Here’s a video of a foster ‘dad’ teaching a greyhound the stairs:
And there’s always one that has to be different:
That’s a great video showing how to teach stairs. It depends greatly on the individual dog - it can take one “lesson” as shown there, or several. Some dogs need to build confidence and others are naturally bolder, so they pick it up quickly. A real key is to make sure that the stairs are carpeted (or have runners) and closed (i.e. not open in the back of each step).
When I did meet and greets, I would encounter people who thought it was really sad and pathetic that you had to teach greyhounds how to do stairs. It’s not. It’s just that they’ve never encountered them before, and they are a new obstacle they need to learn how to deal with. No sadness, no pathology. Just something new.
Oh, and a shout out to Greyhound Friends of New Jersey. Great organization!
I remember our very first greyhound crying because he got ‘stuck’ in the hallway. His foster home was more of an open-plan type house, and ours was older, with a long narrow hallway to the bedrooms. He decided he wanted to go back from whence he came while in the middle of it, and couldn’t figure out how to do it! It is hard for a long dog to turn in a narrow space, like a small bathroom - sometimes you have to teach them to back up. 
Some other fun greyhound characteristics:
Greyhound Scream of Death (aka GSOD): a truly bloodcurdling scream you’d think would be emitted because the dog’s being hacked to death with a machete… but he really just stubbed his toe. Ironically, when they really do hurt themselves, like ripping off a dew claw while sprinting around the yard, you won’t hear a peep. You’ll just discover it by following the trail of blood on the carpet. :rolleyes:
They have adorable bendy noses. Seriously, they can bend the tips of their noses sideways to smell something. They can also often be found asleep with their head hanging off the couch or bed with their nose smooshed over against the floor.
Greyhounds invented the technical term “bed fail”.
They also invented the technical term ETS (escaped tongue syndrome).
… also they demonstrate “baby got back” more than ANY human female can.
Okay, you can tell that I’m hopelessly smitten. Let me sign off with a short minute on my soapbox:
Greyhounds are perfectly capable of sitting if they want to. Some don’t sit naturally (of their own volition), others do. They can all be taught to sit on command. It took me about two years to teach my Ajax how to sit, but he did it. Something about the long leg bones and the heavy/bulky thigh muscles makes sitting a challenge and not very comfortable to do, so most just don’t. But I’m tired of people saying that they can’t. The owner of the Young Punk we’re currently fostering handed him over to us saying that he knows how to wait and down but “greyhounds can’t sit” so she didn’t teach him that. I had him sitting on a hand signal within the week. Negative thinking keeps your mind closed. It’s better to listen to the animal to tell you what he’s capable of.</soapbox>
Not an owner, though I generally like the breed. However one potential con is some/many seem to have rather high prey drives. Which may mean they won’t mix well with your cat if you have one. Or your neighbor’s free-ranging cat even if you don’t. May not effect the greyhound’s own vet bill, but you could end up paying one ( or restitution ) nonetheless.
I would hazard a guess that about one third of them have high prey drives. You simply work with your adoption group on that - tell them you have a kitty and they’ll test the dog before they give it to you.
Yes, we had a saluki rescue, and those guys are* fast!* Getting them back is really hard.
Strong hand on the leash, careful check of the yard to make sure they cant jump or wiggle out.
Sight hounds are great dogs.
A vet once told me that greyhounds and other sighthounds (whippets, salukis etc) have issues with anesthesia not because of any inherent genetic chemistry strangeness but simply because anesthesia dosages are based on the body weight of a dog with an ordinary amount of fat. Which sighthounds do not have. Even out-of-shape apartment-dwelling sighthounds have very little body fat. Thus anesthesia dosages always need to be adjusted downward for them.
Question for the expert 
- is there a significant base of “pet only” greyhound breeders from which one can get actual puppies? I really only ever hear of adult rescues ( and everyone I know who has one, has a rescue ). Or if you want a greyhound puppy are you mostly limited to racer line cast-offs? And if one can get puppies are the pet lines as healthy as the racer lines?
Yeah, we had a duck at the time we got our first and Greyhound Pets of America - MD (go GPA!) found a goose to expose our first to, just in case.
Here - catch!
Racing greyhounds and AKC greyhounds are almost like different breeds. AKC greyhounds are actually rare - only about 200 of them are bred every year. That’s where traditionally puppies would come from, but there aren’t many of them.
Racing greyhounds are registered by a different registry (the NGA, National Greyhound Association) and I’m not sure how many are being bred every year now - probably around 10,000 or so. As their purpose is to race, they don’t come available for adoption as pups very often. Every once in awhile it will happen - an accidental litter (where you can’t ensure who the daddy is, which means you can’t register them) may happen, or there may be a pup who isn’t healthy enough to race, etc. but it’s not common at all.
Oh, and sorry - you wanted that answer from JcWoman and not me, but too late to take it back!
Romansperson is correct. (Are you a volunteer or actively work with a group? Because your replies are always on the nose. I’m used to people spouting off complete crap with authority. But not you, you rock.)
I have heard through social channels that there are Amish puppy mills in the Ohio area that breed greyhounds. So there is that. DO NOT SUPPORT PUPPY MILLS!
As to puppies, consider this: they’re raised on farms for a reason. While adults don’t necessarily need to run, puppies do. And they need a LOT of room to run. Greyhounds are interesting in that they start life as an extremely high energy can’t-wear-them-out breed, and then grow into a low energy breed. If you can’t get that pupper out for a run every single day, he’s going to eat your house.
One of the scariest moments of my life was being in a pen with 7 greyhound puppies on a greyhound farm when they all suddenly got a wild hair and decided to run. They were a year old and almost ready to go to training, so adult-size. It was chaos. YIKES.
In the process of being trained for racing, they calm down a lot.
Being in a racing kennel when the dogs are being let in or out is a bit unnerving too - if they haven’t seen you before, you are fresh meat and they all come over at once to say hi.
(And yes, I’ve been actively involved with greyhound adoption since 1993, belong(ed) to several groups in two states, and know a number of people in the racing industry. My husband owned the greyhound we have now while he was racing.)
Cool! I was on the board of my adoption group for a couple years until I couldn’t stand the politics. I can’t stay away, though, and still do light volunteering for them, like fostering Young Punk. I’ve never met a greyhound that didn’t walk away with at least a tiny part of my heart. I’m good with it, though. I’m like, “hi, you’re cute, here you can have this, I have plenty to share”. 
I’ve walked into a room that contained around 12 loose greyhounds and I have to say it’s one of the things I love most. All of the friendly pointy noses crowding around you. They’re better than other breeds, too, because once they say hi they move away. It’s not (usually) like other breeds that get all up in your face.
Speaking of being in the pen when they run, over time I’ve lost the fear of seeing a dog running at me to play Chicken. But when I first adopted my Capri, she did that in our back yard and actually hit me from behind. It hurt although neither of us was damaged. She had a look on her face like “ow, that was a bad idea”. LOL MOST of the time, they know not to run into you. She was a Young Punk herself then. Now she’s almost 13, but still my baby girl.
We have just been joined by a five year old female greyhound we are looking after for 6mths or so for some friends who have gone overseas. She’s a very easygoing dog.
We had the Australia Day fireworks nearby and that clearly upset her a lot. We have been told that thunderstorms upset her even more (and they are common here).
But I have a question for JcWoman or romansperson. It’s mid-summer here - mid-80’s F at least, most of the time - and of course when it’s hot she’s panting. But we noticed that even when not panting she can be breathing fast, even while lying down semi-dozing and seemingly relaxed. We are assuming it’s still just a response to heat. But it did concern us a little.
I should add that it’s not all the time by any means. Anything to worry about?
Are you able to speak with her owners and express your concerns? They know her best and should be able to advise you on whether this is normal for her or not.
Someone who knows her well and could actually lay eyes and hands on her would be ideal.
Greyhounds have very little fat and thin skin, so they aren’t particularly well-insulated when it comes to heat or cold. So it could be perfectly normal under the circumstances, but especially with someone else’s pet it’s always best to check with them and act according to their wishes.
I’m sorry to hear she has noise phobia. Not fun for her or you. I wish there was some way to tell them that it’s nothing to worry about.
We had a rabbit (who just died after a very long life today) and have a picture of the rabbit on top of one of the greyhounds while it was laying on its side - that I captioned “The winner and new champion!”
Mind you I do not advise that but clearly not all have high prey drives.
You also should know about the greyhound lean and the roo! Lots of great roo videos available but my wife gets our goofball boy to sing Home on the Range pretty dang well. The girl’s roo is pathetic though!
One additional note if you have kids. The kids need to appreciate that the dog needs to learn how to be part of a family and has not been in one before. Caution. It is tempting to want to snuggle up with a sleeping greyhound but they can be startled and just turning quickly with teeth bared can be a significant injury.
I should get my wife to post as she does pre-adoption family training sessions.
Some may say too lean
But the Greyhound understands
To lean is a verb.
~ Lee Minardi
Though the discussion of greyhound thin skin reminds me of the OP’s topic …
As a result of their thin skin and speed, they do end up with a greater than average chance of skin injuries. Some of them will need medical attention, which can add to the vet bill in a way that another breed would not.