Anonymous asked:
trust your opinion on dogs. do you know how greyhounds as pets? kinda wanna greyhound. i live in condo complex with medium common area and park in walking distance. concerned that's not enough. also wonder about temperament.. only thing i know about greyhounds are "40mph couch potato" and they are racing rescues and usually not used to being pet dog. thank you for any response.
doberbutts answered:
I’ll leave this to @kangals since she has firsthand experience taking care of greyhounds as pets
Not Kangals but I’ve done two retired racers now - both Flying Penske line (one with Flying P aa a sire, and one with Flying P as a grandsire).
Here’s what I can say:
- greyhound puppies are infamous for being terror tornados. Much like a kitten they just seem to have boundless energy and they want to spend it.
- greyhound adults are typically sedate though energy can vary. The adults are sprinters you’ll have a high energy dog for 30 seconds - 5 minutes a day. Generally the closer to puppy hood they are the more likely to bounce off the walls during that high energy period. I’ve heard the cutoff from ‘puppy’ to 'adult’ is about 2 years old.
- when folks say retired racers aren’t used to bring pets that doesn’t mean they’re used to constant exercise on the contrary- they’re used to napping in their kennels until turnout (which happens a few times a day). During turnout it is basically a greyhounds only dog park time where they can play and run zooming.
- two 20-30 minute walks a day have consistently wiped out my hounds (not owned concurrently - but language is weird). You can build their stamina for hiking or whatever but with my two dogs when they’re done walking they make it -super- clear when they are done.
- what retired racers struggle with in terms of being pets are things like: stairs, separation anxiety, not understanding glass, and/or feeling overwhelmed by constant human attention. It varies from dog to dog and their personalities often seem to morph slightly as they settle into being pets. Our current grey went from kind of a space case at the retirement org to letting his goofy weird side shine. He also became obsessed with our other dog (collie/coonhound mix) and goes nuts when separated from her (he doesn’t like any of us leaving but God help him if he can’t get to her). He also revealed that he’s got the kind of mind that lets him solve baby gates and open some doors 🫠
- in terms of the need to run. Ideally, you have a space - even just going to a tennis court - where they can occasionally do zoomies for like 2 minutes a couple times a week. That said, our backyard has been out of commission for a while, so we’ve just been leash walking, and Momo (current grey) seems content with that. He’s a very sedate boy aside from mastering the concept of lock mechanics and very occasional weird thievery (he’ll now and then just take stuff to take it - he gives it back the moment you bust him. Usually just something he is curious about he’s seen humans interact with).
- the important thing is to work with your breeder or retirement org. They’ll know which dogs have an energy level to match you. Breeders will hook you up with lines, retirement orgs with individual dogs.
- my two retired racers (racing names everttthegreat and easi modello) have been great dogs. Both of them were quieter greys and quirky (in diff ways). But you can see the familial personality resemblance.
We had one grey we took home for one night we had to return (during our search for grey #2) - wasn’t safe with our cats (specifically our big ex-tom. We think he might not have recognized him as a cat). He was a sweet boy - no personality complaints (he was very diff from Momo, who we ended up with. More adventurous and more confident). The org was super understanding about the situation. A good retirement org wants the right dog in the right house.






