Well this is really old news to family and friends but I thought I’d post our experience of adopting a Greyhound. Back in January 2016 we started to look into rescue shelters in our area. Why a Greyhound you ask? Well waaaay back in my primary school days my friend took me to her aunt’s house who happened to have rescues. One of them was a GREYHOUND! I can’t explain it but ever since then I just knew I’d have a Greyhound. I didn’t obsess over it for years and years… I just knew I’d have one. Well the stars aligned this year and we were approved to adopt a Greyhound! We thought this breed would be a good fit for our lifestyle right now and went to go visit a rescue centre. We ended up going to Brambleberry Greyhounds just outside Peterborough. We meant to just take a look and then visit other shelters but we fell in love with one particularly lovely lady called GRACE!
The adoption process was pretty smooth and by the end of January she was in our home! The first day she came home I was hit with one of the worst flus I’ve ever had. I’ll never forget that day that’s for sure! We arranged for her to be brought to our house around 2pm… so by 1:50pm I was on edge waiting for a knock on the door! After making the house all tidy and taking in the last few minutes of having a dog free house there was a knock! yay! “Did you order a Greyhound?” the man said LOL Yep that’s us! So he went to the back of his van (loaded with other hounds going to their forever homes!) and got Grace for us. She was SO TIMID. She didn’t want to move at first but the man was so kind and gentle and convinced Grace to move. Apparently the last dog he dropped off had to be lifted into his new home aww. So Grace came in and her room of choice was not where the cosy duvet was. She decided to hide in the kitchen for 2 days aww. We put her duvet in the kitchen so she’d have something soft and warm to sleep on. I took a few days off of work to make sure she settled in and got used to having her new human around. By day 2 I took her duvet out of the kitchen and into the living room. It took her the whole day but she finally came out of the kitchen to hang out with us.
Here are some things to keep in mind before you get your hound and the first month you have your hound:
- The dog you’re looking at right now is probably not the hound you’re going to be living with the rest of its life. Their behaviour will change once you get to know them/they get to know you. Unless you have a very confident dog!
- Expect that their tummies are going to hate everything you give them. We ran out of the kibble the shelter gave us and it took over a month for her tummy to adjust to new food.
- Get a good harness! We have had too many houdini moments with Grace! She’s managed to escape 4 times now. We just bought the RuffWear harness and there’s no way she’s getting out of that!
- They can be stubborn… but in a cute way? Grace INSISTS on going a certain way on her walks. I have to pick her up with the new harness and redirect her if we’re busy in the morning and have to get going.
- Yes they sleep most of the day. I would come home at lunch to take her on a walk or let her outside but she never leaves her duvet. They really are quite happy with just 2 walks a day! Grace will force her body down into the ground when you try to put her harness on at lunch time. So don’t feel guilty if you work 9-5. This pup is quite happy with her quiet time! I leave BBC Radio 4 on in the background so she has something ‘neutral’ and not too exciting to listen to lol
- THEY SHED!!! I had no idea how much Greyhounds shed until Spring came along. I could sit there for hours on end just brushing her. You can make a pack of greyhound puppies out of all the fur you get out of them in one sitting!
- They get dry skin. I’ve been told about coconut oil or fish oil in their food. She’s fine now that it’s summer, but the heaters made her skin very dry (she even had flakes)
- They like routine. It’s the long weekend as I write this and Grace is not handling it too well lol We usually get up around 6am every day but we decided to sleep in til 6:30 (:P) and she was not amused. Right now she’s moaning and growling trying to wake up dad because he’s in charge of morning walkies in her mind haha.
- The ears. The ears… don’t even get me started. Her ears have a personality all their own.
- Stairs are a challenge. It’s been 4 months and Grace is finally using the stairs! It took a sandwich on the third step for her to get the guts to try stairs… so I took the sandwich away and replaced it with her treats. She’s still a bit funny about going down the stairs but she does it eventually!
- Lastly, ZOOMIES! Every morning Grace does her ‘zoomies’ aka runs around like a lunatic and snorting and shoving her nose in your arm and making huge sighs because she’s so happy to see you. It’s the best part of my day! She has mild zoomies in the evening when I come home but nothing compared to first thing in the morning. I need to get a video of Grace doing her zoomies but here’s a cute video of another one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GUA8fx_P_E
If you’re looking for a loyal, loving, quirky adorable companion then I can’t recommend a Greyhound enough! They’re low maintenance and love to be around you. Think about rescuing a Greyhound and offering up a spare duvet to one of these lovely hounds. I love my pup so much!
Your Local Foreinger 