Topic: fostering retired greyhounds

[fuzzybutt]

after several years of constant pestering her, my wife has agreed to let me start fostering retired greyhounds for a local rescue group. this involves getting the dog used to not living most of it's life in a crate, seeing if the dog small dog and child safe as well as cat indifferent. get them used to stairs and just being a dog. with me not really being able to work at a regular job i've found i sometimes have a problem keeping my mind and body occupied. i did the fostering this 15 years or so ago when i lived in florida and found it to be a rewarding, frustrating, sometimes heartbreaking thing to do but well worth every second of it. my house is a layout such that i can keep the new dog away from the other animals temporarily (or permanently if it wants to kill and eat the cats and wiener dog) before you all think about going out and spending hundreds of dollars on a purebred, please consider a retired greyhound. theyre very quiet (they rareky bark) the have very short coats and shedding is almost a non-issue, they dont often get "doggy stink" and every needlenose i've ever known has been M E L L O W, total couch potatoes.

[azuredesign]

Fuzzy,

We had the best dog in the world when we got a greyhound from the local greyhound woman in Hopkinton back in the early 90's. He was strong and docile at the same time. 75 lbs, he'd let me fall asleep with him with my head on his side, and he'd ride with me in my pickup, although I had to arrange milk crates and a couple of pillows as his carcass didn't fit on the bench seat. He was very cool in that I didn't have to use a leash with him, as we live in the suburbs. He'd stay heeled up next to me no matter what critter went running by. And could he run when I first got him, man could he run! Funny, I remember having to teach him to go down stairs.
I had him for about a year. The only problem was children startling him when he slept. He bit 3 of them. The first two were our kids, but the last was a friend's and he cut up the kid's head enough so that I had to give him back to the greyhound lady as there were too many other little kids around. I still miss that mutt!

[tramp]

i have heard of greyhound fostering
i guess after thier racing career they would just put them to sleep
good for you fuzzy
i'm a dog farmer myself
wife has a ankle biter
daughter who lives with us while going to college has a retriever/cocker
i have a weimaraner, a pure bundle of energy

[jsaab2748]

A friend of mine had a neighbor who had one. Whenever he'd run around the fenced back yard he'd ALWAYS go counterclockwise.
He was very gentle.

[SD750F]

My best friend is very active with a group in New Jersey. Here are a couple greyt sites to get more information about greyhounds. There are two dogs that I love to have around. Irish Wolfhounds and Greyhounds. Both sighthounds and related and have the same personalities.

http://www.greyhoundfriendsnj.org/

http://reviews.ebay.com/ADOPTING-A-RETIRED-RACING-GREYHOUND-Before-You-Adopt_W0QQugidZ10000000000952505

[Duke McDukiedook]

Beautiful dogs, wish I could have one or two. I heard that if you got three or four they make great wolf and coyote hunters.

Also make good house dogs.
 

[fuzzybutt]

greyhounds are, for the most part very quiet gentle dogs. i've only seen one that was nasty. theyre really the ultimate apartment dog as theyre low energy for the most part and quiet. the one thing with greyhounds, all sight hounds really, is you really cant let them run off leash unless theyre in a fenced area as they will sometimes see a small animal and even if theyre cat indifferent in the house, they can spot a cat or bunny or whatever and take off and when they go into their prey mode they dont pay attention to anything but that prey and they can run right out in front of a car or just not come back, as you know theyre REALLY fast. last one i had thought he was a cat and i'd come home to find willie on his back, legs sticking straight up with cats on and around him.

[SD750F]

Fuzzy,

They call that roaching! 

[fuzzybutt]

Fuzzy,

They call that roaching! 

cool, i learn something new every day 

[Dawdlin Dog]

If you have any questions Pharaoh is net savvy and will be pleased to answer 


And if anyone needs a lesson in roaching Dunes a dab hand


I've done alot of work with ex racers and sighthounds in general, you're right Fuzzy, it is a very rewarding experience.
I hope it all goes well for you and don't forget to post piccies 

[burmashave]

The retired greyhounds I've known have been wonderful. You've given me some food for thought, fuzzy. My Lucy (rescued Yellow Lab) is 9 years old now. At the moment, I'm not set up for another dog, but it'd be best for me to consider it soon before Lucy gets too old to be comfortable with a new dog.

I used to live up in Nahant, MA, and my commute would take me down route 1 past the Wonderland race (dog) track. It used to break my heart to see the trucks zipping up and down with a bunch of crates in the back. I still hate to think about that track and what they do to dogs.

@Dawdlin: Great picture and yes, mellow. One could not call Lucy a computer lab. The closest she comes to technology is to get her nose under my keyboard when she wants something and then flip the keyboard off my lap onto the floor.