The Care and Joy of Owning a Retired Racing Greyhound

Most of my life there was always a Germanbecause they have a large chest cavity and if the
Shepherd in the house.They were my favoritegasses build up, their insides can twist and they
breed and when I bought my own house I sworecan die so special attention should be paid here.
I would get one. A few months before my wifeThey are very fast runners so when they are
and I bought our first house I saw a video aboutoutside you should always keep them on a leash
the industry of Greyhound racing. It reallyor a completely fenced in area.They absolutely
disturbed me to find out what horrible thingslove to lay with you and are described as 45mph
happen to these dogs when they are finishedcouch potatoes and act like they are lap dogs.
racing. I did some follow up research and knewYou can not treat them the same way as a
from that day I would always have a retiredShepherd or a Lab because they are a little more
greyhound in my house.delicate but make awesome pets.
At the time we lived in New Jersey and found anOur dog was only 2 years old when we got her
adoption group called NJGAP. I filled out all of theand regardless of what happened to her at the
proper paperwork and adopted the most beautifultrack she was just full of love and playfulness.
red brindle female greyhound I ever saw aboutWhen anyone came into the house she would
two months after we bought the house. At the"smile" by raising her upper lip and dance around
track they spend most of their time in a smalluntil you payed attention to her. They are smart,
crate so when you adopt one you must have anintelligent animals and will use their wit to play and
appropriate sized crate for your dog to movejust have fun with you. They are sight hounds
around in. In general they like to sleep in the crateand will zero in on a squirrel up to a half mile away
and will just lay in there because this is their safeand if not on a leash or in a fenced area they run
house and you really should not bother them whileafter it.
they are in there. You can either close the doorIn the winter when it is cold outside, you must
to the crate or leave it open which depends onput a coat on your greyhound because they have
your greyhounds personality, the choice will beless than 15% body fat and can freeze to death
yours.if left out for a long time. In the summer they
They have somewhat sensitive stomachs so youcan get heat stroke just like people so do not
should only feed them the recommended foodleave them in the heat very long. After about a
and treats because they can become ill. We usedyear we adopted another greyhound which was
Pro Plan because it was recommended and itthe most beautiful somewhat rare male blue
comes in a few different flavors so you canbrindle. Together they would play and brighten up
change it up a little. After they eat it is not aeven the worst day and you will almost forget
good idea to let them run around for about 1 hourabout it and just enjoy the best companion dog in
due to a condition called bloat. This can happenthe world.