Let us tell you what life with a greyhound is really like so you can make an informed decision on whether these long boys and girls are what you really want! The first point to make is although they are called ‘greyhounds’ they aren’t actually grey but come in many varying colours of which blue is the closet to grey but is most definitely a beautiful shade of blue!
- Greyhounds love sofas, they love to cuddle with you on said sofa and due to their athletic build, long limbs can obscure the view of the TV when outstretched so perhaps choose a different breed if this is going to be a problem.
- Continuing on the sofa theme, boney elbows and legs are not always the most comfortable of things to cuddle up with in fact they are more like a bag of bones and when they are dreaming, often like to participate in much running and kicking action. You have been warned, especially if holding a cup of tea or coffee!
- You may well need a peg for your nose as greyhounds do have a tendency to break wind! If you don’t fancy the peg option you will need a strong stomach.
- Greyhounds don’t make great guard dogs, they may be quite large but that’s as far as it goes on the intimidating front I’m afraid. Think gentle giants as opposed to big bully boys. They are more likely to greet a stranger with a lick and a wag of the tail, no good for guarding.
- They do love human company and enjoy sticking their pointy noses into whatever you are doing, especially in the kitchen. After all food IS for sharing right? Well you have to be pretty hard faced to be able to not give into those sorrowful puppy dog eyes that will penetrate into you making you believe they haven’t eaten for the past 326 hours! You may find this intimidating so be prepared for this level of pressure.
- If you have the false impression that you will be needing to do lengthy walks with this athletic looking long legged type you will be mistaken. They are commonly known as ‘40 mile an hour couch potatoes’ for a reason. They are built for speed more than endurance. Of course there are always exceptions to this (Miller never got the memo) so any keen runners get used to running alone. Your greyhound would rather be on the sofa catching ZZZZZZZ’z.
- Just because they look tough with their ear tattoos and muscles don’t be fooled as the greyhound is really just an emotional sponge. On the sensitive chart they are at the top! They need constant reassurance of how fantastic they are. They can pick up on your mood and if you are sad will sigh and look sympathetically at you, maybe nudge your hand with their boney head or lean on you with their boney bodies trying to make sure you are okay. After all what could be more important than them in their greyhound world?
- If you don’t like drama you are better off looking elsewhere. Greyhounds come with what’s commonly known as GSOD syndrome. This term refers to the fact that they are basically big wusses that any devastating event can cause this ear splitting scream sending you into a panic as surely the sky must be falling in. Nope you’d be wrong, it could be that they’ve trodden on a pea, or the vet is ABOUT to give them their vaccination, or a piece of litter blew past them down the street. It really is as simple as that! It will make you jump and go running to assist them but often the drama has already passed and you will be unaware of what had befallen them.
- If you have a social life involving meeting friends and family in pubs, coffee shops, the park or beach you must be prepared to now include your hound in this adventure. After all our KGR volunteers painstakingly put lots of time and effort into preparing your new dog for this sort of life. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it and who said volunteering was easy! Our greyhounds seem to really enjoy this part of their new lives so if you can’t accommodate them in your adventures perhaps the greyhound is not for you!
Well we hope you’ve enjoyed an insight into the life of a greyhound and what to expect and if you realise that this all sounds perfectly acceptable to you please take a look at our Hounds Needing Homes section and apply to maybe meet your new best friend.