I keep running into greyhound adoption groups. They bring these sweet dogs out, and then try to convince me that a 65# greyhound capable of speeds of 45mph would be perfect in my 1500sf house with a small yard, and how I’d be saving them from years of abuse at the racetrack.
Now, I hear greyhounds really aren’t “abused” . . . after all, how is mistreating an animal going to make them healthy and race? But I’ve also heard that they really dont need a lot of space, since that was the environment they were raised in when they were racing.
I also hear they sleep most of the day anyway.
I’ve downloaded a lot of info on Google, but I want to hear it first hand . . .
Whats the straight dope? Thumbs up or down on greyhounds?
Vinnie, I haven’t yet, but I got some excellent information from fellow dopers in the thread I started on this very topic in MPSIMS in April. Here’s a link. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
They’re great dogs, we’ve had three so far and will doubtless get more if the current ones pass on to the big track in the sky.
They actually don’t require much space. We had two in a small house and yard (1/12 acre) with no problems.
They ARE abused in the sense that they’re destroyed fairly quickly. Also, the steroids injected to keep females from going into heat sometimes do funny things to them.
Don’t even get me started on selling them to research labs.
They DO like to run but they like to lay around, too. Ours are fond of pillows on the carpet.
My cousin and her husband had an adopted greyhound. I don’t have too much to add that Jonathan Chance hasn’t said (though since they lived out in the country, I don’t know about the issue of space), except that, in their case, their greyhound probably was physically abused. “Bud” wouldn’t let anyone touch him on the head or ears, and got scared if someone raised their voice around them. Oddly, he seemed also to have a fear of linoleum flooring…they suspected that he may have been abused on a similar kind of floor.
It sounds like what you are hearing is pretty accurate - greyhounds don’t need a lot of space, though they do appreciate having a safe fenced-in area to run around in a bit if there’s something available. Greyhounds are sprinters - which means they’ll run like heck for a few minutes and then be done. They’re not constantly busy and active like a lot of other breeds are.
We had our first two greyhounds in a 1500/sq. foot house with a backyard that measured roughly 85 ft. wide by about 45 ft. deep. We also lived in a 900/sq. ft one-bedroom apartment for several months when we moved. The younger one was a bit bummed about not having a yard, but the older one couldn’t have cared less, and the complex had a lovely little park to walk them in so they were fine.
As far as greyhounds being abused - different people have different definitions of that term. Racing greyhounds spend roughly 22 out of 24 hours a day in crates. For some people that fact alone constitutes abuse. Some of the crappier tracks/trainers in the country also don’t do a very good job of dealing with parasites (and you can imagine what a job that must be - most racing kennels house between 40 and 60 dogs apiece - flea and tick heaven, that). So whether greyhounds are abused at the track is really a subjective thing.
One thing’s for sure, though - a racing greyhound, like just about any other high-powered athlete, human or animal, has a short career. Most of them only race one or two seasons, some not even that long, so most of them will be between 2 and 4 years old when they are available for adoption. If no one takes them in, they are killed because they are no longer economically viable. A natural lifespan for a greyhound is roughly 12 years. Most of them are wonderful, sweet dogs who transition amazingly well from a very regimented life to one as a pet. I doubt most humans could do as well - for a racing greyhound, becoming a pet must be like getting dropped off on Mars. They have much to learn, and most do it with much grace.
I’ll fight some ignorance here - there is no such thing as the Linoleum Floor Torture in racing! Kennel floors are concrete and not particularly slippery - some of them have rubber mats too. Most of a racing greyhound’s other walking takes place on sand - the turn-out pens and the track. So they aren’t used to a hard, slippery floor like lino and it frightens them. They have long legs and small feet, so walking on lino for a greyhound is like Bambi on Ice. And of course they can’t run at all on it.
We have throw rugs in our kitchen to help with this, though if I take them up to wash them, the floor doesn’t seem to bother our younger dog in the least - he’ll happily skid around after me. He’s not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I should also add here that greyhounds are sensitive, and some are shy - which is actually a genetic trait (and yes, it can be made worse with rough handling) so if a greyhound seems shy and tenative around strangers, it isn’t necessarily a sign of abuse.
I think they’re pretty cool dogs. In my paper route days, there was a family around the block that adopted some for a total of three. When you’re like 14 and you see one of these things walking around the, they look big and scary, but I got the pet them and are the coolest dogs - if that helps.
romansperson: My cousin wasn’t sure if “Bud” had had another owner after leaving the racing industry. He was an “older” greyhound, so he may well have been someone else’s pet before being returned to the adoption agency. It happens, I guess.
All it takes is for them to skid or fall once on a slippery floor, and they remember, for a long time. I’ve seen that happen.
I have a friend whose 3 greyhounds are therapy dogs. One of them is terrified of the terazzo hallway floor at the hospital because he slipped once. She has a harness on him, and when they get to that floor he freezes, so she just grabs him by the harness and carries him like a suitcase until they reach a floor surface he likes better. He’s not a shy dog either - he loves people and is very friendly and calm, which is why he’s such a great therapy dog.
It’s pretty funny to see a 4’ 10" lady hauling a macho 80 lb. greyhound, but that floor just freaks him out.
My parents had one. It was a very gentle animal and did very well in the house. But it had almost no personality and spent most of its time lying on its doggie bed. He did love to go for walks.
I worked for a vet that had adopted one-he was the clinic blood doner dog. He was a very intuitive and sensative dog-he like to run a bit but then would be very calm-I think he knew his importance to the clinic but wasen’t stuck up about it.
Adopting an animal is great for the animal and your karma. We have a dog that belonged to a homeless man and a puppy that someone left in a coffee maker box in a parking lot. You’ll feel that good karma feeling in your stomach area…I promise!!!
My parent’s dog rarely barked and was house broken from day one.
My parent’s cat routinely slept next to or even on top of the dog.
You need to decide what kind of dog you want. IMHO, Greyhounds are boring. But they also very loving, and will appreciate what you have done for it one if you adopt one. Just don’t expect it to do good Frisbee.
Yeah, we had to teach ours to bark when he wanted to come back inside the house. We’d toss them outside to run around and then they’d just stand at the door waiting to be noticed.
Forever.
All of ours have been ‘cat-safe’ but it’s true that some are not. Fortunately most adoption services will test a dog against a laid back cat before placing one in a home with a cat.
It’s very true that they won’t fetch and such. But they’re great low-maintenance pets. We’re currently dog-sitting my brothers two points. He’s trained and competed them but they’re ill-manned and a bit-over energetic. Agh!
Barking: it depends. Our first greyhound, JC, hardly ever barks, and when he does it’s because there’s someone at the door he’s not sure about. Our second hound, Roman, only barked at us when it was time for a walk and he wanted us to hurry up and put the leash on him. I don’t think I ever heard our third hound, Rob, bark at all (he was 10 1/2 when we got him and he passed away at 12, so we only had him a little over a year and half).
Then there’s Idol, who loves the sound of his own voice. Idol barks at cars, birds, trees, people, other dogs, and nothing at all. He does mind, though, and will stop if we tell him to knock it off.
Your chances of having a barking greyhound go up if you have another breed of dog that barks a lot. They learn it from the other dog. In the racing kennels, there are usually a few dogs that are barkers and they can get the others going - it’s funny to hear the barking start in one place and then wash over the rest of the kennel compound in a wave!
Housebreaking is usually not a problem. Since they are kennel broken they usually understand the concept that the house is now their kennel pretty quickly. Some of the males will want to mark, and they can be sneaky so when I get a new one I watch them like a hawk whenever they are loose in the house for the first 3-4 days and correct them if they try. Greyhounds tend to be very clean and neat dogs.
Cats: some greyhounds don’t care about cats, and some do. Idol would gladly kill a cat if he could catch one, and small dogs too. If you adopt your greyhound through a reputable group, they’ll cat test for you to make sure you get one with less prey drive and they’ll also instruct you on how to introduce your dog to your cat. It also helps if you have a cat that is confident and doesn’t take any crap from other animals.
