Galgo health

[SighHoundLVR]

Hello all!  Long introduction but if you wish to skip to my questions feel free to go down to the *

I have been wanting a Greyhound for some time now, at least 6 years. I was a veterinarian assistant for 11 years and had wanted a whippet or grey since then. At the time I had a Lhasa Apso and was a busy college student so it wasn’t a good time for me to get another dog.  Then 6years ago my little dog was diagnosed with cancer that started in his stomach and had spread throughout his body. I was 7 months pregnant with my daughter when we had to put him to sleep. About a week later my husband and I ran into Greyhounds Friends For Life at a petshop when picking up food for our then lizard. My husband fell in love with the breed but becoming new parents, and having just lost our little dog we felt it wasn’t the right time, again. My daughter was 6 months old when we got a call from my father-in-law who had to give up his Labrador mix because she was fighting with his other dogs. Having met this dog and knowing how amazing she was with children we asked if he would consider giving her to us instead of taking her to a shelter. She, Piper, has been amazing with children. She has selective dog aggression and some prey drive. We don’t plan on getting another dog until she passes and our daughter is 5 and we have a 2yr old son. Piper is 9-11yrs old. No one knows for sure.

 * Recently I have been searching more about Greys and came to find out about Galgos and the horrible situation they are in in Spain.  I’ve read about their differences but haven’t been able to find if there are any health difference? Are they pron to cancer like greys? What about bloat? Any skin issues? My current lab has horrible allergies that we are successfully managing but it’s been a long battle. There is a rescue SAGE within a two hour drive from us so I’m very excited to be able to adopt within the future . Thanks everyone!

[greysmom]

Sage is a wonderful adoption group, and i think they have a lot of info on their website about galgos.  We do have quite a few owners here on GT with both.

In general though, they seem to be healthier and less prone to genetically disposed diseases like cancer and allergies.  You do have to deal with the behavioral after effects of what they experienced in their prior existence - which can be horrific in some cases - but it's about what you might expect with any *true* rescue dog from here in the states.

They are also different than greyhounds.  Both breeds are similar sighthound types, and if you've never had a greyhound you may not notice any real differences, but they do exist.  The folks at Sage should be able to answer your questions much better than me!  Hopefully some of our GT galgo owners will chime in too.

[winnie]

We've had 4 retired racing greyhounds and 3 galgos. Current pack is 2 galgos. In general, I think galgos are healthier. They have better teeth than any of our retired racers and less digestive issues. Statistically, they are less prone to osteosarcoma, although that is what our first galgo died from. As for personalities, our galgos are smarter than our retired racers. That's not meant as an insult to greyhounds. It's just that galgos think three dimensionally and are a bit more "street savvy" thank their cousins. They're not always as well-trained and well-mannered as greyhounds either. With that said, I've come to prefer our galgos. They're more like a regular dog, but just as good looking as a greyhound.