Greyhound

A sleek, contoured dog built for speed with a very deep chest and an extraordinarily flexible, curved spine. The head is long with almost no stop and the muzzle tapers. The skull is wide between the ears. The small rose ears are folded back. The eyes are dark and the neck is long and graceful. The front legs are absolutely straight. The hindquarters are very powerful and muscular with an arched loin. The long tail is carried low and has a slight upward curve at the end. The short, smooth coat comes in all dog colors.

Most Greyhounds have a definite prey instinct. It is instinctive for these dogs to chase anything that moves quickly. They are extremely fast and some will kill cats and other domestic animals, although this is not the majority (only about 20% of ex-racers are too "keen" on chasing prey to ever be safe with small animals). About 10% are immediately okay due to low prey instinct, and the rest can be trained to leave cats and other small pets in the home alone. They seldom present difficulties with other dogs and are normally good with children, though they do not usually like rough-house play, and would not be a good choice for young children. Indoors, these dogs are calm and sociable to a point where they can even be considered lazy. They bond strongly with their own people, have tremendous stamina, and do not bark much. Show lines tend to be of a different body style than racing lines, and are often more angulated. Racing lines are bred for performance, but often a good by-product are friendly, outgoing dogs, who make wonderful pets when their racing days are over. Greyhounds are not particularly vigilant. Show lines tend to be a bit heavier and bred more for temperament than racing lines, therefore dogs from show lines often make better pets, but racing lines can also make wonderful pets. There are hundreds of adoption groups all over North America, Europe and Australia to place these gentle, loving dogs when they retire. Retired racing Greyhounds are not usually difficult to housebreak. They are already crate trained from the track, so it doesn't take them long to learn that they are not to "go" in the house. There are several books on the market, written by highly experienced adopters and adoption workers to help new adopters through this process, and answer almost any question that can arise.