I’ve had two. Lovely dogs. One thing to always always remember is never let them off leash in an unfenced area. Never. No matter how good they are or how long you have them!
No dog could live up to my last grey so I probably won’t get another one. I think my time with big dogs is done. Plus I no longer have a couch or chair for them to take over.
My old lady Greyhound is going on 8 and is the best dog! I’ve had her since she was freshly off the track and three and love her to death.
That being said, they are NOT outdoor dogs. They will get cold. They will NOT run all day long or be happy outside for long periods of time. Mine is one of the few greys I’ve ever met that is completely trustworthy off leash (I’ve had squirrels and cats run right under her dose and she just looks at them bewildered), but most of them need to be leashed at ALL times. Mine also hates the outdoors… I mean HATES them! She will run outside to pee, run across the yard to poo, then run back to the door as fast as she can and stand there and cry until someone lets her back inside. Doesn’t matter how nice the weather is… she only wants to be in her climate controlled house with her fluffy bed! She does wear blankets outside when it is chilly. And she really does sleep about 22 hours a day!
She also doesn’t play with toys, and doesn’t play much with other dogs either. She is terrified of the car, and is exceedingly emotional (and refuses food when she is too stressed). She also had very serious separation anxiety when I first got her… rescuing a kitten as a companion helped that.
Those are the negatives 
The positives far outweigh them but I thought I would give you my 2 cents on some of the things that are less fun as well! They are such awesome, gentle, loving dogs and there are so many of them that need homes.
I’ve delt with a few ott greyhounds, all lovely sweet tempered couch potatoes. I ended up getting the far smaller, and far more fragile, Italian Greyhounds. My collar store of choice is
http://stores.shakadoghawaii.com/StoreFront.bok
She mostly focuses on smaller breeds but is happy to customize larger collars.
Oh PS: my favorite greyhound collar store is one I found on Ebay… http://stores.ebay.com/Fleece-Fabrications/_i.html?_fsub=1036080013
I bought a gorgeous teal/black/gold 1.5 inch collar on there 5 years ago and my grey still wears it! Once a year or so I toss it in the washing machine and it comes out just as beautiful again. I’ve been thinking about maybe finally buying a new one… but it’s still in such good shape!
Ritazza: Those are pretty much the things we’d thought of when considering whether a greyhound was a good choice. We’re going to remain city dwellers for at least the next five years or so, so on-leash is pretty much protocol, and there are some nice off-leash dog parks (all fenced) that we’ll be investigating.
Our winters (Nova Scotia, Canada, for whoever asked!) are wet but not terribly cold. We’ve inherited doggie coats from my old rottie girl who never managed to grow a double coat. My SO and I are both relatively active, but (aside from riding for me) we’re more likely to go for a 30 minute jog in the city than a hike through the woods (not reeeally our preference, but it’s where we live!) We’ll also be looking into doggie boots to keep the tootsies warm and salt-free.
My husband’s “dream dog” is an adopted Greyhound. We have all the books that have been put out on the subject & they’ve been read cover-to-cover by both of us.
Unfortunately, the current doggie dynamics here will have to change before a Greyhound adoption happens for us.
my greyhound experience
My mom adopted a greyhound when her daughters all went off to college. She adopted through an OTT Rescue in Louisiana. She got Pearl, who was just +/- 2 years old. She was a beautiful fawn color with a white chest. She did come house trained, leash trained, crate trained. But she was very shy, didn’t have much interaction with humans prior.
The greyhound rescue recommended that if there are more than one caretaker in the household, that they spend equal amount of time in the beginning with the dog so that they bond equally…otherwise, they will bond with the person they spend the most time with at the beginning. My dad travelled a lot for work, so she became my mom’s dog. She did seem to contradict most of the rescue’s other instructions: don’t let her off the leash, EVER…actually, after the first year, she was better off the leash than on! Don’t let her around cats or bunnies- my mom had both, and she was very passive and submissive around them.
She was a total bed hog, didn’t like to be awakened. She was also a counter surfer. She loved, loved, loved car rides! She was the best barn dog- she used to do laps around the dressage arena and then pass out after about 30 minutes of flat out running. Her bff was the 15lb maltese, who taught her how to play, bark and wag her tail. She hated her dover blanket, it really scared her…but she loved her sweaters. She also had to have her teeth regularly cleaned, apparently gh’s tend to have bad teeth?
She lived for a very, very long time…longer than most greyhounds…and as a Sr. Grand Dame, died of bone cancer.
Betteroffred - are you talking about my dog by any chance?? I could have written your post, even down to the bone cancer (which is not necessarily a greyhound thing, but a long-boned dog thing - dalmations, dobermans, etc.)
Gosh, I loved that dog and she loved me.
I guess the jist of this thread is that they are all quite different and your experiences will be according to the dog you have allocated to you and the home you offer. I don’t go by the books at all - they are just dogs by and large - but enough to knowe they MAY have some of the quirks mentioned.
Just believe that with time they will come around and settle in… they have been through quite a lot in their lives…and you are offering them a haven.
[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;5993527]
Just believe that with time they will come around and settle in… they have been through quite a lot in their lives…and you are offering them a haven.[/QUOTE]
oh, I love this! What an amazing sentiment, for greyhounds and for any adopted animal.:sadsmile: Thanks for writing this Foxtrot.
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