Greyhound questions!!

[tootyfruitypickle]

DD and I have finally settled on a retired greyhound as the dog we'd like. We'd be looking at getting one at some point next year. We currently have an extremely elderly cat, so we won't be getting a dog while she is around.

We've been round the houses on breeds as I'd like to have cats, and went through various other options, but sighthounds definitely have our hearts! We've decided to just have a greyhound without cats so that we can get the right dog for us, rather than trying to fit it around wanting a cat. I think the current madness in finding puppies has sealed it for me as well, I'd far rather a rescue dog. I also have some fatigue from a previous illness and not sure I could manage a puppy and all the broken nights.

So that sorted, I still have a few worries and I wondered if anyone could help with thoughts? Would be very grateful for any pointers!

I am a gardener, and I have a veg patch. The garden is not big. I don't want it ruined! I was thinking that perhaps I could fence off the veg patch with a low fence (3ft?), just to provide a visual deterrent to go along training to keep off. But what about the borders? There is a field nearby I can hire, if the greyhound has a good run there a few times a week ,will it be happy with a potter and the odd zoomie in the garden? it's definitely not big enough for a proper run anyway. I don't mind the grass so much, I can just constantly returf!

We have patio doors we tend to leave open. They have one of those magnetic fly screens (material ) on. I'm worried about the greyhound neighbours cat wandering past while they're open and I'm wondering if I'd need to keep the doors closed, the fly screen would not hold a greyhound back! It'd get pretty hot in the kitchen then and this is an issue. I'm not sure what to do about this.

If I was to sit in the garden, I'm worried again about a cat passing.... In that case would it be best to keep the greyhound on a lead, if we are both dozing out there? Or given how much they sleep, would it prefer to be inside on the sofa anyway ? I know not to bring it gardening with me so I'm just thinking about those lazy sunday afternoons in the garden and how that would work.

We actually don't have that many cats in our garden and I will be adding trellis to the fences and wiring around a hedge which may prevent any at all coming in - but it would be so awful if it caught one and this aspect nearly puts me off altogether.

I would ask for a low prey, calm greyhound, but I'm sure these are the ones that everyone wants?

Other plans:

I'd probably let it sleep overnight in it's own bed in my room, I'm used to having a cat there and since she has got too old to climb the stairs I'm missing the company!

I work from home 4 days normally and am hoping I can keep to 5 days now.

A neighbour is a dog walker and has always looked after my cat. If we wanted to go out , or i had to go to the office, she would come in and let it out for a wee, she's fab. I would obviously then walk early. One of the reasons we returned to a greyhound from a small dog was its calmness and hopefully the ability of it to manage for 5/6 hours alone if we want to go out a bit occasionally - with my neighbour popping in. My family live within an hour but are not dog friendly!

I run a few times a week but walk every day, a couple of walks a day is no problem at all for me. I'm not rolling in money and hiring the field is £8 an hour so I could only do this a few days a week. I was hoping i could find another sighthound owner to share the hire with though.

I'd like to go on a couple of short breaks abroad once everything is back to normal. It looks like our local greyhound trust boards the dogs they have adopted which is fantastic. For UK breaks, we'd take it with us.

We're a very calm house. DD is 13. We've come to the conclusion we are not a good fit for a lively, demanding dog as we are quiet and like to chill, read, watch telly when home. Neighbours have a cockerpoo and its bonkers and would drive us insane. Friend has a rescue sighthound of some description and we both absolutely adore it. DD loves the way it sits on her despite it's size and weight, it loves her and follow her around. She's also heard the scream when she's accidentally stood on its toe.

We love the quirks of greyhounds and it would also make us very happy to buy it pyjamas!

How exciting for you - you sound like you've put a lot of thought into this

When we rehomed our current greyhound we asked for a cat-friendly grey as we have free-ranging chickens. She was socialised with the chooks with a muzzle on, went too close, was pecked on the nose and now studiously ignores them at all times!
However, that is not to say she is cat-friendly to a neighbour's cat in our garden or on the street - though I'd have no qualms about getting a cat as a pet with some careful introductions.

Wrt cats in the garden... you will need a fully enclosed garden to rehome a grey. In my experience cats will still roam in your garden, your dog will launch themselves extremely quickly in that general direction but the cat will always get away. That's what happens in our garden any way - the cats still come in despite knowing we have a dog, she will hear them or smell them, try to catch them but has never been successful (thankfully!). Cats are pretty smart like that, as a tall as a grey is, they can never get as high as a cat!

Our grey is never on a lead in the garden because we have a wall all the way around. She has occasional zoomies and will gouge up bits of the garden but this isn't too often. She's not one for spending time outside unless it is a) just the right temperature, not too hot not too cold; and b) she has something soft to lie on. So your veg patch should be fine as long as it is fenced off.

Our greyhounds have both done well on a couple of short walks a day, the occasional longer walk and a run around a dog-exercise area every so often. I really cannot stress how lazy these dogs are - or certainly, my two have been. Don't get me wrong, they're over the moon to go out on a walk, but equally thrilled when they can come home and sleep for the next 10 hours

Our first grey could be left for perhaps 5 hours, but our current girl cannot. She is far more 'peoply' and gets stressed if we are not around. Three-four hours is her maximum and 50% of the time that will result in a wee on the floor and the tissue box emptied/kindling chewed up/letters mauled etc. However, this is something that you don't really know until you have the dog - so having a dog-walker/dog sitter in place is a great thing!

You do sound like you've done your research - the official greyhound rehoming charities are usually pretty good at matching dogs. However, I would say that a dog coming home with you is a bit of a blank slate so there are limits to how much a rescue can predict about their behaviour once they're in a home. They are often 'switched off' in that they often haven't known real love so are very much in a stressed, survival state. I swear it too around 3 months for our first greyhound to wag her tail properly, but she was an amazing hound. Utterly bombproof (we had too young children) and could cope with just about anything. We were heartbroken when she died young of a brain tumour. Our second girl is a different kettle of fish. Far more nervy, slightly reactive to other dogs and as I mentioned earlier, she gets separation anxiety. She's such a character though. Goofy, daft and amazing with the kids (and chickens)

Ahh, sorry!! All my lovely paragraphs disappeared (bloody app)

Oh, and all food should be very high up! Especially when they first come home. DDog will steal anything of she gets a chance, even drink our tea and coffee

thank you that's encouraging! The fence on my neighbour's side is half down, I'm going to have to encourage her to sort it , she has chickens and cats and a small fluffy dog so perhaps the mention of a greyhound will speed things up! Back of garden is a tall wall, that's ok, my fence side is 6ft but the ground slopes so at bits it's not that high I don't think, so that's the side I was going to add trellis . I have gates leading into the garden on the site but I think they're 6ft, will measure, not a lot i can do to raise those so I hope so!

not too worried about inside as I'm guessing I'd need to dog proof regardless - but thanks for the tip about raising up food! Will def make sure we do that!

I have 3 sighthounds and a Husky and a dcat. They are very loving and respectful of him. He gives zero fucks about any of them. Stands with a face full of disgust as they wash his ears and sniff his bum!! One ddog was a working ddog for years. No issues at all 3 years in...

We have neighbours who have either just moved in or have just got cats and the cats are making a pain in the arse of themselves in our garden winding the dog up. The little sods smirk as they're sitting on our shed roof with the hound going bonkers down below.

Bit of advice we were given was to let the hound out muzzled the first few days so the local cats get the chance to clock that the garden contains a dog and make a mental note to steer clear.

And it took us a good month to train the hound to ignore a magnetic flyscreen net! Had to peg it open in gradually smaller holes to get her to learn to go through it!

Ooh that’s good about the flyscreen! And I could put a chair in front of the flyscreen so it at least a makes a huge noise when it charges through! Maybe I’ll add some noisy beady thingys (not sure what I mean but something to add noise anyway! ). Agree that muzzle initially is a good plan while we work out what’s what.

Thank you this is so great, I do feel our hearts lie with a greyhound (or any sighthound).

OP good luck with your greyhound... Can I just suggest you keep the bin and food out of the way... Also they like a whole sofa to themselves!
Mum owned the naughtiest most loving and gorgeous greyhound called Tyler. In the time she has him his exploits included ripping open a packet of 16 loo rolls and biting every one.. Snaffled 3/4 of a Simnel Cake including the disciples... He smashed a bottle of wine to get to and eat a whole box of chocolates. He ate six bird fat balls, got his head stuck in an empty grab bag of crisps and most terrifying was one morning after breakfast and a walk he flopped down in front of Mum on his bed. I was reading the newspaper and he suddenly started choking... We were terrified... He suddenly went BLEUUUUUGH and something bounced across and landed at Mum's foot surrounded by his breakfast... Mum picked it up "Oh my god he's swallowed a battery....!" "Hang on dear, its a bit squishy..." . It was only a bloody wine cork which he'd found in the garden the precious day. Thankfully it went down lengthways!
He got his tail shut in the car boot once, also flicked his tail on the radiator which resulted in the house looking like set of a slasher film. Blood trickling down the walls. He had the tip of his tail removed after that... He also put his paw down a drain as well which resulted in several weeks wearing a tee shirt on his front paws...

@Elderflower14 on my goodness let’s hope we get a slightly calmer one than that ! Love the characters though!

Thanks for all the advice! Overnight I was wondering if raised veg beds unfenced would work or do you think they’d just get jumped on?

It'll depend on the hound re the veg beds. Ours generally doesn't go on flower/veg beds (or dig up grass), but some might. we have small espaliered fruit trees around our veg/fruit area, held up by plastic coated wires and fence posts. Ours was puttering around the area on the grass bits and spotted a squirrel - he was off like a shot and went straight through one of the wires instead of through the gap. Luckily he was fine and hasn't done it since, but worth bearing in mind.

Yes I was thinking of getting a proper wooden farmyard type fence without any spiky bits as assume there will be the occasional leap over.. I’ll changed to raised beds as a starter then add a fence if that proves impossible!

My DGreyhound is a digger although she's settled down a bit now. My veg patch is surrounded by a pathetic 18" fence but that does the job. I've found that any patch of ground that is clear of vegetation is deemed fair game for digging and still find the odd hole in the borders.

She completely trashed the lawn and borders in my previous house in her first year with me, to the extent that I had to fence everything off with electric fence stakes and chicken wire to a height of 4ft!

Thankfully she's much better now and I've only had a few small holes in my current garden and she's not got into the veg patch yet.

She's rabid with cats but I agree with others that a cat getting into your garden will always get away and will quickly realise there's a dog and steer clear.

Mine is a bugger for pulling out bedding plants. She's a sod for gardening!

I have two ex racers and two cats. They all get on fine. One of the cats even comes on a daily walk with the dogs

We got our greyhound in August
She has no interest in other dogs, cats, etc.
We ask for a small quiet female and that's what we got.
Ours is a failed racer so very little prey drive

With regards to the garden mine (lurcher not greyhound but similar disposition) only goes out there for a pee in the morning and at night. So you might not need to worry too much about the veg patch. Unless I’m sat out there he has no interest in going out. We walk a couple of hours a day and then he’s on his back legs akimbo on the sofa for the rest of the day.

I love this thread, I’d truly love a greyhound rescue myself but we have a bouncy year old Labrador, who we adore!

I’d still love a greyhound though. A family near us has 2 greyhound puppies, totally adorable

But I’d want a rescue, older dog

Just don't get anything with Saluki in the mix we have a grey X Saluki (not an ex racer) and apart from sleeping 90% of the day she's a riot. Bites the heads off all my flowers, digs, will chase anything that moves, is crated when we go out or we come back to utter mayhem... Also very chatty.

But in all seriousness they are fabulous dogs, but like all dogs they have varied characters. I'd recommend going to a specialist rehomer as they will 'fit' the dog to the right home (and some offer fostering as a trial). Dogstrust, where we got our girl from, are much less about the individual dog. So they told us she needed to be an only dog (perfect for us) because she's rough with other dogs, but actually what she desperately needs is a companion and we aren't really in the position to offer her one, which is really tough.

Retired racers aren't always old, many retire at 3/4. I'd suggest going for an older one if you can though especially as you want the more chilled out character. At 3 mine can keep up for hours (though she will crash out after) though of course the Saluki in her gives her stamina. I'd say 6 and over they really do tend to chill out.

As everyone has said be prepared never to leave food out again. They're shocking thieves. Mine had the butter dish off the side yesterday.

My friend has a saluki mix and often proudly shows me pics of the damage she creates.

I’m always so shocked! But she’s left alone too much imo

My doggy daycare lady has a saluki and watching my lurcher and her saluki run together is awesome (deffo a lady and the tramp situation though as ddog is a scruffy bugger and she is positively regal )
Aw I want more pointy dogs now!

Probably outing.
We have a hound, as do 3 friends. All ex racers.
Honestly we weren’t ‘dog’ people
Totally converted
They’re amazingly easy IF you have enough space for a large bed!
Simple walks- not miles
Friendly- nice temp tenant
Well trained - but may take adjustment to domestic life
Watch outs- health/ teeth and joint- get decent insurance
That’s it!

Yay to deciding on a greyhound! We did too, after months of research about 3 years ago and it's the best thing we ever did. I have to admit I gave a wry chuckle about the thought of the greyhound running around in and out of the house - honestly, ours barely gets off the sofa and particularly in the winter only goes outside when forced. DH is a keen gardener and has created raised borders. She jumped on it once but he put a lot of holly on to start with to deter her and she hasn't since - it didn't hurt her, it's was just a visual deterrent.

We have cats in the garden all the time and the hound barely notices. She did chase one once but as a pp said, the cats are far more adept at getting out the way than she is at chasing.

Our grey has lived with guinea pigs (a very tense situation and not one I'd repeat but the gp did die of old age rather than in the jaws of the hound) and is now living with rats who are extremely interested in the hound but the hound in more interested in their food than them - she's slightly perplexed by them.

Just to note from what I've seen and read and experienced, they are not the brightest dogs. They have a very small head with room for a very small brain and it seems to be on a loop of "oooh food, sleep, run, oooh rustle of biscuit packet, sleep" etc etc.

You have worked out amazingly what you are going to do and I wish you all the best with it. Just be prepared to feel slightly sick with "oh my word what have we done" for the first few weeks. After that, it all just settles into place and you wonder how you ever lived without a pointy, lanky, stupid, greedy, lazy hound in your life.

(And I second nothing with saluki in it. A lady that walks in the field by us has a saluki x collie if you can imagine anything more mental and it is crackers and she has zero control over it. Nightmare).

Wow more replies thank you and so encouraging!!

Interesting about the greyhound trust, I was going to go there, esp as they board, but maybe not... I’m south, can get to Evesham where I know they foster greyhounds, also can get to Celia cross , maybe need to visit them all. There’s a sighthound boarder near Gatwick which is really handy!

They really do sound like perfect dogs for us. Yours are stunning @79andnotout love the cat ! !@explorerdog i was thinking of asking for a calm female too, and happy to wait for the right fit.

@Seriouslymole thanks thats so encouraging . I’d love cats again but I’m not sure my nerves could take a mix of a greyhound and a cat!

I think I’ll work on proofing the garden and house over the next few months and then fence off the veg patch as needed.

Elderly cat is currently very unwell, which is super stressful , so we could be looking sooner than I had planned because I have decided to refuse aggressive treatment for her (like being hospitalised - she’s 19) ☹️ Although we’ve been in this situation often since Jan and she’s always bounced back previously. Insurance will def be top of my list as I have none for the cat and the cost is becoming problematic . Lifetime insurance including all vet appts and dental was what I was going to look for a greyhound.

DD’s role in all of this will be to research pjs and coats 😄. She’s always been happy as an only but this year I think has felt quite lonely, so a dog will be great .

Just to note from what I've seen and read and experienced, they are not the brightest dogs. They have a very small head with room for a very small brain and it seems to be on a loop of "oooh food, sleep, run, oooh rustle of biscuit packet, sleep" etc etc.

Normally I'd agree but I seem to have got a broken one who is actually quite smart - can open drawers, can lift up and open the zip on my handbag!