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  • anyone with a greyhound or whippet
  • retrogirl
    Free Member

    Hi everyone I’m getting closer to filling that dog filled hole and I’m now feeling nervous and scared about the whole thing. We went to the retired greyhound trust and saw some lovely greyhounds and the last one we saw I was quite taken with as she seemed quite lively and was cat friendly and good with my Son. We have come away to think about it and I can’t help feeling scared and its the not knowing what to expect and how she would settle in. The kennel owner was happy to answer any questions and said she would do a home visit. The thing is am I doing the right thing choosing a grey? I’ve looked after dogs for other people and they have just slotted right in I’m after advice as to what to expect if I do bring home the greyhound and how to handle any separation anxiety.
    Thanks everyone

    Flaperon
    Full Member

    My dad has a whippet/collie cross. Combination worked well, speed of the whippet and brains of the collie, but none of the neuroses.

    Perfect temperament, sticks to you like glue on a walk, likes cats, doesn’t smell, and convenient size.

    Having said that, despite being best friends with the cat, if he runs she’ll chase him. Not sure there’s much we can do about that.

    vdubber67
    Free Member

    Greyhounds make great pets. We have four!

    They make great pets. Loving, friendly and calm. They sleep most of the time and don’t require as much exercise as people think.

    They’re OK to be left for a few hours (we leave ours in the morning and afternoon)Separation anxiety is the same as for any dog, and they do get over it…

    Don’t expect them to ‘play’ with you though. They won’t fetch or do ‘normal’ dog stuff…

    Feel free to drop me a mail at rtedgeAThotmail.com if you want any specific advice etc. We’ve had ours for about 6 years now, and although we’re not ‘experts’ I can offer as much advice as you need.

    Ta

    Rich

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    BeardedDave
    Free Member

    I can’t recommend greyhounds enough, especially for a first time dog owner. My girlfriend and I have a greyhound cross collie and she’s the sweetest thing you could ever meet. I went from being completely indifferent to dogs to being completely smitten in a very short space of time! My mum also got her first dog, a retired greyhound, after meeting ours.

    Totally echo what vdubber says, loving, friendly and calm and sleep more than they’re awake! They love company but don’t really tend to play too much – although my mum’s greyhound does love a good wrestle from time to time! She’s absolutely brilliant with my 3 year old nephew too, who is not the gentlist of boys!

    But be aware that even cat friendly greyhounds may well still struggle to control the urge to chase small fluffy creatures, if they start running!

    vdubber67
    Free Member

    But be aware that even cat friendly greyhounds may well still struggle to control the urge to chase small fluffy creatures, if they start running!

    This +1. Some hounds are a LOT worse than others. 🙂 You learn to try and spot running fluffies before they do 🙂

    trailofdestruction
    Free Member

    Now had this lady for 9 years. She is around 14, so slowing down, but still pretty has pretty much the same routine she always has.

    Get up from bed, lie on sofa for pre-walk nap. Have short walk, occasionally interspersed with crazy banshee run around an entire field. Go home, have breakfast, sleep for the next 8 hours, have another short walk, followed by another bowl of food, then it’s back to bed after another long, hard day.

    Tough life eh.

    Things I have learned from owning a Greyhound / Lurcher.

    Mine doesn’t like other dogs too much, but that is definitely only down to her upbringing. She was rescued, and I’d say it’s to do much more with the way she was mis-treated as a puppy than anything else. I have met LOADS of other greyhounds who get on fine with other dogs. Mind you, she gets on with my other dog and their buddy just fine. Guess you don’t like everyone you meet.

    I will never, ever be able to train the chase instinct out of her. If it’s small, furry and running, then it’s fair game to a greyhound. Thousands of years of breeding have gone into that. You can train it out of them to some extent, in SOME dogs, but not mine. No sir, she’s a chaser. Be mindful of that.

    The other thing to bear in mind is recall. Mine won’t listen to a damn word I say, but will come back to a pocket full of food. Greedy sod. Works though.

    That is about the only way I can get her back if she sees a rabbit at the far end of the field ( remember they are called sight hounds for a reason ) No way I’ll ever catch her. By the time I’ve got to ” COME BACK ” she’s a small dot disappearing into the distance.

    No bothered about kids in the slightest though, she won’t bother them as long as they don’t bother her. We keep it that way, and never had any problems.

    Wouldn’t swap their faults though. We have people queuing up to look after her when we go away, as the one thing everyone says, is, “what an easy dog she is to look after”.

    Good luck, though you’ll need another sofa.

    miketually
    Free Member

    We’ve got an ex-racer. She was brilliant as a first dog for us, as our kids were a bit scared of dogs. She needs very little exercise and is happy to be left for ages, provided she has a sofa to sleep on.

    But, she’s not really a doggy dog. We got a labrador a couple of years ago who does all the chasy fetchy runny stuff. My wife loves dogs and says she’d not get another greyhound.

    I’m indifferent to dogs and prefer the greyhound 🙂

    I wouldn’t have a greyhound with a cat, or you won’t have a cat for long – we don’t let ours off the lead anywhere that there are other animals around.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    I’ve got a whippet,greyhound,bedlington, collie type lurcher. Best dogs in the world. Like a greyhound she will sleep all day. Just got in from work at 5 shes been in the back yard sleeping in her kennel all day. The neighbours tell me she lies outside if its sunny and goes in the kennel wben it rains. Walked twice a da and shes happy. She chases anything stupid enough to run away from her so be careful about where you let them off the lead. Myfriends grey got mauled be a squirrel recently which required stitches and a hefty bill so. Get insurance. Fine with other dogs but doesnt like being bothered when on the lead, boisterous dogs are given lessons in hit and run fighting if off the lead!

    dannybgoode
    Full Member

    I am not a natural dog liver but Mrs Danny is.

    Having 3 cats already my pet hole was filled so to speak but Mrs D still wanted a dog.

    We went to the retired greyhound place near us and before we knew it we had adopted Chloe.

    The first few weeks were challenging – she wouldn’t go in the garden, was scared to walk anywhere etc and I remember once I had to carry her home as she just plumb stopped moving and trust me, once a greyhound decides it don’t want to move it won’t move.

    Eventually though she came round and was the most adorable, intelligent dog and we loved her to bits.

    After around 18 months of ownership the greyhound place somehow convinced us that 2 hounds were not really much more work than just the one so we ended up with Poppy also.

    Chloe was around 5 when we got her and a wise old beast. Poppy was around 2 and very much a dog teen. She had also just been locked in a kennel all her life as she wouldn’t race so she was just locked away.

    Unfortunately this meant that she was used to going to the toilet in her ‘home’. So, even after a long walk she would come home and shit in the house.

    Months and months of house training required but again she eventually came round and is just a big soft daft hound.

    We now no longer have Chloe unfortunately (she made it to about 12) but Poppy is very much with us. We also now have a 14 month old baby and she is pretty good with him.

    Note: Greyhounds are idle lazy dogs that aren’t too keen on long walks and would much rather sleep all day – preferably on the most expensive comfortable settee going. 2 x 20 min walks daily is plenty for a hound.

    Whippets on the other hand are much more highly strung and have much more of the characteristics that people think greyhounds would have (high energy, lots of walking required etc).

    From not liking dogs I love greyhounds and would happily have a houseful but be advised they are hard work at first and there may well be times when you feel like taking them back to the retired greyhound place but they do turn into lovely lovely pets.

    Feel free to email me (in profile) if you want any specific advice or have any questions and I am happy to assist. Just be aware that the greyhound rehoming places are very good sales people and whilst they would not lie to you about greyhound ownership they sometimes don’t quite tell you exactly how it is.

    Cheers

    M6YDB

    phildaws
    Free Member

    We have a whippet and a whippet/greyhound cross (Lurcher), both rescues. The whippet is nuts, completely nuts.. 6ish years old and madder than a box of frogs, but she does have a checkered history and has been very badly treated in the past. She is great with the kids though, and perfect around the house. Our lurcher is 2ish, nice and calm, polar opposite of the little nutter. Can be grumpy with other dogs though, tends to bark (which when combined with a mental whippet on the other lead gets funny looks from any passers by)

    My thoughts are that they are lovely dogs, I wouldn’t have anything else….but they are not “dog” dogs. You won’t get one fetching your slippers, or rolling on it’s back at the click of your fingers… but they will randomly chase anything they spot (squirrel/crisp packet/cat), have pretty much zero recall once they are in the “zone”… and lounge around for 95% of the day!

    dannybgoode
    Full Member

    Good point Phil – yes completely untrainable in the traditional sense but then as they generally don’t do anything all day they don’t need much discipline.

    phildaws
    Free Member

    dannybgoode, great post, I tend to end most walks dragging the lurcher behind me whilst the whippet is still going strong!

    phildaws
    Free Member

    haha.. yep, doesn’t take much training to get them to climb on to the sofa!

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member


    second best rough bitch in Berkshire!!!

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    whippet/greyhound cross (Lurcher) (Longdog)

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    she can fly too!

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