stormnw

Hi there - I feed the Honest Kitchen base mix to my 2 1/2 year old 74 lb grey. Switched him from the kibble the adoption group was feeding about 4 months ago and he's done pretty well on it. Flatulence is gone completely, and his coat is in great shape and he is always, always eager for food time and eats all of it. I rotate proteins (turkey, chicken, beef) and bulk prepare 10-14 days at a time and freeze/thaw as needed. Our house is pretty busy some days so that makes sure we've got food ready to go for him regardless if work or other needs come up unexpectedly. One thing I've read to watch out for is fat content in meat -- try to stay above 90% if you can. I've found chicken to be the least-expensive (I buy meat in bulk at Costco). Ratio I've landed on is 1 1/2 cups of the dry mix per day, prepared mostly per the directions. I tend to use a little less water and will err on the side of a little more meat. Cost-wise I've found it to be cheaper than delivery/prepared raw, but more expensive than DIY raw. I may at some point break down and buy a meat grinder and start making his food from scratch, but just haven't found the time/cost needed for that make sense yet. I also echo the teeth concerns raised by racindog -- to mitigate that I give him dental chews every day, bully sticks a couple times a week, and brush his teeth every day. Seems to be doing the trick. We also live in an apartment, so it's not super practical for us to give raw meaty bones without it making a mess.

We use Kongs and bully sticks several times a week. I've also been giving large Virbac C.E.T. oral hygiene rawhide chews daily to help with dental health. I'm also a fan of using chews that are digestible as my hound is determined to destroy chews in a single marathon session when I given them. I'd like to give raw meaty bones, but living in an apartment makes it challenging for clean-up. Perhaps in spring/summer when the weather is better.

A late reply... but do appreciate the feedback, thanks! An update -- adoption group suggested 2c of kibble morning/night. I gave that along with some yogurt, kongs filled with frozen applesauce/peanut butter/etc. a couple times a week. Also have used freeze dried liver mostly as treats while training him to potty and walk well on a leash. Weighed him a couple weeks ago (about 1 mo post adoption) as I thought I was seeing more ribs on him, and sure enough he had lost a couple pounds. I've slowly switched him over to a raw diet (honest kitchen base mix + added meat). The switch went well, thankfully, and he's enthusiastic about the food. Have upped the meat ratio a bit to try and get a little weight back on him -- he looks a bit lean from the greyhound 'ideal weight' pictures I've seen. Have also upped the kong to daily for a while. Did discover Zuke's mini-treats -- those are great! Got us through nail trimming quite well, and appreciated being liberal with them. At this point I'm mostly just going to keep an eye on him for weight. A local pet store has a scale we can use, that will be every few weeks. I'm thinking because of his weight drop initially (and we do walk a fair amount) I'll need to be a bit above the recommended feeding guidelines, even with the extras. Expect that will go down somewhat as he gets older. All in all though, thanks for the reassurance and insight!

Thanks for the feedback. Thankfully hasn't been too hot around here yet, so temp/humidity hasn't been a concern. We did a longer, slower walk this weekend -- about 3 miles -- and he did fine. His pads seem to be adapting ok, have been keeping an eye on them. He's started statuing at times, though have found great advice by searching the forum. Giving him a bit of a push from behind and then picking up the pace for a little while seems to do the trick for now!

Thanks all for the thoughtful replies. We just got back from another walk -- just a little longer so we could get to the large park by our place. Did some resting/sniffing at the park and headed back. Vincent walked like a champ, most of the time at my side with a loose leash. Glad to know I'm not overdoing it -- I've noticed that he seems most playful right after we've gotten back from a walk. I'll take that as a good sign, too.

Hi all! The new addition to the household - Vincent - arrived a couple days ago. All in all settling in is going pretty well. He was at a foster home a couple weeks before he arrived here, and seems to be getting the hang of house life. He's turning two next week, so definitely a youngster. I had a question about the amount of exercise/walking we're doing. I know we need to build up his endurance slowly, though also I know a tired dog is a happy and more well behaved dog, so am asking for experiences/feedback on our schedule for the next little while. The last couple walks we've taken I've paid attention to how he's doing, and he seems to be pretty happy to walk a while. We just finished a 1/2 hour walk that ended up being 1.5 miles. He drank water and played some before sacking out -- he was noticeably tired when we got back, but I wouldn't say he was weary or extremely fatigued. I know his endurance needs to be built up, along with his pads to get used to the concrete (we're in an urban area). We're in an apartment so no yard unfortunately, and not easy access to run around off leash, either. Does that sound like too long/far for an initial walk routine? I was thinking of dialing it back to 20 minutes twice a day for a couple weeks and seeing how that goes... Thanks for your time!

Hello! Soon-to-be adopter here, preparing for our first greyhound to arrive hopefully next week! I've been doing lots of research on what to feed... and wow, there's a lot of information out there. I did pick up what the dogs are being fed currently (Costco's Nature's Domain Turkey/Sweet Potato) to start off with to minimize the changes while Vincent (our adoptee) settles in. Ultimately I'm interested in seeing how he does on a raw diet, and am doing lots of planning to ensure it's balanced and likely will start off with a commercial premade option over slow 2 week transition. My main questions though are about adjusting feeding amounts for additional food given outside of mealtimes, and where greyhounds may classify in terms of activity level. 1) Do you, and if so how do you adjust meal amounts for additional calories they make intake during the day? I'm wanting to do some training so treats will be part of that, and will be using kongs to mitigate possible separation anxiety/boredom. I don't intend to fill the kongs full of peanut butter mind you, but may give up to 2 XL a day and know the calories can add up. I also am looking into giving recreational bones/bully sticks/etc. so my hound can chew away. 2) How does your hound line up as far as feeding guidelines/activity level? The feeding guideline range seems fairly broad, so I'm curious if greyhounds tend to go to the lower or higher end of the spectrum, or if it just varies from dog to dog. I know he's not going to be doing a lot of 'activity' but is fairly muscular and don't want to be underfeeding him unintentionally. 3) How often did you weight your hound in the first few months? I thankfully have a vet within a block, and a couple local pet stores that have scales. I've read that overweight dogs are a common issue, and especially greyhounds shouldn't carry extra weight. I don't want to obsess about keeping him at race weight -- I know it will flux somewhat with retirement and adjustment -- just want to be mindful. I realize I'm very likely overthinking this somewhat, too... and a 'just be thoughtful and weigh when it's convenient' is fair advice. Thanks!

I don't have any additional advice to give, but just wanted to share best wishes for Orion's recovery and hope that the adoption group can provide some helpful advice and support to help the pack maintain peace in the house.

I'm 31, my partner is a bit older and I'll respect her privacy by not posting her age. I had a dog in my early twenties until about 25, then have lived without pets for the last 6 years. About to finalize adoption of my first greyhound in the next couple weeks. I'm glad to be a bit older now -- I feel more prepared and settled -- and likely a better lifestyle fit for a greyhound at this point in my life. Looking forward to many, many years of greyhound ownership... or of being owned by a greyhound!