WHY ADULTS MAKE BETTER DOGS
You Want a Greyhound Puppy? Really?
By Bonnie Jeffers, GreySave volunteer
I’ll never forget the cold December day that the Humane Society called saying, “We think we have a Greyhound puppy; he probably won’t live, but if you want to try to save him, come get him.”
My husband and I had adopted eight dogs, including a Shepherd, a Husky, a terrier, and three Greyhounds. We had also fostered almost 35 Greyhounds at that point. Some of our fosters had come with real behavioral challenges, but we had been able to address all of them before they were adopted. We were experienced with various personality and training issues, and we knew Greyhounds. Even with this background, we were not prepared for the reality of a Greyhound puppy.
Alexander was about four months old when we brought him home. Since he was a puppy, we knew he would have a lot of energy and that he would chew. All puppies do that. A Greyhound puppy, however, does everything a puppy does, but does it in a 45-mile-per hour body. One person described them as “puppies on steroids.”
In a matter of minutes, Alexander could take a phone off a wall, tear ¾ of the molding off a doorframe, or turn a blanket into nothing larger than pieces of thread. He chewed everything in sight (except the hundreds of appropriate chew things we gave him).
We had all of the advantages for handling a Greyhound puppy: more dog knowledge and experience than most people, four good adult dogs in the house to serve as role models and help train him, and a large property so that we could give him lots and lots of exercise. Nevertheless, our first year and a half was one that I would never want to repeat.
How can this hurricane of a puppy turn into the quiet couch potato that we know and love? First, training and exercise…LOTS of both. The dogs we get from the track have had both. However, even the young dogs that we get from the track sometimes have a little of the puppy left in them. We’ve now fostered almost 100 Greyhounds, and a few have been in the 16- to 19-month age range.
I remember a funny story about one of them. Umpire was 17 months when we got him. He was our ninth foster, so when he proved to be quite a handful, we figured it was our inexperience. We called an experienced person in the Greyhound group we were with at the time. She said, "He just needs some structure. I'll take him for the weekend and straighten him out." We dropped him off. Four hours later she called saying, "My dogs are ready to kill this dog. He is in constant motion! He jumps over the couch, he jumps over the dogs, he's runs around the house as if it were a racetrack...wait a minute, I have to get him, he’s standing on the dining room table!" We got him back later that evening.
Puppies are unbelievably cute, and Greyhound puppies are no different. Puppies are fun to watch and fun to play with, and Greyhound puppies are no different. Puppies chew on things and are active, but here’s where Greyhound puppies are different. Greyhound puppies do everything an average puppy does, but in a 45-mile-per-hour body. You want a Greyhound puppy? Really?
By Bonnie Jeffers, GreySave volunteer
I’ll never forget the cold December day that the Humane Society called saying, “We think we have a Greyhound puppy; he probably won’t live, but if you want to try to save him, come get him.”
My husband and I had adopted eight dogs, including a Shepherd, a Husky, a terrier, and three Greyhounds. We had also fostered almost 35 Greyhounds at that point. Some of our fosters had come with real behavioral challenges, but we had been able to address all of them before they were adopted. We were experienced with various personality and training issues, and we knew Greyhounds. Even with this background, we were not prepared for the reality of a Greyhound puppy.
Alexander was about four months old when we brought him home. Since he was a puppy, we knew he would have a lot of energy and that he would chew. All puppies do that. A Greyhound puppy, however, does everything a puppy does, but does it in a 45-mile-per hour body. One person described them as “puppies on steroids.”
In a matter of minutes, Alexander could take a phone off a wall, tear ¾ of the molding off a doorframe, or turn a blanket into nothing larger than pieces of thread. He chewed everything in sight (except the hundreds of appropriate chew things we gave him).
We had all of the advantages for handling a Greyhound puppy: more dog knowledge and experience than most people, four good adult dogs in the house to serve as role models and help train him, and a large property so that we could give him lots and lots of exercise. Nevertheless, our first year and a half was one that I would never want to repeat.
How can this hurricane of a puppy turn into the quiet couch potato that we know and love? First, training and exercise…LOTS of both. The dogs we get from the track have had both. However, even the young dogs that we get from the track sometimes have a little of the puppy left in them. We’ve now fostered almost 100 Greyhounds, and a few have been in the 16- to 19-month age range.
I remember a funny story about one of them. Umpire was 17 months when we got him. He was our ninth foster, so when he proved to be quite a handful, we figured it was our inexperience. We called an experienced person in the Greyhound group we were with at the time. She said, "He just needs some structure. I'll take him for the weekend and straighten him out." We dropped him off. Four hours later she called saying, "My dogs are ready to kill this dog. He is in constant motion! He jumps over the couch, he jumps over the dogs, he's runs around the house as if it were a racetrack...wait a minute, I have to get him, he’s standing on the dining room table!" We got him back later that evening.
Puppies are unbelievably cute, and Greyhound puppies are no different. Puppies are fun to watch and fun to play with, and Greyhound puppies are no different. Puppies chew on things and are active, but here’s where Greyhound puppies are different. Greyhound puppies do everything an average puppy does, but in a 45-mile-per-hour body. You want a Greyhound puppy? Really?
