Trying to adopt a rescued greyhound

[Duncan]

So, the fam & I drove to a greyhound rescue yesterday to check out some retired racers. We got familiar with two who are OK with cats, and socialized them with our dog. One of them seemed nice enough, but didn't really warm up to us. The other one seemed really happy to interact with us, and he gently licked my daughter's face and 'nitted' (nibbled) on our dog - that's a good thing. We should know by later this week if we can have him. He's being fixed on Friday (I believe), so it'll be a while before he's here.

The guy ran 85 races, which is kind of cool. Of course on the drive home, Bebe's kids said "Let's make it 86." Nice. I jogged with him at the rescue, and he was nice enough not to laugh at me . Anyway, in a few weeks, this guy might be introduced to a life of chaos: tummy rubs, jelly beans, not eating the cats, walks, whole slow-cooked chicken legs & thighs, chew toys & Halloween costumes. Of course, we'll have to go slowly, as he might not even understand stairs & windows, yet.

[toys2cool]

awesome, they're really sweet..my aunt had one who raced here at the Flagler dog track

[Hector]

The greyhound race business can be really cruel and shady, once the dogs don't turn in a profit, they are discarded like an old deck of cards, that's why so many are abandoned, it's so infuriating and sad.

Glad you are planning on adopting one.

[wayne foundation 07]

What a great thing you want to do!

[thunderbolt]

Bravo, Punkin aproves!!

[Duncan]

Thanks, all. This could be an interesting experience. I read on one chat board that some of these former racers don't know to drink from a water bowl. You have to leave plastic or metal buckets of water around for them, b/c that's what they're used to at the track. I hope we're bright enough to adapt to his needs.

[Duncan]

...and, he's here. We picked him up from the rescue yesterday. He was castrated on Thur, so he's obviously still a bit tender down there, but otherwise he's doing OK. He's drinking and eating fine - actually, he's ravenously hungry - and gets along well with our other dog. As we'd been warned, he doesn't understand windows yet and is terrified of stairs...doesn't like tiled (slippery) floors,etc., but he'd been exposed to children in the past which is good. He's a very chill dog. If only he were 100% housebroken, he'd be another perfect dog (like our other one). C'mon peer pressure...

[Bill]

That's great to hear. He'll figure stuff out by watching the other dog.
I'm headed out in a few to go check out a boxer near Orlando, wish me luck.

[Duncan]

That's great to hear. He'll figure stuff out by watching the other dog.
I'm headed out in a few to go check out a boxer near Orlando, wish me luck.

Cool. Our other dog is probably 1/2 boxer, and he's a lot of fun.

[Bizarro Amy]

Congrats on the new arrival. I'm always glad to hear about dogs being rescued and given a good home. I've met a few former racers before and they seem like great dogs. Post his pic soon!

That's great to hear. He'll figure stuff out by watching the other dog.
I'm headed out in a few to go check out a boxer near Orlando, wish me luck.

Good luck!

[palitoy]

Very close friends of mine do the exact same thing, they're lovely creatures.

[Bill]

Today was a good day...

[mike69]

Grey hounds are great dogs!! My wife and I adapted one around 10 years ago from a grey hound shelter in Chargrin falls. The only thing you have to watch for with those grey hounds is when it storms. Ours got very frightened and actually bit our 7 year old daughter, she had to get 4 staples in her head and the grey hound had to be quarantine for a week. If it was any other dog I would have had him put down but, these poor dogs have had rough life so, I called the rescue and the lady told me that was common for those grey hounds to get frightened when it storms and gave us some anxiety medication for him. When it stormed again we gave him the medication and he was just fine then.. She said that some of the grey hounds, when they were racing, were put in crates and left out side all the time and that's why they get very frightened when it storms.

[Duncan]

Grey hounds are great dogs!! My wife and I adapted one around 10 years ago from a grey hound shelter in Chargrin falls. The only thing you have to watch for with those grey hounds is when it storms. Ours got very frightened and actually bit our 7 year old daughter, she had to get 4 staples in her head and the grey hound had to be quarantine for a week. If it was any other dog I would have had him put down but, these poor dogs have had rough life so, I called the rescue and the lady told me that was common for those grey hounds to get frightened when it storms and gave us some anxiety medication for him. When it stormed again we gave him the medication and he was just fine then.. She said that some of the grey hounds, when they were racing, were put in crates and left out side all the time and that's why they get very frightened when it storms.

Yeah, we went to the Chagrin Falls rescue, too. Nice people, good facility, no BS. We were happy with the experience. We saw police clocking cars both times we drove the shelter's street, though.

A pretty intense storm blew through today, and I could see that our guy was a little skittish. He picked up on our moods when we acted like the storm was no big deal, and he did OK. Didn't like the thunder, though.

[mike69]

That's great he did good for during the storm. I didn't want to alarm you, I just wanted you to relize that the shelter does/did have medication for them. When we got our grey hound the lady didn't even tell us about how they might act during storms. I don't know if you have any small kids or not. My daughter just went over to pet him and that's when he bit her. We no longer have our grey hound, he past away a few years ago. I wouldn't mind to have another one, one day. Another thing too, if you take them for long walks be sure to take a few waste bags with you. Ours went pretty often on long walks. I guess it's because they are use to going to the bathroom only we they are walked before a race.