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

My lovely old girl lived quite happily in a ground floor flat. She had her own personal corner of the sofa and woe betide he who sat in her spot! Much huffing and black looks! She was amazingly tolerant of small children and became the neighbourhood favourite.

Most walks were on the lead, apart from her twilight years when she moved at a snails pace and never went far from me. We didn’t muzzle her after a few months, once we realised she was about as laid back as a dog could get!

One thing to remember, if you get a rescue, retired racers can be extremely sensitive about their ears. Rough handling at the track makes them wary of touch. Persist with gentle ear rubs and eventually they will learn to love a good scratch.

@HunterAngel hit the nail on the head there. Though my boy comes to me for ear scratchies now and wont stop staring at me until I do it. His eyes roll to the back of his head, the lot haha!

@StillSmallVoice nothing wrong with being biased 🤭 though I think dogs in general are just the best companions you could have. Never a dull moment in our household!

I have an ex racer greyhound. Easy dog, sleeps a lot, very docile, does go off lead as not a very high prey drive, lives with a cat no probs. The greyhound trust are great and can match you to a dog.

@eatingpopcorn

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!

How are they alone? I’d be out two days a week. Would get a dog Walker to come in but would be good few hours alone.

He is off led majority of the time, even along the path. We can open the front door and he goes on the drive but no further. He absolutely assumes anyone that comes to the house is for him 😂

He can be left for 8 hours easily. He literally sleeps! We walk him most days but it's more of a social event!
We got him at 9 weeks (he's 6) and he has always been good- no damaged furniture etc.

@Egghead81 ours is generally fine being left for a few hours, and we used to use a dog Walker to break up longer spells. No crying, destruction or accidents whenever we've left him, apart from the occasional bin being pulled out but that's usually just because an opportunity has presented itself (such as something poking out meaning the lid was easy to nose open). People used to come view our house when we were out and according to the estate agents they didn't even know he was home sometimes because he wouldn't get up from under all the cushions on the sofa the lazy sod :)

My Grey sleeps 18 hours a day 2x15 min walks a day plenty. If you get a grey you won't regret it for a second. I adopted joey from The Greyhound Trust.

@OliveToboogie

My Grey sleeps 18 hours a day 2x15 min walks a day plenty. If you get a grey you won't regret it for a second. I adopted joey from The Greyhound Trust.

What about two days home alone? How old was your gorgeous one when you got him? Training?

I could be wrong but I don’t think there are greyhound breeders like there are for golden retrievers or cocker spaniels other than those that breed for racing so your options will be rescue or..... rescue.

Oh I have a rescue lurcher, young, not fully grown, 24kg and strong as a fucking bull. She is solid muscle. My 11yo can’t walk her because if she sees a cat or small dog she is gone. Something to think about with your DCs ages.

A good rescue will match you with the right dog.
We were looking for a male greyhound and we're 'given' a female lurcher. Greyhound / collie. She sleeps for 18hrs a day and is an utter goofball for 6. She is extremely gentle when she senses that she needs to be. Absolutely fine when left although I work from home now so she rarely is.
Pretty sure she's been used for hunting so we are very careful around small furrows although she is scared of cats.

*furries

A rescue with known temperament would be really great for a first time dog owner.

I absolutely love greyhounds, ive never net a nasty one.

They may need muzzling in public simply due to their strong prey drive but thats no great hassle.

If you share your garden then youre neighbours will need to aprove.

Go for it - bloody lovely dogs

Thank you so much all

Rescue greyhound for us

I will be back on this forum closer to time as Will so appreciate further guidance how to welcome our new family member

@Egghead81 That's fab news! Would love some updates when you get your new addition! 😊

Yay!!! When the time comes there are lots of helpful forums around - Retired Greyhound Owners UK is a good Facebook group. They are really helpful and friendly.

@StillSmallVoice

Yay!!! When the time comes there are lots of helpful forums around - Retired Greyhound Owners UK is a good Facebook group. They are really helpful and friendly.

Agreed! I love that group. Congrats OP looking forward to the updates (and obligatory pics)

Yes! Pics! Just cos they're gorgeous. We particularly like pics showing impressive ear action...

Do you all have privacy window coverings over lower half of any patio doors? We have been told that necessary in case they spot a cat in the garden

Nah we've never had them, no issues except one day when our grey saw two foxes brazenly humping on our lawn ... I know I said they don't bark but he used up all his woof tokens that morning

Ooh that's great news , glad you are going for a rescue .

Rescues are great but few reputable ones will match you to a dog if you are going to leave it alone for 2 long days per week. Most have a rough criteria that 4 hours max is tolerable.

If you go with one of the smaller greyhound or sighthound specific charities they tend to have the greyhound/sighthound in Foster first.
This means they learn about being in the home but also they are able to say what the dog is like being left for a few hours and how they are with children. Crucially they will help with starting toilet training for being in a house as many are not!

We have a rescue greyhound/saluki Cross. She is the most gentle thing and very good with our toddler.
They love a very comfy bed/sofa!

Ours can go off lead but we did nearly 8 months of solid training first. Some just can't but if you find completely enclosed dog spaces then you watch them run they are amazing to see!

They are such gentle and loving dogs which are often overlooked!

@StillSmallVoice
Is this impressive ear action? 🙈
This was my boy when we first got him.

To be honest the only animal he would get at if he could would be cats, but they're always too fast for him. It really depends on the nature of the dog. Some aren't phased others would kill given the chance. I think if you are able to get paired with a dog that's right for you, they are an amazing asset to the family. We wouldn't be without this one now.

@MyGrassIsBrowner very impressive! My boy stands absolutely still staring intently at squirrels, but cats really do get him going. They are all different in personality and prey drive, I think.