greyhounds-Warning LONG

Question:
 Hi,
I'm new here, have been on the horse forums for awhile though and decided to check out the dog forums. I was reading through some old posts and found one on greyhounds. They were made out to be unpredictable and very fragile. A few posts made them sound like they are so hard to take care of and you always have to be on alert around other animals and even children. While that is somewhat true for any breed, all greyhounds are not always looking for something to kill!
The only experience I've had with retired racing greyhounds is the one I adopted right off the track when he was 3. Maybe he was different but the descriptions of greyhounds that I've read on here were not what I experienced.
First off, the comment that even if they lose a small amount of blood, they will die. NOT TRUE I experienced this first hand. My dog for some reason got tumors between his toes on more than one occasion. I took him in to the vet to have one removed, returned home to drop him off afterwards because I had to return to work. When I came home that night, I found blood from one end of my house to another. There wasn't a 2 inch square on my kitchen floor that didn't have blood on it. Of course, (after the panic), called my vet, who for a couple of hours tried to talk me through stopping the bleeding. Nothing was working so I drove him back in (45 miles one way), and he found that an artery had been cut during the surgery and blood was pulsing out of his foot. This dog had been bleeding heavily, unbeknownst to me because his foot was heavily bandaged, all day. the vet was able to stop the bleeding and my dog was fine, even went came home with me that night.
It is true that they do have paper thin skin and cut fairly easily, but they are not china doll fragile.
I also had a cat. He was fine around the cat-they just ignored each other so I think it has to do more with the dog than the breed as far as always looking to kill, that is not always the case. Same around kids, mine was fine around babies crawling on him, if he didn't like it, he would get up and move.
Walking was a dream. They are trained to walk perfectly on a leash, mine rarely pulled and only did if he saw another dog. His only vice was he was dog-aggressive (which isn't typical for a greyhound) so I would make sure to have hold of the leash around another dog, but even then, he wasn't hard to control.
Also, from day one, mine NEVER had an "accident" in the house. I had a dog door which he learned to use right away and never took any housebreaking at all.
I also had a 4' fence and he never tried to jump it. I was told that Greyhounds ususally do not jump. They have never had to do it. The ones that are kept in the upper cages at the track are lifted up there so they don't get hurt. They can jump though once they figure out that they can.
Stairs are another thing they've never had to deal with, it is kinda funny watching them try to figure it out in the beginning. But mine learned to run up the stairs two at a time right away.
It is also fun watching them investigate their new surroundings when first off the track. They have never been in a home before. I never used a kennel or a muzzle on him, once he came home.
And nothings cuter than the way they lay on their chests! The chest is so large, their rear ends are just left hanging in air. They also have a hard time sitting. Luckily, I had a SUV, so mine could either stand or lay, very rarely did he sit and if so not for very long.
I could keep rambling because I love this breed so much. They are beautiful, graceful, friendly and YES, they can be couch potatoes. Mine was 99% of the time, but once in awhile, he would get a wild hair and just start running around the house and yard. You can tell that greyhounds do actually enjoy running. They love to go for walks, car rides, and can become very attached to their human (mine use to even wait outside the bathroom door for me) But he also did well when alone. He NEVER caused any damage nor was he any sort of nuisance to the neighbors regarding barking. I would have to say, he was PERFECT in my eyes!
As every greyhound owner can tell you, they are wonderful dogs and make great housepets. You get a feeling of such deep love, loyalty, and appreication. It's as if they know that you saved their life by rescuing them. The track where he came from had been investigated because it was reportedly found that some of the owners had been killing the dogs and dumping the bodies at the garbage dump rather than adopting them out. This was back in the mid 90's and there was an article called "Garbage Dump Greyhounds" recounting this. Thankfully, the track is now closed down.
Sadly, I lost him to cancer when he was 13. I still have not gotten over it after two years and can't bring myself to get another dog. But..He gave me a wonderful 10 years full of love. If I ever do get another dog, It will definitely be another retired racer.

Answer:
 I don't get why anyone would say that if they loose even a little blood, they'd die? I lived with a retired racing Greyhound for seven months when I was working in Minnesota. He was a blood donor for the University of Minnesota (along with a handful of other retired Greyhounds). He donated blood once a month. Greyhounds have "universal" doggy blood, I do believe, and are important donors.

Answer:
 Yes, I was just going to log back on to add that Greyhounds are routinely used as blood donors. I couldn't believe that I read that on here. There are so many misconceptions about Greyhounds. People used to ask me all the time if mine was hyper. Quite the opposite, he was extremely laid back. Many people have never even seen one in person, so I guess I can understand why the misconceptions are out there.

Answer:
 Great post! I couldnt agree more!

Answer:
 Thanks to everyone for reading my story. I just googled Garbage Dump Greyhounds 12 years later because I was curious if it was still on the internet, and a portion of the article along with a horrific picture is still there after all these years, then clicked on the link to the reasearch lab and another horrific picture (not for the weak of heart). My greyhound came from Idaho and this was the track they mentioned in the article. It is just so sad that this ever happened but luckily, Sloan was spared. If anyone ever considers a Greyhound for adoption, please don't hesitate. They are wonderful pets and so many of them meet with horrible deaths or are sent to research labs. You don't even want to know what goes on there:no: . Even pound puppies are humanely euthanized, alot of Greyhounds are not that lucky. I don't work for any Greyhound or other organizations, these are just my personal experiences and feelings. OK I'll get off my soapbox for now. :)

Answer:
 Old posts are just that. Old. The people who posted that information might not even be around anymore. And many new members may not know either way. Thank you for posting such great info on a wonderful breed! We have a friend who does greyhound rescue. He has four of his own and at least one foster. They are awesome dogs. Sounds like Sloan was a wonderful companion.

Answer:
 Terrific post, Sloan. I do have my heart set on a greyhound that currently belongs to certain not so great neighbours of mine; he was placed in a horse float with a live rabbit and he licked it and tried to play with it; they left him in the float all night and in the morning he was found sleeping next to the rabbit and the rabbit was still very much alive and healthy; they said that such a greyhound is an embarrassment to the racing industry as a "proper" greyhound should have killed that rabbit. They said that if he doesn't shape up to what is expected of him they will get rid of him as he isn't yet registered and by getting rid of him they mean shooting him; I am no longer on speaking terms with these people but we did reach an agreement at one point that if this dog wasn't going to prove worthwhile in the racing track that I would adopt him, now that we no longer speak to each other I dread what will happen to him, I pray that he will find his way to me somehow. He is a beautiful black & white pied greyhound and he has a magnificant nature, he is just so smoochy and affectionate, it really depresses me to think that I may never see him again. His name is ACE, god be with you Ace.

Answer:
 Thanks, Deidre
That is awful that such a wonderful dog is going through that. For his sake, I hope you are able to get him. Is he currently a racer or are his owners trying to train him to be one? Poor bunny too! I just don't understand some people:no: and that some still train with live rabbits as bait. Maybe you could swallow your pride even though you're not on speaking terms and see if they will allow you to take Ace since he's such an "embarrasment" to them.

Answer:
 Hi Sloan; apparently Ace isn't registered as yet, they are going to train him but they seem to think that he isn't going to be any good because he hasn't killed that poor rabbit so they think he isn't going to chase when racing.
I will try to see what I can do via other people but I cannot ring these people as there has been a few heated exchange of words due to their poor treatment of animals and their abusive ways with their own children and hence I have been told not to ring them again, not that I would have wanted to anyway, I have bitten my tongue on a few occasions but found that I couldn't do it any longer.