I'm going to be adopting a rescue dog!

Greyhounds sound a good match and are large enough to make anyone wary of approaching you, although in all honesty i don't really think it is a regular pet dog's 'job' to protect you. If you are anxious after being attacked before, which is of course understandable, there are many better strategies than putting a dog in the role of protector. For example, choosing where you walk, carrying a walking pole, carrying an attack alarm all come to mind. I am sure you could find more suggestions online.

 

Retired greyhounds are great. They are not too bad at pulling although they cant be off lead ( most anyway).
Please think before putting any dog in the role of defender. Although its great to have a dog that will bark if youre in trouble the law is so quick to find a dog 'dangerous' so that if anyone said they felt threatened by your dog you could loose him/her.

 

@JudyN I guess you know more greyhounds than I do ... its just that our local rescue always marks ex-racers as not suitable for off lead..

 

Speak to your local rehoming centre they should help and they could guide you to a 'special someone (Dog)'

 

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Most of the sighthounds i've met or known, not 'only Greyhounds' or 'only ex-racers', couldn't be off leash 'cuz they'd chase down most critters smaller than they were, which included free-roaming cats or even cats on their own front-porches, small dogs - particularly TOY dogs such as Chis, Poms, & similar - & other domesticated animals, not including of course the unlucky wildlife they took after.
Rescues get doggone tired of being chewed-out by adopters who foolishly let their adopted sighthound off-leash outside a fence, & then had to pay the purchase price & often a fine & court-fees, too, when their adoptee joyously killed someone's pet. // It doesn't make good public-relations.

Rescues in the USA, especially the ones that specialize in sighthounds or ex-racers, almost universally have a repossession clause in the adoption contract, to the effect that if the dog is picked up astray, U get just one error - the 2nd time, they reclaim the dog, & U do *not* get that adoption-fee refunded. That money is forfeit.

some examples, lest U think i exaggerate:
http://friendsofgreyhounds.org/fog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Adoption-Agreement2.pdf
QUOTE,
"YOUR PART:
...
2. Your dog must be on a leash anytime s/he is outdoors unless in an appropriately fenced area. Greyhounds are sighthounds with strong instincts to chase things you may not even be able to see. Never walk your Greyhound off leash or "trust" her/him not to run away."


from Greyhounds as Pets - Greyhound Friends of NC
QUOTE,
"Greyhounds are members of the sighthound group, and have exceedingly keen eyesight – they can see clearly for up to one-half mile! They also have a genetic chase instinct and a love for running.
This combination of genetic traits, plus their racing training, makes it necessary to keep your greyhound on leash when not inside a completely-fenced area. Greyhounds hunt by sight, not by smell, and if they become lost are very unlikely to find their own way home."

from Adoption Application - Greyhound Pet Adoption Northwest
QUOTE, bold in the original form:
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACCEPT THAT GREYHOUNDS MUST ALWAYS BE ON LEAD, OR IN A FENCED AREA?
[_] Yes [_] No"
___________________________________________

Sighthound rescues do this for the plain & simple reason that a dog who can hit 40-mph & can also see a moving target half-a-mile off, long-B4 they've a hope in H*** of knowing what they're pursuing, won't be swiftly reunited with their owner - when coursing a critter, they're entirely engaged, & most are stone-deaf to calls from behind. // They're not doing this "to be stubborn" or to "blow U off"; they're far-too excited to see anything but their prey, & the rest of the world is out of their ken.

I love sighthounds, & ex-racing Greyhounds in particular, for their sweet personalities, calm indoor manners, & easygoing natures - they love to run, yes, but they're willing to take as much exercise as U can give them; walking is fine, a leash is fine, jogging is good, bike-jogging is great, a long-line in an open area is terrific, a fenced field is wonderful - they'll also wade, altho i haven't met any that truly loved to swim [yet - there may be some merdog-Greys out there, somewhere].
But i wouldn't take the leash off any sighthound, mine included if i owned one, outside of a fence. The chance of heartbreak is too high - HBC, shot by a farmer, lost & taken in by someone, lost & NOT taken in & dying, who knows?
It's just not worth the possible cost, to me. If i had an ex-racer, i'd do my damnedest to find some fun lure-coursing or other safe sighthound events to enrich their life, rather than risk their life by free-running.
If i lived west of the Mississippi, there might be areas with long sightlines & few roads to let a dog run safely - but not here in the congested Northeast, & not in the Southeast, either, unless U're on a saltwater beach. Venomous snakes are pretty common from Virginia down, & gators start to pop up in South Carolina - many gators just love a nice meal of dog, attested to by the number of undigested collars found inside nuisance gators, when they're shot by Fish & Wildlife officers. Pausing for a drink along a creek or pond edge can be a fatal mistake.

The only sighthound whose leash i'd take off outside a fence would be so old & arthritic, i could jog-trot & outrun them without breaking a sweat!

- terry

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I think a retired greyhound,(or one like May who didn't take to racing!) would be a good choice, I adore staffies but they can be quite strong on the lead. Most of what I can add has been said above.

 

A great thing to do! Every rescue dog I've had has repaid me 1000%. Get a dog as a friend and a companion not a bodyguard- and certainly something like a whippet might fit the bill. Staffies are really lovely too. A good local rescue will advise you about each dog they have to make sure you and the dog are a fit. Good luck.

 

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Could be i'm just a coward, @JudyN - that's OK, too.
I'm not looking for zero risk; life doesn't come with a warranty. OTOH, i've spent time consoling ppl who did exactly what the rescue told them not to do, & their off-leash Greyhound vanished into the distance. I'm SURE these folks hadn't spent time training & proofing recall, but i wouldn't take the chance, personally.

Same with sighthounds & cats - some do fine, others are not trustworthy.
I've met a few Greyhounds who lived very peaceably with the family cat, who was resident B4 the dog arrived - but that said, I wouldn't have trusted those same dogs to ignore a free-roaming cat when away from home.

My own childhood-to-adult dog, GSD-x-Keeshond, never messed with the family cats, & in fact, my half-Siamese tabby left her young litter with him to babysit - BUT he then went to our neighbor's house with his buddies, their own dogs, & he chased THEIR cats, with predatory intent - this wasn't play; if the cats didn't make it up the tree in time, they were dead. I caught him at it, & gave him holy H*** - it was, so far as i know, the last time he did it. // Apparently at their house, he was happy to fall in with the "when in Rome..." theory, but it didn't wash with me.

Those same dogs later killed an 8-MO kitten of ours, chasing her down in a half-foot of fresh snow & playing tug-of-war with her body; her rear leg was torn off, & she bled out, not even 10-ft from our porch. // They were full siblings, F & M, the illegitimate progeny of their lovely white GSD-male & a yellow Lab bitch belonging to another neighbor; horrible dogs, they were sneaky biters who'd tag-team U on the road, one ahead, dancing around barking & snarling, the other coming in to bite yer butt, calf, or thigh from behind.
GSDs are notorious cat-killers, but Snowball got on fine with their cats, while his grown-children were monsters. Not all dogs read the rule-book; we can only go by what we know, & apparently sighthounds in the U-S are incorrigible compared to U-K sighthounds. Either ours are more predatory, or their owners are just lousy trainers - or maybe both!
But that blanket policy does indeed exist - adopters are told they can't let their adoptee off-leash.

- terry

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i think U meant to write "our cat", but the gist comes thru, no worries.
- t

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For me sight hounds need to be free run. OK you choose a suitable area, but I do read at times people with a Whippet that state they always keep it on a lead, I think that is getting near being cruel. These dogs love to run. Now my own experience is with Whippets, and yes most have a prey instinct. But it tends to be confined to small prey, rabbits and squirrels so the chase tends to be short. Rabbits go under ground and squirrels go up a tree. And yes they easily recognise a small fluffy dog as a dog. My present one, Folly lived quite happily with two cats when she came to me, but yes she would have chased any other she saw when we were out. Also, other larger animals do not interest her at all, horses, sheep etc. Obviously I keep her on lead near them but she is not interested. How they compare to other sight hounds like greys I can not say.

 

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here in the USA, rabbits are above-ground, they don't burrow - & a bunny can lead a dog a real merry chase over hill & dale for a good distance!

when i was a kid, our Beagle was lost for 3 days after she took off on a bunny, & got lost - she brought HERSELF home, we had no idea where she'd got to, & the brush she went into was rough & tight - no human could get into it, let alone thru it.
Lord knows how far she went, but she got home footsore, hungry, & very thirsty [It was June, & warm], with some minor tears in her velvety ears from thorns & twigs. She just needed 1st-Aid & a few meals to bounce right back, but i was so relieved that she found her way home - local farmers shot loose dogs on sight, with or w/o collars, they didn't give a damn. // She was only 6-MO, but a keen hunter already.

- terry

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