Adopting a Greyhound

[Fawking]

We'll be bringing our rescue Greyhound home in a few weeks. Any advice from existing Greyhound owners? Thanks!

Comfy bed with lots of blankets and a teddy. They love to be warm and cosy. Once settled in they sleep a lot and they are really lovely gentle souls good luck

Its chilly now for pointies, so they will need a fleece housecoat and an outside coat.
They generally don't like curling up, and prefer to stretch out, so a good bed is a double duvet folded over
They can reach a very, very long way! So things on kitchen surfaces are well within reach

We've had ours for 2 months. Ours is a failed racer so not quite 2.
She was too timid to race but as a result has no prey drive, therefore doesn't need a muzzle when walking.
The rescue will probably give you a martingale collar, lead and muzzle.
There's a great rescued greyhounds Facebook page. I've had lots of advice and ask a lot of questions.
Ours never went in the crate, won't sleep in the bed we bought, but loves a snuggly blanket.
I've just had to buy her pyjamas because she was crying in the night due to being cold.
She's no clue about stairs and we've kept it that way.
It took her a good month to come out of her shell but we absolutely wouldn't be without her.
We're still working on recall training, and getting her to leave us alone when we eat but she is the easiest dog I've ever known....more like a cat!
Feel free to PM, I'm happy to chat

We're picking up our girl on Friday, so by next week you can learn from our mistakes!
Greyhound Trust are giving us a collar, lead and muzzle, but we've also bought harness and coat. We've been doing lots of reading and prep. We're borrowing a crate to see how she gets on with that but I'm hoping not to need it. Got all the beds, towels for mud etc etc and have got the same brand of food as she's on at the moment.

I’ve only had one so not an expert but with regards to my 11 year old girl, owned for 7 years there are some differences between greyhounds and other dogs. They sleep, and then sleep some more. They lean on you.
Mine has a very sensitive stomach and change in routine results in runny poo.

They often have bad teeth, get yourself a toothbrush and dog toothpaste and brush as often as possible to avoid expensive and invasive dentals.

I was freaked out when mine snapped her mouth and did loads of teeth chattering when we first got her, this is normal 😊 excitement usually.
Make sure collar is secure on early walks, They can wriggle back out of a surprisingly tight one.
Be prepared for the scream of death if you accidentally tread on one or in mine’s case look at her toenails! If they are hurt they will express themselves!
Enjoy, they are wonderful dogs. I adore mine.

Absolutely fantastic dogs. We've had 2,we had our first for 5 years before she suddenly died and we recently adopted another. I've lost dogs before but loosing my greyhound hit me harder than anything, she really was my "sweetheart dog".

Our current is a failed racer and is only 2 so she's much more playful and lively than our old hound, who was 4 when we adopted her after she broke her leg.

I'm my experience, they are massive food thief's! Nothing not in a cupboard is safe, they can reach the worksurfaces and both mine would try and eat anything, my old girl ended up twice at the emergency vets, once for eating paracetamol out of my handbag and the other for pinching a mini box of raisins.

Several cosy, soft sleeping places are a must and they sleep with their eyes open so make sure everyone who comes in your house knows to call the dogs name before approaching them (or to leave them alone when lying down)

I've never been confident to let a greyhound off a lead in public. I do hire a secure dog walking field a couple of times a week, you can usually find these near you on Google I pay £5 for 30 minutes but she's lying down shattered after 10 🤣

I adore greyhounds. There is something about the way they look at you and their calm and gentle nature, along with the sad start that so many of them have in life that I think makes them so special.