MDBeland

@turbo Definitely will be super cautious with introducing a cat - muzzle and whole introduction process regardless of what the test results are. All animals are different with varying personalities. I wish we would have gotten a greyhound sooner while our last cat was alive. He was an orange tabby and had a wonderful outgoing personality and would have loved the companionship. Also, about your CR-V can you fit a 48 crate in the cargo area? We were also thinking about getting a wire divider if the crate didnt work. Good to know about the AC as well. I wonder if I couldnt rig up a battery operated small desk fan to help with air circulation? For me personally I would like the traverse since its larger but my wife is petite and this will be her car. She has concerns about seeing over the hood as well as seat positioning in a larger vehicle.

Thanks for all the wonderful advice. I think we will get the dog within the next 2 weeks. I talked to our adoption center and they just received a new group of dogs today. They will be cat/small dog testing this week and then they will give me a call to come visit the dogs who pass the test. Once I find a dog with the right fit I will then pay the adoption fee in order to get the dog vetted which takes 10 days. We are currently in the process of getting the house safe for a dog. My wife is excited also and now wants to upgrade her car to either a Honda CR-V or a Chevy Traverse.

Thanks Ramonaghan. The empty lot is not fenced and I will have to have the dog on a leash or I was thinking of rigging something up where they could actually get a good sprint in. I have an idea and will have to post it later. I will have access to a fenced in athletic field 1-2 days a week on the weekends.

Thanks for sharing your experience. My attitude towards adoption and stating not returning a dog is not an option is in the context as I'm not returning the dog due to it being an inconvenience or if for some reason we have to move such as my past experiences as a child and having to give up our family pet. I will only consider returning the dog for a certain reason such as the dog is not comfortable with the arrangement or the environment such as my family's schedule is causing the dog undo stress. I want a happy mentally healthy dog who does not have to worry about anything other than being retired and just being a dog.

Hello, My wife and I are in our late 40's have two children (both girls 11 and 14). All we have had were stray cats that we rescued and kept as indoor pets. Our latest just passed - 15 yo orange tabby - wonderful big cat with huge personality and very social - we miss him dearly. For the past 3 months we have been without a pet in our house since being married. I have always been interested in dogs and I have been doing a lot of research. For one I would like a dog so I can have the pleasure of actually going out for nice walks with a k9 companion on a regular basis. In my research I found that greyhounds might fit our family lifestyle better than other breeds or just trying to go to our local shelter and gambling on a rescue mixed dog. I'm still apprehensive about getting a dog due to our family with everyone's schedules. 1. I am a high school teacher and athletic trainer. My hours at work can be very long on occasion, but I am mostly off of work for 2 weeks in December and about 6 weeks during the summer. A typical day for me during the school year is I am at work by 6:50am and home around 6:30pm with an occasional 1 - 2 nights a week where I dont get off work until 10pm due to athletic events. 2. My wife works part time and leaves the house around 7am to take my youngest to school, returns home around 8:15am and then leaves for work at 9:45am. She works from 10am-2pm then heads to carpool and returns home around 3:45pm. My concern is that the dog will be home alone for around 5-6 hours a day for 5 days a week. Thinking this through I plan on trying to get the dog on a set schedule to limit the number of accidents inside the house: 1. I would take the dog for brief walks in the mornings at 5:30am before I leave for work. 2. My wife/daughters would take the dog out for a bathroom break when they get home at 3:45. 3. I would take the dog out for an extended walk when I get home around 6:30pm. 4. On days where I get home early and on weekends I would take the dog over to the nice large grassy empty lot across the street for conditioning/running sessions. 5. I would also like to take the dog once/twice a month to our local greyhound adoption center for social time with other hounds. Other thoughts: 1. I do not have a fenced in yard so the dog will be on a leash all of the time when we are outside the house. 2. Crating - would it be cruel to the dog to have it in a crate for 6 hours a day during the transition period and during the time of house training when we are not there to supervise? Also, I would like to purchase a portable crate such as this so I can take it with us on trips to the in-laws/vacation: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0732T4DGS/ref=sspa_dk_crr_aax_0?psc=1 would this be suitable for a greyhound? 3. Male or female dog? Should we go with one gender over the other for a first time dog owner? My initial thought is to go with a female. 4. My wife is a cat lover and she has said if a stray comes along we will be taking it in so I need to ensure that our dog will be small animal/cat friendly. I read on the adoption website that they pre-screen the dogs on if they are cat/small animal friendly or not. 5. I would like to plan the adoption for mid December during my winter break from work where I will have 2 weeks to work on house training. I just want to make a sound decision and know what I'm getting into because to me returning a pet after adopting is not an option. As a young child we had 2 dogs on 2 separate occasions (beagle and black lab). With both occasions my parents sold each dog due to us having to move across country. I always told myself as an adult I would never get rid of a pet that I have taken in just because of my childhood experience. I apologize for the long post. Best wishes, Dave Birmingham, AL.