, much easier to wear out than most breeds.

My 3 have all slept at times with eyes partially open, looks really creepy when eyeballs roll dreaming. Learning to let sleeping dogs lie is a good plan & calling till can see are aware of you. With children calling dog to come to them for attention & not going over when laid down, gives dog option to go or stay out of way in safe spot.

2 of my 3 would wake with grumpy response (so do I when fully asleep) it improved over time as they got used to disturbances (some toss soft things like rolled socks at them) but for safety's sake always best to keep that in mind and also avoid leaning over them as you could put yourself in harms way if they do airsnap a warning, Its a startled response they often aren't aware its just their person.

They've all been very tolerant and good with children otherwise even being stepped on, I don't have my own kids so its not something they're used to or was a consideration when we selected the dogs.

The early days can be a bit of a shock to the system with any dog & watch out for being lured into false sense of security as when they've settled & gained in confidence can find you've a naughtier dog testing out the rules & exploring with mouths. Any food left in their vicinity is deemed for them.

Enjoy greyhounds are brilliant!

Good luck. She's lovely. Stair gates, places for cats to escape and a long line are all a good idea. Check out the Blue Cross website for an advice sheet on introducing a dog to existing cats. It's important to do it very carefully. We started by scent swapping.

Oh she looks lovely - lots of great advice on here, they are very addictive! If I could have more than one I would, enjoy and good luck!

Get a bin lock.

Our boy has been here almost a year and he's wonderfully dull.

It took a few months to get him ok off lead but there are websites out there about clicker training etc and you'll get there.

He's very attached to DH and cries for him when he goes out, then jumps when he gets home. He loves DD(4) and when she sits with him he gives her a wash like she's his puppy.

We have baby gates anyway, but they are quite handy for him to keep him out of the kitchen and sometimes in one room when the kids are going crazy. My biggest fear is one of them landing on his implausibly long legs.

He does sleep with his eyes open and it's been slow going with the cats. They have the run of upstairs and he has downstairs. The cats do taunt him on occasion but despite him being very successful as a racer he's got a low prey drive. Except squirrels. He's ended up in a stream more than once chasing after them. Silly sausage.

She's lovely ! We have two but have owned five and three of them always slept with their eyes open . Get used to having tidy worktops , even if it's not your doing

Thank you for all the advice, I'll update when we get her home! She's just been spayed so they will keep her for a week or so while she recovers and we'll find out when our home check is in the next few days. Fingers crossed!