Hello, I have been thinking about giving a home to a greyhound or lurcher for a number of years and finally in a position to do so. I spoke to celia the other day she was very informative and she gave me a run down of the things I need to think about before going ahead (I probably sounded a bit strange though because I was waiting for a bus and the cold was making my teeth chatter ).

Anyway I obviously took her advice about only letting the dog of the lead in a well fenced off area very seriously as the thought of my dog or anyone else's pet coming into harm because of me is completely unbearable. Out the back of my flat I have a large well fenced shared garden. It's shared by the whole block so I have no way of knowing what pets might have access to it. Would it be okay to let the dog have a run out there if it was muzzled. Also there is a fenced dog park not too far away from my house, could she/he have a run there if muzzled. If not would it be unfair to have a dog that would always have be on the lead.

What do other people do? thanks in advance for the benefit of your experience.....

The advice Celia gave you is that a greyhound should only be let off the lead in a secure area. I would say that a fenced dog park that other dog owners have access to, and a shared garden where you have no control over who or what enters it don't really count. If a greyhound takes a dislike to a small dog or a cat they can do it a huge amount of damage to it even if muzzled.

My two stay on the lead. Always. The only place they run free off the lead is under in the paddocks at Baltree. They are quite happy, content dogs and enjoy their walks.

Everyone who takes a rescue dog from Celia signs a rehoming agreement. Part of that agreement is an undertaking never to let the dog off the lead other than in private secured areas. Come along to one of the walks and you'll see dozens of very happy rehomed greyhounds who never get off their leads

Polly - I would have to agree with Steve. I never let my dog off the lead when out on walks, although she can have a bit of a run about in my smallish garden. THe funny thing is, she rarely does run in the garden because she is so exhausted after being out on a walk. I'm sure Celia has told you, they are incredibly lazy dogs, who want to spend the majority of the day sleeping.

Ash is my first grey hound. I can honestly say she has been the easiest, most undemanding dog I have ever owned.

Thanks for your responses. As I say when Celia kindly phoned me back I was at a bus stop on my mobile, the road was very noisy so not the best situation to catch all the nuances of what was being said so was trying to get a sense of what would be safe and what wouldn't.

Before they moved I used to always look after my friends lurchers who also had that lazy greyhound thing going on so I do have a wee bit of experience with sight hounds. They had never raced or worked so they had a much lower prey drive than I would imagine ex racers would have. I think it must be very different having your own dog though. Glad to know they can be content with mainly leashed walks though. I would obviously make sure I understood and adhered to every word of the adoption agreement before I signed it.

Agnes, Sorry if this is is a stupid question but you mention you let your dog of the lead in your private garden. Aren't you just as likely to come other peoples cats wandering about as in my shared garden. Cats don't tend to respect human boundaries in my experience..............

Polly. So far cats haven't been a problem for me as there are only a few in our area. There was a day when a local cat chose to sit on our high fence. Ash made it very clear that she didn't like the cat. Luckily it wasn't stupid and didn't jump into the garden.

On the whole, my dog prefers to spend the day sleeping. She is only in my garden for short spells and most of the time I'm with her or near her.

I suppose it must depend on the area where you live, My mum and dad's garden is always full of cat's, I think they like all the undergrowth and trees compared to the surrounding gardens.......

Cats aren't daft - they'll keep out of your garden if you've got dogs. We had no cats in the garden when we had our last two, but after they passed on we had a few occassion feline visitors. Now we've got dogs again the cats have stayed away.

I was reading your earlier post and your comment on prey drive. I'd say that instinct has more to do with four thousand years of breeding rather than anything to do with race training. My parents had a pair of greyhounds rescued from pups (mother and litter had been abandoned down by a canal). Those dogs never raced or went anywhere near a track, but their prey instinct was just as strong as any other greyhound.

HI POLLY

GLAD YOU HAVE REHOMED A GREY FROM CELIA

I HAVE A GREY AS WELL DONT LET HER OF THE LEAD
BUT SHE ENJOYS HER WALKS
BEEN LOOKING FOR AGES FOR A FENCED AREA NEAR
ME BUT NOTHING.
JUST FOUND AN ENCLOSED AREA JUST DOWN MY ROA
IT IS A SANDY FENCED AREA LET HER OF THERE
SHE SEEM S TO HAVE ENJOYED IT THIS LADY HAS
RACING DOGS BUT SHE LET ME TAKE MY GREY TO
HAVE A FREE RUN

yeah come to think of it when we had our own cat at my parents other cats stayed clear. I've not seen many cat's where I live now though but if they already felt it was their territory that could be a problem. I'm sure you're right about the prey drive thing, maybe whatever my friends lurchers were crossed with was diluting it a bit or maybe I just had missed seeing that side of them. Anyway it seems leads are the way to go, always better safe than sorry................

Hi Polly,
Since having our beloved grey Yogi i have come to realise three things one they are most loving,caring and amazing dogs in the world. Two they are the lazyist dogs i have ever seen and and three if you adopt one you will have recived a precious gift you will never regret.In answer to your post i wolud never let one off a lead unless it was enclosed and you could guarentee no other dogs were present, there are such places you just have to look. Also a grey will walk as much as you want to take them but it honesly does not take much to knacker them out lol.

hope this was usefull.