Do greyhounds need a lot of exercise?

The question I am most often asked about owning a greyhound is: "Don't they need a lot of exercise?"

Short answer: No

Surely, greyhounds are large dogs that run very fast. They must need constant exercising. People are often surprised to find out that this is not the case.

Greyhounds certainly run very fast. Racing dogs can get up to 39 mph (63 kph) and that's about the same as a race horse. Pet greyhounds will be a bit slower, but not much.

Greyhounds do love to run. You only have to see one in motion to tell how much they enjoy it. However, they are built for speed over relatively short distances. A good quick sprint, or maybe two, and they are quite happy to walk along with their owner, sniffing about like any other dog. Their stamina is better than most people think too. We regularly walk for an hour or more, covering four to five miles. Evie, our greyhound, handles this just as well as Bramble the spaniel, although she will trot quietly along just behind my feet for most of the walk.

We walk our dogs twice a day. I take them out first thing in the morning. During the week, this is about 20 minutes across some local fields. They have another walk in the late afternoon, usually 30 - 40 minutes. At the weekend we have a longer morning walk though a wood near our house and along the Grand Union Canal, about 1 hour. We do something similar in the afternoon.

After a walk, Evie likes her breakfast (or dinner) and then she disappears to bed. If there is one thing that greyhounds love more than running, it's sleeping.

Greyhounds As Pets

As a greyhound owner for the last 12 years, I have been asked many times whether these large dogs, bred for racing, make good pets. I know this is the question most asked of all greyhound owners.

I decided to start this blog to help answer that question for anyone who is thinking of giving a home to a greyhound. Over time, I will also give my thoughts on all aspects of greyhound ownership, including topics like feeding, exercise, collars, leads and other equipment, bedding and insurance. I will also discuss behaviour, house training, medical issues and kennelling.

The short answer to the question "Do greyhounds make good pets?" is YES.

A longer answer is YES, YES, DEFINITELY, YES.

For a bit more detail, you will have to wait for future posts to this blog. Sorry!

I am not a vet, dog trainer, breeder or any type of dog 'professional'. I am just an ordinary dog owner and these are my experiences, thoughts and opinions. I very much welcome comments on anything in this blog, whether you agree with me or strongly disagree. It would be great to build a forum of knowledge and opinion on this subject.

To start with, I should give some background to who I am and my history as an owner of pet greyhounds.

My name is Chris Holden and for the last ten years I have lived in the village of Fleckney, which is in Leicestershire, England. My wife, Helen, and I currently have two dogs. We have a three year old female greyhound, Evie and a ten year old springer spaniel, Bramble. (Strangely, they were both fast asleep in the next room until I started to type their names, when they both wandered in and lay down in front of me. I don't believe in dogs knowing what we are doing, thinking, or saying, but sometimes the coincidental things they do are very odd.)

A quick potted history of my dog ownership. I grew up with a dog always around the house and my family have had dogs of all different shapes and sizes over the years. Helen and I got our first dog together about 16 years ago. Since then we have had two greyhounds, two springer spaniels and a collie cross. Most have been from rescue centres and they have ranged in age from 4 months to eight years when they came to us. Our first spaniel, George, lived to 16 years and our first greyhound, Alfie, lived to 13. The collie cross, our first dog, was not able to settle with us and very sadly had to be returned to the rescue centre after a few months. Happily, she was then re-homed to a much more suitable owner.

So, now we have Evie and Bramble. Bramble came to us as a puppy, and Evie joined our family after the death of Alfie, about 18 months ago.

I will, of course, talk more about all of our dogs, and especially the greyhounds in future posts.

I hope you will join me.