New to dog ownership. I’m thinking a greyhound. But we live in a garden flat?

[Egghead81]

Single parent two children 10 and 9.

The children are true bona fide dog lovers.

And I finally feel ready to welcome one in to our family.

Does a greyhound seem suitable to this scenario:

Ground floor large flat (small/medium sized enclosed garden). Is this ok?
For family - happy to walk 2x day 4 days a week, but only time for 1x 30 min walk 3 days a week. Is that sufficient?
I’m very house proud. Greyhound compatible?
Lots of love and cuddles to give.

Thoughts?

Rescue or from breeder? Eventually would love a rescue but for our first - may not be in dog’s best interests (and right for our family as a first dog)

Alternatives?

Many thanks

Greyhounds are fab and they dont need as much exercise as you'd think. One long walk a day is sufficient. My greyhound sleeps most of the day, he's so lazy! Definitely look at rescue greyhound places. If you're up North, Brambleberry Greyhounds is fantastic, that's where I got my boy from! Good luck! X

Thanks so much

As o say - perhaps next one a rescue
But I don’t think first timers are best bet for rescues.

How do greyhounds compare with whippets?

Are walks off the lead?
The dog will be alone 2 days a week when I’m at work all day. This ok?

Well personally, if you get matched with the correct greyhound there's nothing stopping you from going for a rescue, most of them are ex racers and need loving, welcoming homes. They have so much love to give.

Obviously the main difference between greyhounds and whippets is size, lol. My greyhound is 38kg so he's a big boy. They will take up the whole sofa haha. I cant compare other traits between the two as I've never had a whippet myself.
I dont walk my boy off the lead as his recall is crap, some greyhounds can be trained to walk off the lead but it depends on the dog. They also should be muzzled when out and about in public places. Although we dont muzzle ours too often as he wasn't a racer so freaks out at the muzzles. Most wont mind as they are used to it if they're an ex racer.
If you're leaving them alone for longish periods might be worth getting a crate as they can have bad separation anxiety. They can be hard work but very rewarding dogs. How long will you be at work? Might be worth thinking about a dog sitter those days as most wont agree with leaving them for long hours alone.

Thank you! Brilliant info.

Are they quite calm dogs? That’s what appealed as living in a flat, I don’t think would be fair for the dog if it was a boisterous jumpy one as I’d correctly be trying to calm it!

And quite house proud - do they shed a lot?

Yes I think a dog sitter on the two days I’ll be at work

We have a Lhasa apso. Also first time dog owners. Totally different to a greyhound but he is a dream. Doesn't moult, lazy, loves to be near you. Will happily forgo a walk if it's raining. Adores children and is great with them.
I just thought I'd mention the breed as he would fit in with your home perfectly.

Two people I know who rescued greyhounds had problems with being left and anxiety. One has killed the cat and is terrible for chasing children and teenagers. The other had to go back to the rescue as he was just desperately unhappy.

It’s not all easy when you rescue

@Egghead81 Not a problem, glad I can help. The lady who owns Brambleberry greyhound rescue she would match you with a dog perfectly. She breeds the majority of them and she knows them like the back of her hand. She's based in Peterborough.
Some can be daft as a brush, mostly though they are very laid back, mine is currently roaching on my sofa and he'll be there most of the day 😂 no exaggeration either lol.

I also have a 14 month old and he is AMAZING around her. I've got baby no.2 on the way and have absolutely no concerns about him around the pair of them in the future.

They don't shed much actually, when spring comes round they will shed their winter coat and go a bit bare on their bums, I'm quite house proud too, but I just take him out the house daily and give him a good brush down.
They really are fantastic dogs and I always get stopped in the street for fusses. X

I agree with getting a rescue from a greyhound rescue center they will have a good ide of tge indvidual dogs nature .
The only thing you need up be aware of is x racers will of been trained to chase small furry's so you may not be able to let it off the lead unmuzzled but as PP said they are use to wearing them so it not a big issue .

Because they are smooth coated they won't shed lots of fur and have a easy to maintain coat.
They feel the cold though so you may need to buy him a jacket .

I certainly would say get a dog walker on the days you are at work , it's a long time for them to go alone and no chance to go to the toilet.

This is my boy by the way! He's 4. X

Most greyhounds around me (and there are a lot, especially since the local greyhound track closed quite a few years ago now) are walked on lead all the time. There are only a few who are let off (we are surrounded by Epping Forest). I see more whippets off lead but BE AWARE, one off-lead whippet saw a herd of deer and legged it after them last November and SHE IS STILL OUT THERE IN THE FOREST - of course, amazingly good at catching her food so has been proving exceptionally difficult to trap. I suspect that if you have a sighthound of any description, you cannot safely let them off the lead if there are exciting scents of natural prey animals around that will make them forget all about recall.

@Baxdream

We have a Lhasa apso. Also first time dog owners. Totally different to a greyhound but he is a dream. Doesn't moult, lazy, loves to be near you. Will happily forgo a walk if it's raining. Adores children and is great with them. I just thought I'd mention the breed as he would fit in with your home perfectly.

I’d love a pic!

Sounds perfect.

Did you get from breeder or rescue?

How are they on their own? I’d be at work two days a week, although will get a dog Walker.

How often do you take out for a walk? On lead?

@MyGrassIsBrowner

This is my boy by the way! He's 4. X

So handsome

@MyGrassIsBrowner

Presumably grooming and hair shedding is an issue?!

@Egghead81 Nah not an issue at all, we get his nails clipped professionally and then give him a good brush down every few days just to keep on top of his coat. He eats a lot of sardines and has olive oil in his food so his coat is like silk at the moment!

We’ve got whippets! Like you we initially thought about rescuing a greyhound or lurcher, but as it was our first dog and our children were a bit younger than yours, we didn’t get very far with it. Passed the home inspection but then never had a match.

We got our whippets from KC breeders and have had them since puppies. They can go off lead but yes they will run after a wild animal, although thankfully mine give up quite quickly! They’re happy to walk on the lead though and they also love chasing a ball at the park for more intense running (and that wears them out really quickly).

They can be very lazy, I think they’re more like cats to be honest. Don’t shed much. They’re also fairly clean, don’t like walking in mud or water. I think they’re the best ☺️ I would still consider rescuing in the future now I know what I’m doing with them. They can be anxious and clingy, so you’d need to work up slowly to leaving them on their own or they will chew things (like most dogs would).

@MyGrassIsBrowner he’s a beauty!

@BulbasaurusRex thank you 🥰

We have a whippet greyhound cross, and she is the easiest dog ever! She does demand lots of cuddles and sofa space, but she is really content to be laying on her back with all four legs in the air much of the time. She loves a mad 5 minute racearound, but she's not one for long walks, especially if it is cold or heaven forbid, raining! Our other dog (collie) is a polar opposite!

I think we need pics of all these lovely pooches 😍

As people say, retired racing greyhounds are very easy dogs. They don't shed much, are very calm and don't need too much exercise.

Prey drive is a thing you need to be aware of, and most shouldn't be off a lead. Ours stops and stares intently if he sees a squirrel, but cats will really make him want to give chase. They are all different though.

There are also a lot of greys needing homes when they retire from the racetrack.

We are what is known as a 'failed foster'. We didn't intend to keep him, but after a very short time with us there was no way we were going to send him back!

Pic cos he's gorgeous.

@MyGrassIsBrowner that is one lovely grey!

We got our rescue greyhound when we lived in a garden flat too! It wasn't huge but big enough for him to have a mad 5 minutes of zoomies every now and then and do all his sniffing in between walks. Everyone in my family has a dog, and genuinely I can't understand why anyone would choose anything but a rescue greyhound (I admit I may be biased...) - generally they don't bark, they walk beautifully on a lead, they don't jump up on people, and they're pretty clean and low maintenance all round. Some things to consider might be that a lot of them are extremely food driven and ours is a terrible counter surfer, so we learned to keep a completely clear kitchen at all times or else find an empty lurpak in the dog bed/ an empty loaf wrapper and a load of crumbs in our bed/a carton of eggs, with only shells inside in the garden. Other than that, I think they are the perfect pet. Good luck with your search!

@StillSmallVoice aww he's a beauty, he actually looks like my old dog who sadly passed away last year 😭 love his colouring.

I'd agree with others though, rescue greyhounds are the way to go if you want one. There are so many ex racers who need rehoming especially now that a lot of tracks have closed permanently. It's horrifying what happens to some ex racers that aren't lucky enough to go to rescue centers and it's so sad. I've always had rescues and I feel like they have the most love to give from my own experience. X

Thank you. We think he's beautiful not that we're biased.