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Multi Breed Homes?


Guest OKenn

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I wouldn't want to bring a grey into an environment with an untrained, boisterous, probably rude and non-neutered lab. IMHO.

Me either. Sounds like a recipe for failure if not disaster.

He's not 'untrained'. Like any dog there are areas to work on with him. Nor is he 'rude', he's just boisterous around new people and dogs, which is one of the areas we're working on :)

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We had an 8 year old retriever when I brought my greys home. He was unsure at first (he'd been an only dog his whole life) but eventually learned to love them. When he went blind, they were his seeing eye dogs. :) I've since added a Great Pyrenees and the boyfriend's Australian Shepherd. I agree that the dog should be neutered, but to say that a greyhound can't coexist with an intact dog is ridiculous. The grey may likely put the lab in his place (and it's been my experience that females are the best at teaching this lesson, though that's a generality), but once the lab learns his boundaries they should do really well together. Definitely try to match energy levels. There are plenty of high-energy greyhounds out there that would get along famously with a non-greyhound. Good luck in your search! :)

 

Totally ridiculous. I happen to have two intact males in my home, both greyhounds. One is a super star racer who has

been a stud. The other has not needed a dental yet. No way will he make puppies ever. Breeding a mixed breed dog

because BF "wants puppies" is beyond irresponsible. You know that, obviously. That said my stud boy would be great

with a lab. I often think he IS a lab. He has boundless energy and would happily put an energetic puppy in his place.

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We had our lab before the Greys. I also have a JRT and a chi mix. We've not had any issues.

 

Do you live with your boyfriend? I ask because some groups will not adopt to you if you have an intact dog at home. They want to see responsible pet ownership.

 

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~Beth, with a crazy mixed crew of misfits.
~ Forever and Always missing and loving Steak, Carmen, Ivy, Isis, and Madi.
Don't cry because it's ended, Smile because it happened.
Before you judge me, try to keep an open mind, not everyone likes your taste.

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My greyhound came into a home with a labradoodle and a standard poodle. My labradoodle is alpha and she's constantly licking micah's ears and when a fourth dog comes to visit my doodle keeps positioning herself to protect her poodle and grey! My three get along great. Micah follows his doodle and poodle all over the yard. The three of them are ver gentle laid back dogs so it works great here.

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Guest Wasserbuffel
Take your boyfriend to your local pound. Show him the dogs and puppies that have been turned over because someone wanted their dog to have puppies. Have them talk to him about the numbers of dogs that are put down and the reasons why they are surrendered and how many were just abandoned, found wandering or get hit by a car and found on the side of the road. There is the risk that you will end up adopting a shelter dog, but hey any dog rescured is a plus.

 

THIS!

 

Unless Boyfriend, is completely moronic (in which case, do you really want to be with him?), he'll stop wanting to breed his dog. People who breed their dogs "because they want puppies" are generally ignorant of the enormity of the problem they're contemplating adding to. His dog isn't special, his dog's puppies will do nothing but add to the needless suffering of the millions of dogs and puppies already without homes.

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I had 2 female middle aged spayed Labs plus four cats when our first Greyhound joined the family. No problems.

Edited by mom2four

Tin and Michael and Lucas, Picasso, Hero, Oasis, Galina, Neizan, Enzo, Salvo and Noor the Galgos.
Remembering Bridge Angel Greyhounds: Tosca, Jamey, Master, Diego, and Ambi; plus Angel Galgos Jules, Marco and Baltasar.

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Plenty of great advice here. I think one of the last things the world needs is more backyard breeders. I've ran into people at parks and on walks fairly regularly who talk about wanting to breed their dog. I always tell them to go to a local shelter and tell me if the world really needs more puppies. Plenty of great dogs at local shelters that just need a second chance with a loving home.

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Guest newgreymama

Our little Jilly Bean has survived our adding 13 greyhounds over the years and has trained each and every one of them.

:nod:lol Poodle has overseen 6 greyhound brothers and sisters and 100+ fosters of varying breeds, but mostly greyhounds. He and Jilly run tight ships. ;) Currently he is supervising a 7 year old grey, a 4 year old terrier mix and a less than 2 year old shar pei/pittie.

 

I love this! And thank you so much for opening your home to so many fosters! I have a new appreciation since going to pick up our pup yesterday, for those of you who love on our dogs before they come home! :)

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Guest 4thegreys

HI, I am the mom to a very hyper, sweet dobergirl. We adopted Annie first. She is now 4. Annie loves to run throughout the yard. We thought she needed a running buddy. Three years ago we adopted Dash and 1 1/2 years ago we adopted Gracie. When we adopted Gracie we thought she would be company for our large male. No way, she bonded more closely with Annie and the two share the couch together. Dash prefers the floor. I have never had any problems with the mixture of breeds. At the meet and greets i hear the question often of how greyhounds get along with dobermans. Annie was and still is a special teacher - and has taught Dash and Gracie lots of fun things about being a dog and having fun. It sure made the humans' jobs easier, as both of my greys were not house trained.

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Guest Greyt_dog_lover

One thing you need to realize that when the people here hear the term 'boisterous" that equates to RUDE behavior. Most people dont understand doggie manners. I am not saying you dont, just want to explain what people are probably thinking by your post. Does your bf's lab run right up to another dogs face and lick them, or otherwise hover in their face? Maybe jump up to their face, then jump back? These are signs of a VERY rude dog. Face to face meeting by dogs is actually a very agressive act. Dogs should meet in arcing circles nose to butt. Most humans force dogs to meet face to face on the end of a leash, this sets dogs up for fights. Greyhounds being raised in a pack environment dont like rude dogs and will growl or even snap at other breeds when they are being rude. This is called correction, most people think its a sign of a mean greyhound, its not. Just some info.

 

Personally, why dont you try telling your bf that if he refuses to fix the lab, then you refuse to have puppies. You're at a stand-off. He cant have his puppies, you cant have his dog fixed.

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I got a grey after already having an older, non-grey mixed breed (who is about half his size). They are totally fine, but my non grey was already very calm and polite. Teague actually follows her and learned a LOT from her. If she had been rude (ie. boisterous) he probably would have learned that, and also would have picked up that I did not have this dog under control either. So...if you are living with your BF I would be cautious of this, as dogs don't generalize between who owns what dog in a house.

 

As a rule I wouldn't choose the greyhound breed to be the ideal dog to pair with a boisterous dog, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a grey that won't fit your situation. FYI most adoption groups will NOT adopt out to homes with unneutered dogs, unless for good reason (show dog, working dog, etc.) because they want to ensure responsible ownership.

Edited by RedHead
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One thing you need to realize that when the people here hear the term 'boisterous" that equates to RUDE behavior. Most people dont understand doggie manners. I am not saying you dont, just want to explain what people are probably thinking by your post. Does your bf's lab run right up to another dogs face and lick them, or otherwise hover in their face? Maybe jump up to their face, then jump back? These are signs of a VERY rude dog. Face to face meeting by dogs is actually a very agressive act. Dogs should meet in arcing circles nose to butt. Most humans force dogs to meet face to face on the end of a leash, this sets dogs up for fights. Greyhounds being raised in a pack environment dont like rude dogs and will growl or even snap at other breeds when they are being rude. This is called correction, most people think its a sign of a mean greyhound, its not. Just some info.

 

Personally, why dont you try telling your bf that if he refuses to fix the lab, then you refuse to have puppies. You're at a stand-off. He cant have his puppies, you cant have his dog fixed.

 

Hm that's definitely good to know about the word boisterous! I just thought it meant like high strung and energetic :P

I've never really paid close attention to when his dog meets other dogs, because it's just so embarassing how hyper he gets with the dog and human. It's definitely something we NEED to work on!

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My parents have a greyhound, german shepherd and a golden retriever. When I bring my 2 greys over, everyone is just fine with eachother.

Minerva and my golden get along quite well, they always fetch tennis balls together. But I will say, she was absolutely terrified of him at first, she didn't know what the heck that big hairy thing was!!

We had a greyhound foster who adored my golden, they were best friends. Broke my heart to separate them.

The only issue we run into is that my german shepherd has the tendency to want to herd the dogs in the yard. They don't appreciate that at all. My GSD and my parent's grey Mira run into issues a lot, but it is an "alpha bitch" thing, not breed.

 

 

Caesar and Manny, the best of friends.

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Guest Scouts_mom

I used to screen families for my adoption group and I would never have recommended a home with an unneutered dog (unless it was a show/working dog). As others have said it screams irresponsible owner. Even if it is your boyfriend's dog, if he lives with you he is going to be dealing with the greyhound. Do take him to your local shelter or show him all the dogs looking for homes on their website.

 

That said, all 7 of the greys I have had loved playing with labs. They see labs as the perfect play partner--human throws ball, lab chases ball, grey chases lab, lab returns ball to human and it starts again. Grey doesn't care about the ball so the lab doesn't need to get snarky and possessive. And I once did a screening in a home with a lab who spent the entire visit licking my grey's ears--she was in heaven even though she ended up with very soggy ears.

Edited by Scouts_mom
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I think it depends more on the individual dogs' personalities, rather than greyhound vs other breeds. And probably more important than your lab's activity level (or whether he's neutered or not), is how well he responds when another dog tells him they've had enough. If he respects the other dog's communication and back off when the greyhound has had enough, they'll probably be fine. But if he's one of those dogs that just keeps pestering, then most greyhounds (actually most other dogs, period) wouldn't be very happy living with him, unless you can keep them separated for periods to give the grey adequate down time.

 

When I got my first greyhound Willow, I had an elderly Italian greyhound, and a younger mixed breed dog (Corey - best guess a Border collie/spaniel mix). Willow did great with both of my other dogs. She knew to give the old, anti-social IG his space, but she played well with Corey. Corey plays very rough, and I don't know if Willow learned from him, or if she would have played like that anyway, but they're a perfect match. Both of them are a bit pushy and intimidating when they try to invite other dogs to play. None of my other dogs or fosters will play much with them because they are too crazy.

 

They're not always this crazy, but here's a video of one of their more intense play sessions. This was just taken a couple days ago. Corey is at least 10-11 years old now (he's a rescue, so exact age unknown), and Willow will be 8 in November.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vN-ExYrLPE

 

Regarding your boyfriend's dog, I don't think it's necessarily irresponsible to decide not to neuter him. IMO, spay/neuter is not a requirement for responsible ownership. Whether neutering and spaying is really the best thing for the individual dog from a health perspective is a controversial topic. And contrary to popular belief, neutering rarely calms down a young, active dog. Only time and training does that.

 

However, what is irresponsible is to want to breed him and have puppies. Perhaps you can approach it from a perspective of why it's not a good idea to breed, rather than why he should neuter his dog?

 

Why does he want to breed him (knowing why he wants to breed may help you counter his reasons)? And is he planning to get a female and breed them himself, or does he have a friend with a female who wants to breed to his dog? I've had a number of clients with intact male dogs who want to breed, but it often doesn't happen because they don't want the responsibility themselves, and they can't find anyone who wants to use their dog as a stud.

Jennifer &

Willow (Wilma Waggle), Wiki (Wiki Hard Ten), Carter (Let's Get It On),

Ollie (whippet), Gracie (whippet x), & Terra (whippet) + Just Saying + Just Alice

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I think it depends more on the individual dogs' personalities, rather than greyhound vs other breeds. And probably more important than your lab's activity level (or whether he's neutered or not), is how well he responds when another dog tells him they've had enough. If he respects the other dog's communication and back off when the greyhound has had enough, they'll probably be fine. But if he's one of those dogs that just keeps pestering, then most greyhounds (actually most other dogs, period) wouldn't be very happy living with him, unless you can keep them separated for periods to give the grey adequate down time.

 

When I got my first greyhound Willow, I had an elderly Italian greyhound, and a younger mixed breed dog (Corey - best guess a Border collie/spaniel mix). Willow did great with both of my other dogs. She knew to give the old, anti-social IG his space, but she played well with Corey. Corey plays very rough, and I don't know if Willow learned from him, or if she would have played like that anyway, but they're a perfect match. Both of them are a bit pushy and intimidating when they try to invite other dogs to play. None of my other dogs or fosters will play much with them because they are too crazy.

 

They're not always this crazy, but here's a video of one of their more intense play sessions. This was just taken a couple days ago. Corey is at least 10-11 years old now (he's a rescue, so exact age unknown), and Willow will be 8 in November.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vN-ExYrLPE

 

Regarding your boyfriend's dog, I don't think it's necessarily irresponsible to decide not to neuter him. IMO, spay/neuter is not a requirement for responsible ownership. Whether neutering and spaying is really the best thing for the individual dog from a health perspective is a controversial topic. And contrary to popular belief, neutering rarely calms down a young, active dog. Only time and training does that.

 

However, what is irresponsible is to want to breed him and have puppies. Perhaps you can approach it from a perspective of why it's not a good idea to breed, rather than why he should neuter his dog?

 

Why does he want to breed him (knowing why he wants to breed may help you counter his reasons)? And is he planning to get a female and breed them himself, or does he have a friend with a female who wants to breed to his dog? I've had a number of clients with intact male dogs who want to breed, but it often doesn't happen because they don't want the responsibility themselves, and they can't find anyone who wants to use their dog as a stud.

 

 

You make a great point!

And he wants to breed literally "because I want puppies" is what he said to me. I tried to convince him otherwise and it turned into a huge fight. I have no idea WHO he's breeding his dog with, because we don't have any friends with dogs! :/ I certainly don't want the responsibilities of having a million puppies running around... Especially when NOBODY is going to want to buy a mixed breed mutt puppy... My friend had been responsibly breeding pure bred beagles since she was very young, and the litters would not sell at all... I told my boyfriend this but he seems to think he's getting a pretty penny for the mutts. I really don't know what to tell him!

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I'm not sure what the shelter situation is like in Ontario, but here in the southeast US, there are tons of mixed breed puppies that end up in shelters, and are eventually put to sleep because they can't find homes. The majority of them are various large breed mixes of labs, hounds, chows, and shepherds. In my county, over 80% of dogs and cats that end up at the shelter are euthanized.

 

Is your boyfriend that out of touch with reality that he doesn't believe pet overpopulation is a problem? Or does he not care? Given the current situation, wanting to breed simply "because I want puppies" doesn't make any sense and is very selfish. What does he plan to do with the puppies, and what makes him think they will sell? Are there shelters and rescue groups in your area that have puppies available similar to your boyfriend's dog? What about classified ads in the paper or online? Maybe if you show him what the reality is like for mixed breed puppies you can convince him otherwise?

 

Especially since he seems to be missing some practical steps in the process (the big one being how these puppies are going to happen), is it possible that 'wanting puppies' is simply an excuse for not wanting to neuter his dog? It sounds like you've mostly been approaching this argument from the standpoint of insisting that he should neuter his lab. If you make the concession that it's ok if he decides not to neuter, maybe he'd be more willing to enter a discussion about why it's not a good idea to breed?

 

If he honestly just wants to breed because he wants puppies, does he realize the work and money involved in breeding and properly raising a litter of puppies (although he'd have to get a female to breed to first, before even getting to that point)? In addition to regular expenses like food (you'd be surprised how much a pregnant/nursing mom and a litter of puppies will eat) and vaccines, it gets even more expensive when there are complications, such as needing a c-section. Not to mention all the dogs in your home when he has trouble finding homes for all of them. A lab-sized dog could be expected to have a litter of 8-10 puppies or more...

Jennifer &

Willow (Wilma Waggle), Wiki (Wiki Hard Ten), Carter (Let's Get It On),

Ollie (whippet), Gracie (whippet x), & Terra (whippet) + Just Saying + Just Alice

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Guest pippadog

Hi

 

I am also in the process of bringing in another breed to the mix. We've had Arthur now for about 4 months. He's relatively young 2 nearly 3, has only has 11 races and mixes fine with all breeds he has met from great danes to **zus. We also have had breeds come to the house and he's been great. He is a very timid boy and likes to play chase in the garden with the visiting dogs. He trys to get them to chase him.

 

We've always had golden retrievers and springer spaniels. We would like to bring one of these breed puppies into our home as a second dog. Obviously Arthur would need to have his own time out as he likes to rest and won't want to be constantly bothered by a boisterous puppy. I'm at home all day to I would always be with them. What worries me is the natural chase urge of greyhounds. As puppies are relatively small for a couple of months I'm worried Arthur may get carried away and see any prospective addition as some sort of small furry.

 

We were considering getting a female.

 

Any suggestions.

 

Laura

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Have any of you brought a greyhound into your home with a different breed of dog? My boyfriend and I have a lab, but are wishing to bring a retired greyhound into the mix, but are unsure if it would cause issues!

 

I have an energetic Merle Koolie and he gets on fine with the Greyhound I bought home

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If your greyhound is fine with furry little dogs like Shih Tzu's, he should be ok with puppies from a prey/chase standpoint. However, some adult dogs just don't like interacting with puppies because of their boisterous behavior. A couple of my dogs just don't like puppies and will growl and snap at them if they get too close or try to jump on them. Other dogs are very tolerant of puppies and let them get away with things they wouldn't allow from other adult dogs (often called 'puppy license'). Has your dog ever been around young puppies before?

Jennifer &

Willow (Wilma Waggle), Wiki (Wiki Hard Ten), Carter (Let's Get It On),

Ollie (whippet), Gracie (whippet x), & Terra (whippet) + Just Saying + Just Alice

gtsig3.jpg

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Guest pippadog

Hi

 

We haven't been around too many young puppies. At dog training class there is a young golden retriever bitch that like to be a bit jumpy. He seems okay. But really he hasn't been around a lot.

 

Laura

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Guest greytexplorer

Thank you so much! It's actually so helpful to hear these kinds of stories! I've been spouting off facts and benefits of neutering, and the boyfriend is flat out refusing, because he wants puppies (which I am totally against) and in the middle of what I thought was helpful and interesting rant, I was completely disregarded and ignored... I don't think there's any chance of changing his stubborn mind! :(

 

Here's a suggestion you should direct to your BF, and he should carry it out>>>>BE A FOSTER for some puppies. At least four.

That will cure him of his desire. I foster all the time for non-grey mama's and their babies. My initiation (read: hazing) was a black lab mama and her TWELVE puppies. I posted on GT about her and the babies back in Dec 2009.

 

Clarify, please: Your BF has a MALE dog, and wants puppies? Usually that only happens when you have a FEMALE.

 

I've posted a picture of that first litter I mentioned. See all the pee and poop? I had to clean the pen area because Kate had just given up and quit.

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