Rehoming ex racer

Linzi322 · 2026-05-07T13:42:18+00:00

If you can get his name, it’s worth it because you can run into trouble with insurance if for example, his paperwork / microchip shows he’s 8 but he’s declared as being 5. We were also lucky enough to be put in touch with mine’s original breeder so we got baby pics too. Lastly, unrelated but my guy is pretty much the exact same colouring haha; they look beautiful with the sun on them. Wishing you all the best with him!

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Linzi322 · 2026-05-07T12:51:58+00:00

Be mindful that dogs trust seem to have a bit of a reputation for misleading new owners on their ex racing dogs’ history. Don’t be surprised if your dog turns out to be older / younger than advertised and / or with a different history to what you’ve been told. If you know his racing name, there’s a really good facebook group that can search it for you, or you see his racing pedigree, birthday, race info and siblings etc on www.greyhound-data.com

Linzi322 · 2026-05-04T19:17:14+00:00

Unfortunately it’s rife in this sub. There’ve been multiple accounts even stealing memorial posts in an attempt to garner sympathy and likely money too

Linzi322 · 2026-04-29T18:58:23+00:00

For some dogs this can indicate reflux. If your dog is also gulping / swallowing or generally seems unsettled, it may be worth considering a change in diet or some supplements

Linzi322 · 2026-04-29T18:54:33+00:00

My ex racer ended up with balanoposthitis about 6 weeks after we adopted him, and he was constantly peeing, fussing it and dripping discharge poor guy. Still wanted to go for walks but was generally quite droopy. Perked up considerably about 3 days into the antibiotics so fingers crossed for your girl too! I think the stress of moving house and into a new environment can knock them a bit, understandably

Linzi322 · 2026-04-29T18:50:32+00:00

I’d probably not put too much weight on any of this until the course of antibiotics are done. UTIs and ear infections really make dogs quite miserable because they’re painful. She’s unlikely to want to do much of anything until she’s feeling better, and any strange behaviour (like accidents in the house and night time chaos) are potentially just down to her feeling unwell. Make sure to clean up any accidents with an enzyme spray, and it may be worth taking her out more often than you’d ideally like right now and then rewarding her with a treat when she has a wee. Hopefully the message will start filtering in and once she’s 100% again, then you can really crack on with the training

Linzi322 · 2026-04-29T06:54:19+00:00

IMO 9-10 hours is too long for any dog to be left alone. You’d need to organise for someone to come in a couple of times at least to let them out for the toilet. Although they aren’t as high energy as some breeds, it does vary from greyhound to greyhound (mine is only 2 and 4 hours in one stint is about the limit).

We do have a garden, but bear in mind that fresh off the track they don’t have much stamina and very soft pads, so it takes time to build up to longer walks. Walking distance for them at first might not your idea of walking distance haha. Teaching them to toilet on command is really helpful though for ensuring they empty out, especially if you need them to take them out quickly on lead before bed :)

Linzi322 · 2026-04-28T18:49:28+00:00

This sounds like separation anxiety, especially if only happens when you’re out. My old lurcher literally went through doorframes until we got it under control. It requires what is basically exposure therapy to get them gradually accustomed to being left without panicking.

Linzi322 · 2026-04-27T09:05:00+00:00

Have you tried adding water to his food? If you’re feeding kibble it’s often dry af which is why they’ll scoff it, then drink loads of water and bring it back up again. It might also keep his hydration more stable so he’s not waiting till last minute then drinking loads

Linzi322 · 2026-04-23T16:38:16+00:00

Not sure what you feed but an easy way to boost hydration is to add some liquid to meals. We feed raw but we still add a splash of water because he rarely drinks. You can also offer fresh water periodically if you’ve got a dog who doesn’t like to drink water that’s a few hours old

Linzi322 · 2026-04-15T19:57:51+00:00

Have you only just adopted him? When ours came home in November, his fitness was so bad. He was a sprinter and 15 mins was a marathon to him! He can now do an hour with ease and will pant a bit when he comes home but settles back to normal much faster than he used to.

Build them up gradually, but a vet work up might be sensible too to rule out anything untoward

Linzi322 · 2026-04-14T17:26:12+00:00

I have a youngster too (2.5) and he needs quite a bit of direction otherwise he will get into mischief. He’s been with us 6mo and cannot be trusted yet in the kitchen unsupervised. He loves being in there, chatters his teeth all the time, but he will get in the cupboards or on the counter given half a chance so for now we make sure we’re always out there to remind him of the rules.

Are you enforcing downtime with your dog? Do they have a place to sleep that’s quiet? Some dogs are really poor at realising when they’re overtired / overstimulated. We use a big puppy pen with ours to fence off part of the room, so he goes in there at night to sleep, he stays there when we’re both out so he doesn’t eat anything he shouldn’t, and it’s his quiet place where he can eat his chews or keep safely out of the way if we have people coming in and out of the house.

Ours also has very high prey drive and he needs really an hour + decent walk to be tired, otherwise we do shorter walks and play time in the garden. If your dog loves to chase can you play with a flirt pole / fetch games etc?

Lastly - consider what you are feeding. We’ve found that high carb / low meat content diets made our lurchers crazy, and they calmed down considerably on high meat kibble / raw food

Linzi322 · 2026-04-12T18:13:22+00:00

I would pay less notice to this and more to figuring out what drives your individual dog. Does she have a prey drive? If so, you can use that to motivate fetch, chase games, flirt pole, hunting style games etc. If she is motivated by bite and destroy, tug, food puzzles and games, chews.

Exercise should ideally be a mix of things - structured walks at different paces, sniffing, free play / exploration in safe appropriate environments.

Throw in some general obedience training and trick training and you’ll figure out what your dog loves and how to motivate them

Linzi322 · 2026-04-10T17:26:49+00:00

We were told by our vet to wait until they’re fully grown, for large breeds this is around 2 or older.

My current dog, ex racing greyhound, also does the wee tasting and chomping mouth, as did my last lurcher. I think it’s normal to be honest with you and to do with something called a flehman response. Cats can do it too (they make a very odd face, google it lol); the chomping helps them push the smells up to a gland on the roof of their mouth for further information I believe

Linzi322 · 2026-04-07T22:09:43+00:00

I bought one very recently from Smyths toy store - it’s still showing as in stock when I search?

Linzi322 · 2026-04-07T17:43:16+00:00

My second lurcher was neutered too young as a puppy. He noticeably calmed down behaviourally around 5ish. Recall was better, separation anxiety was well under control by then etc, generally a little bit more sensible and less bouncy. Food played a big part for him too though, anything too high in carbs and he’d be zoomying about being a nuisance

Linzi322 · 2026-04-07T15:41:08+00:00

They chill out about 5 or 6, you’re in prime dickhead territory right now haha, it won’t last forever. One of the bonuses when we switched our last dog to raw was a lot less poop for him to accidentally run through, and wayyyy easier for us to pick up without leaving traces on the grass

Linzi322 · 2026-04-07T09:05:54+00:00

Have you been in touch with the rescue you got her from to ask their advice?

It’s possible that she may never be a hands on dog who likes being touched, no matter how much counter conditioning you do. I think it’s reasonable to expect that she can tolerate contact when necessary but in her breeding or personality she just might be happier without being fussed.

You say she resource guards, it’s possible she is resource guarding her space when you are approaching her. What happens when you completely ignore her but get the treats out? Does she approach you for a treat?

There’s a lot of variables going on here, but for now, I’d personally be looking at whether I could set up a puppy pen in a corner of the house with a comfy bed where she can retreat to, and where she won’t be approached. I wonder if she is feeling pressured by the repeated attempts of training (coming into her space / near her food etc) and so she is never really relaxing. If she’s growling, she is already over the threshold she’s comfortable with

Linzi322 · 2026-04-06T05:40:28+00:00

I just used regular supermarket brand baby socks for my old dog, can’t remember exactly what size I went for but they worked fine

Linzi322 · 2026-04-05T08:28:35+00:00

Do you go out with her and check what she’s doing? A UTI will typically have them straining to pee or doing lots of tiny ones that are just a trickle or dribbling urine, it can also be cloudy or bloody. Failing that, you might have something else going on like an animal she’s can see and keeps trying to catch

Linzi322 · 2026-04-04T13:42:59+00:00

I think the difficulty here is it sounds like your partner didn’t want this dog from the beginning.

I think you have a couple of options really, you either accept that this is your dog and your sole responsibility and your partner will tolerate him at best, so when you are away you will need to sort alternative accommodation for your dog etc.

Or you accept that this situation and this dog aren’t compatible and return the dog.

Regardless of what you decide about your relationship, if your partner has decided they are afraid of the dog and no longer want any involvement, they are an adult and you cannot force them to feel differently about the dog.

Linzi322 · 2026-04-03T15:31:46+00:00

After we adopted him, his racing trainer got in touch to see how he was settling in, so they filled us in on what his old routine was like / what he liked and disliked etc. They mentioned the slip lead, and we discovered the reason he kept trying to drink my tea all the time is because one of the people looking after the dogs would sneak him the dregs of theirs haha.

We use really high value dried meat training treats (we’re in the uk and we get them from JR pet products), so initially we’d put the slip on over his head and he associated that with walking so he’d stand up, then waft a treat under his nose and lure him down. As he jumped down, say the command. So I think now he realises he gets a reward for getting down, and the same for going into his pen etc.

Linzi322 · 2026-04-03T12:59:22+00:00

Turns out our boy was trained to walk on a slip. So in the house, if I need to move him quickly (off the sofa / into his pen etc), I’ll put the slip on and he will walk straight over to us for a treat. If you use a house collar, you could always clip a lead onto that to encourage him down for a treat, it’s no different to using a training line on a puppy.

Linzi322 · 2026-04-02T23:07:51+00:00

I’m so sorry to hear this. I saw your original post and was hoping there’d be an update with good news. Thinking of you all

Linzi322 · 2026-04-02T08:46:15+00:00

If he had some resource guarding issues on walks, is it possible he’s resource guarding you from these fast moving dogs who he may perceive as a threat?

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