This site is mainly an introduction for people who may have seen a greyhound and would like a bit more info. It is a way to share what I've picked up during the adoption process. For advanced info, please contact your local adoption group, an experienced owner, or your favorite search engine.

What you already know if you have seen a greyhound

As you probably have already seen, greyhounds are peculiar animals:

• greys are bigger than most people imagine them to be. 60-75# is probably the norm. The most frequent comment I hear is "I didn't realize they were so big!".
• greys come in almost every color except gray, and they come in stripes, solids, and spots.. Who came up with that one? :-) The striped ones are known as "brindle", the tan ones are "fawn", the rare gray ones are "blue". The white markings on head, chest, and feet are called "Irish". Hey, don't blame me...
• greys are gentler, calmer, and quieter than one might think. Not hyper at all. The second most frequent comment I hear is "They're so sweet!"
• greys have long, pointy noses and nice eyes. Their ears naturally fold back against their heads like that; it doesn't mean they're mad like it might in some breeds.
• greys don't have a "doggy smell" for some reason.
• greys are social with people and other dogs, with very few exceptions.
• greys walk on leashes all the time (not allowed off-leash outdoors)
• greys have deep chests for lung/heart capacity, and trim waists for flexion when sprinting
• greys appear to have no body fat at all; they are naturally very trim. No, the grey you saw was not underweight. :-)
• greys have leg and back muscles like the Terminator. Look at the meat on those dogs!
• greys sometimes wear muzzles (no, they're not mean). They are used to muzzles from the track, and it's just cheap insurance. I wish other breeds would wear muzzles...
• greys wear special collars (called a martingale). This is because their heads are the same diameter as their neck and they'd back right out of a normal collar.

Stuff you might not know yet

• greys are sighthounds, and do share some weirdnesses with the other sighthounds (salukis, borzoi, etc), including an elegant shape, a quiet nature, and a sensitivity to chemicals and anesthesia.
• greys are hardy and have very few of the medical defects that plague other large dogs, mainly because they have only been bred for performance, and never for colors or any other cosmetic purpose. The gene pool is much broader than other purebreds.
• greys live about 12 years, mainly because of the above hardiness
• greys are a relatively low-maintenance breed.
• greys sleep most of the time. It seems that way, at least.
• greys do require exercise, but not as much as you would think. They prefer to sleep. A grey definitely needs less exercise than one of the herding dogs or terriers.
• greys rarely bark or make other dog noises.
• greys are used to being handled by humans (race trainers, owners, etc) and tolerate stuff that most dogs would fight.
• greys are big dogs but feel like small dogs because they are generally well-behaved and like to curl up to sleep. Some people say they act more like cats than dogs. And they fit into an apartment just fine.
• ex-racing greys are working dogs who did not have a normal puppyhood; they don't understand games or toys at first (or maybe ever).
• greys are large but sensitive beasts; a quiet word is usually all that is required to correct them. Shouting or physical punishment is more likely to scare them than get them to behave.
• greys are indoor dogs only. They have little fat and so are sensitive to weather. If you are hot/cold, so are they.
• greys must have a soft place to lie down, as they don't have the cushion that other dogs do. And their skin is unusually thin.
• greys have spent a good deal of their lives in crates, and some seem more comfortable there than elsewhere. Other than your couch, of course. Crating is usually part of the track-to-house transition. Greyhound crates are huge, and can cost a bit. I got mine used for about $50.
• greys are "crate trained", which is to say that they don't eliminate in their crate. This makes the house training project much different from training a puppy. As the grey transitions from the crate to your house s/he learns the house is, effectively, a Really Large Crate. And one doesn't "go" in the crate.
• since greys are used to muzzles from their racing days, they are used to wearing them when exercising around other dogs.
• greys are tolerant of handling, but please keep little kid fingers out of the dogs eyes, ears, mouth, etc. Even patient dogs have their limits.
• greys weigh a few pounds more in the home then they did on the track ("set weight"). Maybe 5-7# more. You can naturally see several ribs and vertebrae on racing dogs, and a couple on retired dogs. This is a healthy weight; the greyhound skeleton is not designed to carry excess weight.
• greys probably don't shed as much as other dogs, and their hair is very short so even when they do shed it's not a big deal. Some owners claim white dogs shed more than dark dogs, but that could be an illusion.
• greys have delicate systems, and can suffer from loose stools or gas if fed substandard kibble. See the Info page for more on greyhound feeding.
• some greys sleep with their eyes open.
• some grey owners refer to their dogs as "furkids" and their real children as "skinkids". :-)
• did I mention that tens of thousands of ex-racing greyhounds are killed each year because they are no longer profitable? I'm not a animal activist or anything like that, but killing that many good dogs seems like a waste. If you have a strong stomach, you can listen to NPR news story about greyhound extermination (mp3, about 1MB) from 2003.

Bottom Line?

Bottom line is that greyhounds are really quiet, gentle, and loving animals with few bad habits and many endearing ones. I'm not going to tell you that they're perfect dogs, but they're pretty danged close.

If you'd like to see some more greyhounds, stop by a local "meet and greet". This is when an adoption group brings foster dogs (and their own dogs!) to local spots for people to see. It's not possible to pick one out and go home with it (the adoption process is rather stringent in most cases), so it's not like there's any pressure to do so. But beware, there's a good chance you'll fall in love once you spend more time with them. They're just that wonderful.

Reasons NOT to adopt a greyhound

I'm trying to be fair here.

• You have a truckload of cats or other small animals at your house. Many greys are "small animal safe", but others remember all too well that they were bred to catch small game.
• You want a dog to let run loose off the leash. Greys cannot run loose off the leash in the open. They are sighthounds (ie, track their prey by sight) and can see small animals way... over... there. Combine that with ripping speed and you've got a dog that will run straight into the road to catch something. Letting a grey off the leash is deadly to the grey. Besides, they're used to collars and leashes; they don't mind when you take them on and off.
• You want a dog to play Frisbee or fetch with. "Homie don't play that", as they used to say on In Living Color. Greys were never treated like puppies and have likely never seen a toy (or child, cat, or non-grey dog) until adoption. They may play sooner, later, or never. It is said that some greys only play when no one is looking (I'm not making this up!)...
• You want a dog to do obedience competition with. Greys are not known to be smart in the usual sense. They were bred to run and work in a hunting pack rather than to take human direction. There are some greys in obedience contests, just not many. Note also that their physiology makes it difficult/uncomfortable for them to obey the "sit" command. A grey is usually standing or lying down. I'm not saying their stupid, only that they don't take direction like a shepherding dog or something like that.
• You must leave the animal alone for long stretches. Since they are indoor animals only you can't leave them out in the yard. They need to be walked several times a day to do their business.
• You don't want to pick up dog poop. Most cities require you to carry a baggy and pick up after your dog. A greyhound, umm, deposit is of the size you would expect from a large dog.
• you want a dog for protection. A greyhound is more likely to stare at or lick a burglar/mugger than to growl, bark or bite them. Having said that, they are large dogs and some people think they look mean (like Dobermans?).
• you want to breed them. All adopted ex-racers are neutered/spayed before you get them.
• you want a temporary pet. A greyhound may live for 10 years after you adopt it.
• you want a dog to roughhouse with (rough play). Greyhounds are not built for wrestling, and rough play is likely to tear their thin skin or cause other damage. Remember they are high performance racing animals You wouldn't take a Lambourghini down a road with potholes, would you?
  If our dog Altus stands against a sunny window there are places on this body (like his hocks, sheath) that are translucent. You couldn't read a newspaper through him but the light definitely comes through.
• you are used to spanking a dog. Greyhounds have gentle personalities and get upset if you yell at them, much less spat them with a paper. They just aren't spankable dogs, IMO. But their normal behavior is so innocuous you wouldn't want to, anyhow. They usually don't exhibit the bad behaviors associated with dogs.

$Id: index.orb,v 1.36 2005/05/23 19:19:18 mouse Exp $