Greyhound or lurcher with cats?

[mugofwater]

Thinking of adding a rescue dog to the kids and cats.

I know it's down to the individual dog, but is it more likely a lazy Grey could be trained to ignore the cats, or a lurcher?

I know lots of lurchers have a ton of greyhound in them, just wondering if the greyhounds sleepiness when indoors would help at all?

I'm also looking at lots of sites and Spanish greyhounds/galgos keep coming up as cat trainable.

Any idea why they might be more amenable to training with cats?

I have two lurchers, three cats (and 7 chickens) and an ever changing cast of foster lurcher puppies. Of all my pups, only 3 have been totally not cat trainable, and then from there its a case of putting in the effort to reinforce it all the time.
I don't think you can ever properly assess a dog as cat trainable in kennels or as a one off meeting though. It can take a number of days for a dog to feel confident enough to show their true colours, and then for us to see how responsive they are to being told to 'leave it' and so on.

Some Lurchers are ok with the cats they live with, but see any outside of their ‘family’ as potential prey. Some may lack prey drive. It’s very individual and down to lots of different reasons, ie, some may have been worked, so will chase anything small and furry. Lurchers are essentially cross/mixed breeds, so the mix of breeds will make a difference as well.

You are more likely to be able to integrate a Lurcher with cats if you get a pup, but there are adult rescues in foster, who live happily with cats and can be rehomed with them. That said, some sighthound rescues are not able to cat test at the moment as , due to lockdown they don’t have access to their usual Lurcher savvy ‘stunt cats’ for assessment purposes.

Re Greyhound vs Lurcher vs Galgo, I think it will be down to the individual dog and a decent rescue will be best placed to advise on which dogs they have that might be suitable. Personally I would want to go with one who has beed successfully fostered with cats to be on the safe side.

I do wonder if Galgos that have been dumped and had to live on the streets in towns are more used to living around domestic cats and don’t see them as the same thing as the prey they were bred and trained to hunt when they were worked.

I have 3 pointy hounds... They know dcat deserves space and respect...
Dcat offers up his cringing self now and again for a wash and brush up...
And 1 of them was previously a working ddog.

I honestly don't think its worth the risk tbh. Our family friends had two cats and got a whippet puppy raised with the cats. Seemed to be absolutely fine for years, very strict training and responsible owners and then one day she suddenly dashed for one of the cats and killed it.

Utterly traumatic both in the death of the cat and how they then felt about the dog. Possibly with a lurcher the cross breeding reduces that risk but I wouldn't personally chance it.

Two neighbours have had cars killed by another neighbours greyhound (rescues) I personally wouldn't risk it, they have a prey drive. Plenty of other breeds which are more cat friendly

I do see the risks, but I'm struggling to find other breeds that work well with working at home, secondary age kids etc.

Greyhounds and co appeal because those I have know have been gentle, sleepy, mad on walks and runs, but then happy to just be comfy and lounge at home.

What other breeds are that chilled out once home?

I'm cautious about breeds that need lots of stimulation daily, I'm worried they would be bored.

I would struggle with dogs that bark all the time, though I know it can be worked on with training. I have a neighbour with a dog that can bark for hours some days and it goes right through your head.

I have briefly wondered about Border Terriers as they come up as good with cats and kids. But then they would want loads of walks and games don't they? And I can't see any in rescues right now.

Friends of mine have a Lhasa who tries to lick the cats to death he’s great with the children, too.

It would be nice and simple if I had any pull toward Lhasa's and similar. But I don't.

One of my cats is 6kg. I just have a mental picture of walking with a dog that is bigger and short coated and where you can see it's eyes and face clearly.

Not sure about Border Terriers for the same reason, though they can be a range of hidden face with hair from those I've seen!

Sounds horribly shallow, but I presume everyone has breeds that attract them and those they can appreciate but don't want to live with?

I grew up with Staffies. I love the bull breed smiles too. But they weren't great with the cat we had, and I'm a little wary of a rescue staff while the kids are young secondary age

Not at all, it’s very personal! I’m personally probably the other way around to you and would avoid greyhounds and Staffs but like Lhasas, bassets, and so on.

I think I like the calm independent side of greys and their like? You build a trust and quiet bond over time.

Some breeds come across as more needy and demanding. I think my kids have made me wary of thinking I can manage too much of that full on every day!

That would be a great thread! If your dcs were a breed of dog, what would they be ... ?

I did a greyhound home check for a lady with 2 cats, chickens as wanted a calm companion for her elderly lab. She ended up getting one from a different greyhound rescue which is kennel based but must be doing something right with its cat testing as has successful homed many. They do give advice on how to integrate & that training to coexist is involved. After her lab passed the lady went back & got a 2nd.

Think a lot depends on the cats attitude too as if nervous type that will run rather than stand their ground its more likely to trigger a chase response from a dog.

I've a very feisty female feline who would stare down a dog once she got used to it. She used to sit on next doors shed and stare at their cocker spaniel barking at her.

The male is used to roaming a lot and has a default 'run away' mode to dogs out and about.

He is the one I'm more concerned will do an impression of a dog toy.

I'm another who wouldn't risk it. It's not fair on the cat, or on the dog to have to be constantly managed in its own home. If, God forbid, the worst happened, how would you then feel towards the dog who killed your beloved cat?

My MIL has a lurcher / pit bull mix and a cat. He's petrified of the thing 😂

My ex boss had a rescue greyhound who was bred to be a racing dog but failed miserably as she had no chase instinct. She is the laziest creature ever and happily lives with a cat who she adores.

No idea whether this is a common thing, or if they might eventually develop the instinct so it's still risky.

It is hard.

I've done lots of online breed selectors now and they all keep saying greyhound - quiet, low grooming, medium exercise, restful at home, calm with kids etc.

But I do agree it would be rubbish to be on edge the whole time. I like the cats being able to wander around the house as they please.

Perhaps I need to look into border terriers more.

I'll start a thread on them in case any owners don't come on this one.

A friend had 3 lurchers and many cats who happily lived together. That said, there is no way we could have a cat with our lurcher. She is the sweetest, most lovely dog you could ask for, but I would not trust her with a cat.
It obviously depends on the dog, so worth investigating as some of the rescue places do a good job cat testing their dogs.

Any recommendations for greyhound rescues that are good at robust cat testing or have foster dogs with cats in homes?

Perhaps I could talk more with them.

EGLR are a foster only rescue, and a number of the foster homes have cats. You'd want to follow them on Facebook as the 'easy to rehome' dogs never make it as far as the website

I’ve been struggling with this quandary for a while and feel exactly like you about greyhounds and not wanting a bonkers barky dog.

I’ve not had a dog before so have decided to just get a greyhound. I decided to wait until I was cat free. Maybe in the future I would get both but I don’t feel that that I could cope with learning how to train a dog and also worrying about it and cats.

Previous to this I had settled on the Maltese breed. But like you my heart is with sighthounds so just going to get the right dog for us.

That's kind of where my head was, and largely is, but DH really wants a dog now he is working based at home.

So I'm trying to think a) greyhound lurcher, b) no dog as too much work to integrate them right now, or c) be more open minded to other breeds.

Pondering and gathering info right now is helping.

This sounds horrible - but are the cats in any way nearing the end of their lives? Could you wait it out?

I would be very nervous having a cat with our hound. I also know people who have added a dog to a cat household and the cats have been extremely put out and left home for a bit. It will be highly stressful introducing dogs to a cat household I would think.

That said, if you didn't have cats I would recommend a greyhound every day of the week and twice on Sundays -they are everything you believe them to be, calm, very lazy and slightly dense and look utterly ridiculous lying upside down with all four ludicrously long legs in the air. Mine makes me smile every day.

We had a very feisty cat who terrorised our two whippets, he’d hide behind doors and pop out, or just walk past them with a swagger daring them to touch him and then whopping them when they did! Sadly we lost him a couple of weeks ago and there’s no way I’m introducing another cat to the mix.

I think the right cat would be fine, if they sit tight & fight back they’re ok but a cat that runs would worry me as I think the chase instinct is so strong you’d be forever on edge.

I know lots of lurchers have a ton of greyhound in them, just wondering if the greyhounds sleepiness when indoors would help at all?
Lurchers are greyhound mixed with something else, usually the stereotypical lurcher is collie x greyhound, you also get bull lurchers which are any sort of bull breed x greyhound.
They are both bred for hunting.
I know loads and loads of people have greyhounds and lurchers, sometimes ex coursing ones with cats peacefully but personally I wouldn’t take the risk.

I'm also looking at lots of sites and Spanish greyhounds/galgos keep coming up as cat trainable
Galgo as in the Spanish hunting hound?!
No way would I introduce an unwanted ex working hunting dog into a house with small furry creatures (cats)!