We are considering adopting a greyhound, but I have a few questions?
Byfor one, I heard they shed. I’m very allergic to things that shed (eyes swell shut, I get hives, etc.) Would their shedding be a problem?
and two, we have three small dogs, toy poodles. I don’t know if they would deal well with eachother. Along with that, I’m scared our 3 dogs would feel neglected if a new, larger dog was to come into the household. would our current dogs pose a problem for a greyhound?
the one we are looking to possibly adopt is a 5 year old light red-brown racedog that has scars, and half an ear, just so you know 
…I really don’t want my dogs to be killed. lol. we’re getting our house checked, so hopefully that will provide some insight.
http://www.azgreyhoundrescue.org/hounds.htm
her name’s tasha, if you want to take a look
15 Comments
February 1st, 2011 at 1:38 am
They do shed and I’m not sure about how it will act with smaller dogs.
February 1st, 2011 at 2:05 am
All dogs shed…go to the rescue and ask to spend some time with the dogs to see if they trigger allergies. As far as your toy poodles I would recommend making sure you get a dog from the rescue that they have deemed small animal safe. Greyhounds are bred to chase and kill small furry things and while some may be safe around small dogs that is not true for all of them
Edit: very pretty but she is listed as not cat safe (likely indicating she is a chaser) and unknown on small dogs. If things pan out with your allergies I would recommend considering another dog that is listed as small dog safe, for the safety of your poodles
February 1st, 2011 at 3:04 am
Greyhounds DO shed, thats true. I’ve read on several different websites that they are okay with smaller dogs, but not “toy” sized dogs. Mainly because they were trained on the rabbit.
Here is every website I have compiled on GH’s, may they come of some use to you, I too have been looking into GH rescues. I do have more, but yahoo only allows ten links. If you would like the rest of them, feel free to email me.
February 1st, 2011 at 4:00 am
consider a hairless chinese crested
February 1st, 2011 at 4:32 am
EVERY dog sheds. If you are allergic then DO NOT get a dog. The only ones that do not shed and completely hairless dogs. Thats great that you want to give a poorly treated dog a second chance at life. Greyhounds shed but their fur is not like fluffy downy type fur it is coarse and hard. They do shed quiet a bit but a good brushing once a day would fix that. They would most likely be wonderful with your other dogs. Take them with you when you go to get the dog and let them meet before taking them home. Most greyhounds are very very calm and laid back they are in many ways a small dog in a large dogs body.
February 1st, 2011 at 4:39 am
I dont think the poodles would be intimidated. I have a min poodle who thinks hes a big lab.
February 1st, 2011 at 5:06 am
Greyhounds are great, gentle dogs. When they are retired they usually aren’t as hyper as many people seem to think they are. About your allergies, luckily for you, greyhounds do not have an undercoat! That means that they should not trigger your allergies all that much at all. I would be more worried about your three dogs reacting to such a bigger dog, and if they greyhound wants to play, it may hurt them. A lot of rescues let you introduce your dogs to the potential pet before you adopt them, to make sure they all get along, so ask them if they offer that option.
Look up introducing a new dog to old dogs on the Internet, they give you good steps and information about the subject– Introduce them in a neutral place, make sure you pay a lot of attention to your old dogs, make sure he/she has a crate or safe haven from the other dogs, make sure you give the other dogs a recess from the new dog to help them understand whats going on, etc.
Rescued and retired Greyhounds are usually very gentle and loyal.
Good Luck!
EDIT: If you have bad allergies, I would also recommend adopting a hypoallergenic dog, which usually means they have hair instead of fur. Here is a list of the breeds that will not trigger your allergies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoallergenic_dog_breeds
February 1st, 2011 at 5:42 am
first: no it wont be a problem
second:u wont have to worry about the little dog as much but the greyhound needs lots of attention he might feel neglected and might get really down the.EG: if you accidentally knock there paw they think they have done something wrong and will get really down and depressed.They are really sensitive.
hope this helps
February 1st, 2011 at 6:08 am
There is an article about aggression in dogs on my blog but it does not 100% fit your want. There are several incredble lengthy articles about dog training on my blog.http://greatdogtrainingtips.blogspot.com
If you want a free dog training ebook , send me an email at aristotlelus@yahoo.com
Below are snippets of that article:
All dogs can be possessive from time to time – it’s in their natures. Sometimes they’re possessive over things with no conceivable value: inedible trash, balled up pieces of paper or tissue, old socks. More frequently, however, resource-guarding becomes an issue over items with a very real and understandable value: food and toys.
Why does it happen?
It all boils down to the issue of dominance. Let me take a moment to explain this concept: dogs are pack animals. This means that they’re used to a very structured environment: in a dog-pack, each individual animal is ranked in a hierarchy of position and power (or “dominance”) in relation to every other animal. Each animal is aware of the rank of every other animal, which means he knows specifically how to act in any given situation (whether to back down, whether to push the issue, whether to muscle in or not on somebody else’s turf, etc etc).
To your dog, the family environment is no different to the dog-pack environment. Your dog has ranked each member of the family, and has his own perception of where he ranks in that environment as well.
This is where it gets interesting: if your dog perceives himself as higher up on the social totem-pole than other family members, he’s going to get cheeky. If he’s really got an overinflated sense of his own importance, he’ll start to act aggressively.
Why? Because dominance and aggression are the exclusive rights of a superior-ranked animal. No underdog would ever show aggression or act dominantly to a higher-ranked animal (the consequences would be dire, and he knows it!)
February 1st, 2011 at 6:42 am
Yeah, the shedding will most likely be a problem for you.
Greyhounds are very docile dogs and wouldn’t be a huge problem with other dogs unless they’ve been abused and not properly socialized. But you’d need to determine if your dogs would accept a new dog into the pack. Consult a trainer or behaviorist in your area for help with this. They could come to the home and observe your dogs around other dogs. The trainer would need to observe the dogs on their home turf rather than in neutral turf, as dogs react differently on their own turf.
I commend you for being willing to adopt such a dog though.
February 1st, 2011 at 6:55 am
You might like to check with this organization to get some of your questions answered.
Hemopet’s Non-Profit
Greyhound Adoption Program
W. Jean Dodds, DVM
http://www.hemopet.org/adoption.html
I hope this helps,
AKKTerry
February 1st, 2011 at 7:16 am
Unfortunately for Tasha, your allergies mean you can definitely not adopt a greyhound. A greyhound would definitely trigger your allergies.
As to your poodles, the rescue group could best answer that question. The majority of greyhounds get along really well with other dogs, so if your dogs are well socialized, the greyhound wouldn’t be the problem.
But your allergies definitely mean you can’t save a greyhound. Sorry.
February 1st, 2011 at 7:22 am
Greyhounds are great dogs but it doesn’t sound like a match for you.
I have a greyhound and she sheds and sheds a lot of little hairs everywhere. Every time we are in the car I have to take a vacuum to my seats to get most of the hair off.
I also acquired her from a rescue because she got passed on through two different families. The first family she was with gave her away because she snapped at there small white dog. Greyhounds in general have a tendency to chase small squeaky things. If you have three small toy poodles I would be concerned about how they would behave once your started running around and acting up. Not that a greyhound wouldn’t be good with them while they remained calm, but how many times to they like to run around, bark and rough house. You will not be able to take that instinct out of the dog. They weren’t trained to chase after white rabbits – they just do.
The second family wasn’t watching her and she jumped their 3 1/2 foot fence (like a baby gate) and got hit by a car. They didn’t want her after that incident. She is fine now ans has a slight lameness but still runs like there is no tomorrow.
Greyhounds are superior athletes when it comes to running and quite the couch potato when they aren’t. I have been working with dogs for 10 years and most of my greyhound owners say there greyhounds are great until they see that small furry thing taking off in the back ground. I have seen many smaller dogs attacked by greyhounds and many did not make it. Lots of considering to do with this topic.
Good luck.
February 1st, 2011 at 7:53 am
All dogs shed. (except for poodles and some other breeds whose hair keeps growing, but they still lose it so shed in a different way.)
This can be kept to a minimum by brushing him regularly with a cloth or a rubber short hair brush (which can sometines produce dandruff).
You could get someone else to brush him daily for you so that it dosn’t agitate your allergies. Shedding is also affected by whether he’s an indoor or outdoor dog. Indoor dogs shed all year round, outdoor dogs shed heavily twice a year with the seasons.
As long as the greyhound is small dog friendly and your other dogs accept him, there shouldn’t be a problem. Most greyhounds are fine with small dogs, a lot are reared with them, but they do love to chase.
Greyhounds are generally lovely dogs when controlled properly. They are easier than a lot of breeds (eg. Huskies, some Dobes, some Weims and Rotts) as they are generally quite soft tempered.
They walk very well on the lead generally, its rare that I’ve seen one pull.
Here in the area I live in Ireland, loads of people have racing greyhounds and they are mostly friendly and not a problem to small dogs, though my pup has been chased and harrassed by some in particular which made him frightened of other dogs.
You’ll see a lot of old men here with a greyhound and a terrier.
But the good thing about greyhounds when they do go after a dog, they won’t generally full blown attack it, but are more likely to nip it and harrass it. Many dogs wont chase, but it is their instinct. If you’re a rabbit, forget about it!
Greyhounds are docile and not hyper, they do need excersise, but not as much as say, a Doberman, and seeing as how you’re not going to keep it it peak fitness for racing it wont need mega excersise.
Make sure the dog you get is dog friendly. Introduce your dogs to him on neutral territory, preferably one by one, let them get to know each other one on one, then introduce them together, again on neutral territory, then bring the dog into your home. Allthese precautions may not be necessary, but its good to just be sure and do it right.
My friend had a brindle greyhound when we were little and he was gorgeous, very frindly and no trouble off lead or anything.
I would reccomend a greyhound as a pet.
Good luck!
February 1st, 2011 at 8:26 am
We adopted a retired racer, and it was one of the best things I’ve ever done. She makes me laugh all the time and she is one big sucky baby.
Yes, they do shed, and right now she is shedding alot…prob because of the time of year and she is getting ready for her winter coat.
We have a cat, and my bestfriend who lives down stairs has a small dog, and Ginger loves them both. It didn’t take long for her to adjust to apartment life either, and we take her for frequent walks to keep her happy and healthy. All the cats in the neighbourhood love her and none of them run away when they see her coming. As a matter of fact the cat down the street waits for her every morning and rubs up against her and Ginger loves it. Oh, and by the way let’s not forget the people that live in the front have a rabbit and she sniffs it from one end to the other and can’t get enough of it…lol…imagine that one, for a dog that used to chase rabbits (even though they weren’t real). I have pictures of her with the rabbit and am going to add them to my facebook.
Let’s just say I’m addicted to greyhounds and would highly reccommend anyone that is thinking of adopting one, that they won’t be disappointed, for they are constantly entertaining, funny, sweet and gentle animals.
The only problem I do have with her…is she hates if I have to go somewhere without her, and if I leave her alone, she gets separation anxiety and cries. I’ve tried leaving the tv on, and she has the cat for company…but none of that works, she just wants mommy to be with her all the time.