Pointy hound owners please assemble!

[QueenofLouisiana]

I’m going to hopefully be adopted by an ex-racing greyhound on Saturday.
What pointers (no pun intended) would you give me? We are adopting from the Greyhound Trust in our home county and the dog will come with collars, lead, warm coat etc. We have bowls on order.
Beds? Raincoat? Socialising?
Anything else? Thank you.

Check it has the correct amount of legs...

Oh my! Those pictures make my head hurt!

@30degreesandmeltinghere

Check it has the correct amount of legs...

😂😂😂

As pps have said pointynoses can just back out of a collar but bear in mind they can also easily wriggle out of a standard dog harness. A harness with a belly strap that won't pull over that deep chest is safest ie Ruffwear (Extreme?) or Indidog Houdini. We found this out the hard way. (He's fine now BTW ). If yours doesn't have a deathwish Celtichound do beautiful leather sighthound collars.

Please Google bloat which can affect deep chested dogs. Give several small feeds in a raised bowl rather than one big one, no zoomies just after eating etc.

There's no such thing as too many cushions and you'll soon get the hang of arranging them correctly

As well as needing to be wrapped up warm in winter they are also more sensitive to excessive heat so need keeping cool in summer.

They're not built to sit, apart from on the saggiest of sofas.

Oh almost forgot sighthounds are the best dogs ever and spoil you for any other kind!

Greyhounds truly are the best companions. My boy is daft as a brush and he and my DD are thick as thieves when they're together. He's one massive DORK. But all the best ones are! You'll literally not regret welcoming one into your home one bit. 😁

On top of all the great advice here, mine loves plushy toys. He won't play with balls or ropes or anything else, but he loves to cuddle up to his plushy carrot and duck when he's chilling.

A bit more greyhound weirdness - their blood test results need to be compared to “normal for greyhounds” not the standard values for all dogs. High red blood cell and low thyroid counts, for instance, are actually normal.
Also they have very low body fat levels, so there have been problems in the past with sensitivity to general anaesthetics. I believe better drugs are available these days, so it’s less of an issue, but I’d still (tactfully) mention it to your vet if your greyhound ever needs an op.

@MyGrassIsBrowner

Greyhounds truly are the best companions. My boy is daft as a brush and he and my DD are thick as thieves when they're together. He's one massive DORK. But all the best ones are! You'll literally not regret welcoming one into your home one bit. 😁

What a grin!! love it.

They really have the most beautiful faces.

comedy coats
And hats, don’t forget comedy hats.

@NiceTwin

Do not be too alarmed by the death scream The first time you hear it, you may expect to see a gaping wound, or a broken leg. In reality they will have done no more than the human equivalent of standing on a piece of Lego.

That, or a leaf might have blown down the street past them…

@MotionActivatedDog Aww thanks 😀 it's the tongue out when they're sleeping that does it for me as well. Just hilarious!

The Greyhound Trust are marvellous so your dog will definitely be fully wormed and vaccinated. Ex-racers often haven't encountered stairs before so can find them a challenge until they figure them out. Ditto things like traffic, bridges over water, and beaches. Often they've only known kennels and tracks so they need to learn about the big, wide world.

They don't all have high prey drives but those that do move fast, and I mean really fast, after anything small and furry, including floofy little dogs that are easily mistaken for dinner. I had a greyhound who could spot a rabbit 2 fields away but luckily she couldn't be arsed to chase it, but I now have a lurcher who will belt off after anything that moves.

My lurcher goes for anything that moves. When I first got her she lunged at cars, (fucking terrifying!) cyclists, runners, people walking past, birds, an empty crisp packet, someone standing still talking to me and gesticulating with their hands. I don’t think she’d ever been on a walk or around people normally.

My entry level pointy nose was a greyhound puppy who was with me for 15 years (photo in woods). She thought she was a border collie as she lived with one all her life.
I then went on to Galgos. I lost my two tuxedo boys in September and January and adopted my new black boy in March. He is an idiot and thinks he is a pony. The brindle has been with me for 6 years now and is 11. He was a nutcase when he first came but is the most chilled old man now.

Oh and check out Richard Skipworth who has written the definitive owners' manual for greys

www.richskipworth.co.uk/Greyhound%20Glossary/greyhoundglossaryorderinfo.html

Lucky you, they are such wonderful creatures.
They are so skinny and boney they are much more comfortable on soft furnishings than hard floors. They get cold in winter, they need coats and maybe a blanket in their bed, they also need a special collar as their heads and necks are very narrow. Most will chase anything that moves, and obviously they can run so fast that they are able to catch most small prey.
I am always gentle and calm around my animals, they are very sensitive.
I have a lurcher that is part greyhound/ collie, she is the love of my life.

I'm meeting a potential match this week.

I'm having last minute nerves! One of my wobbles is about the garden, it's small and I enjoy gardening, and we have tons of birds that visit. I don't keep a pristine lawn or anything but I would like to keep my flowers and the visiting wildlife - please tell me this is possible ?!!

We have a reasonably sized garden but ours didn’t chase after birds after the first couple of months. We do get mallard in the garden in the spring and he mostly ignores them. Doesn’t eat the flowers but has an occasional chomp of lettuce.

He went a bit mad at first doing zoomies on the lawn but after about 3 months or so his recall was good enough for him to go off lead away from roads, so he runs most days on walks and doesn’t bother on the lawn.

Ahhh! We would love another sighthound🙁 But DC3 is only just turned 5 and we have really struggled to find a rescue that will re-home with us.
This was the issue before so we got our amazing whippet vizla cross puppy.
I had never had a puppy before and never will again 😂

My tip: he loves being covered up and snuggly. My sis gave us this bed (her fussy lurched didn't like it but that's because she lets him sleep in her bed!)
I promise he's in there! But I think it was quite expensive. 'Twas a drunk purchase from my sis but lucky for us!

This is what he looks like usually!

Pic fail! Here he is😍

@Definitelyrandom thank you! I am thinking that I will hire a field once a week for an off lead run, and 3 walks a day, so hopefully that will help!!

LOVING the pics on here !!

Bookends are good!!

olivethegreat We’re lucky to have a good range of pretty safe off lead opportunities within walking distance. Pic of running boy.....