Greyhounds

[Bucketbeak]

Hi all,

We have applied to adopt a retired greyhound and I would love to pick your brains if I may. We have never had a dog before so apologies if my questions are a bit basic, I just want to make sure that we are as well prepared as possible!

1. Fences - we currently have a stone wall around our garden which varies from 3 ft to 5 ft. I think that I would feel happier if it was 6ft all the way round (as kids aren't brilliant at closing the back patio doors). Will it need to be a solid fence or could we just add trellises to the walls? Would these be strong enough if the dog jumped up on them?
2. How do you manage with the greyhound in the car boot? I have 3 kids so it would need to travel in the boot possibly also with my daughter's wheelchair occasionally. I have a big boot but how does it work? Would the dog be in a crate/behind a grill/in a harness/dog seatbelt??! (Excuse my ignorance!).
3. How do you manage to get the dog in and out the car boot without it jumping out and running off? (Just having flashbacks to when the kids were toddlers and trying to strap one in the car when the other would be racing off in the other direction...!)
4. We live in a split level house so have kitchen downstairs and lounge upstairs - would we need stair gates at the top and bottom of the stairs? Any help or advice really appreciated!

Hello, We have a retired greyhound, so I can tell you what mine would be like in those situations. A garden wall is good, but 3ft wouldn't be high enough. 6 feet is what our greyhound trust recommends, and our boundary is fence or trees. Trellis might work if it's strong - my dog has a really strong prey drive, so if she saw a cat or squirrel through the trellis, she'd try to barge through.

Ours rides in the car boot and we have a grille thingy from Halfords separating the boot from the back seat. I did try her with a seatbelt on the back seat but she wasn't at all keen. She loves the boot and jumps in fine usually (or refuses and then we lift her). She hasn't ever tried to jump out too soon when we open the boot, but if I see a cat or something then I get DS to hold her collar from the back seat.

We've never done stair gates and our dog learned to manage the stairs after a week or so. A friend with a greyhound trained hers never to go upstairs, but ours likes to hang out with us in the home office (or follows the sun round and sleeps on our bedroom floor in the morning).

They are lovely pets, enjoy!

Thank you, that's really helpful!

We picked up our beauty yesterday from The Greyhound Trust. When they home checked they said 6ft was right for fences. She didn't have a clue about getting in the car boot as she hasn't done it before, but we lifted her in and she was fine once there. We had a hour long journey and she mostly just lay on the duvet and blanket I'd thrown in. She was a bit sick but I put that down to nerves.

So far she has looked at the stairs but not attempted them. We have a stair gate as she will be living downstairs only.

When we were looking in to adoption, this forum was v helpful. And we've had great support from the branch of the Greyhound Trust.

I used to have 2. They never tried to climb the stairs - they were ex racers so had never encountered them. They were both great in the car and the boy used to like sitting in the boot even whilst car was parked on the drive! I used to do home checking - yes to a 6ft fence, also be careful of patio or french doors as one died running into them as he though he was running outside. Also laminate or wooden floors with no rugs are hard for them as they slid about and with the long legs can slip and fall and there is no grip and they are so tall. Big dogs but sleep much of the day and lovely lovely pets. Mine were never let off the lead as being ex racers, they still had the drive for small furries but were very happy and much loved.

I would back up the 6 foot fence suggestion - mine was lazy as anything but when he was chasing a pigeon out of the garden he got his front paws to the top of a 6 foot fence - much lower and he would have been over it.

He managed the stairs fine and was happy to hurtle up and down at top speed. We never had to teach him. It would have been better if he’s not tried them as it would have stopped him making a nest in my bed whenever I forgot to close the bedroom door.

He was fine in the car and as PP said, he would snooze in the boot while supervising me doing the garden or tidying the garage. I would be careful if they are sharing the boot with a wheelchair - they can curl up small but they do need space to turn around and get comfy first. They are also really good at getting tangled In things (OH used to say he was made from deckchairs) and can get scrapes and cuts quite easily as their hair is so thin, so I would make sure it’s covered with a blanket or something to protect the dog from its clumsy self.

They really are lovely pets - I’m waiting for lockdown to settle so I can adopt a pair.

I have no specific greyhound related advice but I think that most healthy dogs, of all sizes, could jump a 3 foot fence fairly easily.

My collie definitely could and she’s considerably smaller than a greyhound.

It needs sturdy fencing or iron railings or more brick on top to take it to 6 foot all the way around in my opinion.

Trellis on top is fine IF your dog respects the boundary.
It is fairly flimsy and if the dog decides to crash through it, after a squirrel for example, I would have thought it would be able to run through it fairly easily.

I have had a greyhound on the past and currently have one. My first would not entertain going up and down stairs, even with offers of treats and encouragement, she was a stubborn madam and wouldn't go up. She wouldn't walk on laminate floors without rugs down either. My current greyhound straight away ran upstairs so no issue there.

Mine just goes in the boot of the car with a blanket. I have a clip that goes into the middle seat belt plug and I feed it through the split in the back seat into the boot (the seat folds down in 2 parts if that makes sense) and clip it onto her collar so she can't jump out without me being ready.
They "fold up" quite small when lying down so it could probably share the boot with a wheelchair as long as it couldn't catch itself on sharper bits as they do injure easily.
I love greyhounds, I think they are brilliant dogs

Roodog Your new dog really is a beauty!

We have 2 ex racers, both managed to learn the stairs quickly and also to unlearn them as they aren't allowed upstairs! Never used stairgates.

2m for garden boundaries is required by most rescues, we have hedges that are tall but thinning at the bottom and reinforced with chicken wire.

Mostly hop into the boot (SUV) very occasionally one wants lifting, always jump out.

For the car boot we make ours sit before opening the door fully, you can open it a crack and wave a treat to facilitate this. Then clip lead on and out they jump

Stairgates will depend on their feelings towards stairs and where you want them

Garden I would recommend 6 foot, squirrels and cats will appear and suddenly all obstacles are forgotten!

Good luck they are fab

Thanks everyone, that's great advice. Fencer came out on Friday and is going to look at various options and give me prices on Monday so hopefully will be able to get something suitable.
That's interesting about the stairs - I'm really hoping we will be able to persuade ours to come up as that's where our living room and wood burner are so cosiest place. If not then there is a sofa in the kitchen but close to back patio door and where we eat so less ideal.
I'll order some window film for the patio door - do you reckon as long as the bottom bit has a strip that will be enough?
Whaleandsnail6 - do you have a link to the clip you use in the boot? Do you just put this on when you are parked?

Congratulations Roodog! She is beautiful. How is she settling in?
Thanks all!

Sounds like you're all over the prep!
She's settling slowly, very quiet and spending a lot of time in her bed watching the world. It's a big adjustment as she's never really been in a house before. She's scared of other dogs when we're out, but is walking well on the lead. I think lots of patience will be required as we wait for her to show her true personality. We all love her already. Good luck with everything

So fencer has given us a quote for 2.5K - ouch!! That would be to add trellis all the way around garden to make it 6ft all the way round......
Feeling really deflated now as can't manage that. He has said would be a lot less to just do the 3ft bits, but then some of the other stone walls would be

5ft is probably fine. Depends on the dog though.
I have 2 greyhounds and one is a lazy sod who wouldn’t try and jump the fence and one incredibly athletic hound who would sail over it.