retired racing greyhounds

[EthiopianFood]

Does anyone have one? Care to share your experience? I'm thinking about getting one. :D

[ChristusG]

No advice and I do not have one....but I want to get one some day! Our little Jack Russell is 10 years old...so we will probably wait until he passes away one day and our kids are a bit older. But I really want to get them. I know people who have them and they are just the absolute sweetest dogs. They call them the fastest couch potatoes and that is so right!

[astrid]

dh and I are founding members of a greyhound rescue organization here in CT. We are no longer active in the group or breed, but were greyhound people for about 15 years with several living in our homes, placing dogs in adoptive homes, and doing community outreach about the plight of retired racers.

 

In short, they make GREAT family dogs, required you have a fenced in yard and realize that they are "blank slates" in a way. Unless they have been fostered in a home, they are not familiar with stairs, telephone rings, sliding glass doors, cars, cats, etc. NOW, that does not mean they are AFRAID of these things, they've just never seen them. Their world at the track is a crate, an exercise run and the track. Period. However, they have remarkable temperaments and are gentle, loving dogs. They are not "hyper" contrary to popular belief. They LOVE to run, but only in short spurts, and ONLY in a fenced-in area-- ball field, cemetery, fenced-in yard. GREAT jogging partners.

 

They tend to be cold in cold weather, so most grey owners have coats for them if they live in a really cold climate. We never did, though-- our dogs just wouldn't spend much time outside in the winter. Go out, do their business, then back inside the warm house.

 

We adored our greys, and miss them terribly. My advice is to work with a placement agency and learn about the breed online.

 

I"m traveling right now, so won't be able to get back to this board until tonight, but I really think they are a wonderful breed.

 

astrid

[ChristusG]

Astrid, do greyhounds shed a lot? Our Jack Russell sheds short little white hairs EVERYWHERE. If he lies down somewhere, you can guarantee there will be about 100 little white hairs when he gets up. Drives me nuts LOL. Just wondering if greyhounds did the same thing?

[laurad1125]

We've had 3 different retired racers in the past. We've adored them as pets. They've been great couch dogs! :001_smile: Sometimes they need some help adjusting to a home (stairs, glass doors) and they are not guard dogs. Also, you have to be careful if you have other animals (they are trained to chase little furry things) We had greyhounds with cats, but just be careful. A good rescue agency will help you with all of this.

[Journey]

I don't have a retired greyhound but I have a Jack Russell that you could have and we could all PRETEND she's a retired greyhound. I'll even ship her to you for free! Here's the ad we have planned for her:

 

Free dog:

 

We have a free dog. Read on and shoot us an e-mail if you think you can give her a nice home.

 

13 year old Jack Russell Terrier. Un spayed, will go after shadows, gets into garbage, eats everyone’s food, pees and poops in the house, has had her neck ripped open and was shot in the head. Will eat your guinea pigs or other small animals (except for some reason she's afraid of mice and will run upstairs and go under the bed if she sees one). Gets into food when you’re not looking. Guards human food and growls when you approach. Does not lay down, heel, fetch, or anything of that sort. She may, on occasion, sit when told, but will most likely ignore every cue you give. Does not come when called, and will run away every chance she gets.

 

Other than that though, she’s fabulous.

 

Make sure you e-mail soon, this one’s gonna go quick.

[Ellie]

Astrid, do greyhounds shed a lot? Our Jack Russell sheds short little white hairs EVERYWHERE. If he lies down somewhere, you can guarantee there will be about 100 little white hairs when he gets up. Drives me nuts LOL. Just wondering if greyhounds did the same thing?

Greyhounds do not shed. They barely have coat, lol. Remember that God made them to be able to run like the wind...for a short period...so they no body fat and just enough coat to cover themselves. :-)

 

Ours came through Greyhound Pets of America. GPA takes new rescues to their home base and checks them out as far as temperament and health. Our only requirement was that the dog be cat-safe--we didn't care about age, gender, color. Our baby came to us only 10 days off the race track. Her rehabilitation took several months. She was a great dog.

[iammommy]

Greyhounds are the BEST! We lost our 13.5 year old greyhound girl Katie a year ago adn we miss her every single day. We got Miss Katie right off the track. She was just the best. She adapted to homelife very quickly, although we did have to get her over her fear of walking on tile floors! LOL Greyhounds are gentle, calm, and sweet. They are NOT hyper, as is often rumored. They're called the 40 mph couch potatoes! LOL After having Katie, greyhounds are the only dog we would ever get again. Thanks for remindingme how wonderul our Katie was!

 

Nan

[mamapjama]

We had an amazing greyhound and I miss him terribly. He was so calm and gentle. He would try to snuggle up in the smallest chairs and spaces if he could get away with it!

 

You cannot let your grey off leash outside of your fenced yard. They are prey driven and may run off to chase something and be gone in a flash.

 

We adopted a grey with special needs. He had been removed from a home where he was being abused. He was a bit jittery and nervous of some men, but he warmed up later and we worked alot with him.

 

The only thing that I would mention is that some greys are very nervous if they are suddenly awakened. My understanding is that most of them are raised soley in a kennel and are therefore not used to someone touching them to wake them for example. We did have a problem with our grey on two occassions where he got a bit nasty because we woke him up by patting him roughly or trying to move him off our bed. This was in the beginning, but something you should talk to your reps about if you have young children who may not understand to "let sleeping dogs lie"

 

But they are wonderful, amazing, hilarious dogs and I wouldn't think twice about getting another.

 

45mph couch potatoes!

[sassenach]

Are there any breed specific health issues?

[Dooley]

I hear they are cats in dog suits.

[katemary63]

Does anyone have one? Care to share your experience? I'm thinking about getting one. :D

 

My sister adopted two. She loved them. They are WONDERFUL family dogs. They are NOT hyper. They are sprinters, so they run fast and then stop. In the house they are very calm, sweet, loving, couch potatoes. She used to take them to the park a couple blocks from her house once a day for their daily sprint. They loved it. They would run a huge circle and then come back to her and plop down. The whole family really enjoyed these dogs. If you have a yard they can run a bit in, that will be fine. But they don't need to run all day or anything - just once a day and they are happy. I say, do it!\

 

Edited to add: I wrote my post first and THEN read others. It's funny several of us used the term "couch potatoe" and that they are NOT hyper. That's some good confirmation.

Edited September 6, 2009 by katemary63

[mamapjama]

Are there any breed specific health issues?

 

Not that I know of. From what I understand health problems have been bred out of them as only the strongest survive and are bred at the kennels. Thus both parents are passing along strong genes.

[ekarl2]

Are there any breed specific health issues?

 

The only one I know of is that their skin is very delicate. It's quite common to see Greys with scars because their skin cuts easily.

[Susan in TN]

We had one for a short time. She was young and very friendly. I'd recommend that you have a large, fenced yard, or someone willing to take it on a nice walk every day. She was very sweet, but not house-trained when we got her, so that took some doing.

 

If you have very cold winters, you might want to buy her a nice, stylish greyhound sweater to protect her lungs :).

[laurad1125]

Are there any breed specific health issues?

 

Our vet said the teeth problems we encountered (needed cleaning, lost some to decay) were common in greyhounds...

[JoJo]

I haven't had one personally, but when I managed a pet store one of the employees had one that she brought in all the time. It was a WONDERFUL dog! I do remember that one had teeth problems though too.

[E_Edgerton]

There is a track in our vicinity and greyhound adoption is big here. They are beautiful dogs...so striking in person. But so much bigger when you are actually standing next to one! They seem quiet, gentle, but do require daily walks and I would imagine some space both outdoor and indoor. I would look into your local program and ask all the questions you may have. You could also research the breed at http://www.akc.org or go to your library. There are several in my neighborhood that I see while walking...I like that they seem really calm, laid back dogs! Good luck. :)

[Remudamom]

I know two people that have had them. Sweet dogs.

[Ellie]

Our vet said the teeth problems we encountered (needed cleaning, lost some to decay) were common in greyhounds...

I think this is true only with rescued racing greyhounds, because of the kind of nasty food they are fed. Just wanted to point out that many people own greyhounds that never step foot on a racetrack, and those dogs might not have the same health issues.

[Ellie]

We had one for a short time. She was young and very friendly. I'd recommend that you have a large, fenced yard, or someone willing to take it on a nice walk every day. She was very sweet, but not house-trained when we got her, so that took some doing.

 

If you have very cold winters, you might want to buy her a nice, stylish greyhound sweater to protect her lungs :).

We never walked our greyhound. They're really sprinters, not much stamina; ours only raced the yard for the first few months after she came to us, as she had only been off the track for less than two weeks at that time and was used to running. After she was rehabiltated, her favorite pasttime was sleeping. :-)

[Mary in GA]

I don't have one. My back door neighbor had one that they adopted. Very mellow kid friendly pet. I am not a dog person. I am a cat person! Her grey hound was friendly with my kitties too. I really liked him. They have since moved.

 

Mary

[Mandy in TN]

Ours was Terry the Pterodactyl!

 

He was so sweet and gentle. He was definitely a floor potato. He never jumped onto the couch in fact he never jumped at all. He did like to lean against me when he was feeling affectionate.:001_smile:

 

Mandy

[Denisemomof4]

I have one. He's SO sweet. He LOVES to go for walks and go for rides in the car. OTher than that, he's a very good sleeper. :D He's sweet, gentle, loving. He's a GREAT dog!

 

When we first got him he was almost 3. Having lived in a cage most of his life, he didn't realize that peeing in the house was an issue. He only did t a few times (he's like a camel! When he goes, he GOES!). He also had to learn how to climb steps and was quite nervous with them at first. He still hates open steps but will use them if he has to.

 

They deserve a good life and deserve to be pampered. I do hope you get one!

[EthiopianFood]

WOW, this thread really took off! I'm very encouraged to read such positive comments on this breed. These observations have been my impressions as well, but I wanted to see if this was the general consensus. I hope it works out for me to get one! :)