by Kym Lambert (copyright 1999-2012 © Kym Lambert, all rights reserved do not republish anywhere)
As you read through a variety of Greyhound sites, both adoption groups and
personal pet pages, or go to demos given by many groups you may find a lot
of "Greyhounds are......" "Greyhounds aren't........" statements. Usually
what
they are is docile, quiet couch potatoes, very loving,
good with kids and cats. What they aren't are good guard dogs, in need
of lots of grooming or exercise, or obedience champs. Personally (and
this IS just my personal opinion, after all and should not reflect on anyone
else) such statements do a great disservice to the great variety of Greyhound
personalities and to the many folks who may think that Greyhounds are not
right for them. (And, as a personal trainer, I suppose I feel the "not
needing lot's of exercise" statement is a disservice to everyone.)
Unfortunately, this very narrow description of "what all Greyhounds are" means that many people who could find a great Greyhound for their lives don't consider them because they are looking for something not fitting this description, something with a lot of energy, that is bold, that can go and have adventures with them. On the flip side, this means that a lot of Greyhounds are difficult to adopt, because they vary from the "ideal." These hounds and humans might be matched if we were all more honest about how diverse these dogs really are.
When we adopted Irony, she didn't fit much of the Greyhound "absolutes" and
we had not been looking for one who did. She barks, she was afraid
of children, she was very bold and aggressive (not in a ferocious sense, but
in the "I'm here, worship me now!" sense). She was well mannered for
the most part, um, except when greeting people as she's rather exuberant.
When we brought Bran here, he turned out to be very much the opposite
of Irony. He was quiet except when crated (not having been a track dog,
he was never crated before and only got a ltitle better about it), somewhat timid at
first (and with poor manners, both these things are mostly in the past, he's
a overbearing greeter now too), LOVES kids (good thing we have friends with
them and take them out a lot, we have no plans in that direction), rather
submissive MOST of the time with a bit of a brattiness in wanting what ever
Irony has and often stealing it when he had a chance. Both were rather
high prey drive...but where Irony hunted for something to chase constantly,
Bran only showed interest when he saw "prey" running and was much more accepting
about it if he cant give chase. He loved to play frisbee too......playing
the game, knowing to bring it back. These two exemplify how different two
canines of the same breed can be and neither are exactly fit the description
of "what all Greyhounds are like."
Scolaighe on the the other hand wasn't
an exuberant greeter of strangers, but was very reserved, quietly
accepting
of attention. With us she was quiet, but clingy, leaning on us when
we're standing
or cuddling us or Bran when lying down. It turned out she had
meningitis, brain swelling caused some brain damage in her later years.
How much this might have affected her inital personality is hard to
tell, but she remained cuddly and loving, if more and more withdrawn.
Prey-drive would wake her up and she is the one who thought taking on
the horses might work if she just could get the rest of the pack
involved.
Òrlaith had seemed rather spooky, hiding from the kids at her former home, but her anxiety issues seem extremely unique. The wind sends her into hiding, as do loud noises, if she's seeking rest. It took her awhile to decide to cuddle us, instead of hiding under blankts and pillows on her own. However, she is pushy and absolutely loves to be in the middle of chaos when she's up and about. She is the lowest prey-drive hound we've had, she'll ignore the chickens if they're just milling about and not running and squawking. Cù is a study of lack of impulse control, with little success in building it but we keep working on it and having been ousted from one home for stealing food he did figure out quick that we didn't feed off or plates here. He is another cuddle hound, but often pushy about it, thinking his 70+ lbs is going should fit easily on a lap. He is also high-prey drive, with little provacation to make him nuts for a chase.
So there are a lot of personalities out there. No, you aren't likely to get a guard dog in a Greyhound, although there is a grand range from the very bold in personality to the very timid. You absolutely will not get a dog that is dependable off lead in an unfenced area, unless they have a lure to chase (and there are those who believe that that is too risky, although I will take the chance to let my hounds get to chase the "bunny.") Many Greyhounds are great with cats and kids, others may be too high prey drive to live with a cat and others may be afraid of small children possibly having never seen them before their retirement.....these are very important traits to find out about if you have either before adopting any breed. . And depending on age and health, they can use a lot of exercise...I'm not talking full out runs, I'm talking daily walks with possible full out runs now and then. They might survive without it and it seems a lot do, but like any animal it won't be in its best interest to get none at all (that includes you.....er, sorry got to take my professional hat off again). If you can't manage several walks a day or have a place to run them, you may wish to consider adopting an older Greyhound who may need or even require shorter walks....but don't make the mistake that EVERY older Greyhound would be satisfied with short walks and no runs. Some remain quite active into old age. And many Greyhounds have proven themselves as obedience dogs.....oh, it might take a bit more work than with a breed that is renown for listening to humans, but it's been done.
They are all, however, couch potatoes for much of the day......but then, what adult dog isn't at least part of the day? No matter what a dog might be up to when it's awake, rest is required to keep it ready for it's next adventure. Heavy duty, very serious rest. But it shouldn't be the only thing in their lives.
Chances are that there is a Greyhound out there for any responsible potential dog owner, barring someone who really needs to have a dog that can go off lead. The important thing is to really meet as many of the dogs and know what you are looking for. If you want an athlete you can do agility or lure coursing with; if you want a quiet companion that will curl up with you and go for gentle walks; if you want a shy creature, a bit-cat like, that will bond to you and only you; if you want an exuberant, outgoing, friend-to-everyone; if you are looking for a wilderness hiking companion; if you want an focused show-off that will shine in obedience; if you want a hyper active clown that will entertain you by flinging toys about the house likely there is one waiting for you out there. I've met Greyhounds that fit all of these descriptions. Some more than one.
Most adoption kennels have a lot of Greyhounds available and will let you meet several that they pick out based on what you tell them (so don't be shy, especially if you have a lot of specifics). Bring the whole family to meet them, see how they interact with the kids; bring any dogs you already have too if feasible. Forget about how pretty s/he is, what color s/he is, even if s/he's a she or a he and think about how well s/he will fit into your life.
Adopting a pet is a lifelong commitment, however, no matter the pet, some just live longer than others. It should always be considered carefully and the personality of the pet is a key issue. Adopting a pet you return after weeks or even years does the animal no real good. Being committed to taking care of it for its life and getting one you can live with are vital. And NO dog, of any breed, is PERFECT. There is no such thing. Any dog of any breed can have accidents, can become ill, can develop emotional problems, costs money in food and vet bills, requires time and attention from its person... You must be committed to see through any problems that come up, not matter what breed you end up choosing. If you want perfection in a dog, there are some very nice statues available on many locations on the web the GPS store has some lovely ones in fact and their purchase benefits the living hounds.
If you only wish to adopt because you want to "rescue" a dog, please reconsider. You must want a dog, and you must want the dog you get to truly help. Again, if you later return the dog you have done more damage than good....the dog will be heartbroken, and older dogs are harder to get adopted. You might want to consider contributing to an adoption kennel or even volunteering if you realize that you can not make a life commitment to a dog. Every little bit that is going forward helps, but going backwards for what ever reason does not.
Of course, if you are someone who has a lot of dog experience and can handle personality conflicts and be very committed to a pet no matter what, there are also dogs that are even "less than perfect" who may be too spooky, for instance, for many new Greyhound owners to work with. With a little work sometimes these "problem children" make the best companions. And there is something really special about watching an animal that has "issues" work through them and start to shine. After the first one, many Greyhounds owners find that they are less picky on the next (and the next...), being more prepared to make the commitment to work through issues to take in a "loser" to keep it for life.
If you're considering adopting a Greyhound or volunteering, here are some links to adoption groups or pages with more links to groups, if I don't have one for your area, one of these may take you there and all will provide you with valuable information. If you feel that you need to look for another breed, or another type of animal the links page has links to other shelter and rescue groups.
NH
Greyhound Placement Service This is the wonderful adoption
service in Goffstown NH that we got Irony and Bran from...if you live in
New Hampshire and are looking for a great dog, they left behind a lot of
friends and there are always new Greys arriving
Most of the information here comes from my own interpretations of information from Adopting the Racing Greyhound by Cynthia Branigan, Guide to Adopting an Ex-Racing Greyhound by Carolyn Raeke, The Greyhound : An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet by Daniel Braun, and Greyhounds : A complete pet owner's guide by D. Caroline Coile
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Text copyright © 1999- 2000, 2004, 2012 Kym Lambert all rights reserved
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