The Care and Joy of Owning a Retired Racing Greyhound

Retired Greyhounds are great companion dogs that are intelligent and playful. They require different care than most breeds due to their delicate nature. Greyhounds will brighten up your day no matter how bad it was.

Most of my life there was always a German Shepherd in the house.They were my favorite breed and when I bought my own house I swore I would get one. A few months before my wife and I bought our first house I saw a video about the industry of Greyhound racing. It really disturbed me to find out what horrible things happen to these dogs when they are finished racing. I did some follow up research and knew from that day I would always have a retired greyhound in my house.

At the time we lived in New Jersey and found an adoption group called NJGAP. I filled out all of the proper paperwork and adopted the most beautiful red brindle female greyhound I ever saw about two months after we bought the house. At the track they spend most of their time in a small crate so when you adopt one you must have an appropriate sized crate for your dog to move around in. In general they like to sleep in the crate and will just lay in there because this is their safe house and you really should not bother them while they are in there. You can either close the door to the crate or leave it open which depends on your greyhounds personality, the choice will be yours.

They have somewhat sensitive stomachs so you should only feed them the recommended food and treats because they can become ill. We used Pro Plan because it was recommended and it comes in a few different flavors so you can change it up a little. After they eat it is not a good idea to let them run around for about 1 hour due to a condition called bloat. This can happen because they have a large chest cavity and if the gasses build up, their insides can twist and they can die so special attention should be paid here. They are very fast runners so when they are outside you should always keep them on a leash or a completely fenced in area.They absolutely love to lay with you and are described as 45mph couch potatoes and act like they are lap dogs. You can not treat them the same way as a Shepherd or a Lab because they are a little more delicate but make awesome pets.

Our dog was only 2 years old when we got her and regardless of what happened to her at the track she was just full of love and playfulness. When anyone came into the house she would "smile" by raising her upper lip and dance around until you payed attention to her. They are smart, intelligent animals and will use their wit to play and just have fun with you. They are sight hounds and will zero in on a squirrel up to a half mile away and if not on a leash or in a fenced area they run after it.

In the winter when it is cold outside, you must put a coat on your greyhound because they have less than 15% body fat and can freeze to death if left out for a long time. In the summer they can get heat stroke just like people so do not leave them in the heat very long. After about a year we adopted another greyhound which was the most beautiful somewhat rare male blue brindle. Together they would play and brighten up even the worst day and you will almost forget about it and just enjoy the best companion dog in the world.