Greyhounds - Tell me everything!

[alessandrae83]

Happy New year everyone!

So, I'm in the process of moving home so it won't be for a while but in the long term I am thinking about greyhounds. Everything I look them up I think they could be right for us and us them but I want to hear it from owners/previous owners. I want to hear the good, bad and the ugly about them. Everything you can tell me and I also have a few questions.

• in the new house we will only have a small yard but will be living close to some lovely woods and parks and I would take the dog on a long walk to my mum's a few times a week too. Would this be ok or not?

• I have two sons age 9 & 5. Both used to dogs and respectful. I know it's based on individual dogs but generally could they be good with kids?

Give it to me. Thanks x

We’ve had ours for 7 months now. He still refuses stairs unless one of you has a hand on his back for reassurance.

He’s the only dog I’ve ever had who has actually eaten slippers

He’s the biggest, most stupid lump I’ve ever met. He’s fabulous.

He’s slowly learning affection. I say affection, really it’s just kind of putting himself next to you so that you’ll put your hand on him.

Agree with a PP - they’re rubbish at doing ‘dog’. No interest in a ball, or fuss, or anything other than his bed. And chicken.

From his ear tattoo the rescue tracked him down as having raced in 2007, so he’s an old boy. As far as we could tell had never lived in a house, so knew nothing of doggy etiquette that adopting older dogs usually comes with. My other two (non greyhounds) have whipped him into shape though and he is copying what they do.

Something I’ve not seen anyone else mention (I may have missed it though) is how much they bleed. Seriously. He once wagged his tail so hard against the wall when I got in (they had been alone for 45 mins tops), that he split the end of his tail. It looked like there’d been a massacre. Blood right up the walls because he still didn’t stop wagging it and was flinging blood around! Also was an issue for healing after his snip - the wound opened and again, Texas chainsaw massacre. I’m glad I have tiled floors. He doesn’t do the screaming I’ve read so much about though - he doesn’t seem to notice anything. But I do think he’s a bit thick though.

They are fabulous dogs!

But not really dogs, think more massive bony cat.

I’ve had my boy since August and he is such a blessing to our family.

He’s gentle, affectionate, biddable and just generally adorable.

He loves playing in our garden though the gardener is less impressed by the holes he digs! He’s getting the hang of fetching a ball.

I have managed to keep him off the sofa, we have cream leather sofas and he’d scratch them with his nails. He’s got his own bed and duvet so he’s not deprived!

One big thing to remember is these guys have never lived in a house before. They generally go from racing kennels to rescue kennels. Took about 3 days to reliably house train him. He is utterly baffled by stairs!

The gas is unbelievable sometimes 😂

But honestly? I’d have another one in a heartbeat.

I’ve also not had too many toxic farts though - we started him on Arden grange sensitive when he first came home because I’d read about the stench, and that’s what our dal eats. He’s now on Arden grange premium, which is high calorie, designed for highly active dogs, ie the total opposite of a geriatric greyhound. However, he loses weight very quickly and whilst they are very slender dogs, within days of not having the high cal food (sometimes we can’t get supply of it because we’re overseas), he goes properly skeletal unless fed the amount of normal food for a 60kg dog. His stomach is always fine though so maybe I’m lucky - the dal is the only fatty dog I have and they’re more, erm, vocal than stinky.

Nothing to add except this. We've had greyhounds and fostered for 15 years and won't have another breed of dog. Love them.

I've heard that greyhounds only need short walks each day and its not advisable to let them off lead unless you are in a very safe area due to the speed they run, but do they actually need a run? If you didn't have access to an enclosed field could you simply walk them on lead all the time and they would be fine?

What about greyhounds and really little toddlers? I've adored greyhounds for years, and finally have a house to have one.
We approached a rescue about possibly adopting a retired grey but were told they don't home to house with really little ones as they can startle easily due to being in kennels.

In answer to some of the questions - I took my hound for a run once in an enclosed field. He didn't want to leave me. I think it depends on the dog but my boy has always been very happy on lead. I have two leads I clip together so I hold him short on roads and then on the field I let him potter about on the end of it. People have a thing about them needing a run. I know of two hounds that were let off against advice almost straight away after rehoming and both were instantly killed by a car. They are not bright dogs. They will not stop at the edge of a road if a squirrel is the other side.

I had my greyhound before I had my DS so had a toddler with one - was absolutely fine but he was established in the home. As with any dog you don't leave them alone but tbh I would 99.99% trust him with anyone. I can see why rescues are cautious as they cannot guarantee that the new owner will be responsible and there is always the possibility of a stressed hound snapping. My hound was terribly frightened when we got him home. He shook with fear for about a week. They have never seen inside a house. But despite being thick they do adapt v quickly. The biggest problem you have with toddlers is them being knocked over. DS was sideswiped many times and their tails can be like a bull whip! In my house we see this as character building 😂 most hounds I know like children - my DS stood in the middle of a pack 10 hounds in the summer handing out sausages - they all waited their turn and were incredibly gentle - my boy also takes things much more gently from DS than he would from me or DH. He has even refused to take something out of his little hand if he thinks he's going to catch his finger.

We’ve had our retired racer for 15 months now and are seriously considering a second. She’s not a typical grey. She’s less nervy than most and is very much a people person. She doesn’t like us to be out of sight on walks so her recall is pretty good and she was able to go off lead after about a month. Before that we’d take her once a week to a park with an enclosed area to let her zoom. That said, she’s been back on on-lead walks since a broken toe in September. She’s not sleek like most greys and has thick, soft, teddy bear for that she sheds in clumps when she’s stressed. Also atypically, her farts are not too bad, but oh dear god, her breath is the stench of hell.

Prepare to have many beds. Ours has one in the sitting room and one in the kitchen, but while she’s very good at taking shoes and her toys into her bed, she hasn’t worked out taking them out. She couldn’t possibly settle in a bed with a cuddly duck in it so is forced to sleep on the sofa instead. (We has to buy a second sofa when she arrived.) If her kitchen bed is occupied she’ll make a terrible drama of lowering herself to the floor where she’ll lie with her head between your chair legs.

She’s good with small people, on the proviso that she’s left alone when sleeping. They can sleep with their eyes open and can be ‘sleep-reactive’, reacting with a snap if unexpectedly woken. She’s got much better, but we still always say her name to alert her before stroking her if there’s a chance she might be sleeping. When she’s awake she’s very affectionate, and there’s nothing better than lying on the sofa with a long face resting on your chest, gazing at you with those beautiful big brown eyes. (And breathing at you with breath like something’s died in there.)

Ours have only ever walked on leads - we've never let them off. They do like to run and will chase each other round the garden or run after balls, etc. Sometimes they just have a mad few minutes haring around the garden doing what are called 'zoomies' which are fun to watch. If we ever thought ours could do with a 'proper' run, both places we've rehomed from have safe, enclosed areas where we could take them.

We got our first greyhound when our DS had just turned 2 and had gone up to 4 dogs a couple of months later (they are addictive) and we have never had any problems at all - we've observed all the normal dog/children rules and it's been brilliant. In fact, we're in the process of adopting our second DC and the dogs haven't been a barrier to our approval at all.

One last thing, not all greyhounds come straight off the track. We've had 6 in total now and only 1 (our latest one) had just finished racing. 4 of the others had been homed before and returned (nothing the poor dogs had done) and the other had been 'fostered' so 5 out of the 6 were already housetrained and used to the real world.

Jammie if your hounds breath is that bad there is something wrong. Either dental wise there is something nasty going on or it can indicate problems with their heart etc.

Question - do all greyhounds do what we refer to as ‘wobble gob’?

If he gets nervous, his lips will wobble like a Barney from the Simpsons belch. Never known another dog to do it so wasn’t sure if if was a greyhound thing or just him.

I also forgot to mention his one and only skill - he knocks his chin twice on the dining table to ask for food when we’re eating. Kind of an ‘Oi, where’s mine?’.

Jammie I'd echo the advice to get her teeth checked. If her breath is bad then she could have an infection, and if they are left untreated they can cause serious heart problems. It may be that she needs a dental (clean under anaesthetic).

Batshit it is completely dependent on the dog. Most greys love children, but whether they'd be suited to tinies depends on their personality. For example, my boy would adore small kids but wouldn't be suitable because he's large and bouncy and would be likely to knock them over and injure them - completely without meaning it. My old boy was perfect with small kids because he was very steady and patient and loved nothing more than being fussed over for hours on end. A good rescue will know which greys are suitable for young kids. However any dog will require supervision with tinies no matter how good they are. And it's vital that the dog has somewhere quiet and private to retreat if they feel they've had enough.

Xmas again it depends on the dog. Very few "need" a run, but most of them enjoy it. However if you don't have anywhere secure to let them off then it's not essential - regular short walks would be more important. They don't need much exercise. My girl is happy with going out just long enough to do her business and then come straight back in again - she doesn't like going outside of the garden as she's scared and is not bothered about being out at all. My boy loves being outside and running about but he only needs about 10 minutes before he's had enough.

The property we lived in prior to this had no garden so they were always walked on lead and were fine (and the rescue knew this). The re-homing advice will always be that you must not let them off unless you are somewhere enclosed - and because they can jump then the enclosure fencing needs to be at least 6 feet high. Lots of rescues - and also riding schools - have secure paddocks that you can hire for 30-60 mins if you want somewhere safe to let them off.

Mard we used to call my old boy "Mr Castanets" as his teeth used to chatter and his chin would wobble madly whenever he was happy or excited. The other two also "chatter" if they are particularly chirpy.

I'd also agree with Jumpers about the "house sense". My old boy had been in a home before and was very well trained and never had an accident in the house until last year (which was age related). My girl had a couple of accidents but was clean after a few days and was also well behaved. She is an ex-racer but had been fostered before adoption so had been house-trained. My new boy has never raced but also never been a house dog so needed training from scratch. He's been here 2 months now and he's pretty consistently clean now, chewing is becoming less of an issue and he's settling down nicely. The hardest thing was teaching him to walk up stairs because he's so big and heavy. It took him a week and he now likes to show off by walking up and down them backwards (he is a massive idiot!).

We’ve mentioned the breath to the vet at a couple of her many visits (we see the vet more often than we see close family) and they’re not too concerned. She’s had her teeth cleaned under sedation and we clean them every couple of days and she has either a carrot or a dentastick every day. I think it’s her food, which has done wonders for her back end, but not so much good for the front.

The hardest thing was teaching him to walk up stairs because he's so big and heavy. It took him a week and he now likes to show off by walking up and down them backwards (he is a massive idiot!).

That made me laugh, sounds like something my idiot would do!

He’s currently comatose after a good run in the garden.

Aww great pics here! We have only just got our first dog and he's a retired grey, so i'll be watching this thread for tips!

Synchronised snoozing

My two

Jumpers!! That is definitely grey goals for me Is it mayhem in your house?! I thought I was going mad for the period of time when we had three (and I was sitting on the floor because the sofa was fully occupied).

Our lives do pretty much revolve around the hounds - but that pic was taken when we had 5, the front 2 have sadly left us and we've added a new one so we're 'down' to 4......

Tbh, apart from space, going from 1 to 2 is the biggest jump, adding the others really didn't make that much difference, strange as that sounds.

My big tip for anyone going multi hound is to look as astroturfing your garden - they turned our grass into mud and it wrecked our cream carpets but the astroturf has been brilliant!

I'm clinging on to our lawn! In fairness we are lucky to have a massive garden; almost 1/3 of an acre. I'm very reluctant to astroturf it because I love gardening so I'm seeing it as a challenge to try and get the lawn to be sufficiently robust to withstand daily attack

Nothing really to add in terms of tips, so much great information above.

You mentioned you are Midlands based? There are a lot of rescues in the Midlands so you will have lots of choice. Just to add two who are not mentioned above. Ours are from a small rehoming centre called Bark Inn Kennels based near Walsall. Very friendly, always on hand if I have any questions and they really know the dogs, both our greys are a perfect match for us. Also BGP (Birmingham Greyhound Protection) don't have kennels so all dogs are in foster which means they are likely to come house trained. xxx

I know a few people with greys. One is in her second, they're both ex racing rescues. Boys.

And someone local I know, has two currently, and recommends them as a family breed and mentioned the two twenty mins walks which suits me better because I can't walk long.

We just need to find out if we are allowed them. We've bought a ground floor flat but it would be up to the ground rent company.