Rescue greyhound questions!

[LonelyandTiredandLow]

I nearly overtook the other thread, so here's my own!

For anyone who didn't see the OT dd and I went to visit a local greyhound rescue kennel today, as they said they had a new boy in there who seemed cat trainable. He was gorgeous although a teeny bit nervous - hadn't had 5 ppl in a room before as used to kennels. Took him for the briefest walk as it started to drizzle after about 15meters - he slowed then stopped and gave me a look of "you can't seriously expect me to be out in THIS!" before turning gently back .
We also experienced one of the wallpaper stripping, room clearing greyfarts. That was quite the warning! We also saw him with a cat - in the same room roaming about. He was muzzled and had one ear pricked up but floppy at the top and the other down, watched the cat for a few seconds and tentatively sniffed it then wagged his tail and went for more sniffs very sweetly. Then seemed to lose interest and went off sniffing around the room again. So it seems that his lack of chase drive was possibly why he wasn't a racer. He is 2yo.

I'm already quite head over heels but trying to take my time and ask all of the niggly questions before we fully commit (have reserved him for 4 weeks).

So, my questions so far:

1. I asked about boots as was reading last year about dogs in the snow and the salt eroding/hurting their paws. Rescue guy said no need and he's checked him for corns, of which he has no signs.

1. As it's unlikely he will get much time off-lead outdoors, how do you play/let them play when on walks?

1. Do they like baths? I'm assuming not as they may feel the cold being so skinny - but obviously may need one now and then. I'm guessing they don't like swimming - or can't really if not off lead? I seem to remember seeing one zooming along a huge and largely empty beach we went to in Devon (Westward Ho) and would love to feel confident enough for that but not sure if that is good etiquette considering they have no recall?

1. Although I don't hate the kennel name by any means, it would be nice to be able to change it. Is that possible or just confusing for the dog?

1. The only afterschool club dd does out of school is swimming. Obviously, the dog can't come in but I have to be there for support. Any suggestions for this? Would be appx 2hrs out of the house including travel time to and from the pool.

1. When you travel in UK do you have special doggy friendly places you visit? Is there a site or forum for these?

1. For a glossy coat do you use Evening Primrose oil? I was reading it can help with dandruff...

Just realised I've got to 7 already and beginning to sound like a new mum! I'll stop there for now or the OP will be HUGE!!! x

thanks CMOT - I mustn't get too carried away. Their legs just look so skinny, like sending DD into school in the snow in ankle socks rather than tights.

May be getting a little too excitable about the knitted hats. Going to need a mini coat stand for all of this before too long!

Something else I thought of - when you take them out to wee for the first time in the garden, should I be aiming him to the area I want him to toilet in most days? I'd rather he didn't choose dd's wendy house as his permanent spot for example

And...if I go to the butcher and just ask for bones for dogs, would that suffice? Or do I have to know my knuckle joints from pigs ears? I mean, I obviously know the basics, but do butchers do special deals to get rid of bones or is there some kind of terminology here? I confess to not having used a real butcher since I was about 22 and never really asked for offcuts back then

One of mine would never have entertained pyjamas or fleeces... current sofa resident is apparently water soluble and an utter wimp where temperatures are concerned and has to be crowbarred out of the door to have a pee if the temperature drops below about 10 degrees. Hence the onesie - they really do vary, but you need a coat for walks as they've got sod all body fat so really do feel it. Basically our current one is a total bloody diva.

Be very careful with bones. My first dog (a Staffy) loved chewing marrow bones and the worst that happened to him was the runs with all the ingestion of all that rich marrow. However, my last dog (who was a collie cross type) was able to eat her way through entire marrow bones - all the bone too - nothing would be left. I have never met a dog before who would do that but hard times as a homeless Greek mountain village dog obviously give one extra talents. She ended up getting awful tummy pains and constipation as bits of bone slowly made their way through her gut and it was clearly a dangerous situation for her so I had to stop bones altogether although she loved them. For the first dog we would ask the butcher for a marrow bone, cut into at least 3 bits.

Thank you for the cautionary posts. I think I'm just overexcited. Not sure I can sit on my hands for 2 more weeks! I was watching Magnus on YouTube scoffing down whole chicken legs (I think the guy said frozen!?) and was thinking I need to up my game a bit every now and then from kibble.

I suspect he is a bit of a diva, as he stopped dead at the first sign of drizzle on the first walk we went on...I will wait and see though before I spend out on various fancy-pants suits. The food bowl and everything should be arriving today, so that should keep me busy.

Have you researched secure fields and sighthound playgroups yet? You can work on recall (my favourite resource on this is Total Recall by Pippa Mattison) in a secure field, or meet with other pointies so they can run round properly

Yes, I've found a few secured fields and would love to meet other hounds to play. Unfortunately that's where I'm struggling a little - the GT does walks and a few friends know other grey owners but they are all quite far away...I'm hopeful that once I have him people will come up and talk?

Bit of an obvious question - with the house collar, that the fancy one from meggiemoo right? So does that stay on all of the time? Which one has the tags on? Feel a bit silly asking that . I still don't have a size for him but the guy at the kennel sent a jokey response saying he sounds like he will be better looked after than he is. In his opinion, PJ's are ridiculous and we can talk more on Sat. I said I understood his point (until the winter coat is off anyway, shhhh!) but I cannot ignore the hats. That would be too much restraint. He hasn't replied with the collar measurements, alas. I envisage him with his head in his hands somewhere wondering why so many greyhounds suffer the fate of the crazy knit fetish ladies.

I never leave a collar on indoors. Madam won’t drink from her bowl if the collar hits it!
A choking risk indoors.
But I make sure she can never escape.
Are there local dog walking groups? If you’re ever Glos way my Wolfie loves a pointy chase!!

Mine wear their tag collars all the time, but they are loose and would pull over their heads if caught. Jo has a good explanation of collars here, and she is always happy to chat about collars.

You will find pointy owners once you have one. I'm in Worcs and see the GT walk in Worcester quite often (we don't join them as my lurchers go off lead and get over excited with all the greys so close to them when on lead), and I am always meeting pointy owners out and about

If your going to visit him soon then take along one of those dress making measuring tapes to get the measurements you need, most coat/collar makers have diagrams of where to measure so can be sure of a correct fit. I still have coats bought 11yrs going strong.

I've had dog gates to go through before front door so very unlikely dog would escape so have left tags off when at home alone, they can sometimes catch on a handle or a claw during scratching, I prefer a thinner tag collar with small ring for this reason (and shows off Fancy walking collarr). You'll see some people leave fabric martingale collars on & attach tags to the d-ring, this is very dangerous as they're designed to tighten up to avoid hound escaping & dogs have sadly strangled themselves.

PJs depend in dog if will wear & how cold house gets at night, I think the legs can help avoid coat twisting as they roll about. I'd just see how he gets on, don't worry your greyhound will work out most comfy spot for themselves. You can always use the outdoor coat overnight in short term

For when he's all settled, please consider becoming a blood donor. Greyhounds tend to be great as so chilled being handled and usually universal donors with higher red blood cells than other breeds.
www.petbloodbankuk.org

Ah I see, so the fancy martingales are for walking (with tag on?) but you can potentially have a thinner flat with tag for the house - although not recommended. I think, until I am certain dd and my dad are going to be very careful about shutting the front door quickly I may put the tag on the flat house collar, for the first few weeks at least, and ensure it is loose enough to slip over the head. I'm glad I asked now! My cats don't wear collars due to choking concerns but I know they are greedy enough to keep coming back and both are chipped

Good news is the fencing guy came over first thing this morning and has priced up and will have fencing done in a max of 3 days in the first week of Dec. So...all in the nick of time!

We are in Kent Wolfie although we will be keen to holiday all around the UK at various greyhound friendly sites. I think catering for him may well be my holiday guide/mission which is quite fun. I like the idea of going to Edinburgh/Yorkshire/Cumbria for a grey get together or event and renting a dog friendly cottage nearby

Sounds great. I have a tall stair gate in the hall. Keeps giant hound and cats separate and also makes sure she can’t dash out if I’m taking a parcel in or something.

Oh my word - can't believe I've missed this thread up to now. I'm living your excitement vicariously! THE most excited I've ever been in my adult life (including getting married and having children!) was the week before we went to pick up our greyhound. I couldn't work, I couldn't concentrate - I was pathetic. It is without doubt the best thing ever!

However, do be aware that you will probably have "buyers remorse" for a week or two when you get him home and think "what the bloody hell have we done?". It will pass and you will wonder how you ever lived without this skinny, gangly, oh-so-greedy, oh-so-lazy, ridiculously fast streak of love in your life.

I'm hopeful that once I have him people will come up and talk? Yes they will - we stop for every greyhound. DHound walks past every other breed of dog with her nose in the air but gets ridiculously silly if we spot another grey, lurcher or whippet. They definitely recognise their own.

So excited for you. Picture of our black hound just because!

Oh those smiling teeth!

Gorgeous! Am loving all of these pics! Had some friends over for pizza and wine and they are both ridiculously excited for me too, although I may have bored them with my greyhound research (deffo saw a bit of eye glazing going on particularly when I began talking about diets and farts) . Seeing Tommy later today for a walk and a stealth neck/body measure. For some reason I'm up at 5am looking at greyhound facebook groups (just scoured a thread about how many poos they do a day - and I was genuinely interested !).

I've ordered x2 wooly hats today. Food bowl is all set up and ready to go. Have put the dog liner in the boot and decided to put the vet fleece on top for the first journey home.

How did today go? When is the first journey home?!

Hi flipperty. Today was great - we went over and had a better walk (although he was nervous still about going too far away, plus I had to lift him onto the banks at the side of the road 3 times - he is not light!). Also experienced 2 more greyfarts. They really do stick in the nose! I can still smell them now...

Got a chance to measure him (32") and was told a medium collar, spent about an hour with him brushing him down and trying on some coats and the guy even showed us how to pick the plaque off the teeth That was great for showing dd what happens if you don't brush

I am worried he is going to be lonely. The guy said "we can always let you know if another cat-workable comes in?" and I was like...OOooooh!
One at a time though!

The guy is coming over for the home check this week and said I can send photos of the fence next week then collect him, which saves him another journey out. It's a bit close to Christmas and he said they don't like rehoming less than 2 weeks before Christmas because of the change in timetables most families have and visitors, etc.
So, looks like by the end of the 1st week of Dec

Fantastic. We brought our girl home 1st December. Hoping it’s soon!!!

Hello so very excited for your family!
I also recommend pinkfluffykitty for collars, coats and leads. Don't let the name fool you she specialises in Sighthound stuff.

Mine are mostly walked on harnesses so they have house collars which they wear pretty much constantly with their tag on. When this summer was so warm I switched to walking them on Martingales as even though we were only out at 6am or 10pm when it was cool enough I didn't want to put their fleece harnesses on. Plus I think one of mine will make a fab therapy dog and they can't wear harnesses then as it restricts people stroking them.

Everyone's different, some people feel harnesses feel more secure others Martingales personally I like both.

I agree with @flipertydip do be prepared that the first couple of weeks may be hard. Just ask lots of questions and give it time. It sounds like your boy may be a little nervous? My first is an extremely nervous dog so it can be challenging at times but he's so worth it. Definitely the best decision we have ever made adopting our greys they are just wonderful dogs.

You'll find you get greydar every time we come across a pointy nose we have to stop and say hello. Plus we get so many people wanting to talk to us about our two.

It might be worth putting the feelers out on your rescue's page or somewhere like retired greyhound chat to see if there are local walks near you.
I had my boy 6 months before I found out about our local playgroup which is literally a 12 min drive away. It's been fab for him and me. Also helped me convince Hubby we needed a 2nd! 😊 xxx

@reversetheferret 😊 your girl sounds so sweet. I love their funny little quirks... x

I can't find much locally about sighthound playgroups. The Geyhound Trust does a walk once a month, which will be great but there's a lack of anything else locally. The next closest GT does a different walk but on the same day and time as the local one so I can't spread them out. Wondering if I should set up a local group for when I hire the enclosed field to meet once or twice a week. I'd happily pay the £7 for 45mins for the field if it kept them all happy. I don't think anyone from Kent is on the thread?

I'm trying to decide on feeding times and walk schedules. If I feed him after us and the cats that's better for hierarchy, right? So I can feed him, take dd to school and walk him 40mins later when I get back? Thinking about bloat and exercise after feeding...so should I walk first when i get back from school run and then feed? What times do you feed and walk your hounds?

Banish all thoughts of hierarchy or pack. It’s garbage.
I am up at 6:30 in the week. Out for a wee then I feed her. She comes on the school run about 8:15 then off for a proper walk.
Dinner is 5pm. Then we eat. That way she’s settled whilst we eat and doesn’t pester!
Don’t feed before or right after a walk either. I always give it at least an hour.
I would focus on just bonding with your dog first. Settle and train rather than overwhelming them with lots of new playmates.
I have found that if you walk certain areas your dog makes friends and you get to know certain owners too. Training classes also help.

Thank you Wolfie - that takes the pressure off a bit. I have to drive for the school run but I could take him along. That sounds similar to what I was thinking 're food timings but of course then I read about the pack hierarchy and was trying to think how to do dinner without him begging , so I'm glad you said that!

Pack theory has been debunked.
You need your dog to have manners and listen to you. You don’t need to be a pack leader. Praise and reward based training is excellent.
I drive the school run. Park a bit away where it’s quiet and then go somewhere lovely to run her.
When she was a pup I would take her round the block first to make sure she didn’t have an accident in the car!
You sound like me. I was excited and terrified all at the same time. Getting our pup was a dream come true and I was desperate not to mess it up.
Support on here and from trainers has helped so much. We did pup training, dog training, good citizen and ringcraft and socialisation. Mainly for this novice as I was a first time dog owner. I’ve learnt a lot!

Thank you - yes and excited and terrified, spot on! I did similar when I had dd; read everything I could so I felt totally prepared but you know that the reality will always be a challenge you can't always fix with research. I keep asking people about dog classes and have come to the conclusion that none of my friends did them, which is highly unhelpful! I may have to ask in some of the facebook groups and see what is recommended. How long after getting your pup did you wait before training? I want him to feel aware of his home bit also want to start with the best paw forward and get training in early (as you say, more for me but also to bond us and teach dd).

Have decided to wrap all Christmas presents this week as I'm not sure how easy it will be with a dog on the floor space!