What's the deal with Greyhounds?

I know they often are used as race dogs... But how are they raised and taken care of from puppyhood and on? What I have seen is that they go up for adoption once the owner is not happy with the performance anymore.
What about adopting these dogs? Have they been properly cared for and socialized, and trained so that they can be proper family pets?
Are they not loved at all by their owners?
I once thought about the possibility of adopting a greyhound, but then heard that they did not have good manners and would run away if given the chance etc, and would not be housebroken... That they pretty much have not learned these things and therefor would not be easy to keep as pets.
Then I also learned that they usually will not be good around cats, so now that's pretty much out of the question, but I'm still curious about these things...

My friend's parents have one that they adopted and they say that it is a great dog.

For the most part, greyhounds are couch potatoes. They have to be forced out for walks. Given their druthers, they'd loll about the house, all day long.

They cannot be walked, without a leash, however - they will chase anything that moves and you'll never catch them. On my way to work, each morning, I see a woman walking five of them and they just all mosey along.

Check online for a Greyhound Rescue, in your area.

Their intital upbringing really depends on how their original owners run their kennels.
Typically though they are raised in outdoor kennels attatched to large, insulated barns.
They are loved (well, the dog racers I knew loved them anyway), but they are raising greyhounds for profit and most do not want to keep an unproductive dog on their hands.

Well kept, but lacking any social manners.

The upside is that they are very smart, so teaching them how to be house dogs is usually pretty easy.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

Their intital upbringing really depends on how their original owners run their kennels.
Typically though they are raised in outdoor kennels attatched to large, insulated barns.
They are loved (well, the dog racers I knew loved them anyway), but they are raising greyhounds for profit and most do not want to keep an unproductive dog on their hands.

Well kept, but lacking any social manners.

The upside is that they are very smart, so teaching them how to be house dogs is usually pretty easy.

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They are wonderful animals but they are trained to race till about 18 months so what they do before ???

I work at an animal hospital and have seen quite a few of greyhounds that come in that have been adopted through a rescue group. These are some of the nicest dogs I have ever seen.

Of the ones I have seen... we have drawn blood, taken xrays, etc and I've never had a problem with any of them. Never heard one growl or one show their teeth. There are some breeds that make me nervous (german shepherds the most!!) but I would never be afraid of a greyhound. They are just big sweeties.

Greyhounds are poor misunderstood creatures - They have wonderful natures, but unfortunately tend to get given away or dumped if they are not performing.

Yes, they will hunt and kill small furry things - But that has been bred into them and they cannot be blamed for human intervention.

Originally Posted by jane_vernon

Yes, they will hunt and kill small furry things - But that has been bred into them and they cannot be blamed for human intervention.

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Since my cats are small furry things that run, I would not leave a greyhound alone with them. But I have known several people who adopted them, and had great luck. But I read one account on-line of someone with one greyhound and one other dog. Both dogs were fine with the cats, but one day one of the cats was killed by the dogs. They think it started with a game of chase, and the greyhound just got carried away and killed its feline friend.

That said, I have an akita that I leave alone with my cats. But I would never leave 2 dogs loose with my cats, since hearing the above story.

Greyhounds are so cool! If I ever get to actually go pick out a new pet (mine end up showing up here, or someone calls and asks me to take them!), it will be a greyhound from a rescue I see at work. Those dogs are all so sweet. They just want to be petted! It never fails, a dog that has NEVER seen me before is my best friend in less than 5 minutes. A little bit of rubbing behind the ears, and I've made a friend for life. They lean on me and just love the attention. And every time I walk by them, they look at me just begging for more loves. The rescue isn't a bad deal, $200 and they've been spayed/neutered, I think mircochipped, had thier shots, and usually have spent enough time in a foster home that they have the hang of living in a house. I told one of the ladies "If I had a bigger yard, I'd sure love to have one." and she said they don't require a large fenced yard for them. Just something big enough for them to go out and potty w/o a leash is nice. Their motto is something about the fastest couch potato in the world, LOL! Nice doggies :-)

Amber

I've always loved greyhounds, such elegant looking animals.
But as my next dog will have to be a working dog, I'll probably rescue a corgi.

greyhounds are generally good dogs. the old racers need to be socialized, and tought that there is indeed glass there, and tend to be afaid of thier own shadow. they are sight hounds so a fence is a must, they tend to see a rabbit and take off, finding themselves a bit away from home and lost in a short time.

they are sweet dogs. i fostered a spanish greyhound, which i loved, i want one some day, i like tall dogs

Greyhounds are pretty mild-mannered. I think what you've heard of them (not having good manners etc) can be said about dogs from any breed. It's all about the upbringing.

Like how they say Huskies are near impossible to train cos they're so independent and couldn't give a hoot bout what their humans want out of em (kinda sounds like our kitty friends eh?), but I know many Huskies who are trained to perfection. With patience and love, I'm sure you could do anything with a sweet Greyhound.

Possibly gotta be careful bout the kitties though, I'm not so sure Greys, sweet as they are, won't give in to their chase/prey drive one day...

I was owned by 2 greyhounds once (with 11 cats plus a feral colony). Adopted the first at 22 months old and the second came to me at 6 months old (rare). They housebreak very quickly as they were raised in kennels most of their lives. They are couch potatoes - I gave a sofa to them as a bed, then gave them a waterbed to sleep in at night.

They also like to lean against you and many "chatter". They are actually very mild mannered, most of them don't bond to any one person as they love everyone equally, but my Tyler (the younger one) absolutely worshiped the ground I walked on. They are spectacular dogs but the downside is that they are prone to bone cancer, particularly in their legs (I lost both to bone cancer - one at 6 and the other at 10).

They have been bred for thousands of years to chase small furry creatures. While they never bothered the inside cats, Tyler did catch 2 of the outside ferals - they made the mistake of running away from him. With the second one, I put the fear of mom in him (I ignored him for 2 weeks) and he never touched a cat again.

Here is Doug with Bogart when he was a kitten. Bogart would crawl into his bowl when he ate and Doug would give me a look as if to say "can you get this kitten out of here please?" Doug was 82 pounds when we adopted him (to large to race) and grew to be 95 pounds. Very large for a greyhound. I miss my boys.

I understand the retired ones also make Great pets, there very loveable

When I volunteered for the local cat rescue, we adopted two cats into a home with a retired racing greyhound..they all got along great. One of the cats actually suffered from mental retardation.. and didn't always react the same way around her.. but she always ignored the kitty.

I want to adopt a retired racer sometime in the future =)

My boyfriend's family had an adopted greyhound when i moved in with them and she was the sweetest dog ever. They already had one older cat and I brought my cat Ullah with me. We never had any problems with the dog and the cats. The dog also never barked. Molly was housetrained, but she did have accidents sometimes. Overall she was very friendly and definitely a big couch potato.

I love the italian greyhounds, I really want one or a whippet but they are so expensive here.

I haven't had much experience with greyhounds but all the ones i've met have been nice and friendly

I would love to adopt a retired greyhound, but I've been afraid for the cats. Any chance that they'll chase the cats around the house if the cats decide its time to race around?

I know people who had a retired greyhound. These people also had cats and kittens. The greyhound ignored everyone. (cats, kittens and people)