Greyhound And Toysized Dog

[Rakete]

Hey there!

(As I am not used to write or talk in English, grammar or structure of my sentences may come out alittle strange. But I fully understand your answers)

 

Well, where to begin? I am thinking of adopting a Greyhound in the nearer future.

 

Which sadly means my senior Lurcher (Spanish hound with unknown history or origin. Galgo or greyhound blood. The longer he is with me (10years by now), the more I see half a greyhound in him, he is so ungalgolike in many ways) has passed away by then.

We believe him to be 13 and he is suffering from a whole bundle of diseases. From mild Cauda Equina to numerous tumors, some of them maligne.

 

I do not want to live without a large and fast dog for very long.

 

I am not that much into Galgos any more, mainly because most of these I know are to reserved with strangers. A shy and reserved dog won't fit into my life (alltough there are shy Greys as well). Azawakhs and Sloughis, whom i adore, won't fit into my/our life neighter. Great dogs, but not in my hands and household.

 

I am pretty shure a greyhound will be it.

BUT...

 

I would call myself semi-experienced. Fostered some smaller dogs before and a whippetlike Galgolady right out of the hunting kennel, that was a real pain im the ass of every other dog, especially if it was a small dog.

 

My first dog was a Pit Bull, that did not like other dogs but became a great compagnion to the Lurcher she simply had to live with. And all the other dogs.

 

My Lurcher and the Galga where not catsafe but I managed to train them, to live with cats. The Pit Bull did not like puppies but we trainend, and she was doing great with this miniature doggy I brought home.

 

Right now there is only the senior dog and a 3 year old Prague Ratter with me. Prague Ratter means she is way smaller than a MinPin. A two kilo dog with the heart of a Pit Bull (behaviour more like a squeeking, jumping Pit Bull Doll).

 

They get along okay. Different interests. Small one is the watch dog and the one that would bite. Both of them are doing theirs, seem to not care much about each other, but sleep together and whenever there is trouble with any other dog, they stand together as one.

 

A tiny, jumping, squeeking, high pitch barking brown dog - and a Greyhound. Will this work out?

 

There would be room to seperate them for a while. I am experienced with the use of muzzle and houselead, as this was where I started with two sighthounds that wanted to kill the little kitten in the livingroom.

 

I brought home different types of animals in different sizes an let them live together and in the end it always worked out. Not necessarilly perfect, but noone ever was hurt.

 

BUT...

 

I always added new dogs or cats to dogs, that already knew me and that I knew at least a little and as my Pit Bull had no such thing as a prey drive she was always correctable, which maybe influenced the others on the long run. Two dogs want to kill the cat, the chief bitch just wants to cuddle it.

 

For the first time I am really insecure.

 

The dog I really know and that responds to me, is the one that might be in danger, whereas the potential smalldogkiller is new in town.

 

No problem to seperate them for a while, dog to dog aggression or prey drive is nothing completely new for me but still. This would be a different situation than I had before.

 

If you did not fall asleep during reading - congratulations!

 

So what really bothers or interests me: Bringing Greyhound and very small dog together and keep the little one safe. Has anyone here done it before?

 

(Maybe it might be good to know: when on lead my dogs walk together, unleashed the run seperated. Little one has a great call back and is allowed to run free very often, whereas the Lurcher is only allowed to run in sighthoundfriendly places. Then the little is on the lead. Due to their different sizes and energy levels I never let them run together. At home they roam free in the room if little one does not prefer to sleep alone in her crate, but outside the follow a different regimen)

 

 

I would really appreciate to read your stories. The good, the bad and even the ugly, if there are any.

 

What is or was important for you in making such different types of dogs get along?

Edited August 1, 2018 by Rakete

[greysmom]

You don't say if you are currently living in and adopting from a group in the US. That is what we are most familiar with, so European groups may be different. If you identify where you are we may be able to provide better advice.

 

The most important issue is the personality of the new dog. Here, most reputable groups will cat test and small dog test the adoptable greyhounds that come in to them, so they will at least have a baseline response to interacting with a little house mate.

 

Being honest with your adoption group about the dogs you already have and how you need your household to work is also key.

 

That being said, retired racing greyhounds (which is what we are specifically talking about here) can and do live with all sizes of creatures quite well as long as they are chosen from tolerant individuals. We have greys here who live with cats, other small/tiny dogs, hamster, gerbils, rabbits, ferrets, chickens, pigs, and probably anything else you can think of.

 

Prey drive is a very individual thing, so it depends on the individual dog. Young greyhounds who have washed out of racing school may generally be less prey driven than a dog with a long racing career, though not always. You might also consider a greyhound who has "bounced" back to a group through no fault of their own, and who has already lived successfully with a small dog.

 

Introductions are much the same as you would with a cat. Separate them until they are more familiar with each other, supervise *every* interaction, use the greyhound's kennel muzzle, slow and calm introductions to being together in common living areas. Walking together is a great way for strange dogs to get to know one another and bond.

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

[JohnF]

I would not recommend adopting a Greyhound in your situation.

The Prague Ratter, with it's squeaky noises and terrier-like disposition is likely - via its attempts at dominance - to spark prey-drive in a Greyhound.

It may even teach the Greyhound that it is OK to be bad-mannered and this could mean that your Greyhound would be difficult to trust when visiting other people's homes.

 

So, if you are persistent in getting a Greyhound I think it is essential that it is one that has already successfully lived with a little squeaky dog, and also cats which dart about quickly and do not trigger the dog's prey-drive.

[Rakete]

@greysmom

 

 

I am from Europe. There is no such thing as a racetrack within hundreds of kilometers. Greyhounds that are for adoption usually come from Ireland, where they spent some time at a shelter. Then they are brought to Germany, Italy, Czech Republic or Austria. Some of them are adopted right out of the transporter, some come into foster care.

 

As far as I know right now there are only two fosterfamilies for Greyhounds in Austria. There are way more for Galgo Espanol or Galgo Inglese and Podencos, but to me it seems as if the popularity of adopting sighthounds has slowed down a bit during the last couple of years. I come across more hounds right from a breeder. Whippets are booming.

 

I am in contact with one adopting group from Germany that has some contacts here in Austria and has brought like 12 Greys to Austria during the last years. They seem to do great work and to be nice people. But as I already had a home visit it was like "Ooookay. So let's be honest. I am the one with the sighthoundexperience, alltough I never had a grey"

Edited August 2, 2018 by Rakete

[Rakete]

@JohnF

 

What really irritates me: Is there really such a difference in prey drive of different sighthoundtypes? To me it seems as the greyhound is told to be the "worst".

 

Surely there is a difference in the upbringing of Galgo and Greyhound (And other differences as well) but is their prey drive and what might trigger it really that different?

 

My galgogirl tried to kill smaller dogs. She was an experienced hunter and reacted to many things in her new life.

Lurcherboy was standing on his hind feed, screaming whenever he saw a cat, duck, rabbit. He jumped 1,7m fences to kill neighbours chicken and caught flying birds. Squirrels still drive him nuts. He jumps against trees. And so on and so forth. The first years with him where full of surprises. How high a dog can jump or where potential prey might hide and how long dogs can remember that they have spotted a cat at a certain place.

 

Part of what I am trying to figure out is: Are Greyhhounds right of the track more prey driven than as example Galgos that actually did some serious hunting?

 

Cause to me it sounds a little like it. But I am confused. Clearly a dog from the track and a coursing dog have experienced different things and might react at different triggers.

 

But is all the warning more for people that never before owned a sighthound and I will give it a laugh? Screaming dog with that insane killerlook in it's eyes - pah, been there, done that before or is there "more" truth in it.

 

From my actual point of view I would say: You have to be careful to bring such different dogs as a fast, large hunter and a tiny, loud dog together. It will take time and it needs seperation for at least a while but it is manageable in most cases. But all that "oh my god a greys preydrive" made me really insecure.

 

The greyowners I know so far are mostly first dog owners. So that is why I came here, where I might find people that live with sighthounds for more than just 2 years or so.

Edited August 2, 2018 by Rakete

[greysmom]

John's experience may be different, but in my opinion, racing greyhounds *may* not be as preydriven as galgos/podencos - it just depends on the dog. And it's common sense to think that dogs that have actually been used for hunting will have more difficulty adapting to living with prey animals than dogs that haven't. Racing dogs here - track or coursing - are not exposed to chasing live game at any point in their training. I don't know if Irish/UK dogs are still trained that way.

 

One of mine now is a dog from Irish breeding, and she's not any more crazy to go after outdoor cats than any of the others. I know there is a group in Canada that is bring over Irish greyhounds for adoption there, and the dogs aren't really that different from US bred ones.

 

GTer "Smurfette" is from Germany, and I think may work with the group you're talking about. I hope she see this post and responds to your questions as she's going to have experiences closer to what you're familiar with.

[BatterseaBrindl]

No advice...just info...

 

One of my Greyhounds came from Ireland last fall. He had over 60 races and has the highest prey drive out of the 4 we've had in an 8 year period. He is nearly 5 and has not raced in over a year.

He screams and yelps very loudly if he sees a cat. Loses his mind. And yes... He remembers exactly which bush that cat was hiding under last week.

We have had him since February and things are much better than they were when he first arrived, but I would never trust him with any sort of small squeaky fast moving critter.

 

My 11 year old female snagged and killed a bunny in our fenced yard one night last week

She had 80+ races but has been with us for 7 years.

 

[cleptogrey]

every dog is different, one can not generalize. is the little one smaller than emma the dilemma(12 lbs.)? annie used to hunt with her all the time- emma flushed the bird out, annie finished it. none of them are cat safe- omg, go for a walk and hold on tight!!! all of them go after other dogs when teamed up together. it's a matter of tolerance. these three are fine together. add my daughter's international street dog maggie to the pack and one will be bitten. she's the alpha bitch who was rescued as a FAT street dog- no dog got her food from HER dumpster!

 

can you foster with intent to adopt? you probably need a good 3-5 weeks to find out the true colors of the dogs. I would say make sure you use a crate when dogs are not supervised.we made sure the dogs were separated from the GH when we weren't home. when we were home, maggie always got the upper hand.

Edited August 2, 2018 by cleptogrey

[JohnF]

>> Surely there is a difference in the upbringing of Galgo and Greyhound (And other differences as well) but is their prey drive and what might trigger it really that different?

 

Every dog is different and some just chase more determinedly that others. Some have a non-distractable 'one-track-mind' fixed on chasing small furry things, and one of those is not ideal for you. Greyhounds are trained to chase and that can cause problems for other dogs that don't like being chased.

 

There is no mathematical formula that says you will succeed with safely settling a new dog of any breed into a home with smaller pets. Yes you can separate them, but this does not make for a stress-free life for either human or the dog.

 

In essence you will need to take your time to select the correct Greyhound to fit your lifestyle, and one from foster could be the best way to go.

On the other hand you just might be lucky and get a heart-dog straight from racing.

 

 

[Rakete]

@cleptogrey

 

 

Little One is around 4,5pounds. The spanish Ratonero Bodeguero I fostered for nearly a year was around Emmas weight and size - and ran with the sighthounds without any trouble.

So little one is smaller than an average cat. She is a hunting dog trough and trough but...if there is ever some any dog in a prey driven state going for her or if there where serious dog to dog agression she won`t have any chance.

 

Right now she lives with Senior, who had at least medium prey drive when he was younger (Oh...today I was really concerned about him. He did not even raise an ear when there where chicken running free next to him). He never had little dogs made him switch to "killing time", only cats and other small animals. He reacted strongly to squeaking toys but never to Little One, alltough she can make some strange noises.

 

He was not cat safe and still can not be trusted with cats outside, but he got along with mine. After quite a while of training. Crate. Lead. Muzzle. Seperation during my absence. Some vocal reminders to do not lose his mind or let his eyes fall out of the head. Lots and lots of treats. Time.

This was where he lost his strong reacitivity to some sort of sounds I guess. But having to accept a tiny, weird sounding kitten that he liked to chase and tear apart made him more predictable. Or was it due to aging?

 

But he clearly never showed signs of "that certain look" that my foster Galgo had, when she became aware of any small dog.

She chased an shook them and would have done damage, so she was consequently muzzeld. But she got better. I fostered her for quite a while. 1 1/2 year I think. Still you I would not have called her perfectly small dog safe and I do not know, how so got on with this in her new home. She was able to adapt to living with a cat. But...same procedure as with the Lurcher. And no outside cats...

 

Considering that small sample of sighthounds I lived with so far (maybe to mention my 2 daycare Whippets to enlargen my sample, but their prey drive was somehow different or it was the small weight and size that made it seem more manageable or less present) I personally would believe it to be possible, given enough time and done with sufficient methods, means and carefulness.

 

Never gave issues like that a thought. Just gave it a try. Got my foster dogs without any information. Took them home. Worked with what apeared.

But I never had a dog that small before to confront with a stranger that might go nuts over it`s pure presence and I never dealt with greys before.

 

Maybe I`ve read too much. As mentioned before - there arose this picture in front of my inner eye - the greyhound being the least small dog compatible sighthound of them all. Still do not know if this pictures reality, I barely came across this topic in Galgo owner circels. Is it is just some sort of "better safe than sorry" or is there really a tendency for greys being less sociable with smaller breeds than other sighthounds?

 

Gave it a long thought. And you a long read. ;-) This should be the essence what really made me asking.

 

 

Maybe easier to answer: How do I attach pictures on this board?

 

 

[Jerilyn]

I don't have any real advice for you, but just wanted to say Hi. I did a semester of study abroad in Salzburg! It is a beautiful country!

Not very helpful, but there are plenty of greyhounds that live happily with small dogs.

[Rakete]

@Jerilyn

 

Haha. When was this? I studied in Salzburg as well.

Hm...study might not be the right word for it. Lived in an Irish Pub would describe it better.

 

@All the others

 

Thanks for your input. Gave me something more to think. Will sleep it over. (Middle European time: half past 1 in the morning. Husband might believe I finally became crazy over that doggie thing.)

[fastpointydoge]

I am a first time grey owner in the US, so take my experience as just a small snapshot of an individual hound.

 

I have had my grey, Rogue, for 15 months. He was 5 when I adopted him. He went from his racing kennel to the adoption kennel so my home was the first he'd been in. He has medium prey drive. After a lot of work, he's become cat safe with barn cats. His sitter has an inside cat and he's never gone after her. But the main reason I'm replying to your post is that Rogue has always recognized dogs as dogs, even if they are tiny.

 

The true test was this Easter. At a family dinner, Rogue met my cousin's new puppy. A teacup Yorkshire Terrier. He was delighted. When he was having his dinner, she came up to him and he gave over the food bowl to her.

 

So again, just my experience with my grey. He hasn't lived with other small dogs other than the occasional sleepover. I did ask the adoption group for one that would get along with various people and dogs.

[Jerilyn]

@Jerilyn

 

Haha. When was this? I studied in Salzburg as well.

Hm...study might not be the right word for it. Lived in an Irish Pub would describe it better.

 

 

A long time ago - 1993 January - June.

I spent some time in an Irish pub too, I can't remember the name but it was right along the river. And the Augustiner brewery. Then riding my bicycle home in the dark after a couple beers. Good times!

[EllenEveBaz]

Welcome to GreyTalk. I agree with the above that it depends on the individual circumstances and individual dogs. One of my current dogs is probably a lurcher, and probably bred and trained to hunt. Milo has the highest prey drive of any of the 7 hounds I have had. He will chase and kill anything that moves. Except other dogs. Including small, noisy dogs. Milo is polite and friendly to small dogs we meet on walks. A family member we visit frequently has dachshunds, and one is a psycho dog with a death wish, who snarls and barks at my greyhounds, takes over their dog beds, and so on. Milo just puts up with it. I muzzle my hounds when we visit just in case.

 

I think if you talk with your adoption group about what you need and get a dog who has behaved calmly on exposure to small dogs or cats, that you can work with the greyhound to teach it that your small dog is part of its new pack. If you are lucky, the new greyhound will be like Milo (and all my other 6 hounds) and not need much training at all -- just reasonable caution.

[smurfette]

@Rakete

 

Hello from Germany. I am with Greyhoundhilfe Deutschland and we always have small dog friendly greyhounds and some of them are also cat friendly.

I'm into my 4th greyhound and 3 of them could have happily lived with cats - and all of them have no problem sharing their home with a parrot.

Most of our foster homes have small dogs like bulldogs (french and english) and some have cats, too. It is a matter of time and patience... and the right dog.

 

You need someone with experience to access your situation and to find the right dog for you.

[cgs]

Our little dog Lulu is 13lbs, so much bigger than yours, but still small compared to a greyhound.

 

When we went to meet dogs we might potentially adopt, we were told to bring Lulu. The first dog the rescue lady brought out was Percy, whom we ultimately adopted. He calmly and casually sniffed a little bit at Lulu and did nothing else. Took him for a walk and he was good on the leash, no pulling. Second dog was also good with Lulu, but a little harder on the leash. Third dog thought Lulu looked like dinner. She brought Percy back out and by this time Lulu was tired of all this and kind of swung around at Percy with a "back off" kind of sound and he was totally chill. Backed off, but didn't startle or react in any kind of big way.

 

When we got Percy home, he immediately seemed to defer to Lulu and give her a wide berth. On the other hand, she could walk up to him while he was on his bed and sniff at him and he wouldn't bat an eye. It's been 5 months and we've had no problems. Occasionally Lulu will bark at Percy if he's doing something she doesn't like. And she puts up with him too--he'll practically step on her on their way out to the yard and she just looks at me like "can you believe how rude he is?" and that's it. She can go over to his bowl and lick up what's left (like if I gave him dehydrated carrots) and he doesn't care.

 

He's got a very low prey drive as far as I can tell. He'll raise an ear at a rabbit on a walk (2 ears for a cat recently) and that's it. Every now and then when he's on the leash he might try to run after a rabbit hopping away, but it's rare. In the yard, yeah, he'll chase if he sees one. Hasn't caught one yet. I'm not sure he's trying. He might lift his head at a squeaky toy.

 

So if you get one like Percy, I think it would be fine.

[Rakete]

@Jerilyn

 

Oh, then I spent my nights 7 years later at "Shamrock" and "O'Malley's".

 

Will reply to the other comments with a little delay. Senior is doing not so well tonight.

[cmc333]

We've had 3 greyhounds that lived perfectly with westies. The greys didn't really interact much with the westies, but they all got along. We live in the country where no one else keeps their dogs fenced in so our dogs only go out in our fenced in backyard which is big enough for zoomies. One greyhound never ever ran, he would lope if there was food offered. The other two ran in the same yard at the same time with the westies. We had a puppy westie when we had two greyhounds and everyone was just fine. No snapping, no looking at the little ones as though they were prey. All 3 greyhounds had been fostered with little dogs before we adopted them. Maybe we've just been really lucky, but it is definitely possible to have greys and little white fluffies live together happily.

[Rakete]

Edited August 10, 2018 by Rakete

[Rakete]

Did not work out as I planned, but at least there is a picture: Senior and the little one.

 

After some more reading and talking to people, I can't remember, why I was bothered that much.

 

Right now I try to enjoy the time that remains with senior dog. He's loosing sight in one eye (thank god, no glaucoma as the pet clinic we lately consulted at night found out), his back is getting worse and nobody knows if age or cancer wins, but he still is a funny guy that likes to go out for a long walk, eats and drinks, but age and diseases made him look old within a few weeks, even strangers see the old dog in him now. But as long as he is enjoying his days, there is no need for any other dog.

 

Might be weeks or months, who knows.

 

Whenever it is the time, I have sort of a plan. Did some research on the sactuarys the adoption group works with and want to contact them personally, not only via adoption group. This might enlarge the chance to find the right dog.

 

And luckily I found out, that the group @Smurfette is with, has a contact person in Austria. We that a nice an pretty long talk on the phone and she is willing to do sort of a home visit, as she lives near my hometown.

 

Still it might all be a little complicated. There are no dogtransports to Austria, the hounds arive in Germany which means 1.500k traveling with my mother in laws car and frankly speaking, I won't drive that far, just to visit a dog in foster care.

 

So why not do it, as I did it before? Pick up a dog, fostering it by myself.

 

As now there are a few more greyhound contacts im my nearer surrounding, there might be a Plan B if it would not work out as expected.

 

But for now, I allready have a great hound.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Rakete

[greysmom]

So who is s/he? Name? Foster or adopted?

 

:yay

[Rakete]

No new dog so far.

 

He is my 13 year old Lurcher, with a lot of aging issues. And his name is "Herr Pferd"/"Mr. Horse"

 

I am just trying to be prepared of what might happen if he is gone. I do not want to live without a large dog.

 

He is doing okay so far. But I have to face the fact that this will not last forever.

 

I am more of a person, that wants to be prepared. As far as I see it now, there should be another dog moving in quite soon after him (whenever this will be). But as there is this tiny dog, a child and that we live in a city, even a future foster dog needs to be choosen wisely.

[greysmom]

Got it!

[cmc333]

We just adopted another 10-year old greyhound that doesn't care at all about the little girls. I must say that this grey is the laziest grey of the 4 greyhounds we've had. So we're a fourth time lucky with mixing greys and little dogs.