Considering racing Greyhound adoption - UPDATE

[boylanag]

We are seriously considering adopting a Racing Greyhound. We are reading the "required reading" and tomorrow will attend a "Meet and Greet" with a local adoption chapter. We are leaving in less than a month for a 5 month journey to the SW so, to be fair to both the dog and us, we will wait to pull the trigger until we return in May. Does anyone on this forum have an adopted Racing Greyhound or had any experience with them, either positive or negative? We would appreciate any information that you might have. Thanks - Jim and Carol
After going through the adoption process successfully, today we finally met with the beautiful Greyhound, Sunny, that we will be bringing home Monday. Wow, what a beauty. She is a friendly, well mannered 6 year old who is about to become a Boylan. We are going to escape the frigid north soon with Sunny and head to Texas. She apparently does not like going out into this weather anymore than we do. Thanks for all of your responses. We appreciate your thoughts.

[Countryfolks]

My sister had one until a couple of weeks ago when they had to have her put down. They had her about 5 years. She was a good dog. PM your email and I will give it to them but won't guarantee they will respond.

[RRman]

My parents adopted a 3 year old greyhound and was VERY HAPPY with her for about 6 years before a cancer led to an early demise around age 9-10. She was gently and loving, and the soft short fur was comforting.
My Dad had no problems walking her. A neighbor with a fenced yard occasionally hosted her for 'running', yikes those are fast dogs!

[Jim Dickey]

Our daughter has two of them they are very good in the house and seem to be gentle. She has had one of them for about a year, her family have had such good luck with her they got the second one just a week before Thanksgiving.

[stiles watson]

My daughter adopted one. Her family enjoyed the dog for about 10 years. They recently lost him to old age and illness. The dog was gentle and easy to be around. He was not cuddly, but let the kids play with him. This one was not a barker and accepted commands well.

[Tom S.]

The Greyhound adoption is a good solution to a bad condition, but so is your local animal shelter where you will more choice if a Greyhound is too large for you.

[RCN.Stoker]

Every year the local chapter of the Racing Greyhound Rescue association has an all day display and "Meet and Greet" at a local mall. Kids and adults, many with limited dog experience get to pet and otherwise get very close to these dogs. In 10 plus years I have never heard of any problems with nips, bites or other offensive behavior. Not many breeds can boast that level of gentleness. Now as for rabbits, I presume they should be more cautious :-).

[Waynem]

A friend of mine assisted in, or started, they Gulf Coast chapter of adoption. She had 3 or 4 that she adopted. One of the stories goes that invariably the door will get opened and one will get out. They do like to run. I asked her how she caught them. She stated that they ru n at about 45 MPH but only for 1/4 to 1/2 mile and will stop. She just opens the car door and the dog will jump in. True story.

Now, I have a close friend that is a veterinarian. He retired from his private practice, but continues as a state representative at the local greyhound track. I gave him a call.

He stated that you will be tickled pink. Try to get a dog that has been on the track for 6 months to a year or longer. They become very people socialized when they have been on the track. When they first come onto the scene they are very skittish and afraid. Some never make the track, so try for one that has been running for some time. They are very people oriented, and very sociable.

For what it's worth, I trust his judgement.

[boylanag]

Thanks to all for your input. Carol and I appreciate it. This will be a real lifestyle change for us because we thought we had raised our last child years ago so we are really looking into it closely. We are going to a "meet and greet" tomorrow sponsored by a local adoption chapter so we should learn a lot more. With what we have heard and are reading, we are just about sure that we will jump in. Wayne, we were thinking of adopting one just like your Vet friend described so thanks for the reinforcement - Jim

[db_engineer]

We've had two at different times, and they were wonderful. We didn't start6 RVing until we'd had our second one for several years. In fact, we chose our SOB TT with him in mind. He claimed the back bunk as his own, and loved to hit the road with us. Both of ours got along fine with our 2 small dogs and 3 cats. Do keep in mind that, in general, their stomachs are sensitive to changes in diet, so if you're going to change foods on them you have to do so slowly. Also, "people food" is pretty much a no-no.

If you have more questions, PM me and I'll give your our phone number and Polly and I will be happy to talk with you.

[Waynem]

And don't forget, this is a big size dog, even if it doesn't weigh to much.

[Art-n-Marge]

Beautiful dogs... even lying down they look like HIGH SPEED. Those legs go forever, just like a Cheetah!

[David and Jo-Anna]

Oh Jim and Carol, Sunny Boylan is beautiful - good luck.