What To Expect When Adopting A Retired Racer

[Jenbo]

YAY!

[Guest Garwood]

Stick with it, ManyBlessings. The reward is worth the wait. You've asked many good questions and received many good answers. I think you'll be fine with a greyhound. Be wary of possible sleep and space aggression. You'll figure it out, eventually. Use caution.

 

A few little things I didn't see mentioned:

 

These dogs are used to getting up early. Mine began to stir at around 04:30. With time, he's learned to sleep til about 05:30.

 

A greyhound's doing 'zoomies' can really tear up a yard. It sounds like a stampede.

 

Epic gas. (you'll see)

 

A greyhound's tail is like a whip. It stings.

 

A greyhound will stick its head in any bucket it sees. Be careful with soapy water. We had a contractor here and our dog almost drove him nuts by stealing things from the guy's white bucket and hiding them in his crate. "Where's my screwdriver? I just had it!" His gloves were the dog's favorite.

 

They're not so bad in cold weather. No so good in hot weather. Mine enjoys air conditioning and a small kiddie pool in the summer.

 

Keep your fingers out of the way when offering a treat. Put it in the palm of your hand.

 

Walks may take twice as long as planned. Greyhounds attract attention in public. You could end up chatting to strangers.

 

None of this is a big deal. Just a heads up.

 

Good luck. I hope things works out for you and your family.

[Guest ManyBlessings]

Garwood, thanks! I had to chuckle.

 

We are usually up by 5:30.....so hopefully he can learn to sleep at least that late.

 

Zoomies are not a problem, I'm looking forward to seeing them! We do not fuss about our yard....back or front.

 

Gas? Does that depend on the food?? (And I have a husband soooooooo I can probably handle it)

 

Our berner clears our coffee table from time to time....and her tail hurts too! Can I use that tail on the kids?

 

Hmmmmm buckets of soapy water. Not sure I have had one of those in the house for a while. I use a floor steamer. But good to know. Stealing things I have read about here and that's great! The kids will have someone else to blame that can't say "It wasn't me!"

 

We get really hot weather in summer....but he will be indoors so shouldn't be an issue. Kiddie pool both dogs will like!

 

They are not gentle with treats? My berner I have trained to not take anything from my hand until I say "take it". She is very gentle with her mouth. Our pug will take a finger with the treat. Not in a mean way. Just excited to get the treat. Guess I'll have to see how my grey responds.

 

I LOVE chatting with people about dogs. I hope to be able to participate in some meet and greets in the future.

 

Thanks! Sounds like so much fun.

Edited October 24, 2012 by ManyBlessings

[Feisty49]

Garwood, thanks! I had to chuckle.

 

We are usually up by 5:30.....so hopefully he can learn to sleep at least that late.

 

Zoomies are not a problem, I'm looking forward to seeing them! We do not fuss about our yard....back or front.

 

Gas? Does that depend on the food?? (And I have a husband soooooooo I can probably handle it)

 

Our berner clears our coffee table from time to time....and her tail hurts too! Can I use that tail on the kids?

 

Hmmmmm buckets of soapy water. Not sure I have had one of those in the house for a while. I use a floor steamer. But good to know. Stealing things I have read about here and that's great! The kids will have someone else to blame that can't say "It wasn't me!"

 

We get really hot weather in summer....but he will be indoors so shouldn't be an issue. Kiddie pool both dogs will like!

 

They are not gentle with treats? My berner I have trained to not take anything from my hand until I say "take it". She is very gentle with her mouth. Our pug will take a finger with the treat. Not in a mean way. Just excited to get the treat. Guess I'll have to see how my grey responds.

 

I LOVE chatting with people about dogs. I hope to be able to participate in some meet and greets in the future.

 

Thanks! Sounds like so much fun.

 

As many people who have Greyhounds who do the above is probably as many people whose Greyhounds don't do the above. It's like a new topic that started this morning about walking. Some Greyhounds can walk forever it seems (mine is one of them) and others want to give it up after 10 minutes.

 

Also, Annie Bella has never been a dog who got up earlier than 6 AM unless there was an issue, and with the onset of fewer daylight hours, she's likely to sleep until 7 AM. I can count on one hand the number of times Annie B has had gas, or at least gas I could hear or smell. I don't worry about Happy Tail and the chance of breakage because so far (after 15 months), she only gently sways her tail back and forth. I can't begin to imagine she'd stick her head in a bucket of anything weird. She doesn't even smell the garbage can let alone take a look.

 

I think the best thing you can take from all these posts is ya just don't know what you're gonna get until you got it, though if your houndie has been fostered, you will get some head's up about her/his personality from the foster parents.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Feisty49

[jetcitywoman]

Agreed, every dog is different. Mine have never stuck their heads in a bucket, although Capri does stick hers into people purses, pockets and shopping bags. The world belongs to her, you know. And both of mine are gentle with their teeth. I can pinch a treat between my fingers and they will delicately take it. (Although Ajax has rambunctious moods and will pinch-bite us if we reach for a toy he's chomping on. We're careful with our 80 pound snapping turtle. )

 

Also Capri has stolen tools from DH in the past. She's our little minx and if she wants to play and feels that we're ignoring her, she will take something we have and run away to get us to chase her.

 

And the gas.... hopefully ManyBlessings won't have that problem, but just in case she does, I think that was a weak and scary warning about it. There are many discussions here. Greyhound gas can peel paint off the walls. It's not a problem for them. Just you. LOL

 

If they didn't all have their little personalities, we wouldn't love them as much, right?

Edited October 24, 2012 by jetcitywoman

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

They are not gentle with treats? My berner I have trained to not take anything from my hand until I say "take it". She is very gentle with her mouth. Our pug will take a finger with the treat. Not in a mean way. Just excited to get the treat. Guess I'll have to see how my grey responds.

 

Like just about everything else, it depends on the dog. And sometimes the same dog will flip flop. Jayne is generally gentle with treats, but she's also excitable and not overly gentle when she's excited. She knows the "wait" command, and is gentle once released. I use it when she's getting grabby in order to focus her. She's prone to over-doing things, her foster dad called her Fast Forward, because she was either going full-tilt or not at all, she hasn't changed. A perfect example is her "kiss". To teach her that faces close to hers are good things, I taught her to "kiss" which is to touch her nose to a person's cheek. At first she did this very nicely, then it evolved into her ramming her nose into any portion of a face, now she opens her mouth, curls her lips, makes a little noise in her throat, and smacks her face into the face of the kissee. It really looks like she's about to bite your face off.

 

Jayne has never had paint-peeling gas, but she can be a bit "verbal" at times. It happens on occasion when she's climbing onto the couch or stretching. DH or I often make a little "ffft" sound at her when she stretches, making fun, because that's when it happens the most.

 

Luckily greys tails aren't typically as active as other dogs', they'll rarely clear the coffee table with it. When I was a kid we had an English Setter. One day she was wagging her tail against my legs and it stung, a lot. I found that she had gotten a wire pipe cleaner (used to clean a shotgun) off a chest in my parents' bedroom, and was whacking me with it!

 

Zoomies are totally worth waitng for:

Edited October 24, 2012 by Jayne

[JJNg]

There's lot of individual variation between greyhounds.

 

Neither of my greys has woken me up early in the morning. They both pretty much adjusted immediately to my schedule. When I first got my girl, I was getting up at 7-7:30 every morning to let my elderly IG with kidney disease outside to pee. That's the earliest I've had to get up for a dog. They will even let me sleep in until noon on my days off.

 

I do agree with the zoomies tearing up the yard. When I got my first greyhound, I lived in a new house with sod that had been put down just a couple months prior. Willow would kick entire strips of sod out of place when she ran. I ended up putting up temporary construction fencing to keep her off the grass so that it could take root.

 

None of my dogs have gas. I agree that it depends on the food. If you find one that agrees with your dog, you shouldn't have to deal with much gas. Adding a spoonful of yogurt to their meal can also help.

 

One of mine takes treats gently, and the other can nip if he's too excited. I just have to offer it initially in a closed hand and remind him to be gentle. Some of my fosters have been reluctant to take treats from my hand at all, and when they finally do, it's very carefully and gingerly.

[jetcitywoman]

Oh, we can go on forever and ever about our lovelies, can't we? Here are another two that I don't remember if we covered:

 

Jayne's zoomie video shows something important that may not be noticed unless someone calls it out, so let me do the honors. If you find yourself in a big yard with a greyhound zooming around you, STAND STILL. They like to run at you and then veer off at the last second. If you try to move out of the way, you may accidentally move the same way they veer and collide. Even though it looks like the dog is about to run you over, they rarely will. (Unless they happened to be named Capri - ahem. But she learned a lesson after the first time. It hurt both of us. )

 

And did anybody mention rooing? I don't remember.

[Guest FinnsMom]

Mine does a quick zoomie around the yard, zooms toward me and then stops for praise and scritchies. He does this a few times and then he's ready to go back to sleep.

[Guest Gemma]

We can't let Peyton run anymore since it makes his bad leg swell. Boy do I miss his zoomies! He sometimes spins round and round in the house, which is the next best thing.

 

The great thing about zoomies is that they are so JOYFUL! Your dog is running for the sheer fun of it, and they look at you as if you are a part of that joy.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

Good Luck tomorrow!

[Guest ManyBlessings]

Thank you all so much! I am hoping my grey lets me sleep in on the weekends too! Zoomies in the snow, that's greyt! I wasn't sure if greys would take to snow very well....as I see many do not like the rain.

 

I've been in touch with my rep this week. She should be over about 1:00 tomorrow. She says after approval they choose a few dogs that would be a good fit and the foster homes call us to set up visits. That will be exciting! It only takes a day or two after the home visit to be officially apporved. So next week I hope to be visiting our potential matches it will be hard to wait but at least I get a couple of hours with one tomorrow. My kids are super excited too!

 

jetcitywoman : Standing still is hard! You feel like you're going to get flattened. But I understand why you'd want to stand still. And rooing? I don't believe I've read about that. They don't bark much? Do they make a different sound?? Or what is rooing?

 

Oh, and it sounds like many of you do foster........nice to know. I would like to consider that in the years to come.

Edited October 26, 2012 by ManyBlessings

[jetcitywoman]

Believe me, you want to stand still no matter how scary it is. Trust the dog to veer around you. They know their turning and stopping abilities better than you do.

 

Greyhounds make a huge variety of noises. Barks, whines, moans, groans, whimpers and rooing (which is like howling). It will take a little getting used to, and time to learn what it all means. It means different things to different dogs. Capri wimpers when she wants something and I'm not paying attention to her body language request. She does ear groanies which is hysterical. (Rubs her ear on a wall and groans like "ooohhhh that feels gooooood".) Ajax is our vocal boy and moans, groans and whines on a daily basis. He whines when he's hungry, tired, hot, bored, ... awake pretty much.

[Neighsayer]

Search youtube for greyhound roo...plenty of videos. I currently have only three greys, and they don't roo. When I had Tucker, he would roo often. Mickey and Suds would sometimes join him. I can't get either one to let out a roo now...even when I play rooing videos. Guess they just miss Tucker's voice. Bubba will sometimes roo along with a video, but he stops when it ends. Meeka never joined in, but got excited when listening.

[TheFullHouse]

Rooing is kind of like howling. When one starts they all join in. Most hounds don't bark but there are some who do. I have a barker and I also had a talker. That boy would talk my ear off. He was the most vocal hound I've ever had and when he passed the sounds of silence that were in this house were horrible. It's taken all of us almost a year to get used to living in a quiet house, but then we don't have any children.

 

Good luck! I hope you find the perfect hound for your home.

[Jenbo]

Ahh the rooing. Myka does it every day when I get home from work. I can hear her from outside and it sounds like this

 

Ahhh ROOOO roooooo oooo woooo BARK Ahhh ROOOOOOOO roooooooo ooooooo.

[vjgrey]

It's fun when you begin to understand what each type of bark/howl/whine means. Lucy is my super vocal hound, and it's always crystal clear what she wants. She has one "bossy bark" (usually accompanied by stomping feet) that she only uses when she's upset that we're not giving her whatever we're eating. DH or I will hear it from another room and say "What are you not sharing with her?"

[jetcitywoman]

Oh, this reminds me of another important vocalisation... The GSOD. Greyhound Scream Of Death. Some dogs never scream, others do. I've never heard Ajax scream, but I know Capris scream like a mother knows her child's cry. She screams if she stubs a toe running in the house, but was silent as a mime all three times she ripped her dew claws off.

[Feisty49]

Oh, we can go on forever and ever about our lovelies, can't we? Here are another two that I don't remember if we covered:

 

Jayne's zoomie video shows something important that may not be noticed unless someone calls it out, so let me do the honors. If you find yourself in a big yard with a greyhound zooming around you, STAND STILL. They like to run at you and then veer off at the last second. If you try to move out of the way, you may accidentally move the same way they veer and collide. Even though it looks like the dog is about to run you over, they rarely will. (Unless they happened to be named Capri - ahem. But she learned a lesson after the first time. It hurt both of us. )

 

And did anybody mention rooing? I don't remember.

 

Don't ya just love the way they do this? Annie B, at an all-out run, heads right for me, ears back, big smile on her face and then... whooshes off to one side or the other. She is soooo happy when she does this.

[PrairieProf]

Beth didn't get the "greyhounds don't bark" memo (she does not ever roo, however). This is a very small sampling.

[robinw]

Relax and enjoy your dog. Rescues vs. Retired is irrelevant and yes, I think it is sad that they live in crates.

Edited October 27, 2012 by robinw

[Guest ManyBlessings]

We had our home visit on Saturday! They brought a beautiful fawn two year old boy, average size. He had been taken out of the racing program before his first race. They had pre-adopted him. He was so gentle and sweet. Definitely submissive. Our berner wanted to play with him in the worst way. He really wasn’t interested in puppy play. My kids gave him treats and he was very gentle. They were at our home for nearly 3 hours. We all decided it is best to match us up with a big boy, active, submissive. They thought our berner girl would try to dominate as they saw some signs of that while they were over. They said it was obvious our children were good with dogs. The only recommendation was that we will need to watch the front door if our grey were to try and rush out. We had a really great visit and it was so nice to spend some time with a grey. He was the sweetest guy, loved attention and burrowed his face in your lap.

 

We will be getting a phone call today or tomorrow with the decision. If we are approved (they said there’s no reason we wouldn’t be) then we will get calls from 2-3 foster families with dogs that they feel would be a good match. We make arrangements with each of them to visit and choose our grey. Feels like it’s Christmas early

[Feisty49]

Yeah!!! Yah, it does feel like Christmas. The group sounds terrific in that they could see a different dog would be better for your household. Can't wait until your girl/boy arrives and we get to see pictures.

[Guest FinnsMom]

Congratulations that you got your visit in. Hopefully you won't have to wait to long to bring YOUR grey home.

[TheFullHouse]

Awesome! Baby gates are great at keeping hounds from getting out doors. I have them at each of the doors in my home to prevent my dogs from rushing the door and getting out.