which breeds are right for me? - Turned Greyhound Discussion

How about a retired greyhound?  From what I've heard they will be content being a couch potatoe, or running with you.  You can't ever trust them off lead from what I've heard, but with a slightly older dog, they are housetrained already so you don't have the puppy nonsense to deal with, aren't as likely to get bored and eat the furniture, AND you'd be saving a life.

dont forget there are racing whippets too.  I think the sighthounds from the rescue racing groups are great first dog and really do well adjusting to in home living.

how about an Italian Greyhound?

Tiny,  a bit more fragile from the size stand point. 

how about an Italian Greyhound?

Depends on the age.... These little guys can be quite full of energy... more so than a full size greyhound.


Glenda is correct in that Greyhounds and other sighthounds can NEVER be trusted off lead due to their high prey drive, but they make incredible companions, are loving, silly, lazy, require only moderate daily exercise (walks and perhaps an occasional run off leash in an enclosed area) and most are very easy to care for and require little to no training.

  My only concern with recommending a grey to you (or many other breeds actually) would be the amount of time you stated you are away from home daily… Is this 11 hours in one lump sum, or is it broken up. I believe I recall you stating on one of your first posts that you were a teacher. Because I volunteer with greyhound rescue, I know of many teachers who own greyhounds and it perfect for their schedule…but most aren#%92t away more than about 9 or so hours a day.  Because greyhounds are very social and unaccustomed to being without other greyhounds or human interaction, your schedule would probably be very tough on them unless you had a second greyhound to keep them company.


Can you perhaps provide us more insight into your daily schedule so we can see what breeds might fit well into that schedule?

well a normal day for me is 7:30 leave the house and 5:00 return.  Sometimes I am held untill 6:00.  I could always find a pet sitter to come.  But I fear this will be a problem with most dogs.  I'm also considering a dog door but then there is the issue of security. 

well a normal day for me is 7:30 leave the house and 5:00 return. Sometimes I am held untill 6:00. I could always find a pet sitter to come. But I fear this will be a problem with most dogs. I'm also considering a dog door but then there is the issue of security.

7:30- 5:00 isn#%92t too bad… depending on the breed. My greyhounds are alone from about 7:45 to close to 5:00 daily and do fine, but I don#%92t like to go much longer than that. We live in a condo so no option for allowing the dog outdoor privileges to relieve themselves.

  A mid day dog walker might be a good option for you with any breed since you perhaps never know if you are to be home later than expected. This would help break up the day a bit for the dog and would relieve both the dogs and your anxiety if your day is a bit longer than anticipated.

  I do believe you need a fairly low energy dog though…. One that is lazy….  Maybe a dog like in the video below??? (NOTE the clock in the backround…)   

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

A dog walker/pet sitter is a great option.  Most dogs adjust readily and come to look forward to that afternoon break.  The breeds currently under discussion would have minimal problem in most cases.  The racing dogs are used to be handled by different people.

We leave the house at about 8:15 AM and I get home between 5:00 and 5:30. For a large breed adult dog (bigger bladders) who is of naturally mellow temperment, that's no problem. That video fo they greyhound is hysterical and that could totally be both my dogs (a 3 year old coonhound and 5 year old bloodhound mix). I agree a retired racing grey would be great. Are you in Pittsburgh (looking at your avatar there)? There are a lot of retired greys here (I think the group is called Steel City Greys maybe?) and the Frick Park off leash area has a fully fenced section that is more than large enough to give a greyhound a great sprint once or twice a week.
 
With an adult dog, don't worry about the relieving of the bladder thing. A well housetrained dog can hold it for that long. If they're sleeping while you're out, their metabolism slows and they don't have much need to pee. When I get home in the evenings my dogs are way more interested in sniffing and greeting me and each other (they are seperated during the day) than in peeing.

you guys realize the dog in the video was sleeping through the night.  I would hope he would be more active in the daytime.  I at least want a dog that will play with me when I want her to! 
 
Thanks for the info.  Yes I live in Pittsburgh.  I'll check the Steel City greys. 

Woudl this be the same as a rescue?  I want to definately rescue a dog and it seems this isn't exactly the same thing.  [linkhttp://www.steelcitygreyhounds.org/aboutus.htm]http://www.steelcitygreyhounds.org/aboutus.htm[/link]

you guys realize the dog in the video was sleeping through the night. I would hope he would be more active in the daytime. I at least want a dog that will play with me when I want her to!

Yes... I DO realize that this particular dog was filmed while sleeping throught the night..... however this would be the same exact video that would be produced by doing a "daytime" filming while you are at work! []

Here is one during an "active time"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4ddUETEWs8&mode=related&search

Woudl this be the same as a rescue? I want to definately rescue a dog and it seems this isn't exactly the same thing.http://www.steelcitygreyhounds.org/aboutus.htm

Yes, this is absolutey a greyhound rescue![sm=dance.gif]

Don#%92t let the video fool you… they are promoting greyhounds.. .. don#%92t let the info from the “breeder” and the showing of puppies fool you into thinking they BREED them.  This is a GPA (Greyhound pets of America) rescue… all these dogs are directly off the tracks and are a few of the “lucky ones”… they still kill between 10,000- 20,000 retired racing greyhound each year because there is NOT ENOUGH people willing to adopt.

  Their video is actually pretty good at showing the adoption process, etc…

  Here is another video that shows what the rescue would look like and steel greys rescue should be almost identical….

  [linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNzrOcxdhOc&mode=related&search]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNzrOcxdhOc&mode=related&search[/link]  

If you have any questions at all about this breed, please feel free to pm me... I have owned these incredible dogs for over 10 years volunteer with a local grey rescue and am one of their placement reps...

If this is not a close rescue to where you live, let me know and I can help find you a closer one...

Shelly

I think a greyhound would be perfect for you.  They readily adjust to whatever activity level is in the household.  There are days that they'll be more active and days they'll be more sedate.  That's what is so great about these dogs...100 miles an hour for 30 seconds and then it's back to bed for 10 hours.  They aren't as needy as some dogs can be, and if you jog or go biking, they're usually up for that as well.
 
Also depending upon the group that you get a grey from, you'll have a full time resource for when you have those "is it normal..." questions.  And most rescues have social activities (walks and meets) that you could participate in as well.  They're not required, by any means, but it's so much fun showing off your dog and people start to remember you and your puppers...it's a great community feeling.