Greyhound Breed Facts and Information

Training: While trainable to a certain extent, the Greyhound can also be stubborn, so persistence and patience are key. It’s also very important to train your Greyhound from an early age to be around any smaller animals or pets, since they have impeccable eyesight and their urge to hunt prey is very strong.

Barking: If you’re in the market for a watchdog, the Greyhound should not be your go-to choice. This breed doesn’t tend to bark much unless something catches its eye. While Greyhounds also aren’t known for being overly destructive or anxious when left alone as some other breeds, certain individuals—especially those with negative past experiences—may need to be more carefully monitored.

Personality: The Greyhound varies in temperament from quiet and demure to happy and mischievous, says Klein. They tend to be devoted to their family, while not especially gregarious with strangers.

Temperament & Behavior: Greyhounds can go from sprinting after whatever catches their eye to lazing happily on the couch with their owners. As a typical sighthound, there are some things to keep in mind when it comes to this breed. “Scent hounds, like Basset Hounds, Beagles and Bloodhounds, hunt by scent,” says Klein. “Sighthounds, like the Greyhound, hunt because of sight. They see prey in the distance and they run after it. Their sense of sight is very keen.”

Behavior with Kids: Greyhounds are typically excellent with children. They are not overly rambunctious, so they don’t tend to overwhelm small children. They are pretty tolerant in general, making them a great companion for kids of all ages. As with any dog, be sure that all children are supervised and taught how to properly interact with dogs.

Protection: Greyhounds may sound the alarm if someone new comes into their home, but they are not known to be particularly noisy. Greyhounds are certainly not known as guard dogs by nature.

Life span: On average, Greyhounds live to be about 10-13 years old.

Inherited Health Issues: Greyhounds are a generally healthy breed, although certain conditions can occur at an increased frequency within the breed or through genetics. Greyhounds have some unique “normal abnormalities,” meaning that some changes that are abnormal in other breeds are normal in Greyhounds. This includes larger and fewer platelets, increased red blood cell counts, and a slightly increased blood pressure. Although outside of the “normal” range for most dogs, these changes are not typically of concern in Greyhounds. Other conditions affecting Greyhounds at a higher rate than other breeds may include, but are not limited to, the following: Cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy, Pattern baldness, Symmetric lupoid onychodystrophy, Adverse drug reaction to thiopentone, Vascular ring anomaly, Polyarthritis of Greyhounds, Cutaneous hemangiosarcoma, Congenital deafness, Greyhound meningoencephalitis, Chronic superficial keratitis (pannus), Progressive retinal atrophy and Polyneuropathy of juvenile Greyhounds.

Preventive Care: Although certain conditions can occur at an increased frequency in Greyhounds, none of these conditions can be definitively prevented. Responsible breeders perform a variety of screening tests prior to breeding in an attempt to decrease the incidence of some conditions within the breed.

Maintaining regular visits to the veterinarian is the best way to detect any new changes or concerns before they become more significant. Additionally, Greyhounds are more susceptible to developing lacerations or wounds due to their thin skin. These wounds can be difficult to heal and often require veterinary attention.

As with any dog, Greyhounds can become overweight if they are fed too much and exercised too little. As a fairly high energy breed, Greyhounds do have a slightly higher calorie requirement than some other dogs. Feed your Greyhound portion-controlled meals of a high quality diet and avoid offering table scraps or too many treats.

Daily Consumption: Average daily consumption for an adult Greyhound is 2-2.5 cups.

Energy Level: Enjoys some moderate exercise every now and then

Exercise: Greyhounds are happy with a couple of long walks a day, especially when they are younger. As with other sighthounds, you’ll need to supervise them closely because their instinct is to run when they spot something of interest. “The Greyhound is the prototype of a sighthound,” says Klein, “and when they see prey in the distance, they run after it. By the time they realize where they are, they could be a mile down the road.” When exercising your dog off-leash, be sure that they are in an enclosed area where they can’t hurt themselves or get away.

Climate: Warmer weather is better for this breed, which tends to get cold in chilly climates. That’s not to say you can’t have a Greyhound if you live in a cooler climate. When the temperature drops, simply bundle your Greyhound up in a sweater and avoid spending too much time outside.