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Does anyone know anything about adopting X-racers?? I know I've always thought about rescuing 1 or 2 someday. Not now though no way am I able to keep a dog at this point in time, but perhaps in another 5+ years.
Does anyone know anyone personally whose adopted an X-racer?? What was the dog like?
Thanks! :D
I recomend going to www.greytalk.com, its a greyhound board with hundreds of people who have adopted ex-racers :)
Thanks Cali! :) I'll go take a look!
I have friends who have 6 grayhounds all retried racers and a whippet,,,,,
There's always TONS of x-racers at our Humane Society here. I spoke to a lady once who had 1. She said that her's was a big couch potato. ;)
My sister and brother-in-law have an ex-racing greyhound. He was adopted through a rescue organization in Atlanta. His name is Drake, and he is a giant sweetheart of a dog. Couch potato is a pretty accurate description. They have had to deal with some health issues, but other than that, he has been a wonderful pet. I'll have to see if I can find any pictures.
My daughter and son-in-law have adopted 2 x racers. Willow and Dahlia. They got them from a rescue about two or three years ago. Nice dogs. The rescue did home visits and were very careful about placement. They live in Wisconsin. I can check the name of the rescue and get back to you.
LOL that's just what I've always wanted, a friend to hang out and be lazy with. :) From what I've heard Greyhounds sound like wonderful dogs, I actually just gone to the library and found a book on adopting ex-racers so I'm going to be reading it for sure.Quote:
Originally posted by prechrswife
Couch potato is a pretty accurate description.
I'd love to adopt one someday... :D Thanks everyone for your info.
prechrswife: I'd love to see pictures! Greyhounds are such beautiful dogs.
my pastor adopted one a couple years ago.....he talks about how well mannerd she is and they are a really cute pair.lol.....he even brings her to church and lets the little kids play with her. she enjoys the attention. although i heard there are some x-racing greyhounds that never get this mellow and often don't like kids.
Here's a great site that list most of the adoption groups. Just pick the state that your live and find a group near by
adoption list
Greyhounds are the BESTEST!!!
DH and I love greyhounds so much we ended up with 7!!!!!
Greyhounds are like chips...you can't have just one!!!
People are oftten shocked when they hear we have that many large dogs in our house - but really, seven isn't that much more work than 2. (Just a lot more vacuuming, dog food and poop picking up :D )
Retired racers are huge couch potatos, very laid back, gentle, easily handled (from their training at the track), shed little (compared to some other breeds), quiet and extremely loving. They can be aloof around strangers and many are quite cat-like in their personalities. The breed overall is extremely healthy due the careful, selective breeding of racers.
Of course these are generalizations of a breed with very individual personalities. Of our seven we have a couple total goofballs, a super-velcro (his head is inches away from my foot as I type this), a couple very independent hounds that prefer to come to US when they want some ear scritches, both high and low prey drive, some that still love to run their tushys off and some that take retirement extremely seriously :)
Hope this helps...there's tons of info on the web about retired racers as pets. Good luck and I hope that one day you experience the many joys these wonderful needle-noses can bring to your life.
Our latest addition is a greyhound that never made it off the training farm. He loves to run, but on his terms only, so the farmer sent him out through the adoption channels so he could find our home :)
The primary thing to realize, once the hound is in your home is, this is all new to him. Prior to moving into the adoption system, he lived the life of a working racing animal. Although he have seen other breeds, he is not generally overally familiar with them. Other breeds might startle him as he learns they are dogs like he is. He needs to learn what windows are, how to handle stairs, how to handle laminate floors, what children are and a host of other relatively small things that are large changes for a dog that hasn't seen similar things before.
There are several good books to use as references. Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies by Lee Livingood and Adopting the Racing Greyhound by Cynthia A Branigan are both wonderful resources. They outline specific needs of the breed so you can verify if this is an animal that will match your household prior to exploring the options of adopting.
Some online resources are:
Greytalk
Greys Of Our Lives
Thank you so much for all the great info. They sound like such a wonderful breed... I wish I could adopt some now. :)
If it is of interest to anybody, the greyhound is the breed with the greatest documentation of its lineage of any breed of dog. http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?i=112075 is a database of nearly 1 million greyhounds from the 1700s to the present.