Greyhound

[bakewellbride]

We are about to adopt an ex racing greyhound. I've been doing research but this will be my first dog.

Anyone got any words of wisdom?!

I'm nervous but so happy and excited too.

Prepare for weird elbowy cuddles, ridiculous honking noises, and absolutely outrageous toxic farts.

I've never loved a dog as much as I loved my Greyhound ❤️ they are the most special dogs.

Be patient- 2 of our 3 were very slow to warm up to us, but so loving and affectionate when they did (the 3rd was younger, never raced/abused and pretty much warmed to us immediately).

Keep ALL of your food secure. Do not leave any out. They are the biggest food thieves in the world!

I've never really known one love those beds that come up at the sides- all the ones I've known have liked to sprawl out, so a big flat bed would be best.

Good luck!! They're wonderful animals 🥰

We've had ours for about 8 years now and he's the goodest of good boys!

Pros: He's ways been very chill. Happy to go for a walk then sleep the rest of the day away on the sofa. Tries to refuse walks if it's raining!
He's great with our DD, who was born about 3 years after we got him. Lovely nature.
Amazing to watch them run!
Already tend to walk beautifully on a lead as they're trained for that.
They actually need surprisingly little exercise. Everyone expects them to bounce off the walls due to their racing nature but it's much more of a sprint than marathon type of energy!
Generally very healthy dogs (but see note on injuries below).
He's honestly the perfect dog for our family and I'm so glad we have him!

Cons: they're not exactly normal dogs. Ex racers generally have to be taught how to climb stairs, they don't tend to bother with balls and sticks (although they love killing fluffy squeaky toys!), they won't know the normal dog commands (but can't be taught to sit, stay, etc.).
They are prone to separation anxiety. They.can overcome this with training.
I said they are healthy, but they are quite easily injured. Their skin is very thin and they can be cut deeply quite easily. I've had to take mine to have stitches twice (and had to patch him up myself countless times) just from catching himself on rocks in streams for example. This is expensive!
They have a high prey drive, which means they are likely to chase cats. I've been to a greyhound event where a small fluffy dog got a nasty bite from an ex racer. You should muzzle until you know the dog is safe around other dogs.

I'd recommend getting some proper dog training lessons, especially as this is your first dog. It helps for them to learn some basic commands, like sit and stay, and ideally a decent recall (although I would not trust recall over their prey drive tbh!)

Also, prepare to be stopped by people every day asking you about their racing days! I have lost count of the number of times I've had to explain that ours was just rubbish so retired early!

Good luck with your adoption!

Also they chatter their teeth when they are excited which is very cute, but might surprise you if you aren't expecting it!

@frockandcrocs thank you. Re. The food thing would fruit bowl on the kitchen side be secure? It's up high but now I'm rethinking this!

@PlantDoctor thank you so helpful. The boy we are adopting never properly raced at all as he didn't pass the initial trials! Just a great big softy who seemed to really like my little girl. We are taking our 6 year old son to meet him today, he's going to be so happy.

Don't have a GH, but from speaking to many GH owners, lack of recall seems to be a common trait, so having access to a large secure area is a bonus, i.e. a fenced in park etc.

I hope it goes well and you post updates...
P.S. hope you have a big sofa...

They wouldn't go for fruit. It's more meat, cheese, bread, that kind of thing. Mine also shredded a multi pack of toilet rolls once! 😂

So excited for you! I wish I could get another but there wouldn't be room in the car/sofa!

They’re a lovely first dog!

The only thing I would say is to echo PPs - high prat drive (please don’t let it off a lead unless in a secure and highly fence area) and very bony!

Firstly, thank you for giving a greyhound a home, so many are in rescue waiting for a loving family.

We have two, and I really can't imagine life without a greyhound anymore!

A few things that may be helpful...

Beds! As big and comfy as you can afford. Ours have memory foam and are probably more comfortable than the bed dh and I sleep in
Our dogs had obviously never lived in a house and found normal stuff like the tv quite confusing ( our boy would look behind the tv for the people talking )
Greyhounds are very sensitive, I think some may have been treated poorly ( ours was scared of rolls of wrapping paper )
Food! Ours are very fussy and have sensitive stomachs, buy shares in air freshener
Off lead running. Look online for a dog friendly, secure field and have an amazing time watching your couch potato going like the clappers ( for 5 minutes, the other 25 minutes you've paid for will be spent watching them asleep on the grass )

Be warned, though, they are addictive! And another would be good company for your new hound as they are better in pairs 😎

Best of luck!

They really are the best dogs and absolute drama queens. But hardy as well. Mine screamed like a banshee when he knocked his paw (quick rub and a kiss healed it) but hardly blinked when he nearly tore his claw off.
Be prepared for him freezing on a walk. Usually when you're crossing a road 🙄 everything is new and he might get spooked by a leaf, or remembering being spooked by a leaf there yesterday 🙂 best thing to do is bring his face into your stomach sideways and move round in a circle going forward usually brings them out of it.
Oh and the poo dance, back and forward for the perfect spot. Get strong poo bags as the poos are impressive 😷

Mine would devour a fruit bowl. He loves apple, banana, pear.

Greyhounds make the most lovely pets, mine is the love of my life. But as some others have said, be patient while they settle in. Rescued racers (even if he didn't race) may not have been treated very well and probably won't have lived in a home. Mine didn't understand stairs, hoover, tv, shower, didn't know what to do with toys, definitely didn't appreciate that the food on my plate was for me! Time and patience...
Mine is perfect, loves a cuddle, behaves well, doesn't do smelly farts unless he's eaten certain foods. But still after 7 years has no recall at all so he always walks on a lead unless we go to a fenced area to run.
As you have young children I'd advise you teach them the "let sleeping dogs lie" rule - if he's asleep, don't touch, no one likes to be prodded and grabbed when they are asleep. Beyond that, he'll be a perfect family pet.

Oh, I can't believe that I forgot the greyhound Scream Of Death!
A slight discomfort can elicit a truly impressive howl of sheer agony from most greyhounds, whereas they can be properly hurt and you'd never know it 😧
Stoic drama lamas!

We're of the " if in doubt, get to the vet " type of family.

Greyhounds can jump surprisingly high, I would move/hide it if I were you!

My mum's ate the bananas from her fruit bowl and somehow left the skins 😂 our first GH got into the tub of tea bags and ripped them all up- we were more careful about leaving the lid ajar after that!

Oooh- this is an indication of how spoilt ours are- b it we have a bowl holder so they don't have to bend down too much 😅 (my late father made them and they've been used since our 1st GH- he made one for water and one for food, but I now have one at my house so the water bowl lives in it until food time).

Mine is a lurcher but answering this as she is half greyhound and a rescue ❤️

She is honestly a dream dog. So gentle, well mannered and sweet. Like others have said she didn't quite understand how to 'dog' at first, she doesn't really understand playing with toys and no matter how hard we try if we tell her to 'sit' she looks at us like we are out of our minds. She's had to learn how to properly play and interact with dogs we meet via our other dog, and she still finds dogs running around chasing each other/playing fetch a bit overwhelming and will bark at the offending dogs. She stays on lead as she is an ex hunting dog and MAN she is fast, I don't know if I will ever get to the point where I can trust her off. She trots along on her lead like an angel though, never pulls unlike my bastard spaniel.

Honestly she is fast asleep much of the time, takes herself off to bed before my pre schooler and is always the last to get up in the morning. Loves a cuddle, loves a comfy sofa. When she finds something exciting she is adorable, she makes this little noise and hops around like she doesn't know what to do with herself. She gives the best kisses and if I'm feeling sad she sticks her little pointy snout up to my face and gives me this gorgeous soulful look.

Before we got her I'd seen loads of comments about how perfect rescue grey/lurchers are but I'd just not really considered them for us but I'd definitely have more in future.

My biggest bit of advice though would be to echo about keeping all and any food out of reach, those long legs and pointy noses can get into all sorts of places, mine is a complete dustbin! And speaking of dustbins, make sure those aren't accessible either, speaking from bitter experience having come home to the contents all over the kitchen floor!

Good luck OP !

Lots of good advice already.

Sighthounds have different claws to other breeds and they grow very quickly and must be trimmed regularly. Do not let them over grow as it can cause problems with their gait and it makes it so much harder to trim.

Look at the diagram here

www.greyfortgreyhounds.com/LiteratureOfInterest/Conditions/NailTrimming/NailTrimming.html

I have lurchers, but this still applies. They get cold. Like properly, miserably cold as they have 30% less fat cells than other dogs and very little hair. Unless your house is very warm they need pyjamas in the winter, and will need a coat outside. Due to their shape, these need to be greyhound specific, but the good news is that you can have a lot of fun with this. My salukixgreyhound is currently rocking a halloween jumper from Houndtees .
Normal collars don't work because of their skinny heads, so use a martingale collar (available in all kinds of designs) or a well fitted harness like Perfect Fit. Never, ever use a long lead or extending lead. Your dog will be able to reach 40mph in 6 strides and you don't want to be on the end of that.
They can sleep with their eyes open, so it is really important to teach the children not to touch them when they are lying down.
Greyhound scream of death is very real (and only out done by greyhound puppy scream of death) but they can be very quiet when actually hurt.

Nails are a pita, so take a little bit off every week and also check their feet for corns

I have had a rescued greyhound and now have a lurcher who is 3/4 greyhound. Apart from sleep startle (can snap if disturbed while sleeping) everything has been mentioned. Be gentle and patient, they are so sensitive but I love the breed so much. Like giant bony lap cats. You will not regret it.
Please post some photos x

Our tall pointy hound can steal toast from the toaster.. And off the kitchen windowsill behind the sink..... You have been warned. And they love clothes.

Thank you everyone, this thread is so useful. I will of course post a pic. Just hope he settles in ok x

We've had our retired greyhound for about 3 years now and love him so much!

No kids yet so can't attest to how they are with kids in the home, but he is always very gentle and good natured with kids that come up to him out and about, although they do get a bit startled sometimes when he swings his big nose around to have a sniff 😁

They are super chilled, lovely, low maintenance pets. Ours had impeccable manners with other dogs from the off. Very low exercise demands, our boy does really enjoy his walks but they're more about sniffing and reading the pee-mails than striding out and covering ground. You will not get your heart rate up by walking a greyhound lol.

It's worth splashing out on a good quality wet food if you can, as their tummies are sensitive and you will know about it if they're not happy 😅

Ours froze a lot on walks when we first had him. For us this was something that mainly improved with time. If I could do it again I wouldn't worry about venturing too far from the house in the first weeks. They need time and patience to get used to the sights and sounds of the outside world.

Watch out for space guarding when they're sleepy/asleep, e.g. don't plonk down next to them on the sofa when they're dozing or stick your face into their bed. This is the only thing they can be a bit funny about. If they grumble just give them space, don't be alarmed, they're just communicating. They are not aggressive dogs at all.

Good luck! They are quirky, beautiful souls and ours brings sunshine into our life every day. :)

Mine was never a racer, he was found abandoned as a puppy and we took him in.

They're absolutely sweet, wonderful, chilled dogs but they can be quite aloof and can want cuddles on their terms only, a bit like a cat.

Just learn not to take it personally 🤣

Oh and mine can spring up over a 6ft garden fence panel like it doesn't exist, especially when he can hear foxes in the street.

So make sure your garden is very secure.