I have an appointment to view a greyhound today at the animal sanctuary. Wish me luck.

[CarnageAhead]

Good morning, I’m really excited, so bear with me.
I have been contacted to view a greyhound today at our local animal sanctuary after I sent in an application form.
She is an ex racer and is five years old 🥰🥰
Any advice welcome about food etc (and your greyhound pics obviously) will be most appreciated, and I’ll catch up later. Please wish me luck.
MTIA 💐

What a beauty x she looks so contented in her new bed. Happy days ahead!

Ours is an ex racer. We got him at 4 and he's now 9. Never had a dog before but Odin is spoilt rotten! He had a crate when he first came home but isn't destructive. It took him 6 months to jump on the bed or sofa and he sulks if anyone sits in his chair now. He's not got any sensitivities with food and will scoff anything - he also loves a cup of tea. We got him the martingale collar and have never let him off lead. He splits his tail if he gets super excited so we've invested in pool noodle/pipe insulation for protection. Enjoy having your new little pony. We wouldn't be without our son!

She's lovely ❤️
Mine cried in the night on his first night. I ended up (not)sleeping on the floor next to his dog bed that night, before giving in and having him up on my bed ever since, where he sleeps very well!
I hope she settles in quickly. You're going to love her so much.

The old man (Odin)

She looks like she’s settling in well 🥰.

She looks very chilled for the first night home.

How did she get on with her first night?

Thank you, she is definitely adorable. Your two sound fab and I agree, who is rescuing who here? 🙂

Well……..it started off fine, she seemed okay until we went to bed.

She cried so much, we ended putting her bed on the landing so she could see and hear us. We’ll move the bed away bit by bit until she gets used to us being upstairs.

Today we took her on a couple of walks to tire her out and she seems more relaxed now. She has had some mackerel and really enjoyed it 🥰🥰.

Awww love it! Mackerel is good for their coat too

Oh Odin is beautiful 😍
We are in grave danger of spoiling her rotten too 😊❤️.
She tried to stick her snoot in my cup of tea this morning and as it was hot I had to stop her. She gave me a look of disgust 😂

Oh bless, the first night is difficult. She will be fine soon enough.

Ours likes tea too.

As recommended by our rehoming kennel, I slept on the sofa near our hound for the first two nights. They’ve never been alone before, always with other hounds.

He sleeps downstairs all night now.

Just to update: Sally is settling in well and her personality is showing through nicely.
She knows where the treats live 😄.

She isn’t interested in other dogs while out on walks which suits us fine in one way, yet it would be nice for her to have a playmate or even a friendly sniff with another dog. Still, there is time.

She now sleeps downstairs in her own bed rather than the landing. Though it was endearing that she wanted to be near us, she kept us awake with the paws clattering on the wall when she was racing in her sleep during the night 😵‍💫😁. We had started taking her for longer walks at a later time in the evening so that is how she ended up in her bed, she was too tired to run upstairs, bless her.

Now she only comes upstairs when we are having a brew in bed in the morning and lies at the side.

Just a question about collars if I may?
What house collar do I need to buy? She currently has a fishtail but I believe they have to have two, a house collar and a martingale /fishtail collar?

Glad Sally is settling in well, she will begin to like and sniff some other dogs in time especially if she meets up with 'regulars'. As to the collar question, mine has a house collar (or 3) in jazzy patterns but a broad leather one attached to her lead for walks.

Thank you @Maxifly, please can you show me a photo of the house collars you have, I’m not sure of the thickness of what it should be.
Im sorry if it’s a dumb request 💐

They are just a regular width, about an inch wide, sorry can't upload photo for some reason.

Do all ex racers have to be muzzled when off lead?

Many GH rescues make it a condition the new owner agrees to (on or off lead)

You can't let them off the lead anyway until/unless they've learned recall (some ex-racing GH never do). A greyhound who decides to go awol at 40 mph, is out of sight within minutes.

Ah okay @Maxifly I think I was looking too deep about it, I’ll order one an inch wide then, thank you.

Yes a muzzle is the next thing to sort.
She is never off lead but has a harness which helps when there are cats and squirrels about.

We had a basic dog collar for 2.5 years and we've lost it a few times as they come right over the head. I've now attached the ID tag to her harness
I heard horror stories of necks being snapped with fishtail/martingale collars so we never used it

Pleased to hear Sally is settled in well. Love the idea of her joining you in the morning for a brew!
What is the reason for a collar indoors? Just wondering as we've never used one indoors. We have a harness for walks and I take that off when we get inside.

Yes my girl has a phone number of the rescue centre on her collar in case she escapes but this is a requirement, never needed. And it gets taken off after her last walk so she can have a good old neck scratching session! She had a muzzle but hated it, in my opinion they don't need one.

Any recent pictures of Sally? 🥰 She sounds like she's settled really well.

😊