That Whole "couch Potato" Thing

[Guest ciaran]

Hi, I'm a newbie and hope this is the appropriate spot for this topic. Apologies if it isn't.

 

A little background: My husband and I have been interested in adopting a greyhound for years. We're life-long cat people, and our research for a low-maintenance dog that would be a good fit in a family with little dog experience naturally led us to greyhounds. (And of course, we think they're gorgeous!)

 

Now we're at a point where we may actually be able to adopt soon, but I've begun to have concerns on one issue: the famous greyhound laziness.

 

On the one hand, that's part of the appeal, but on the other...I'm wondering if they might be too lazy for our family.

 

My husband and I aren't fitness freaks by any stretch of the imagination, but our daily walk averages about 40 minutes, with lots of hills. (I live in Pittsburgh, that can't be helped.) When weather is good, we try to include a longer hour+ walk (about 3 miles) a few times per week. Would this be too much for a greyhound/would they balk at it? We have a great park near our house for all of these walks and I think it would be a shame not to be able to include a dog on them. But I don't want my dog to think I'm taking him on a Bataan Death March and be miserable the whole time.

 

Can they be conditioned for longer walks? About how long does that take?

 

Any opinions/experiences/insights welcome.

 

Thanks!

[vjgrey]

There are definitely varying levels of couch potato among greyhounds. The key is letting your adoption group know exactly what your family is like and what you're looking for. My four year-old could do three miles and still be ready for more. You do have to be careful about the heat, though. In summer we have to move our walks to really early morning or late evening when it's cooler.

[DocsDoctor]

Quite feasible I would say, especially for a younger, more active dog. My Doc in his prime got 1 1/2-2 hours of exercise most days and his favourite treat was an 8-10 mile walk somewhere new, especially if it featured a pub lunch in the middle! (I adopted him age 4, he is now nearly 11 and still loves his walks but couldn't go that far any more as he has a dodgy back.) Just tell the adoption group about your exercise plans and hopefully they will be able to team you up with a dog who would enjoy being your walking companion. You will probably need to build up to longer walks, I agree, especially if s/he has been sitting in kennels a while - start with 20 minutes or so for each walk and see how it goes, I would add 5-10 minutes every day or so as I saw the dog getting fitter.

 

edited for sense

Edited July 2, 2012 by DocsDoctor

[greytpups]

Our 10 year old pup can still do that distance quite easily. I think it's just like humans...there are varying degrees of fitness determined by your activity level, amount of effort, frequency, etc.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

My hounds would take that easily, or leave it if you didn't feel like going... that is the beauty of a sighthound. They don't REQUIRE it the way a Lab or other "traditional dog" does, but if you're up for it, they are too. Ask for a young, healthy dog, and you should be fine. That said, my ten year old Greyhound would do it with ease- but also would just sleep all day if we didn't walk for a week. Same with my Whippets and Borzoi. Got to love these hounds!

[Guest KennelMom]

My hounds would take that easily, or leave it if you didn't feel like going... that is the beauty of a sighthound. They don't REQUIRE it the way a Lab or other "traditional dog" does, but if you're up for it, they are too. Ask for a young, healthy dog, and you should be fine. That said, my ten year old Greyhound would do it with ease- but also would just sleep all day if we didn't walk for a week. Same with my Whippets and Borzoi. Got to love these hounds!

 

Ditto.

 

I've found my hounds generally rise and fall to meet my activity level. We do have a few freaks that are labs in hound bodies and we've had a couple of super sloths (my first greyhound HATED HATED HATED walks. H.A.T.E.D. them. When she retired from racing (after a pretty good career) she took retirement seriously!), but generally most of the greyhounds we've had love their walkies....and their naps and are happy to vary both as needed.

[PrairieProf]

Yes, my hound would be fine with that too. Our average full walk is 45-50 minutes -- we do that pretty much every day, plus shorter walks. And of course she can go longer than that. I have to bribe her off the dog bed pretty often, but her energy level is fine once we're outside! In the US there are plenty of greyhound walking/hiking groups too. The only time they really can't handle extended exercise is if it is hot out -- they are much less heat-tolerant than many other breeds.

 

The "couch potato" designation comes from the fact that they sleep pretty much as cats do when they're indoors -- it doesn't refer to their ability to do normal dog things when they're awake. But again as someone noted above, they don't NEED a lot of exercise every day like some other breeds -- they won't be impossible to live with if they only get a very short walk on a given day.

Edited July 2, 2012 by PrairieProf

[Tallgreydogmom]

We have seniors and special needs greyhounds. They would probably lock me out of the house and go back to sleep. Let your adoption group know what you are looking for. I do remember greyhounds being returned because they were not active enough.

[muddgirl]

Our Batman just turned 3 and he's probably considered to be a 'high energy' greyhound - he gets at least 40 minutes of walking in a day, but we split them up into two walks for scheduling reasons. I think he could easily handle 1 hour+ walks if (1) it wasn't too hot, (2) we worked up to it over a period of time, and (3) we remember to bring water for him.

Edited July 2, 2012 by muddgirl

[Beachbum1]

As much as Taylor "conserves energy", when it was cooler in the winter and spring (meaning below the upper 70's), we would walk 45 minutes to an hour in the morning, and another 30 minutes or so at night.

 

Now that it is much hotter, we might manage a 20 minute walk in the evening after the sun has gone down, OR there is always "shopping" at Lowe's.

Taylor is an excellent shopper, and we usually go a couple of times a week to see what new bargains are available.

[ShebasMom]

I know some owners whose hounds are considered true "couch potatoes" when in the house but enjoy the long walks when outside. On another subject: Do you have cats now? If so, I assume you know to get a "cat-friendly" greyhound?

[krissy]

You're going to have to specify the activity level you are looking for. When I was adopting Summit I specifically asked if he liked to walk because I am a walker and I LOVE hiking. The group listened to what I wanted and gave me a dog that fit my lifestyle. At 5.5 years of age he wasn't a youngster with a tonne of energy, but 2 years later he still enjoys long walks with me. In the city we don't usually go for more than an hour. But when we go camping we go for almost a full day. The heat does take a bit out of him on these all day hikes and by the end of the day he's trotting along behind us instead of in front of us, but the next morning he's raring to go again.

 

Now I'm looking to add a second hound and I am specifically looking for HIGH ENERGY. I'm looking for an agility dog and jogging partner.

 

Tell the group you're working with exactly what you want. Tell them what kinds of acitivities you would like to do with the dog and they'll find you an appropriate energy level.

[Guest 2GreytsMom]

They can have very different personalities just like people. One of mine has tons of energy & bounds out of bed at 5:30 every morning wagging his tail & ready to go out. He's either running around the house/yard or prone - no in between, lol. The other one has much less energy & if I let her would sleep all day. That being said - they both love walks. The one that seems to have more energy burns out quicker and the lazy one can go a distance more easily.

 

The one thing you have to really be careful about is the heat. They can overheat quickly & severely. I learned that the hard way on a dry 78 degree day

[Guest ciaran]

Thank you all very much for the responses! You've certainly set my mind at ease.

 

(And yes, we do currently have cats and cat-safety would be our #1requirement in a future dog.)

 

I look forward to participating in more discussions whever we have more than a hypothetical dog!

[BatterseaBrindl]

Nixon was not much of a 'walker' when we got him 2+ years ago at age 5.

I built him up slowly and he got much better.

 

Ruby arrived here last August and she is a power walker!! She'd make a good jogging dog.

Walking the two of them together really helped Nixon enjoy his walks.

 

Thankfully, Nigel is also a power walker, too....he fit right in!

 

We do at least 4km every day.... when the weather is cooler.

 

The past couple of weeks we've been keeping our walks quite short....30 minutes.

As others have mentioned, Greyhounds really do feel the heat.

[Guest badderh]

My grey Rocky who is 2 years old, goes on a 45 minute walk every morning around the neighborhood with my boyfriend. And on several occasions we hit some paved trails and walk an average of 2-3 miles (which is about 45 minute - 90 minute venture for us sometimes). When the walks start getting closer to 4-5 mi we quickly found that Rocky starts to get somewhat unhappy because he really isn't used to that and doesn't like the distance. He starts dragging behind and you can tell he's just too tiered from walking.

 

But I'd say a 40 minute walk or 2-3 miles is doable for a grey if you work him up to it and just keep an eye on how tiered they are.

Edited July 2, 2012 by badderh

[Guest Timo]

Timo is one of those really lazy greyhounds. We got him right before he turned 2. He has those 30 second spurts of energy, and then he's off to sleeping for the next 10 hours. I tried jogging with him, but he hated it. He doesn't love walks longer than a mile or so. He's happier when the long walks are at a new location, but if it's his "normal" walking path, he's too bored to go much longer than a mile, and he lags behind as far as the leash allows.... So, just make sure you let your adoption agency know that you want a higher energy hound.

[gryhnd_adoptee]

Sometimes the definition of "walk" differs from one hound to another. I had one hound that would get right down to the business of a brisk walk right away with only breaks to do business. Another grey's definition of walk may be to stop and sniff every 5 feet / and or to mark everything. And don't think a female will not mark like a boy....I had a female who would give a boy a run for his money. She would back up against anything and raise a leg to mark it, even if she didn't have anything left in her to mark with

[GreytHoundPoet]

Some Greyhounds have more energy than others. Most of my personal Greys are active compared to most of the fosters that I have had. I have one that keeps up with a high energy Ibizan Hound all day and is crazy for lure coursing! She is ACTIVE! Most of my Greys can easily do 5+ mile hikes and enjoy them. I have one very lazy boy who does not enjoy going the distance like the others do. Part of it is that we worked them up to longer distances and part of it is that we are naturally drawn to more active hounds.

 

My advice would be to tell the adoption group what you want. Greys will be lazier dogs that what most people are used to, but there is a spectrum of "active/lazy" in the breed. I am sure that there are many Greyhounds that would love your activity level.

[christinepi]

When we got Tracker at 3 years old, even then he hated going up a hill, even a small one. He gets 2 walks a day of between 20-40 minutes each, in the flats, 1.8 miles at most each. Anything beyond that I'd have to carry him. He's black; where we live it rarely goes beyond 64 degrees in the summer, and he HATES anything beyond 60--he just wilts and sometimes even refuses to go on a walk altogether. A white greyhound may last longer.

[Guest poofmagk]

Speaking to differing personalities, I think Zaf's issue has more to do with limited attention span. She has plenty of energy but when we are walking she drags like she is about to fall over due to her efforts being entirely devoted to trying to sniff and see everything around her.

[GeorgeofNE]

My dog is nearly 10 and he has a spinal condition, but we still walk about 2 miles every single day, rain or shine.

 

A greyhound can most certainly build up to what you do--particularly since 3 miles in an hour sounds like a relatively leisurely pace.

[Brandiandwe]

Our two get 1.5 to 2 hours of exercise a day, and at least an hour of that is a 4 - 5 km walk, or maybe a bit longer. They are both 2.5. They love it, and can easily go longer if we want. They also still have the energy for zoomies afterwards. But I've noticed a definite upswing of energy in winter. Just build them up gradually.

[Guest karilynn]

Mine is extra lazy with a side of lazy. If the weather is below 50 or over 80, we aren't going anywhere. If we do take walks and they are over a mile, he will start to drag behind. I take him to the dog park and he rarely runs around, but rather snoozes in the shade. There are rare moments when he will have bursts of energy that last anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, but they are few and far between, and after he takes a nap that lasts all day. He is your typical couch potato greyhound.

 

Like everyone else has said, they are ALL different. Not all of them are lazy! In fact, I've known some that are more than willing to walk long distances and require a lot more exercise than mine does. You will find the perfect one for your lifestyle!

[Guest LindsaySF]

It depends on the dog. They are all different. In the beginning you will have to work them up to the longer distances, and Greyhounds in general tend to be more heat sensitive. But I'm sure the right Greyhound is out there for you somewhere.