Is It Ok For A Greyhound Never To Run Off Leash?

[Guest Emmalot]

Hi all!

 

Since I miss having more than one dog quite a lot, I am looking for another dog to adopt. I have experience with different breeds: hovawart, airedale terrier, wheaten terrier, shepherd.

 

I now have one dog, a shelter mutt, easy going with other dogs. She is lazy and cuddly, though she loves a relaxed game with other dogs.

 

Why a greyhound is a dog breed I'm interested in? Their cuddly and couch potato reputation, but still a dog (I mean, fluffy toy dogs are cute and all, but I would be just scared I'll break them when I sneeze). Plus they are so beautiful! And since I only want dogs to adopt from a shelter, a rescue greyhound seems a good choice for me,

 

I can offer a shelter dog a very loving home, with a dog friend and me being home a lot.

If there is one thing I find very important: are we a good match, and one thing I'm not sure about, is their running.

 

I am not able to let a greyhound run, like they're suppose to. There are no closed areas I can get to, and my small yard (they have access to all day, but mostly use for peeing or chilling in the sun) is way too small, and has no grass. The dogs I adopt I select specifically on not needing much excerise, mostly due to age. But I'm not looking for a very, very old dog...i've lost too many the last few years.

 

What will happen if a greyhound never has the possibility to run like they can anymore? I mean off leash / racing track fast. Of course a daily walk and many games with my other dog and mental stimulation is not a problem.

[Sundrop]

I've had 6 greyhounds over the past 13 years and none of them really needed space to run. We committed to walking twice per day (morning/evening) unless it's raining or whatever - normally 10-20 minutes walks. Some of the hounds wanted longer walks, or needed longer walks due to energy level, some only wanted 5-10 minutes.

 

We had one boy who adored chasing balls in our backyard - and we've had a couple that would chase/play with others. I've never had a greyhound that went outside and just ran around - ever. Maybe in the snow? We also found a local greyhound play-date that utilizes a huge yard @ a local boarding place and it's loads of fun. Our girl runs all over the place, while our boy goes from person to person for love & ear scritches. He's only 4 years old, ran over 100 races and couldn't care less about running now that he's retired.

 

Honestly, I'm not sure where the "supposed to let them run" myth came from, but it's just not true. Our current girl is the highest energy greyhound we've ever had, but the only time she runs in the backyard is when she spots a squirrel or when our boy spots a squirrel and she chases him. They've all liked their toys indoors, and enjoy playing, but it is normally very short spurts and then they want to sleep, lol. Honestly, they are all pretty low energy. Like...L.O.W.E.N.E.R.G.Y.

 

I would always recommend taking your greyhound for daily walks. Not only does it provide exercise for both of you, but it also gives them a break from the 4 walls of your home and it socializes them to meet neighbors (and sometimes other dogs, if I know it is safe). It also provides an opportunity to practice obedience skills, as we always teach leash manners.

 

FYI - not every greyhound is a cuddler. In fact, all of our girls have been - but one of our boys was space aggressive (NEVER did we touch him while he was lying down) and our other two boys experienced sleep startling (i.e., not safe to wake them from a deep sleep by touching them). If you decide to adopt a greyhound, work with your greyhound group to help find one that doesn't have space issues. They are used to having their own space that no one else enters while they are racers, so it's not always a good idea, or even safe, to assume they want to cuddle with you.

 

Greyhounds are an amazing breed and I adore them, even the ones we've had that have needed more "work" - in the end, I've fallen head over heels for all 6 of ours. Just work closely with a good adoption group to find one that really matches your personality and gets along with your current dog and be patient.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Sundrop

[greysmom]

The short answer is that they would be fine.

 

Many, many greyhounds live with people with no yards in apartments or condos and they do just fine. They *do* need exercise and it sounds like you are committed to that, so there's no issue. When you adopt, your group may have info on greyhound meetups in your area, and greyhound only playdates.

 

Just be aware that adoption groups have different requirements for their adopters, and there are some out there with extremely strict rules about what the minimum for a greyhound is. Personally, I think those type of groups are just limiting their adoption potential, but they have their reasons.

 

Keep in mind, the younger the greyhound the more exercise they will need to be tired and happy. A greyhound can exhibit puppy behavior until around 4 years old, when they hit their final level of maturity. If you work full time and are gone for a significant portion of the day - like most people! - an older dog might be a better way to go for you. Just be honest with whatever group you choose to work with and they should be able to match you up with a greyhound that's right for your situation.

 

Good luck!

[Time4ANap]

They will be fine. Rocket has a small back yard - probably 50 x 20, if that. It might be smaller. He still does zoomies round the yard when he feels like it, but hasn't run off leash in years. The last time we went to an off-leash place 2 years ago, he decided he'd rather hang out with the humans even though he could go anywhere in the park that he wanted, and never did anything but explore and sniff around a little - no running.

[sarabz]

We had our girl in midtown Manhattan for several years, leash walking only. The couple of times we took her to dog parks for meetups and what not, she sniffed and peed and never ran. Occasionally she'll do a zoomie or two in our backyard now but generally doesn't bother. Walking for exercise and mental stimulation is enough.

[Guest Emmalot]

Thanks all! Can you believe these answers made me very happy?

 

No worry, my dogs go out every day, meeting a whole bunch of other dogs.

 

@greysmom: yeah, I am committed to daily excercise, since the dog I have now needs to get it too.

I'm not looking for a dog that young, thinking about 5 - 8 years. It's the age I adopt most my dogs; middle aged - senior (depends in how big), but still enough time to "grow old" with me.

 

@sundrop; the cuddle part is going to be a very important thing when I look for the dog. I just really need that, and a dog with space agression will not be a good match, since I've always have had dogs who -some despite their size- thought they were lapdogs. I love to cuddle and snuggle with the dogs. Sleep startling I've read about, never experienced it, but wouldn't be a problem if I knew a dog had it; I always respect their space and let them be is they sleep. Except, you know, when they sleep too adorable or funny and I take a picture and the sounds wake them up. But I always apologize.

 

It made me wonder, since I've had terriers. I love their character and the way they are your best buddy and will go through fire for you, but man do they need to run and play and do stuff to be happy.

[winnie]

Our greyhounds have all quite enjoyed being retired. We do have a monthly greyhound playgroup at an indoor equestrian arena. Two of our greyhounds enjoyed a quick sprint. One would just trot a few feet and stop. She is also the one that taught the others the joys of laying on couches.

[Sundrop]

@sundrop; the cuddle part is going to be a very important thing when I look for the dog. I just really need that, and a dog with space agression will not be a good match, since I've always have had dogs who -some despite their size- thought they were lapdogs. I love to cuddle and snuggle with the dogs. Sleep startling I've read about, never experienced it, but wouldn't be a problem if I knew a dog had it; I always respect their space and let them be is they sleep. Except, you know, when they sleep too adorable or funny and I take a picture and the sounds wake them up. But I always apologize.

 

You might try and find a group that fosters greyhounds so they can give you opinions on cuddle-ability (haha!). You can either foster-to-adopt to see if the hound is a match, or better yet, find one that fosters their own hounds so you can speak with foster parents to ask them if the hound is a cuddler (or shows any signs of space aggression or sleep startling). I, too, must have at least one hound at all times that will cuddle with me. When we lost our sweet Tilly last year, I spoke with the adoption group and told them we wanted a girl and she had to cuddle, lol. I'm guessing it's not unusual to hear such requests.

[GreytTerp]

We've only had a yard in one place of the 5 in which we have lived since adopting Marvin. He does love to run when he can, but he also is fine with leash walks every day. If the weather is not to his liking, he's an 'out and right back in' kinda guy. He did not cuddle at all for the first 3 years or so of 5 with us. He's still not big on it, and if he gets cranky, he has to get off the couch/bed/etc. and go lay by himself. At present, when he's having one of his 'angsty' days, Marvin plays with his toys in short bursts and does tight zoomies on a 6'x6' rug in our living room.

 

You didn't say 'must be ok with my cats', so you're already primed for a big pool of potential greyhounds!

[rsieg]

I have had only one greyhound at a young age, Logan (Max I got at 10 years old). With Logan, my experience is he must move fast occasionally, but not necessarily running full-gallop outside. In fact, he rarely runs in the backyard even though it is large enough to do laps. Rather, he prefers doing zoomies in our living room -- he jumps up and does 360 degree spins, grabs a toy, throws it and runs after it, that sort of thing. My guess is that since greyhounds have more fast-twitch muscles than other animals they do need to exercise them occasionally -- but it does not need to be an outside run. (Of course, I do have one hole in the plasterboard from where he threw one of my boots, and it is only by the grace of God that my television is not (yet) broken).

 

That said, they are amazing to watch running, so if you get a chance to let the dog run full-out definitely worth it. You might check around, if you adopt from a group (most people do) there may be some other adoptees around locally, if one has a fenced-in yard perhaps you can set up an occasional greyhound play-date.

[Guest Emmalot]

I have had only one greyhound at a young age, Logan (Max I got at 10 years old). With Logan, my experience is he must move fast occasionally, but not necessarily running full-gallop outside. In fact, he rarely runs in the backyard even though it is large enough to do laps. Rather, he prefers doing zoomies in our living room -- he jumps up and does 360 degree spins, grabs a toy, throws it and runs after it, that sort of thing. My guess is that since greyhounds have more fast-twitch muscles than other animals they do need to exercise them occasionally -- but it does not need to be an outside run. (Of course, I do have one hole in the plasterboard from where he threw one of my boots, and it is only by the grace of God that my television is not (yet) broken).

 

That said, they are amazing to watch running, so if you get a chance to let the dog run full-out definitely worth it. You might check around, if you adopt from a group (most people do) there may be some other adoptees around locally, if one has a fenced-in yard perhaps you can set up an occasional greyhound play-date.

 

Good idea about the playdate! I write that down.

And playing and doing stuff inside the house is all good, I would love that. Big chance I'll just join them.

 

You didn't say 'must be ok with my cats', so you're already primed for a big pool of potential greyhounds!

Nah, cats are cute on a picture, but not for me. They secretly scare me a bit.

[palmettobug]

Trust me, cats are secretly plotting your demise so they can eat you. That's why they try to trip you up all the time!

[Guest Amber]

Greyhounds are very adaptable and would get used to the lifestyle you describe . But ... all the greys I've had have loved to sprint and really stretch their legs, at least a few times a week. So no opportunity to do flat out running might not be the best quality of life for most Greyhounds.

 

On the other hand benefits to no fast running mean less injuries! And you can offer a secure good home.

 

Maybe just try to find a middle aged (5 years plus) grey that is known to not bother much with running.

[RedHead]

 

 

But ... all the greys I've had have loved to sprint and really stretch their legs, at least a few times a week. So no opportunity to do flat out running might not be the best quality of life for most Greyhounds.

 

This is my thoughts exactly.

 

I also have a very small yard, but luckily have a few friends with larger fenced in yards. Teague is just SO happy to run off leash, and he is almost 10. I wouldn't say he "needs" it as we walk and even jog quite far every single day and he is fine...but nothing makes him happier than a good off leash zoom a few times per week. It is the only thing that sets him into his hyper/play mode.

 

On the flip side, a few greyhounds I know do nothing if let off leash and have no interest in running. So I think it really depends on the dog. I personally would go for something older than 2-3 years, but there are always greyhounds to fit the right lifestyle if you search and work with adoption groups

[MerlinsMum]

I'm inclined to agree with Amber and Redhead.

 

Merlin is lazy. In the winter he literally hibernates and goes from his bed to the couch to his food bowl to the yard to the couch to his bed. There have always been walks, regardless of the season, but more for the mental stimulation and the socialization than anything else. On the other hand, I don't think that Sagan would have been happy if he couldn't have run off-leash. He LOVED it. Not so much when we used to go to playgroup years ago - he would sniff and stick close to me - but when we went to the (totally enclosed) beach or to a ballfield for a run. Not only did he love it - it also transformed him from a shy, extra cautious hound into a curious, adventurous hound with a greater independent spirit than he ever had before. It was so wonderful to see.

 

I will always remember how happy he was when I took him for a run. He could hardly contain his excitement.

 

 

 

If I'm perfectly honest, I don't like the idea of a dog - any dog - never having the chance to really stretch their legs, but I do agree that it depends on the dog. After all, some people don't even walk their greyhounds, and in principle I don't agree with that at all, but honestly, some greys are just so low-energy (okay - lazy ) that they seem to be perfectly fine with pottering around the yard and doing zoomies for five minutes. So I think we need to be careful about projecting our human preconceived ideas onto our dogs. I know I've done it! Every dog is different.

 

Good luck!

[winnie]

On the flip side, a few greyhounds I know do nothing if let off leash and have no interest in running. So I think it really depends on the dog. I personally would go for something older than 2-3 years, but there are always greyhounds to fit the right lifestyle if you search and work with adoption groups

Our adoption group asked us to rank activity level from 1 (low) to 5 (high) on the application. We requested a 1. Celeste was only 2.5 y/o when we adopted her, but she was so lazy that they'd joke that she was a 0.5 activity level. Only one of our 4 greyhounds, Darcy, enjoyed running - and she was almost 6 y/o when we adopted her!

[greysmom]

We have a large yard so our dogs have always had the opportunity to run around whenever they want. Mostly they don't. If anything, they seem to stick with the schedule they have been indoctrinated with from a young age - every three or four days they simply feel the need to run for about 30-60 seconds. Then they're done until the next "race." When we still had grass ours quickly wore their own track around the yard that they would all follow. It is interesting to see that side of them - the competitive, want-to-win side that they all have in some form - that sticks around for their whole lives.

[ramonaghan]

We have a large yard so our dogs have always had the opportunity to run around whenever they want. Mostly they don't. If anything, they seem to stick with the schedule they have been indoctrinated with from a young age - every three or four days they simply feel the need to run for about 30-60 seconds. Then they're done until the next "race." When we still had grass ours quickly wore their own track around the yard that they would all follow. It is interesting to see that side of them - the competitive, want-to-win side that they all have in some form - that sticks around for their whole lives.

 

Granted, I've only had one greyhound, but this is Sweep exactly. Every few days, she has a crazy energy burst, runs around our yard for a minute or two, and then it's back inside to her bed. She gets at least two walks a day, but is perfectly content to out-sleep the cats otherwise.

 

For the first 18 months we had her, we lived in a townhouse with nowhere for her to be off-leash. We found a fully fenced baseball field about 15 minutes away for weekend zoomies, and that worked well.

[krissy]

If you are honest and up front with the adoption group, I'm sure you'll find a match. But I'm in the camp that kind of doesn't like the idea of a dog never getting a chance to be off leash and run. I have 3 greyhounds. 2 of them are from a breeder and I've had them since 8 weeks old, so they're young and nuts and they ***NEED*** lots of exercise. I also have an almost 12 year old retired racer, and although he is a low energy dog that never needs exercise... there is nothing like the joy on his face when he runs. I think most retired racers fall into this category. They're okay if they don't get to run, they don't need to run, but the pure happiness for those couple of minutes when they do is unmistakable, and I personally can't imagine not providing that. Even at almost 12, with some arthritis, and after recovering from being completely paralyzed following a spinal surgery last spring... this boy STILL runs. He can't keep up with the girls anymore, but when we go for a hike, he still has moments of just booking it down the trails and he sometimes still chases the girls in the backyard. Sometimes I decide I don't want to keep track of 3 dogs on a hike, and I'll decide I'm going to leave him home. The poor boy follows me to the door and stands there watching us leave and looks so excited and expectant that I usually just end up bringing him too.

 

If you don't have the ability to give a greyhound the routine ability to run, that's fine, but I do think you need to look into options for an occasional romp... whether that's a friend or family member's house with a fenced yard, or a play group, or making a dedicated drive a distance away to a fenced ball diamond.

 

11.5 years old, and this is still the look of joy that comes with running.

[Guest Emmalot]

If you are honest and up front with the adoption group, I'm sure you'll find a match. But I'm in the camp that kind of doesn't like the idea of a dog never getting a chance to be off leash and run.

 

If you don't have the ability to give a greyhound the routine ability to run, that's fine, but I do think you need to look into options for an occasional romp... whether that's a friend or family member's house with a fenced yard, or a play group, or making a dedicated drive a distance away to a fenced ball diamond.

 

Thanks (and all the others too). Will take all this into account.

To be honest, I'm a person who is the most happy when her dogs are happy; so, I'll probably will be looking for a place to run. Or you know, re do my whole garden so it's only grass to run.

Sometimes I do keep things secret because...you know, high level of craziness. Like one dog really liked going to the library. So I went, weekly. Pretending it was for me and it was just convenient to take one of the dogs with me.

 

It's sad a greyhound is not allowed off leash together with my other dog (who can just go across the street and run, if she'd like).

But the tip about the rescue maybe having some foster address or whatever nearby, is a very good one!

[Guest LazyBlaze]

 

 

On the flip side, a few greyhounds I know do nothing if let off leash and have no interest in running. So I think it really depends on the dog. I personally would go for something older than 2-3 years, but there are always greyhounds to fit the right lifestyle if you search and work with adoption groups

 

I would agree with this. Blaze rarely is allowed off the lead these days (due to a previous injury we need to be a bit careful with him now) BUT he couldn't care less about running. Honestly. Some of the times he gets off lead he doesn't even bother trying to run and just sniffs around. He genuinely doesn't seem to NEED to run, in the way that I know a lot of hounds do (two whippets I've had both NEEDED to run very regularly and would be unhappy without it). Blaze is delighted with his walks, and much prefers them to running; his walks are his big adventures. Maybe he just had enough of running during his racing days and now just thinks 'whatever' .

 

So I really do think it depends on the dog. A lot of hounds will really love and need to run regularly, so for them it would be a shame if they could never do this and they might be miserable. For others, like Blaze, they will thrive just with walking (and, as you seem to be thinking yourself, an occasional romp when you can get somewhere suitable). Best thing to do is talk to the rescue who should have a good feel for their dogs.

 

Good luck!

[3greytjoys]

Why a greyhound is a dog breed I'm interested in? Their cuddly and couch potato reputation...

 

...the cuddle part is going to be a very important thing when I look for the dog. I just really need that. I love to cuddle and snuggle with the dogs.

 

Helps to keep in mind that racing Greyhounds are bred to be professional athletes. They are not reared in family homes, and have no experience being a cuddly pet.

They are accustomed to having their own private and undisturbed space. That undisturbed space becomes more important when racing Greyhounds are suddenly removed from the only life they've known, and dropped into what feels like a scary alien planet. Humans leaning over to pet, or attempting to hug/cuddle dogs is considered threatening behavior in canines' language. If adopting a Greyhound, I'd encourage you to not allow the hound on human furniture for the first 6+ months, and to wait until the Greyhound stands up and walks away from his/her dog bed before petting. Most important is for humans to focus on respectfully earning a dog's trust; then allowing enough time for the hound to reveal their true temperament, and potential desire for touch.

 

There are some Greyhounds who are medically limited to a lifetime of walking exercise only, which might be a nice option to consider.