As mentioned, Sally and I have had over twenty year’s experience owning greys. Our first two Greyhounds had not been fostered and had come straight from their lives as athletes and track dogs. As such they had no exposure to domestic life and everything was new. This fed their natural curiousity and resulted in many items being taken to the backyard for further inspection. Anything that resembled food was eaten and anything else was merely sniffed or nibbled. We have not yet lost any shoes.

The period of adjustment was fast (as they are naturally intelligent and trusting). Note if you get a Greyhound that hasn’t been fostered, understand that everything is new, and you can’t assume anything. I learnt a valuable lesson with our first Grey in this context. After a six km walk, we ended up at the bottom of four flights of wrought-iron steps. My 32kg dog looked up at me with an expression of ‘now what?’. I ended up carrying her up the stairs to avoid a 6km return trip. I didn’t make that mistake again!

There are several reasons a Greyhound may be surrendered for adoption. These include injury, a lack of ability or interest, or the wrong temperament. It is always important to gather as much history as possible to inform you about the best way to care for your Greyhound.

Past injuries will affect your Greyhound’s ability to handle exercise. Whilst they all naturally love to run; they need to be carefully trained for recall before allowing uncontrolled exercise as they can run to the extent of physical injury, with no capacity to control it.

Past broken limbs will affect their ability to get up and down and from sitting or lying and may lead to arthritis in older dogs. Some dogs may be socially anxious or triggered by certain noises and may need more careful management to socialise them, slowly.

Whilst never the aggressor, A greyhound will fight to protect itself. Being thin-skinned and light-boned, they are not built for fighting and will be easily harmed by fights. Please ensure they are protected on walks as we have experienced a few Greyhounds almost being killed by other dogs. This is preventable and requires some maturity and awareness.