greyhound as 2nd dog to JRT

Some greys might do fine---but others would definitely be a mismatch with a young JRT.

Go to the greytalk forum and you'll find tons of people who own and rescue former racing greys and I bet you'll find someone who can give you good advice.http://forum.greytalk.com/

Hi Zoey,

As a long time owner of retired racing greys and a volunteer and an adoption rep with a local rescue, let me set the record straight on a couple things here that are often a misconception about the breed.

While born to chase small prey, many, many greys off the track do NOT have a strong enough prey drive to have much concern at all with a small dog or cat.  I have two cats and none of my greys have ever gone after them.  We did foster a grey for a couple nights in hopes of adopting her who wasn’t cat tolerant, and not all are, but many do just fine.

Each individual greyhound rescue cat tests their greys to see how they react and to determine if they are “cat tolerant”.  This doesn’t mean that there is never a chance of something happening, but that is the same as with any animal living with another animal.  It means that they are not showing a strong reaction or prey drive.  I know many, and have helped adopt out to many folks who have small dogs and or cats and they all live in peace and harmony and even often sleep together.

My boy JJ was thought to NOT be cat tolerant and actually at a dog park with a previous owner, a barking JRT set him off and he ran across the park and picked him right up, though luckily never hurt the dog.  And yet he walked right into my home and never took a second glance at my cats.  No training even needed to be done with him.  It is all based on the specific animals.

If you are truly interested in owning a grey, go to a local adoption organization and meet some and talk to the adoption staff.  No matter what they will assure that the dog they send you home with is as good of a match as they can get for you.

I cannot recommend this breed enough.. Honestly, greys are the best kept secret around.  You will be shocked at how little training , how loving, playful and downright goofy this breed is.  Most grey owners I know, never go back to owning other breeds after they own a grey.  It is definitely worth looking into.

Good luck to you and if you have any more questions about the breed, please feel free to pm me.  I may not be around much in the near future to read this thread as my plate is full with wedding planning right now, but pm me and I can then give you my email so we can chat more about the breed and adoption process if you like.

Shelly 

ETA-  just saw the greytalk comment.  greytalk is an outstanding forum.  very knowledgeable, kind, caring and helpful people from the admin and mods all the way down.  A truly great resource for you 

jjsmom06

As a long time owner of retired racing greys and a volunteer and an adoption rep with a local rescue, let me set the record straight on a couple things here that are often a misconception about the breed.

 

*SIGH* !  i am feeling much better after reading what you had to say...

thank you so much for your advice and opinions. i really appreciate it.

i am planning to go visit the rescue centre sometime soon to take a look, sometime next week most likely.

thanks again, and congrats on the wedding! :)

~V~

JRTzoey

jjsmom06

As a long time owner of retired racing greys and a volunteer and an adoption rep with a local rescue, let me set the record straight on a couple things here that are often a misconception about the breed.

 

 

*SIGH* !  i am feeling much better after reading what you had to say...

thank you so much for your advice and opinions. i really appreciate it.

i am planning to go visit the rescue centre sometime soon to take a look, sometime next week most likely.

thanks again, and congrats on the wedding! :)

~V~

Good.. I am so glad you feel better!  Honestly there are absolutely PLENTY of greyhounds for you.  Your situation with just having a JRT is a pretty easy adoption with lots of choices in dogs for you. The adoption folks will assure you get the right dog for yrou situation.

Oh.. and btw, please don’t be discouraged by the insane adoption questions and process that some places have.  Most are incredibly picky about the people they adopt too simply because so much energy and effort goes into saving such a small handful of these dogs from death at such a young age. They are passionate about their breed and want to assure that dogs get bounced back to the rescue as little as possible. Every time a dog bounces back even for reasons such as the owner just didn’t want them anymore, that dog becomes harder and harder to adopt out again and that means yet another kennel full of a greyhound that needs a home, while countless ones are killed daily.  That is why every single one of mine have been the “unadoptables” that have had multiple bouncebacks with a lot of issues.

If you have questions about the adoption stuff or why they ask certain things, etc, again please feel free to contact me. I am excited for you that you are going to the rescue.. have fun!

Oh.. and here is one of the reasons why greys make the best dogs…. Enjoy the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6cb_unsEV8