Greyhounds and agility??

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dianeholmes

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We lost our beloved 7 yr old lab 2 weeks ago - very suddenly and without any warning symptoms. Our house is so empty we are turning our thoughts to a new dog. We cannot agree on what breed to get!!!!

I feel we should rehome a dog needing adoption and I am drawn to greyhounds for several reasons. We fall into the lazy dog owner category who do not relish a long walk in foul weather with a high energy dog although we do enjoy long walks when the weather is good. We have small grandchildren visiting and we are all very tactile with our dogs. Greyhounds seem to me to fit the bill.

My daughter wants a working strain lab in order to do agility - I know from experience this will be a passing phase and we will end up with another boisterous dog not being given enough to think about!! I did agility with our previous dog but had to give up when he developed neck problems which were thought to be associated with jumping (more to do with the working trials training we did).

Has anyone done any agility with greyhounds?? They are intelligent and trainable with a good turn of speed (and how!!) - I cannot see why they would not be able to do it to be honest.
 
There are a couple of pointies at our club and they do just fine but honestly their heart doesn't seem to be in it. It's all a bit beneath most of them I think and they look very, very silly when weaving. I think they know this, hence their reticence. :p

No physical reason why they can't though and as long as your expectations aren't too high (they will never be world beaters) it would be fine. :)

The two breeds I also see at club that strike me as being suitable for the situation you describe would be a staffie or a bedlington, these are likely to be a bit more suited to competition.

I'm sorry for your loss, by the way. :(
 
So sorry to hear about your lab. :(

We used to do agility with our terrier cross. There was a lurcher (a very greyhound-y looking one) in the class. He was great at it - especially the weave, for some reason. I reckon most dogs can do agility to some degree or other!

Good luck with your dog search!
 
My 2 friends do agilty & flyball with their lurchers. Could also consider those as plenty in rescue

jennifer bachelor - never say never greyhounds in America does agility & obedience with them
 
posted before i'd finished.

So sorry about your lab, is hard losing them especially before they even see their twilight years.

I have greyhounds but have only benn round a have a go agility course at shows with my dogs.

http://www.neversaynevergreyhounds.net/index.html her blog is interesting & has some clips of them competing.

there was a greyhound agility team that did a display at the great greyhound gathering, http://www.greyhoundwalks.co.uk/display.htm
 
Why not try a lurcher? There are 2 lurchers @ my agility group and they both love it and really fly! After their round they like to do a lap of honour with a squeaky toy :D They would probably do well in ABC Agility

Or maybe a resue lurcher with a bit of collie in it? May give a bit more drive but without being too intent on rainy day walks?

Sorry to hear about your lab :(
 
my pointy hounds do agility! they like it for different reasons. Smiley the greedy guts does it for liver cake and verbal praise, Anjo equally does it for the food and to follow me around, and Banjo does it because he loves running, knows he is amazingly springy but sometimes has moments when his independence comes out and he says "no! im not your performing monkey you cant control me!" and loses interest!
 
I used to take Scoobs for fun and he would often treat the jumps as if they weren't there and just step over them :P

He couldn't get the weave at all and would just walk round :P He loved tunnels and often would just like down in them and stay there lol. Loves tables as well, cause he was nosey and he could see what was happening when he was on the top.

He would sometimes lose interest so we used to do it once a month or so, so he didn't get bored. Used to amuse everyone cause he would just sometimes leave the ring halfway through and sit by the car!

Used to do fastest over a 100yards as well. The first time he did it....he walked...he was beaten by a chihuahua! Would only run when he there was something to chase and even then he had no idea why he was running!
 
Sorry about your lab :(

I have seen greyhounds competing, they seem to be excellent jumpers but a bit unenthusiastic about the rest. I also noticed they have trouble containing their speed between obstacles, ending in very amusing zoomie attacks :D
 
I see a few greyhounds at uka shows. Some are pretty good at it. My friend trains her whippet and she is going to be good at it. Another friend has tried to train greyhounds for agility and they are really laid back, maybe one good week followed by 3 bad weeks. Funnily enough the smaller greyhounds are the ones that seem to be more focussed, from what I've seen at shows. Lurchers are more commonly seen competing, again the ones I've seen tend to be smaller lurchers. I compete with a staffordshire bull terrier btw ! Good luck.
 
My Mum had one who died 3months ago :(

He raced until he was 5 and spent the next 2years in kennels until my Mum adopted him, they are renowned for their gentle temprement around children and I certainly felt totally relaxed when my children played with him.

Dowside he was very timid and Greyhounds can't 'sit' I can't imagine he would have liked agility, everything would scare him and he had 2 speeds ... asleep or 40mph :) :)

Cracking breed but a bit to timid for me xx
 
If you like a greyhound, but would like to do agility then why not try a whippet :) They are extremely agile, love to jump. Very easy to train and love to sleep. They do not require long long walks, If its wet they much prefer a bed and adore cuddles.

I have a whippet and a bedlington and to be honest i would never try agility with my beddy as they are prone to standing and thinking for long periods of time and deciding if they really would benefit from doing what you ask :) As terriers they can go on and on and on. but like whippets they will chill and sleep.

I would say my whippy would be far more suitable for you. She is a hardy lady ( rescued from a puppy farm concrete shed at 5 months) And runs for fun and sleeps for a hobby. Look at Scruples Facebook page, or Scruples whippet rescue web site
 
I have a whippet and a high percentage whippet lurcher with a dose of collie. My whippet races and lives for it. He very definitely has a huge streak of "no! im not your performing monkey you cant control me!". I struggled with him massively until I learnt to treat him as a working sight hound, not an ordinary dog!

He will do anything for me, so long as I make him think its his idea and hes suitably rewarded. He will not do anything just to please me. The lurcher on the other hand is incredibly trainable, much less high maintenance and if she wasnt a mad old bat would do agility all day long, just to be told shes a good girl :D

The whippet was my first sight hound and I love the very bones of him but he hasnt been an easy dog! He sleeps 20 hours a day, the other 4 hours he expects to be out running or being occupied by me. Hes not one for going off and occupying himself with a toy etc. We walk 50 miles a week give or take as other wise hes a flaming nightmare! :o

Starting him racing helped a lot! If he doesnt get to go every few weeks I notice a difference in him. I'm lucky that hes exceptionally fast and it looks like I may have stumbled across something a bit special by accident! Hes very working bred though, so might not be the same as show/pet whippets. The thing that makes him an exceptional racer, is the thing that makes him a not great pet! He has an incredibly high prey drive, and it needs to be channelled. We are starting flyball soon. He will either love it and be brilliant, or thinkits pointless and stick 2 fingers up at me :D

Saying all that, he has truly been the dog of a lifetime for me, and I've only had him 18months. I wont ever be without a sight hound of some sort now, and it will probably be a similar stamp, as I dont think an ordinary dog would cut it for me now :D
 
oh, and mine WILL NOT walk in the rain! at all, EVER! He has been known to lay down on the floor on the end of his lead. Rain is the work of the devil and he gets furious at me when it rains, because clearly its my fault! :D

Hes the most loving and sunny natured dog though, fabulous with any one or anything he meets. Brilliant with kids, does work with a dog aggressive terrier who tries to rip his face off and is totally unphased! He doesnt really shed, doesnt smell and can curl up smaller than a cat. He adores being stroked and cuddled. He likes nothing more than to lay on my knee and stare lovingly into my eyes, which is probably why he gets away with being such a drama queen! :D
 
My Greyhound enjoyed agility and Flyball very fast and loved it. Had to retire her due to an injury to her back. Theirs a lady in America that does agility with Greyhounds she does very well with them :D

Greyhounds are very trainable and they can sit, but find it very uncomfortable to do so as their thighs are very developed for running, for agility they don't need to sit so that's not a problem :-). Some are timid but mine certainly isn't lol

A whippet would be great for a child to handle :-)
 
I love the lurcher descriptions! Mine has trained me beautifully over the 10 or so years I have had her, I now respond well to nearly all of her commands and if I am slow or disobedient she can give me a truly withering look. Water is to be avoided at all costs, unless you are hot from hunting when you go and lie on the edge of the stinky pond and then dry off on the best carpet in a sunny patch. Much more cat like than dog she is fantastic and I adore her.
She definately would not do agility, she can't understand at all why the labrador likes doing things for us, it is completely beneath her.
 
Would agree with those who suggest a lurcher Google lurcher link and have a look.
You need to bare in mind all dogs be it greyhound or lab need lots of exercise, rain or shine, the title 40 mile an hour coach potato is a myth for all but the very old or injured.
 
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