Hi

[Guest jenm]

New here and no experience with Greyhounds, looking to learn though.

Just filled out an adoption application for a dog.

 

What to tell about myself, hmm...ok, here goes:

We own (and used to raise) working Border Collies, but have made the hard decision to close up shop. The economy is one factor; the other is the stress of actually selling the pups (I suppose that adoption application process shouldn't make me so nervous, not with the way we used to grill potential buyers of our dogs). Anyway, we still have our male and female, who are funny, funny smart dogs, and quite the characters. I love them to death, but have to admit, Border Collies are probably an acquired taste: they are very...inventive

Getting a Greyhound has been tossed around for about 10 years now, but we finally decided to give it a go. Yes, I'm a bit nervous and anticipatory -- we've handled hunting pointers and retrievers, schutzhund, and of course herding dogs, but Greyhounds are new territory for us all. Will it be a good match? I've done a lot of reading, but now we've taken the plunge. I'm wondering how a Greyhound will feel about hairy, little, black and white busybodies. I'm pretty confident that if we get a Greyhound its excercise and mental stimulation needs will most likely get met.

We also used to raise warmblood sporthorses, but again, we chose to close shop -- the horse world is getting very hard for the horses, why contribute to it? It's really hard, giving up something you put so much of yourself into, and we all really loved researching the breedings and then raising the pups and foals, and took a lot of pride in them, but it was time to stop -- there are enough animals out there. Now we just have our personal horses and personal dogs and enjoy working with them and showing sometimes for fun. But if anyone on here is into sporthorses or working dogs -- I love to talk shop!

I'm kinda hoping I can get a Greyhound and fit him/her out with a matching blanket to my horse's -- maybe a couple of matching blankets, maybe an entire ensemble. The BCs don't really "do" dog clothes, so I'm hoping I finally have the Dressy Bessie dog I've always privately yearned for.

What else? Oh, we're a military family as well -- both my husband and I are veterans, my parents were veterans, and most of my grandparents...it's a tradition I guess, because I presently have two children serving active now. So, big shout out to any military folks here too!

[CaliforniaGreys]

from the California desert. Had Border Collies and Collies for years, love them!

 

[GreytHoundPoet]

Hello from South Carolina!

 

We adopted a dog to a couple with a border collie. One of them is on GT. I'll have to send her to this thread. It's been a great match.

Edited November 25, 2009 by GreytHoundPoet

[SIGreyLady]

Greetings from NY. Congrats and best wishes for your adoption. You'll find a lot of good advice, good stories adnd some great vendors of greyhound stull . Its actually a bit addictive

[Guest jenm]

They really are fun,; I think their personalities are the thing I like most. I'm guessing my Borders would probably be willing to dish out all the play time a Greyhound could ever want.

 

Our Jack is quite the odd little duck. A true dog snob -- nobody exists but my husband (and his ball; he liked to herd, but he lives for his ball). Everybody is politely indulged, but he lets you know there is no way you will ever compare to Daddy. Our female is just the opposite -- she goes along with ball games (actually, she likes to steal Jack's ball when she can and break up his fun) but herding is where it's at, and hanging out with the kids (she adores any and all children)...oh, and she snubs my husband!

 

Thanks for the welcome and the well wishes. Like I said, I've never had to fill out an adoption application before, and was like "wow". Then when I got to thinking about it, maybe this is karma, because looking back we really kinda used to grill prospective buyers of our animals -- poor people, I think my husband and I lectured their ears off. So now the shoe is on the other foot (I added a pretty detailed letter (3 pages, with pics) to the adoption people telling them all about our home and our current dogs...maybe I just like to talk too much!).

[kronckew]

when i was looking for a companion for blue, the local shelter had two older female border collie sisters that i almost got, their elderly human mommy passed over, but i couldn't take two and they did not need breaking up the set. they were smart as a whip and loved their tennis ball. i played with them for over an hour, if i threw the ball #1 would go chase & get it, bring it back to #2, who would bring it to me for throwing. then #2 would go chase and get it and give it to #1 who would bring it to me and the cycle would start over. i do regret not being able to take them home with me.

 

 

millie adopted us a while later tho.

[Trihounds]

Welcme to GT and hopefully to the world of greyhounds! I don't know if I could come up with a more opposite breed, but you will surely have a lot of fun discovering the unique character of greyhounds.

 

My DW's aunt has had Border collies (in multiples) as pets forever and DW's cousin has them as working dogs on a specialty sheep farm. We had our 2 greys and their 2 BC's together recently and DW's aunt commented our pups were the only ones to ever "cactch" her BC's in the yard!! That said, ours would get left behind in the farm fields chasing sheep pretty quickly!!

 

You will have two wonderful breeds. Good luck with the adoption process!

[Guest jenm]

Oh, that's so sad -- BCs have a tough time in shelters; a lot of people don't realize just how much they take in the way of excercise and most importantly mental work. I hope they got a good home together.

 

Yes, that sounds rather like what Jack and V do, a partners ball game -- except V will get tired of Jack always catching the ball, so steals Jack's ball and then lays on it, so he stands there all upset and frustrated, barking at her, that she's interrupting his ball game. I swear she has a smug smile on her face while she does it too. Jack also learned how to open the fridge after watching us do it, our old Dobie learned how to use the ice dispenser -- for a while there we were yelling at the kids for midnight fridge raids and spilling water on the floor. Until we caught both of them in the act.

[Guest cgl0909]

Hi and welcome from North Carolina! We too have a BC! We had Elton before we got our GH Eleanor. Wow, talk about opposites! Greyhounds are sooo lazy compared to BCs, as you probably already know by now. Also, I know that a lot of people will be upset with me for saying this, but greys don’t seem as smart compared to BCs in picking up new words, activities, etc.

Our two get along very well. I think that Eleanor has become a bit more playful that the average GH, and Elton is a bit lazier than the average BC. When looking for a potential greyhound there are two qualities I would keep in mind since you already have a border collie. The first is a dog that is not overly aggressive over its personal space. Elton did not recognize that Eleanor’s personal space even existed when we first got her and often got put in line by her when he would fling his toy in her face. The second is a grey that is a little more playful/energetic than average which will make both dogs happier.

 

[Guest jenm]

Elton looks a bit like V's dad! I'm wondering about the personal space issue --Jack won't care; he doesn't pay attention to other dogs at all (Dad, ball, sheep work if Dad wants it, sometimes his food is important, but he's obsessed with Dad and his ball). V is self appointed queen and busy body. She's very sweet and protective (when she determines that you belong to her flock), but she is a busy body and very in your face. I'm thinking I may need to get that muzzle.

 

After working with the BCs I can't think of any breed (even the Dobes which I love) that can stack up intelligence wise. They are scarey smart and scarey quick! I've met some Malinois who come close, but these guys are quick off the mark with learning (I've seen human kids they'd give a run for their money). That doesn't really bother me. In fact, it might be nice to have a "lazy, dumb" dog around (it gets old sometimes having dogs who learn how to open doors, fridges, etc. just from watching you and who constantly have to be doing something -- BCs can get up to a lot of mischief and are suprisingly, creatively vindictive if they think you shortchanged them in the interaction department). And it isn't really about smart or dumb...I think Greyhounds are "smart" with their eyes and feet (just like Basset Hounds are "smart" with their noses); my horses are pretty smart in their own ways too (and everybody thinks they are stupid -- wrong). The BCs have been developed to learn a lot of different commands, learn how to carry those out under a multitude of changing circumstances, learn how to successfully handle other very different animals that may not do exactly what they are supposed to -- so that's why they are so "smart".

[Guest 3greysinPA]

Just wanted to say hello and Welcome to GT!!

[greytpups]

Welcome from Waterloo! I have a feeling I'm going to really enjoy your grey/bc stories

[Guest houndstooth4]

 

I grew up with border collies and they definitely are very smart! It'll be good practice for you, because greyhounds will go to work on training you right away. Mine have been around my sister's Australian shepards with no problem as well as the herd of labrador retrievers in my husband's family. They're also very fond of German Shepards. I wouldn't worry too much, it's the personality of the individual dogs that's most important. Just like some people click or don't get along, the dogs are the same. Good luck with your application!

[DevilDog]

Welcome to GT!!

 

When adopting your grey, definitely look for an easy-going and more energetic one. One with space issues and no inclination to play might get PO'ed at your BC's rather quickly.

 

Also, greys can really be a mixed bag. Some of them are incredibly smart.. you may have a 3rd dog that learns how to get into your fridge! Others not so much. My boy hasn't even figured out that he can get to his kibble in the pantry whose door is always cracked open... oh boy is he the sweetest thing though.

[nyGreys]

[HopeForHounds]

Welcome!

 

We had our border collie Angus when we adopted our first greyhound Foxy. What a duo those two were. He would try to race her to the front door when the mail came he never did figure out that she would beat him every time. When we brought our first foster home he thought we had got it just for him. Angus smiled every time a new hound came in out door. Soon after we brought home his boy Jake. The two were inseparable. We lost Angus at age 18, 5 years ago. He left a huge hole in our house and our hearts. Jake was so distraught that we adopted Jet just a few weeks later.

[Guest jenm]

Thanks for all the welcomes and advice. I'm thinking the only dog of ours (and our friends/families' dogs) that will be an issue at all is V. She is queen. Even my mom's JRT bows down to her rule. So I did make very long mention of this on the adoption application, and I asked for a male (might be a bit easier for her to accept a male -- might avoid a cat fight that way --**PLEASE, let me know if this is a good idea or not; I don't know if gender is a big issue with Greyhounds or not). She's very much the nanny dog with everything -- but first it has to be accepted by her, which isn't hard to accomplish just as long as the other dog recognizes she's the queen. The funny thing is she's a very petite, delicate,super feminine looking BC (with the constitution of an old goat), but she's a bossy little heifer. It's a herding dog thing I think -- has to make sure the flock is rounded up and accounted for. If anything, she's great at showing another animal the ropes.

 

We fixed the fridge raiding with a zip tie at night (helps keep the 10 yo. boy out of the fridge at night too!), and the fridge with the ice maker/water thing gave out years ago so that issue is no longer a problem (although it made for a pretty funny mystery solved at the time -- one of those "I wish we had video of that" moments).

[Magdalyn58]

We have a Border collie and two greyhounds. Our first greyhound, Sophie passed away in April, but for four years it was just the two of them. Sophie (GH) quickly tried to become just like Mittens (BC). Whatever Mittens would do, Sophie would first look at her in awe and then try to be just like her, which meant at times, things got pretty noisy around here! A favorite activity of Mittens was to look out the windows and when she saw something she thought needed to be "dealt with", she'd take off barking and running around the house. Sophie quickly found this to be great fun and soon loved to look out the windows to see if she could beat out Mittens with her newly discovered sentry duties.

 

After we lost Sophie, we adopted Daisy and Teddy. Mittens definitely likes Daisy better. She snarks at Teddy when he's in her way, but nothing fazes him when it comes to her. The two greyhounds have quickly allowed Mittens to be the leader of the pack, and Mittens enjoys that role very much thank you.

 

All in all, even though it's only been six months, things are generally pretty calm around here. The only one Mittens tries to herd around the house is me.

[Guest Luvastorm]

Hi ! I'm just as new to Greytalk as you are - but not to GHs.

[size="3"

We've had Devie's RedSTORM aka Stormy for 3 yrs. now - she is 10.

 

She replaced our white "Old Farm Collie" to keep YODA our Mala-mutt company as he sure missed his girlfriend. We call Yoda a mala-mutt because the malamute in him is quite obvious but we strongly suspect the other parent was a Border collie. He has an exceptionally strong herding instinct but tends to mistake a group of dogs for a herd of sheep, which doesn't impress the other dogs much and gets him horribly frustrated. We know nothing of his ancestry as he literally "came out of the woods". Someone had obviously DUMPED him. He has tiny, tiny teeth and the vet thinks he likely was a Puppy Farm puppy. He's highly intelligent, but a bit neurotic even though he gets runs twice daily. (Both dogs do.)

 

The day we went to GRA in South Western Ontario to pick out a greyhound, they told us there was only one available and they turned her out into the exercise yard. Yoda and she gave each other a good sniff over and have been the best of friends ever since. Stormy looked to Yoda to tell her where it was safe to go and what "come" meant etc. etc. etc. and Yoda was so happy to have a new girlfriend. Stormy accepts his adoration most graciously.

 

When I was much, much younger. I had a Border Collie, before people outside of Scotland even knew what they were. I was only in my early teens and lived in the city, but somehow I ended up teaching Laddie loads and loads of tricks. This was also before the days of "Agility". He just absorbed instruction like a sponge - or would figger things out himself. Anyway I was displaying his tricks at a local summer school fair and someone suggested I take him to the BIG trick dog show in the BIG city (Toronto). The first year we blew it because I was completely disorganized but the next year we won in Toronto and in London - and the following year too but couldn't compete the next year as I was over the age limit. - Anyway, you can see I'm familiar with BC's.

 

I also raised Canadian Sporthorses, so I'm familiar with them too - but that was also long in the past.

 

This all leads up to - how will a BC and an GH get along??? Yoda and Stormy could not be better friends. They will eat out of the same dish if we let them. They Time-Share one couch in the living room. It is Stormy's most of the time but around 6:00 - 7:00 in the evening, she will ALLOW Yoda about an hour, while she will lie on the floor. If he goes OVER his alloted time, she'll lean over him until he gets the hint and gets off. I wish we still had a video camera, it really is hilarious.

 

It really is up to the temperments of the individual dogs and since you have one "bitchy" bitch, a laid back male likely is your best bet.

 

GOOD LUCK

 

 

[Guest jenm]

You know about Canadian Sporthorses? My horse is a Canadian Sporthorse!

 

Yes, I'm thinking a laid back male would perhaps be more suitable to Ms. V -- I put down "laid back/easygoing with a sense of humor and a fair amount of patience with a bossy dog".

[PrairieProf]

Welcome to GT! I too look forward to all the stories you'll have after you bring your hound home (and start dressing him up! )

 

I have no experience with BCs, but I do know that most adoption agencies (certainly those with a kennel) will let you bring your dog(s) to meet prospective greys you're looking at, so you can see how they get along and let your dog help choose.

 

I used to have a horse when I was younger, and sometimes walking my grey makes me feel like I'm leading a very small thoroughbred alongside me on halter.

[Guest fatesrelease]

Welcome! I think you will find that most of the time and I say most! Greyhounds are actually quite lazy I lived with a Border Collie for a while and it was SO active compared to Sarah our grey. Good luck! I hope you find the perfect grey for you!