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Hello everyone! My husband and I are in the process of adopting a grey. We are approved and currently waiting for the perfect pup to add to our family. I have a major concern though. We have a grandson who is 2 years old. He is respectful, but toddlers are toddlers and dogs are dogs. We were about to go meet a potential adoptee when the foster parents told us about the dog being aggressive towards her children. This happened three times with three potential greyhounds! Im starting to lose hope that we will ever find a greyhound that is kid friendly... our grandson is around probably 4-5 times a week. I realize it will take awhile for the dog to get acclimated to being around crazy toddlers and Im prepared to put in the effort and time to make it work. However, is this breed simply not compatible with toddlers? I want a greyhound so bad, they have the perfect personality but now Im starting to get cold feet.. anyone out there have a good experience with introducing greyhounds and toddlers? Thanks yall.

Hello All! I've been haunting this board as a guest over the months, but am in need of some experience and advice. I am looking to get a dog soon, and after much research on dog breeds I thought a greyhound or whippet would suit me well. I have the opportunity to get either, a two year old whippet that needs a new home or a retired grey. I have not met the whippet but am told he is mellow and his previous owner was 80, so he probably isn't too crazy. I have no idea what grey I would get from the agency, they match up based on profile. I have passed the interviews and home checks. I have a couple of issues that impact my situation: I have some back and joint issues that would make it difficult to lift a heavy dog, or hold onto it if it bolted at full force. The grey people have said this shouldn't be an issue, they'll look for a petite grey with a low prey drive to minimize these issues. I also have a tiny (and I mean super tiny) studio apartment with no yard. The main living space is probably the size of a master bedroom (about 14x16) with a separate kitchen and bath attached. I'm in SoCal where it never rains or gets too cold, so getting stuck inside during the winter is not an issue, and I have a well thought out plan for their exercise including am/pm potty breaks and walks, and weekly adventures at the beach, around town, or short hikes in the mountains. I had originally thought I would be able to take my dog to work with me, but due to recent changes in workplace rules, I may not be able to. This means my dog would need to stay in my apartment for 9-10hrs M-F. If I get a power snoozer with a big bladder that could care less about a mid day potty break, great, but if not, I'll have to work out coming home for lunch (20min drive both ways), or ask a local family member to potty walk them for me. Also important, I can have one dog only, so getting a companion is not an option, nor is moving to a new apartment (courtesy of the ridiculous SoCal rents). For those of you who managed to read through my novel, this is where I kindly ask for your advice. I have no experience of whippets, but greys have long been one of my favorite breeds. My heart leans toward a grey, but I'm getting pressure from my family and others to get the whippet given their smaller size. For those of you that have had both, which would you recommend, especially given my situation? Even though the greyhound folks approved my apartment, am I totally crazy trying to bring a medium to large sized dog into that small of a space? Does anyone have advice on handling a 50-60lb dog that I can't pick up in one go? I'm particularly concerned about how to handle my dog as it ages (and I do too!). Thanks so much to anyone who replies! This is really tearing at my heart.

Hey there everybody! I made the decision a while back that I was ready to adopt a dog, and have been searching ever since for a pup who might fit in with me and my lifestyle. A friend of mine suggested greyhounds as a potential fit, and after reading through as much information as I could get my hands on, I went out to a local greyhound shelter and had to admit, they are very charming animals and I found myself very comfortable around them. That being said, I still have the average person's doubts and anxieties, and thought I might request some input from a group of people who have lived with greyhounds and know them rather well about whether or not I might make a good candidate to care for a greyhound! About me: I am in my late 20's, and live in a second-floor tenement apartment with my family, and we do . I work very nearly full time, about 6 hours a day. I'm looking for a dog that is suited to and comfortable with apartment living, which ideally would include not having a propensity for frantic, uncontrollable barking. I am hoping for a dog that would not necessarily need an "active" family- a dog that is more mellow and laid-back, but that still would not mind accompanying me on longer, slow-paced walks and hikes through the woods. I cannot engage in vigorous exercise, so I'm mostly looking for a walking buddy. I would also like to find a dog that is okay with going with me here and there- to my aunt's, my sisters, and friends' houses- and will not be stressed out by being outside of home frequently. This would include being around other dogs (smaller dogs) and cats, so it's important to me to find a pup who is small dog and cat safe. My mother also has a cat in the house, a 15 year old lovable critter who is markedly surly around dogs, which is why ideally I'd like a dog that either already ignores cats or can be encouraged/trained to ignore cats/treat them with respect. Some of the introduction methods I've read would probably not work too well on her, for example- I can't imagine her patiently allowing me to cart her in and out of the room at will for meet and greets. Normally I'd be concerned about house training, but everything I read seems to suggest that Greyhounds take to house training pretty quickly/well. I guess my major concerns are how difficult it is to tackle some of the issues that might arise, such as separation anxiety? I've grown up around family's dogs, but this will be my first experience taking care of a dog of my own, so I don't think I'd make a great match for a dog/breed of dog that requires experienced handling. I'd also like a pup that is affectionate and responsive- a good little buddy/companion. I do, of course, understand that a lot of this depends on individual pups but as I have no prior experience with the breed I figured it would be safer (and make me feel more confident moving forward) to run it by here. So, any input on whether or not a greyhound might be happy with me would be greatly appreciated, and thank you so much for taking the time to read through this! Feel free to ask anything that might help clarify.

Hi everyone After many months of mooning after the idea of having a dog, I finally feel ready and the fiance is open to the idea. But. We have a 1.5 year old son. I decided on a greyhound after a ton of research, and falling in love with their general personalities. Couch potato! Goofy antics! Smiling and rooing! Lazy but loving! I've been lurking on here for a few weeks, and even have an application sent in to an adoption agency. My slight worry is though, I've come across quite a few posts on here about various aggressions. Food, bed space, etc. I plan on keeping the dog and my son separated and supervised, of course, but I'm just looking for some success stories I suppose, or even pointers for what to look for in that first home visit to make sure we choose the right pooch and set ourselves up for success. Also, my son takes zero interest in dogs. At most he'll look at them in interest for a few seconds, point and babble a little, but never any touching, pouncing, or hitting. Usually he straight ignores animals, even when they are trying to lick his face. He's a weird one.

Hello everyone! I have been lurking Greytalk for a few months now, and as time gets closer finally decided to create an account and post. My fiance and I will be adopting our first greyhound (hopefully) by October. Now we have not applied to any adoption agencies as of yet, just because we wanted to make sure all of our dominoes were in place before proceeding. GRNE told us to apply about a month in advanced for a "cat workable" and small dog friendly grey. We do not care about size, or sex. We are looking for one under 5 or 6 years old. I would like an opinion on if you believe there is a high approval rate for us. I just don't want to waste anyone's time, especially when there are greyt lives on the line. So here we go (bear with me this will be long): When it comes to our living situation: We currently rent a big, sunny, 2 bedroom apartment in an extremely nice and suburban area of MA. We DO have landlord’s permission for a greyhound. Our place has just the right amount of room to feel spacious, but not too big to feel empty. It has a humongous, wooden completely fenced in back yard-the fences have to be at least 6ft tall. Also, being in a nice neighborhood like this means it’s quiet, and has nicely paved sidewalks all of our neighbors like to walk their doggy’s on. We plan on living here for a few years until we decide to buy our own home. My mother Sandra has moved in with us from Florida. She has an Italian Greyhound named Sparky, and an old cat named Baby. Both are good with other animals, which is why we would expect the same from our newly adopted friend. Plus, Sparky definitely needs a look a-like big buddy. I know precaution must be taken before and after introductions, and there are never any guarantees, that is all fine and well. My mom works from home, so the dog will never be left alone for more than an hour or so a day, if at all. If she is not around for any reason, we are lucky because my fiance and i have rotating work schedules. Meaning, days I have off he doesn't. Visa Versa. So only one day a week would our humble friend be left alone for a whole work day. If that happens we both live about 15 minutes from our work places, so one of us is always able to escape work for an hour to let our friend relive itself and have a quick run around the yard. Now what makes me nervous is that my fiance and I have never “technically” owned a dog or other friend before. Technically as in, we both grew up with dogs our whole lives who we've, trained, spoiled, etc... but our parents paid the bills. That doesn't make them any less of a family member, or made our experience with training, loving, tagging along on vet visits and all other things with them nonexistent. It does however mean, we do not have a vet reference for us personally. BUT we will be using my Fiance's family’s vet that they have been using for years for all of the Dobies. I’m sure his office would be happy to talk to anyone with any concerns. We want our grey to always be healthy and up to date on checkups, vaccines and treatments. Also we will be sure to set up an appointment with the vet if needed, once we have a date to pick out one of our new friends. I know a lot of you have gone through this process multiple times, if not worked for an adoption agency so you know the ropes. Thank you so much, and I wish your doggies well.

I went to a Meet and Greet for our adoption group yesterday - we put in our adoption application in January - and I found out that they are considering us for two brothers (litter mates!). They will be cat-tested this week and if they are cat safe, they may be our boys. We haven't had our home visit yet, either, but hopefully that will be the next step. We don't want to get too excited until we know that these will be our dogs for sure, but we have been watching them on the group's website (they are being trained at a women's prison) and we have said numerous times how amazing it would be to have these boys who are also litter mates become part of our family. Of course we would be just as happy with any two greyhounds that we would be lucky enough to have as our newest family members. We are trying to stay patient. It's difficult! We really enjoy all the stories and pictures on this website and we can hardly wait to have pictures/ stories of our own to post. In the meantime, we have acquired two crates, four dog beds (two for upstairs and two for downstairs), two Kongs, a poop scoop and many toys. We discuss the pros and cons of training methods, different collars, who to hire for a daytime dog walker and we're getting estimates for having our yard fenced in. : ) We can hardly wait!

We are getting ready to adopt our first greys (we want two). One of our local programs trains the dogs with prisoners (basic manners and obedience) for three months and then fosters, the other does not believe in fostering because they feel that it is unfair to ask the dog to bond with a foster family and then take them away and ask them to bond again. We can see valid arguments on both sides. Does anyone have advice about which one is better? Is there a significant difference? Has anyone had issues with a dog who was fostered missing their foster family? We want the best possible start for our dogs.