Pet Lovers

[srgtdj]

I am surprised to hear that your neighbor's greyhounds will chew on everything.  Mine didn't do that at all.  In fact, my 2 greys were the easiest dogs to train.  I didn't allow them in my formal dining room and never even needed a barrier to stop them from simply walking into the room.  After a few times working with them they caught on immediately.  

I think the best advice--do not take dogs that come directly from the track.  If you can get a grey who has been in a foster home or with an organization they will have already learned some behaviors.  I worked with Hemopet..they take in greys and guarantee lifetime homes for them in exchange for taking greyhound blood if needed (greys are universal blood doners in the dog world).  Hemopet actually has a living room set up so the dogs can learn to not chew, sit nicely, etc...and hte volunteers work with the dogs so they are ready when someone comes to adopt.

Anyway--like people--dogs are different even within the same breed.  But these are very very loving dogs.

[1Snickers]

Spoiler

. @Grade1Teach   My son adopted his first greyhound who was sweet and gentle. He then adopted another larger one that was not as smart and wanted to be the Alpha dog. 

  My granddaughter was about 3 and her face was level with the dog’s. One day the dogs and a friend’s were watching my son get in the car and the larger greyhound bit the sweet on really bad on the neck. It barely missed the jugular. 

   I told my son I was afraid the granddaughter would get in his way. (He had snapped people several times. )My son contacted the track and other greyhound people and was told he was not adoptable. He had to be put down. 

   After the other died my son kept looking for another but ended up with my other granddaughters Chow who is gentle.

    So, I think adoption depends on the dog and circumstances.

[cindyNC]

I adopted a greyhound after having had herding breeds most of my life. 

They always have to be leashed when not in a fenced yard.  The females can jump fairly high - they are kenneled in the upper tiers of two tier kennels. They cannot swim. Not all of them are small dog, cat or small child safe.  

Mine had sleep aggression - he would snap if anyone startled him while he was asleep. I was on the phone sitting on the sofa next to him and bent my head down to adjust a shoe - not realizing he was asleep and he bit me in the face. Fortunately, I was wearing glasses but I still had to go to urgent care and also get my glasses fixed. 

Mine also had huge dietary issues. Ended up giving him grain free dog food with yogurt to keep him stabilized. Cutting nails usely involves using a dremmel vs manual nail trimmers as their toenails are so big. Mine didn't mind it at all. 

Don't expect them to respond like normal dogs as they haven't been raised as normal dogs. They have to learn eye contact. 

I crated until I could trust him in the house alone. That said, he was the cleanest dog I ever owned. And they do shed. 

Walking on a flexi-lead is not recommended as they get up to speed so fast that when they get to the end of a long lead, jerk to a stop, they can break their necks. 

My experience with my local greyhound community is that no one ever talks about their dogs biting. I mentioned it one time on a forum  - after getting snottily called out by a woman for not doing meet and greets - and others started mentioning some of their family members being bitten. 

They can be the right dog for the right person  - I still look at them online but only at sites where the adoption groups send their dogs to foster homes prior to adopting out. 

[RinaRina]

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@Grade1Teach wrote:

*Super long story ahead*

My husband and I felt somewhat "duped" by this woman.  We had asked for a small dog and got a huge one instead.  She convinced us to keep him after he attacked our small dog the first time and we agreed to live a life that was unfair to everyone (human and animal).  We later found out that the greyhound we had adopted was adopted and returned by another family because he was out of control and couldn't be trusted.  How thoughtful of them to be so honest...

=============================================

You were duped.  To force that dog on you was thoughtless, deceitful and mean.

I would've taken her to court and made her pay my vet bill.

[NYwoman]

A vet I visited recently has a receptionist with a rescued Greyhound.   He is older and just lays on his bed all day.   I heard they are couch potatoes and I saw it for myself.   Such a sweet boy!

I guess if they are younger, they would need a lot of room to move.  But, remember, racing Greyhounds are drugged heavily to do that.   

[stb13]

Hi, my family adopted a retired racing greyhound when I was in high school. He was the best dog ever. We live in NY and he wore sweaters and jackets during winter. They do not know how to use stairs, so he was always downstairs in the house and never able to come upstairs in the bedrooms. He was ok though getting up/down the couple porch steps. He loved to snuggle in his big bean bag bed and had lots of blankets. I always said I would get one as an adult, but my current house has lots of stairs and I'm one who likes my dogs with me all the time. I will definitely consider in he future. I currently have a rescue pit and he is a total love bug! Any dog you can rescue will repay you in love!