Rehoming a greyhound

[Elizabeth20100]

Hi,

After loving the breed for years, I am now in the position to rehome a greyhound.

I got in touch with a lovely branch of the greyhound trust and they have matched us (me, DS8, DS5 and ragdoll cat) to a lovely cat-trainable girl.

I am suddenly nervous and second guessing my decision! I am home most of the time and work one day in London (a dog walker can come on that day) so this is great but I hear mixed reviews about the settling period and would love advice about separation anxiety, my biggest wobble point. Thanks :)

Congratulations you won’t regret it. We have two at the moment. We are on our 4th.

I have two also, and two cats. How old is she and where has she come from? Is she a failed racer, or has she raced, or been bred? Separation anxiety can certainly be an issue, this is why I will always have two, they're not very used to being on their own, particularly the young ones. The ex racers are usually more independent. Also cat training can take a while - we put baby gates everywhere for the first six months until we're sure they wont eat them, but we have had dogs that weren't cat assessed and just persevered until everyone understood the rules. It helps that our cats are used to dogs now.

You will need to work closely with the rescue centre to resolve any issues.

They are an amazing breed, though, and I would never willingly live without some greys in my life going forward.

Can you take some AL for the first week or so? Just until the dog is familiar with it's new surroundings.

Also, as an ex racer the dog will be fine being left for a few hours. Many spend theirlifein kennels with othergreyhounds... bu I think they are pretty chilled out in the home. If not, you'll have to get him a mate 🤪

Thanks all, I won’t go into the office for the 1st week and then have a week off altogether for the Easter hols so seems like a good time to acclimatise our little (big) lady.

In time, it would be amazing to take her into my office as its very doggy friendly with a lot of my colleagues bringing in their furry friends :)

I really can’t see myself having two greyhounds in our humble abode 😂 So it’s good to hear your experiences and hopefully something we can help her with, if she is afraid of being alone. I can’t foresee realllly long stretches she’ll be at home alone but nice to know we can go out to swimming lessons/dinner without coming home to a stressed dog or destroyed house.

Sorry @Fibrous, forgot to respond. She’s 6 years old and an ex racer yes. Her last race was Jan 2024 and she’s been with the trainer since

Just be careful off lead. Our neighbours adopted an ex-racing greyhound. They used to have her off lead on the playing field in the village. Another neighbour's cat was on the field and the greyhound tore her apart.

So she might be fine with your cat but not with other people's.

Mine are off lead frequently but they're not a cat risk. Squirrels are another matter.

I live in a two bed terraced house with a tiny garden, two greyhounds don't take up much more room than one. It's the bloody cats who like to spread themselves across the sofas and they claw the hounds if they try to get on next to them! The dogs are big wimps.

But yeah if she's a six year old ex racer she probably just wants to snooze all day. I got mine when they were very young and they needed a lot of action and followed me everywhere.

Thanks all, we live rurally so i think the muzzle will come in handy for the first few weeks at least whilst she gets used to seeing squirrels, deer and the like.

Id ideally like her to sleep downstairs. The cat sleeps on my bed. Are greyhounds happy to sleep apart? I know they like to be with their pack.

There was no chance ours would sleep away from us. We tried with our first and gave in after a few weeks of crying. Now we have beds for the two of them in our room.

Make sure she has pyjamas - they get cold at night.

Please be very cautious with the cat, I am very surprised any Rescue would allow a Greyhound with a cat.
Close neighbours rehomed a lovely Greyhound and while they didn't have a cat she did almost kill a small dog not long after they got her, it was very traumatic for everyone involved.
She is a lovely dog and adores my (big) dog but it has been a long and difficult journey for the family and they can never do the things they hoped with the dog as she has to be muzzled and can never be off lead.
Greyhounds can make lovely pets, this one is absolutely beautiful and is great with people and bigger dogs but she is a risk to anything smaller than a spaniel. I know they aren't all the same but some Greyhound Rescues are either a bit naive about their dogs or just wnat to rehome and don't worry too much about possible consequences.

Noted, I did suspect this may be the case. I’ve enjoyed looking at the array of clothes and jammies 🤩🥰

Thanks @Hoppinggreen, it’s good to hear these stories as they do ensure I’ve got my eyes wide open. I must admit this is still a niggle for me. I couldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to our lovely ragdoll. I will speak to the trust again to talk it through and maybe even suggest my cat and the dog meet prior (my cat likes an outing 🤣) to going ahead

We’ve had nine over the years. Please remember if you need to wear a coat, so does your greyhound.

My lovely old girl has no prey drive at all! She's scared of cats - which could be becuase someones horrid moggie attacked her when she was out with us. Poor girl just stood there as we tried to get it off! She hadn't even seen it, it was on top of a wall.

Experienced grey owner here. I’ve had one straight from the greyhound trust kennels, the others had been in foster homes briefly. This gives the rehomers a better understanding of the dogs character in certain situations. I’d ask whether your girl has been walked around other breeds, in different locations & situations. Has she actually been cat tested? GT rehoming protocol varies hugely by location. Those near me have a very dog savvy cat they use to ascertain dog reaction.
All my hounds were taught to sleep separately from day 1. They had lovely beds set up on landing/hall outside bedrooms, with a baby gate preventing them entering the bedrooms. Doors left ajar so they and you can hear what the other are up to. Items of our clothing in their bed too. All adapted very quickly once they realised we were close by.
Greyhounds are the best. You just need to go in with your eyes wide open.

Unfortunately I probably wouldn't take the risk.
You would have to spend all your time being on alert and if anything did happen it would be hard for you to look at the dog the same way I imagine.
I would also question a Rescue that is happy to rehome a Greyhound where there is a 5 year old and a cat.

Thanks @Hoppinggreen

Thanks @Hoppinggreen

I grew up with a series of racing greyhounds and they're all different. Only one of them didn't have a prey drive. They are adorable pets but you do need to be very mindful that they're so fast, they'll outrun a cat and any small dog that triggers the chase. As you don't know this dog, I wouldn't risk walking it without a muzzle for quite a long time (if ever). I wouldn't let it anywhere near your cat without a muzzle either, until you're 100% sure it doesn't trigger the dog eg by making sudden fast movements. I hope it all works out well for you and becomes a much loved member of your family.

Really good advice from all, thank you. I have spoken to the trust again and received a video of the ‘cat test’ being done. Beau didn’t react at all, looks fairly bored by the cat and was sniffing the ground which bodes well.

its also good to hear that they can be taught to sleep separately as it is a preference to have a bit of my own bed left at night 😂

We have two ex racers (although our girl didn't make the grade, so didn't race - not sure why they took 3 years to drop her off at the rescue 😟) and they are the sweetest natured, calmest and most sensitive hounds.

Until they see a squirrel. Then they're zooming, mental and, apparently, deaf 🤓

I second greyhounds coming in pairs, it's how they've lived when racing and it's easier for them to adjust to the massive amount of changes they need to adjust to when living in a home. Our boy constantly looked behind the t.v. for the people or animals he could hear.

One more thing, greyhounds are basically made of elbows and need a very comfy bed. Ours have a 10cm thickness memory foam base and a thick, comfy border as a pillow. Or they roach on the couch 😎

Good Luck 💐

Did the cat run or move fast in any way?
That will generally be the trigger
Can you guarantee your cat will never run past the dog?
DDog was a puppy when introduced to our cats and is a low prey drive breed anyway but even now if one darts past him in the house he startles.
Outside he will chase a cat if it runs but he he too lazy to get much more than a few paces and if they stop and look at him he backs right off
Sorry to keep being a negative nelly and you do sound like you are being cautious but its a rare greyhound that is safe around cats unless it was raised with them.

The cat was walking around as opposed to running @Hoppinggreen. I obviously can’t guarantee my cat will never run indoors 😂 I think it’s just a case of being careful and making a decision based on Beau’s characteristics. I will introduce her to the cat ahead of confirming the adoption, muzzled and encourage the cat to have a play/run around to get a true reflection of prey drive

I hope it goes well, they are beautiful animals.
The one my friends have is so calm I just feel better for being in the same room as her

I’ve had three greyhounds with cats. Two of them took a bit of work to relax them around the cats (they came to me un cat tested but young) and the other one showed zero interest in cats from day one, he had been tested. Ironically, he was the racer, the other two had been rejects. Just make sure there’s no chance of anything bad happening and get help from the rescue when you need it.