Everyone, meet Herbie
Discussion
This is Herbie. Hes a retired racing greyhound. Hes 3 1/2 years old, which is quite young for a retired racer. He won three out of his 12 races and came second twice. He was the best of his litter. Bred in Ireland and raced over here.
When we started our search, we never set out looking for a an all black male. They aren't a popular colour for the adopters. People want the prettier brindle/fawn/blue dogs and they will always go quickly. The black ones always end up staying in kennels the longest waiting for a home.
The reason we ended up with Herbie, was his calm temperament and the fact that he was very friendly and affectionate. The kennel we got him from was one of the quieter ones. The busier ones are a bit mental at the weekends.
Mrs Bakerstreet and I both work full time I know this divides opinion in the dog world. I did quite a bit of research on suitable breed for us and Greyhounds were coming up a lot in my search. British Bulldogs also seemed to be popular for people who worked. I liked BBDs, but Mrs bakerstreet doesn't like them and then I discovered how expensive they were, so that idea was out!
We knew we wanted an adult dog as it wouldn't be fair to get a puppy and the retired racers had a known history unlike other rescus dogs. We visited a number of kennels and the people we got Herbie from were by far the most pleasent and helpful and always reply quickly to any e-mail queries we have.
I also found some old threads on PH about greyhounds and they were quite encouraging
We've had him for four weeks now and we had a few accidents in the house, but that was to be expected. That was also in the first week and we've had nothing since. We can't close off our kitchen to the hound we found that pretty stressful for the first few nights.
There is a list of about 10 problems you can get with retired greyhounds and so far we have one and that is with him using a crate. We tried a crate for the first night and he clearly didn't like it and only slept in it when Mrs bakerstreet slept on the sofa. On the second night, we tried it again and he broke out of it, so we just left him have the run of the downstairs and he was happy with that.
I walk him before I go to work for half an hour and my wife takes him out wen she gets in for 45 minutes to an hour in the evening. She usually throws a toy for 10 minutes when she gets in to calm him a bit. He doesn't quite get the idea of 'fetch', but watching the explosion of speeds hes capable of is pretty impressive.
I've set up cameras when I've popped out for a few hours and he paces for a few minutes, then happily goes to sleep. We come home to a clean house and he doesn't destroy the furniture and as far as I can tell, this is all good.
Even in the evenings, hes happy to nap on the sofa.
We are going to have a go at obedience classes in a couple of months time. We don't want a super dog, but if we can get home to lie down and stay, then that wll be fine for us
If you want a dog and you work, then have a look at a ex racer greyhound.
When we started our search, we never set out looking for a an all black male. They aren't a popular colour for the adopters. People want the prettier brindle/fawn/blue dogs and they will always go quickly. The black ones always end up staying in kennels the longest waiting for a home.
The reason we ended up with Herbie, was his calm temperament and the fact that he was very friendly and affectionate. The kennel we got him from was one of the quieter ones. The busier ones are a bit mental at the weekends.
Mrs Bakerstreet and I both work full time I know this divides opinion in the dog world. I did quite a bit of research on suitable breed for us and Greyhounds were coming up a lot in my search. British Bulldogs also seemed to be popular for people who worked. I liked BBDs, but Mrs bakerstreet doesn't like them and then I discovered how expensive they were, so that idea was out!
We knew we wanted an adult dog as it wouldn't be fair to get a puppy and the retired racers had a known history unlike other rescus dogs. We visited a number of kennels and the people we got Herbie from were by far the most pleasent and helpful and always reply quickly to any e-mail queries we have.
I also found some old threads on PH about greyhounds and they were quite encouraging
We've had him for four weeks now and we had a few accidents in the house, but that was to be expected. That was also in the first week and we've had nothing since. We can't close off our kitchen to the hound we found that pretty stressful for the first few nights.
There is a list of about 10 problems you can get with retired greyhounds and so far we have one and that is with him using a crate. We tried a crate for the first night and he clearly didn't like it and only slept in it when Mrs bakerstreet slept on the sofa. On the second night, we tried it again and he broke out of it, so we just left him have the run of the downstairs and he was happy with that.
I walk him before I go to work for half an hour and my wife takes him out wen she gets in for 45 minutes to an hour in the evening. She usually throws a toy for 10 minutes when she gets in to calm him a bit. He doesn't quite get the idea of 'fetch', but watching the explosion of speeds hes capable of is pretty impressive.
I've set up cameras when I've popped out for a few hours and he paces for a few minutes, then happily goes to sleep. We come home to a clean house and he doesn't destroy the furniture and as far as I can tell, this is all good.
Even in the evenings, hes happy to nap on the sofa.
We are going to have a go at obedience classes in a couple of months time. We don't want a super dog, but if we can get home to lie down and stay, then that wll be fine for us
If you want a dog and you work, then have a look at a ex racer greyhound.
He looks right at home in the third pic, well done to you. 
It's always in the back of my mind to rehome a greyhound at some point as they always seem to get overlooked, all reports I've read on them tell me they are so easy to maintain but we just love staffy crosses and there are so many of them in rescue.
Looks like he's landed on his feet with you.
It's always in the back of my mind to rehome a greyhound at some point as they always seem to get overlooked, all reports I've read on them tell me they are so easy to maintain but we just love staffy crosses and there are so many of them in rescue.
Looks like he's landed on his feet with you.
Well done to you - he looks great.
For an ex-racer, it's unusual for them to be affectionate and also to be house trained so easily especially when you are leaving him all day so you've been lucky.
My Saluki rescue b
h is the most gentle and loving dog and I totally trust her with out twins - all sight hound types seem to have this trait.
One warning - you will need to be very careful if you take him off lead - mine whilst recalling upon request 99% of the time will always first sprint over to all dogs she doesn't know despite her best years being behind her.
David
For an ex-racer, it's unusual for them to be affectionate and also to be house trained so easily especially when you are leaving him all day so you've been lucky.
My Saluki rescue b
h is the most gentle and loving dog and I totally trust her with out twins - all sight hound types seem to have this trait.One warning - you will need to be very careful if you take him off lead - mine whilst recalling upon request 99% of the time will always first sprint over to all dogs she doesn't know despite her best years being behind her.
David
tedmus said:
He looks right at home in the third pic, well done to you.
It's always in the back of my mind to rehome a greyhound at some point as they always seem to get overlooked, all reports I've read on them tell me they are so easy to maintain but we just love staffy crosses and there are so many of them in rescue.
Looks like he's landed on his feet with you.
Thanks for the responses. I've been out for the day collecting a new car and for reasons unknown hes been a bit of a pain. Mrs Bakerstreet went upstairs for a shower and he wined and clawed at the door and she eventually let him upstairs to calm him down and then spent 20 minutes trying to teach him how to go down them with no success, so she had to carry him down...again. It's always in the back of my mind to rehome a greyhound at some point as they always seem to get overlooked, all reports I've read on them tell me they are so easy to maintain but we just love staffy crosses and there are so many of them in rescue.
Looks like he's landed on his feet with you.
sumo69 said:
Well done to you - he looks great.
For an ex-racer, it's unusual for them to be affectionate and also to be house trained so easily especially when you are leaving him all day so you've been lucky.
My Saluki rescue bh is the most gentle and loving dog and I totally trust her with out twins - all sight hound types seem to have this trait.
One warning - you will need to be very careful if you take him off lead - mine whilst recalling upon request 99% of the time will always first sprint over to all dogs she doesn't know despite her best years being behind her.
David
We are undecided if we will ever let him off the lead. We are going to have a go in the local fenced tennis courts, but being a greyhound, he may have to spend his entire life walking on the lead. Its quite sad really For an ex-racer, it's unusual for them to be affectionate and also to be house trained so easily especially when you are leaving him all day so you've been lucky.
My Saluki rescue b
h is the most gentle and loving dog and I totally trust her with out twins - all sight hound types seem to have this trait.One warning - you will need to be very careful if you take him off lead - mine whilst recalling upon request 99% of the time will always first sprint over to all dogs she doesn't know despite her best years being behind her.
David
We've got a couple of retired racers. They don't mind being walked on the lead at all - they are used to it from the kennel days. Ours are both extremely affectionate. The boy will sit on you on the sofa for hours and the girl just wants cuddling all the time.
I wouldn't recommend a lunge line - if he takes off after a small furry he could be doing nearly 30mph by the time he reaches the end of the line .... not good for his neck at all!
I wouldn't recommend a lunge line - if he takes off after a small furry he could be doing nearly 30mph by the time he reaches the end of the line .... not good for his neck at all!
rscott said:
We've got a couple of retired racers. They don't mind being walked on the lead at all - they are used to it from the kennel days. Ours are both extremely affectionate. The boy will sit on you on the sofa for hours and the girl just wants cuddling all the time.
I wouldn't recommend a lunge line - if he takes off after a small furry he could be doing nearly 30mph by the time he reaches the end of the line .... not good for his neck at all!
As far as I can understand they only lead training they pick up from their racing days is they stop when you stop, but other than that, nothing else! I wouldn't recommend a lunge line - if he takes off after a small furry he could be doing nearly 30mph by the time he reaches the end of the line .... not good for his neck at all!
I've yet to come up with a plan of attack on stopping him pulling. It needs to carried out by my wife as well when she walks him in the evening and getting her to do it will be harder work than the dog.
Herbie had a left over sausage from dinner last night for breakfast. That seemed to go down well
We have carpet fitters in tomorrow morning, so Herbie will be able to make their work a bit harder. He likes visitors
YoungOne said:
Oh yeh and get insurance, in two years ours has cost petplan about four grand.
We got insurance as soon as the free month ran out. We went with Tescos Pet insurance in the end. I have no trust in insurance companies and I expect what ever ailment Herbie has they won't pay out for.
He goes to the vet for the first time on Tuesday and just like sending your car to the garage, I'm expecting them to tell Mrs Bakerstreet that he has something that needs treating.
On the flip side, we don't want him to be ill. Hes currently napping and using his favourite soft toy as a pillow. He looks quite content.
There is a patch of red stuff (Maybe blood, not sure) on his blanket this evening. We can't see any wounds and his gums look ok. Going to keep an eye on him and just see what happens
Ours was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour on her lower jaw, that got removed and now she will be on chemo drugs for the rest of her life at a cost of about 2 grand a year.
Luckily we took out petplans insured for life policy and it should cover everything.
Anyway good luck with him he looks a beauty. I have a massive soft spot for the black ones.
Luckily we took out petplans insured for life policy and it should cover everything.
Anyway good luck with him he looks a beauty. I have a massive soft spot for the black ones.
YoungOne said:
I have a massive soft spot for the black ones.
Thats nice to hear. Talking to he kennels and looking on the web, the black ones are always theones that are at the kennels for the longest as people don't seem to want them. Obviously the brindle, fawn and blue ones go very quickly. We looked at some other black ones when we got Herbie and they are still on the RGT web site and they had been on for a few weeks when we went there.
Herbie is doing well. He joined us on our sofa for a cuddle last night. First time Hes done it since we've had him. It was nice. The advantage of this was I could move to 'his' sofa and stretch out whilst he cuddled up to Mrs Bakerstreet!
Having him has encouraged us to look at bigger sofas though...
Best of luck with the treatment.
YoungOne said:
I have a massive soft spot for the black ones.
Thats nice to hear. Talking to he kennels and looking on the web, the black ones are always theones that are at the kennels for the longest as people don't seem to want them. Obviously the brindle, fawn and blue ones go very quickly. We looked at some other black ones when we got Herbie and they are still on the RGT web site and they had been on for a few weeks when we went there.
Herbie is doing well. He joined us on our sofa for a cuddle last night. First time Hes done it since we've had him. It was nice. The advantage of this was I could move to 'his' sofa and stretch out whilst he cuddled up to Mrs Bakerstreet!
Having him has encouraged us to look at bigger sofas though...
Best of luck with the treatment.
bakerstreet said:
sumo69 said:
Well done to you - he looks great.
For an ex-racer, it's unusual for them to be affectionate and also to be house trained so easily especially when you are leaving him all day so you've been lucky.
My Saluki rescue bh is the most gentle and loving dog and I totally trust her with out twins - all sight hound types seem to have this trait.
One warning - you will need to be very careful if you take him off lead - mine whilst recalling upon request 99% of the time will always first sprint over to all dogs she doesn't know despite her best years being behind her.
David
We are undecided if we will ever let him off the lead. We are going to have a go in the local fenced tennis courts, but being a greyhound, he may have to spend his entire life walking on the lead. Its quite sad really For an ex-racer, it's unusual for them to be affectionate and also to be house trained so easily especially when you are leaving him all day so you've been lucky.
My Saluki rescue b
h is the most gentle and loving dog and I totally trust her with out twins - all sight hound types seem to have this trait.One warning - you will need to be very careful if you take him off lead - mine whilst recalling upon request 99% of the time will always first sprint over to all dogs she doesn't know despite her best years being behind her.
David
My first black one had excellent recall and was let off lead alot. If it was at the top of my street, he would just run home (well, my parents home as he got spoiled rotten there!) and just wait patiently by the door. My blue one I dare not let off his lead, he has no recall and generally has a high prey drive still, though he gets on well with my parents Terrier. He is very good on lead, doesnt pull and stops when I stop. I was also lucky that there were no accidents in the house (except when it was my fault), but he didnt like being left on his own, and I always had to take him to sleep in my bedroom. I cant blame him I guess, he got used to company having not had it for so long, and then just wanted it all the time.
Thought I'd do a little update. Hes been with us four months now and so far things are going well. We've managed to reach a few simple milestone.
Herbie can now wonder up and down them with ease. He was ok going up, but couldn't go down and had to be carried down the first two times. The first time we bathed him, we managed to get him down using bakers complete kibble as a treat and he managed it with out being carried, but we ad to move each foot for him and he did the last few stairs on his own.
We then bathed him on Sunday and he scampered down the stairs like hes being doing it for years!!
We haven't started working on commands yet, but I've ordered some clickers and I'd like to try and get him to sit as a bare minimum. I know when he gets into his sitting down position, so that will be a perfect time to click and treat!
We let him off the lead in a tennis court the other week. This was a big step for us. We went armed with freshly cooked sausages and they seemed to work well for getting him to come back. It was a warm evening and Herbie was only good for 5 minutes running about chasing a tennis ball, then he was just wondering about having a sniff and watching people play football in the next court.
Today, the little bugger discovered our bed. Mrs bakerstreet let him out whilst she hovered the stairs and he's usually a bit fearful of the hoover, but on this occasion he scampered right up the stairs, past the hoovering and lept into bed!
As expected his personality is developing. He has barked a few times in house, which really surprised us. For the first three months we didn't hear a peep out of him! Greys aren't know for their guarding abilities, but he did start barking and grumbling when I was swearing and banging about trying to get my bike out the front door the other day. Its unusual for us to use the front door at all in our house.
In the evenings he is more than happy to curl up next to Mrs Bakerstreet with his head on her lap and have a snooze. They happily nap together on the sofa. We are actually quite grateful of Herbie's small size as if we had a big one, there wouldn't be any space for us on the sofa!
Herbie can now wonder up and down them with ease. He was ok going up, but couldn't go down and had to be carried down the first two times. The first time we bathed him, we managed to get him down using bakers complete kibble as a treat and he managed it with out being carried, but we ad to move each foot for him and he did the last few stairs on his own.
We then bathed him on Sunday and he scampered down the stairs like hes being doing it for years!!
We haven't started working on commands yet, but I've ordered some clickers and I'd like to try and get him to sit as a bare minimum. I know when he gets into his sitting down position, so that will be a perfect time to click and treat!
We let him off the lead in a tennis court the other week. This was a big step for us. We went armed with freshly cooked sausages and they seemed to work well for getting him to come back. It was a warm evening and Herbie was only good for 5 minutes running about chasing a tennis ball, then he was just wondering about having a sniff and watching people play football in the next court.
Today, the little bugger discovered our bed. Mrs bakerstreet let him out whilst she hovered the stairs and he's usually a bit fearful of the hoover, but on this occasion he scampered right up the stairs, past the hoovering and lept into bed!
As expected his personality is developing. He has barked a few times in house, which really surprised us. For the first three months we didn't hear a peep out of him! Greys aren't know for their guarding abilities, but he did start barking and grumbling when I was swearing and banging about trying to get my bike out the front door the other day. Its unusual for us to use the front door at all in our house.
In the evenings he is more than happy to curl up next to Mrs Bakerstreet with his head on her lap and have a snooze. They happily nap together on the sofa. We are actually quite grateful of Herbie's small size as if we had a big one, there wouldn't be any space for us on the sofa!
Little bit of an update on Herbie.
Two months ago we gave in and bought new sofas. He sits on the floor occasionally, but our original sofas were 8 years old and getting pretty tired. There is now plenty of space for all of the family to sit down.
We put covers over them, but of course they fall off and the new sofas all ready have a few scratches on them, but they were cheap at £1k for a giant corner sofa and three seater. Herbie seems to like them
Despite us not really teaching recall, my wife now lets him off the lead every day! Apparently he never wonders more than 20 feet away and even with other dogs hes absolutely fine. Mrs Bakerstreet does reward him every time he comes back. My wife even manages this with our toddler roaming free. Sadly I still haven't plucked up the courage to let him off on our morning walk. Just too scared of it going wrong.
Wife tells me that if the mood takes him he will run round a big circle and then run straight back to you. Its a greyhound trait.
Few pics of him stretching his legs.
Watching Herbie and my son (now 18 months old) grow together has been nice. Every day he says bye bye Herbie and gives him a kiss good night on the nose or the paw. We still have issues with ear and tail grabbing but he is getting much better.
Two months ago we gave in and bought new sofas
. He sits on the floor occasionally, but our original sofas were 8 years old and getting pretty tired. There is now plenty of space for all of the family to sit down. We put covers over them, but of course they fall off and the new sofas all ready have a few scratches on them, but they were cheap at £1k for a giant corner sofa and three seater. Herbie seems to like them
Despite us not really teaching recall, my wife now lets him off the lead every day! Apparently he never wonders more than 20 feet away and even with other dogs hes absolutely fine. Mrs Bakerstreet does reward him every time he comes back. My wife even manages this with our toddler roaming free. Sadly I still haven't plucked up the courage to let him off on our morning walk. Just too scared of it going wrong.
Wife tells me that if the mood takes him he will run round a big circle and then run straight back to you. Its a greyhound trait.
Few pics of him stretching his legs.
Watching Herbie and my son (now 18 months old) grow together has been nice. Every day he says bye bye Herbie and gives him a kiss good night on the nose or the paw. We still have issues with ear and tail grabbing but he is getting much better.
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