Adopting Another Greyhound

[Guest Hewlett]

I am sure this topic has been addressed before, but although I am a seasoned greyhound lover, I have never had more than one at any time. I adopted one of four siblings from my local adoption center. There is still one of them that has not been adopted. Would two male brothers work well together do you think? I could try fostering first. What are the pros and cons? My grey is gentle and friendly but I have worked with him on training and we take long walks together, etc. What do you owners of multiples think? Many thanks.

[Guest greyers]

It is particular to each individual dog, but most of them do great with a second (or third or fifth lol) grey added to the house. Many males get along great with other males, but as I stated it really is based on each dog.

 

If they get along and their personalities click I think it is a great idea as I have always fond that 2 is really not much more bother than 1

[TheFullHouse]

I have two sets of male litter mates. One consists of 3 males, two of the males had issues but only out in the yard when they ran, in the house they are fine. Over the years they have both mellowed and have no issues between them at all. The other is 4 males from the same litter. Two of them have minor space issues that they have been working through but nothing horrible. The 4 of them get along great.

Edited November 5, 2011 by JillysFullHouse

[Guest madredhare]

I think it would be wonderful to have littermates. One of these days...

[GeorgeofNE]

Two male greyhounds should get along just fine regardless of who their parents are!

[seeh2o]

I've got littermates, they get along well. They aren't touchy feely with each other though...two very different personalities. They are bonded, but go their own ways.

[Guest sheila]

from what I understand hounds won't recognize another hound as a 'long lost sibling' or anything like that unless perhaps they have been kept together all along. However I have no experience with litter mates, so I'm no expert.

I will say that my one and only experience with having two males did not end well and since then I've been 'gun shy' about ever trying it again. I stick with the boy/girl thing for my home.

[OwnedBySummer]

Almost all the males I see seem to get along with other males just fine. At playgroup, there are a couple of combinations which aren't the best but we know who they are and we watch for it. Assuming they like each other, there's no reason two males can't live happily together. Now is your bed big enough????

[mychip1]

My two boys were adopted right from the track - and though they had been under the same "roof" for a few weeks, they hardly knew each other when I put them in an SUV and drove them home (24 hours). They are the best of friends, and EZ, owr senior boy, took to them right away - as he had my boy Jack before them.

 

 

Best of luck. I bet your hound will be thrilled to have companionship.

[rascalsmom]

My littermates were/are girls (Ruby is gone now ) and they got along great. They were one of those cases where they WERE kept together, and they definitely knew each other as more than just 'some other dog'.

 

I say go ahead and introduce your dog to his brother--it will probably work out fine, and you may find, as we did, that we got exactly the *right* littermate.

[seeh2o]

I forgot to add that when Carl and Claire (formerly known as Doodles) were reunited after at least 4 years, Carl clearly recognized her. She was so tired and overwhelmed that if she recognized him it was not detectible. Carl walked up to her, stuck his nose deeply in her ear and sniffed, then he turned his body so he was standing next to her and leaned on her. He has never had that reaction to another dog before or since. We were totally convinced he recognized her.

[JJNg]

I adopted one of four siblings from my local adoption center. There is still one of them that has not been adopted. Would two male brothers work well together do you think?

Do you know if they got to spend any time together while at the adoption center? If so, how did they get along there? I find that most greys get along pretty well with other greys, and the male/female concerns that may apply to other breeds aren't often an issue.

 

from what I understand hounds won't recognize another hound as a 'long lost sibling' or anything like that unless perhaps they have been kept together all along.

Seems to depend on the individual dogs. Some littermates do recognize each other and seem to have a very special bond. Others act like they do toward any other hound. In general, the way most NGA greys are raised, littermates are kept together for much longer than most dogs raised by private breeders.

 

Here's an old thread about a pair of littermates. And I also shared my experience (and a link to photos) with my girl and a littermates in post #25 of that thread.

[dante2zoe]

I have a pair of littermate boys. They were separated for about 18 months. They did recognize each other, in the sense that a quick sniff and they went off together shoulder to shoulder. While they both sleep on my bed (to the chagrin of my other dogs), they are not cuddlers. However, they constantly rest their heads on each other and seem comfortable. One, who is more confident, has brought confidence to my shy boy, that he didn't have with my other male or my female. I love having littermates!

[AEB]

Not to hijack this thread, but I have a few questions re: littermates. please tell me to move it to another thread if that is appropriate.

 

Kevin has one littermate, his sister, that is still racing and I imagine she'll retire in less than a year. Her owner said he will tell me when she retires. I am not sure we definitely want her. We, too, have always been a one dog house. Sadie preferred it that way. But Kevin is SO social. We sometimes think he's pesty because he's bored and wants a friend. He will cry when he hears a dog on TV. So, we are certainly considering adopting his sister. What concerns me about two dogs is what seems like additional complication. I worry they won't keep each other occupied and then I will have two megapests on my hands. That there will be battles over morning snuggling in my bed (we can barely fit Kev on the bed). I also worry about muzzling, marking, and other transition issues. How has the transition period gone in these situations?

[TheFullHouse]

Most of mine have transitioned in very well. Depending on how close the two siblings are you may not have any issues at all. If they spent their lives separated, they probably won't recognize each other as a "sibling", just another greyhound. My littermates lived their entire lives together with the exception of one who was separated from his brothers at 3 months of age. When he joined the pack, he was just another greyhound to his brothers.

[moofie]

I adopted brothers Hector & Throp at the same time, they kennelled them together for a few weeks while they recovered from neuter but had been sharing with girls i think before. We were only supposed to be picking 1 boy but liked them both, they were clearly happy in each other's company and their breeder/trainer said all their litter had got along really well. They were fairly independent, Hector was outgoing and Throp shy so it balanced out nicely. Throps always been a bit grumpy over space even if he's chosen to snuggle up to Hector though we never muzzled them while travelling or when left, they'd share food nicely and enjoyed playing together. The boys weren't too bad marking indoors when they first arrived and Throp loves marking outdoors. I expect some siblings may be a bad match or not get along so well.

 

Now we have Hattie, its clear to see the bond the brothers had as they'll play independently but not together and wouldn't lay together on a bed unless they both want to be on the sofa. They get along fine and seem to appreciate each other's company but its not love, well not yet anyway.

Throp met Hattie a few times before she came home, he was a little grumpy & sulked for a few days possibly just because she has no spacial awareness & is very attention seeking, but then accepted her and she quickly adapted to life in a home.

Edited November 7, 2011 by moofie

[brandimom]

We have three females and one male and it is working out fine.

[Guest KennelMom]

We've had two sets of siblings - a male/female and female/female. Our female pair were separated by a couple years, when one retired early. When brought back together, they were peas in a pod and never separate until Harmony passed away. Melody grieved for months.

 

Our male/female pair were only separated by a few months during retirement (plus the separation they would have had at the track since one was female and the other male) and were pretty close as well. They'd play/chase each other, but no other dogs. They'd sleep together, they'd yip and yap back and forth to each other. Their litter was all adopted out by the same (local) group. The ONLY dog I'd ever seen Rocky not get along with was one of his littermates that he was reunited with at playgroup. The two dogs approached, sniffed butts and then both *instantly* stiffened and their hackles went up. We kept them separated b/c they would NOT leave each other alone...each trying to bully the other. Very strange and uncharacteristic for both dogs.

 

So...you never know. I loved having littermates and would do so again one day, but just be aware that sometimes dogs just don't like each other. It's always best to "chip" based on personality, not on family relations...esp for a novice owner.

 

Our pack is currently 10 females and 4 males and we've always been heavier on the females. Judging from our boys, a pack of boys would be easier to manage. Our male greys have always tended to be more laid back with other dogs and the girls tend to be...well...bitchier with each other.

Edited November 14, 2011 by KennelMom

[Wonder]

I fostered Diamond brother Count. I thought about keeping him but honestly 2 of the same were more than I cared to take on. They are both on the needy side

Anyway, I'm lucky that I get to have Count (and his adopted fur sister) over one weekend a month (my visitation as Counts parents call it). While I love Count to death, he's still too much like Diamond so a weekend is about all I can take with them both.

 

Also, they don't care about each other. They do bicker with each other although not as much as when Count lived with us.