Anyone have a Greyhound?

[El&Asmom]

We are considering adopting a retired racing Greyhound. It is something I have wanted to do for many years. The last couple of weeks, I have been doing more research, and contacted a rescue group in our area. They have been great, and seem to really do their best to match the right dog with the right family.

Anyone have one? If you have kids, how have they done with them. We have three young dds, that are respectful and gentle with our Lab.

I love this breed, and was just hoping to get more insight on how they have fit into your family.

 

[deva]

I don't have a greyhound, but we have 2 whippets -one from whippet rescue -and have done sighthound events, so we've seen former racing dogs (a whippet is the smaller cousin of the gh) and they are sooooo sweet. Also met one at my neighbor's this summer. It was the calmest dog - so laid back you never would have known she was there (never even came out of the office to see what was going on and this was during a party with 15 new people coming and going through the door). She was just relaxing on the floor in the office. Let my kids pet/hug her without batting an eye. I think this is fairly common for the breed. She shed quite a bit - much more than what I'm used to with our dogs. I think they also need a nice daily exercise. But did I mention how SWEET they look - those doe eyes are so precious.

 

[Princess Steph]

Our greyhound just passed in July. We had him for 8 years. He was our "baby" before we had kids and he was wonderful with my 2 boys. Most greyhounds are actually grateful for all that you do because they had a tough life before. They are major couch potatoes!! They will run for 30 sec full out 40 MPH and then sleep/lounge all day. You do not need alot of space for a greyhound, they will do very well in an apt for that reason. The younger ones seem to have more energy. DFIL has had 3, all with different personalities, but all very sweet dogs. The one he has now is young and big and my kids are weary around him. I found that my greyhound responded better to DH and I think that was because his trainer was male. You might want to ask about that if you know who will be doing most of the care/walking. In general they do not bark, not because they can't, but because they have been trained not to. We had to teach our guy how to climb stairs, he was 5 yo before he saw a set of stairs. They are sight hounds and will take off running at the sight of a cat, squirral or bunny. They need to be protected from traffic in that sense. I think you are doing a really wonderful thing rescueing a greyhound. They have had a tough life and they know that you are giving them a loving home. They will reward you for that. They are the best dogs!! PM me with any questions, send me pictures and let me know how it goes. We plan to adopt another as soon as we are ready. Good Luck

 

[Momvic5]

We do not have a greyhound, but we have close friends who do. They are an older couple who have adopted 5 greyhounds over time. Right now, they have a 7 yr old female named C.C., and she is the best dog - so smart and sweet and gentle. We keep her for them when they travel or have Dr. visits out of town. My children absolutely love her. She is just beautiful, and we all love to watch her just run. They take her to one of our local baseball fields(a large fenced area) early on Saturday mornings and just let her run. She is amazing to watch. I always thought that they hit the jack pot with her, but they swear all of the females (4) that they have had have been as equally as good as their current greyhound. They did mention that they had a male only one time, and he was extremely hyper when they first adopted him, but after time and a little love, he too became a wonderful pet. My family and I have grown to love greyhounds through this couple and their spoiled greyhound. I would love to see a picture too if you decide on one.

 

[El&Asmom]

Thanks for the replies. We made it out to the kennel yesterday to see the dogs that are not currently in foster. Of course we totally fell for one guy. They have to cat test him again to make sure he'd be safe with our cats. Of course all of the the hounds were incredibly sweet. It's amazing how sweet and good natured they are considering they have spent their whole lives on the track. They are amazing dogs.
We are sending in our application on Monday and are excited to see who becomes a new member of our family. The adoption group is awesome to work with.
I'll post pictures when our new hound comes home. It could be a while because they go to foster for a couple of weeks before they come home, but first they have to find the right cat and child friendly dog for us.

Now to pick out a Disney name. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Princess Steph]

I'm so happy to hear that you are looking. Keep us posted!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We have a greyhound. We've had her about 3years now. Her name is Clair and she's an absolute princess. She's lying on the couch next to me at the moment on her back with her legs in the air. Over here in Australia, we put in an application, detailing other pets/children we have and they match a dog to us. It took 5 1/2 months to get Clair. We have cats, chickens and at the time we got her, a pony. She is terrific with all of them. My kids are 4 and 7 and they have no problem walking her on a lead. She is so gentle and calm. It was nice getting a dog that came fully trained. She's definitely a Mummy's girl. Very sensitive and a bit special. We love her. Most of her time is spent sleeping but we've recently got another dog (Staffy X) who loves to run and it has given Clair a new lease on life.

 

[crisi]

They are really wonderful dogs. My brother in law has had something like ten rescued greyhounds over the past decade.

The only thing I'd be cautious about is that they are not long lived dogs. And several of his had health issues from how they are treated at the track (well enough to run - but no one brushed their teeth!). With kids, losing a pet can be a traumatic experience. His last dog was nine when she died - and he'd had her since she was three. But many of his dogs didn't live past five - and he adopted them when they were two and three.

 

[dhcoffey]

We've had our greyhound Lady for the past five years. We just lost her this past Sunday. She was the best dog I've ever had. My house seems so empty without her even though she was a coach potato! We have two kids and 6 cats and she never even batted an eye at the cats, three of them kittens. They even curled up with her to sleep. So you can get them that like cats. She did have some health problems. We had to have all her teeth pulled about a year ago because they were in such bad shape and she did have some skin cancer that we had to keep taking off. Otherwise, she was great. She was nine when she passed.

 

[donaldsgirl]

We have had Curly for almost 3 years and he is such a wonderful completely lazy hound dog. He is GREAT with the kids and such a love. He rarely makes any noise, he roos or yodles at you if he wants something. On a very rare occasion he will bark. He is pretty tolerant of our 2 maltese (spawns of satan) and goes about his business. As I type this, Curly is over on the other couch on his back with all 4 legs stuck straight up in the air and his tongue hanging out..sound asleep with his eyes open. Pretty funny. You will not be sorry if you adopt one. I would have a house full of them if my husband would let me!!!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Wow, the teeth thing must be a greyhound problem. Clair had 1/2 her teeth pulled out a week ago. They have kept as many as they could and we have to brush them for her every couple of days. We have tried putting her on a special diet for healthy teeth (called TD) but she wont eat it at all. She's only 6years old.

 

[El&Asmom]

Thanks for the picture of Clair, she's a beauty. Thankfully I'm a vet, so if health problems arise, we can deal with it. They do have pretty rotten teeth after being fed a soft diet at the tracks. I'm sure genetics also has something to do with it.
I don't see many hounds at work. I'm ER, so mainly when they have lacerations from their thin skin. I've also diagnosed several limping hounds with bone cancer. As a whole, they tend to be pretty healthy, but have their issues like any breed. Obviously no one is their normal selves when at the hospital, but even there, they are so lovely and easy to deal with.

dhcoffee, I'm so sorry about your loss. It's so hard to loose a member of your family. Try to remember all of the good times you had with her and know she was lucky to have a wonderful retired life with you.

We sent out our application on Monday. We're waiting to hear back from the adoption group for our phone interview. It's a bit strange having someone else pick out a dog for you, but I know they know them best so it should work out fine. I think our Lab will be excited to have a new playmate.
Thanks again for all the replies.

 

[jeffsamber]

We have had 2 ex-racers and we've enjoyed both of them. Like others mentioned they both have had terrible teeth. One was quite smart and knew her racing name which we were told she wouldn't. The other is not so smart but pretty sweet. The one we have now has pretty brittle bones, too, and has broken her leg pretty badly and also broken her foot. They are great with kids, very low-key and big couch potatoes. Good luck! You'll enjoy it!

 

[jeffsamber]

We have had 2 ex-racers and we've enjoyed both of them. Like others mentioned they both have had terrible teeth. One was quite smart and knew her racing name which we were told she wouldn't. The other is not so smart but pretty sweet. The one we have now has pretty brittle bones, too, and has broken her leg pretty badly and also broken her foot. They are great with kids, very low-key and big couch potatoes. Good luck! You'll enjoy it!