Staffie V Greyhound??

longtermlurker_2

My cousin is looking for a dog she wants to get a rescue and I have said I will help her. We have been to a few rescue places and they all seem to be full of staffies and greyhounds with the ocassional lab or collie.

She was wary of staffies because unfortunately she believes everything she reads. I introduced her to my friends staffie and she is in love but my friend wants to keep hers:rotfl:
We don't know much about greyhounds. She likes the idea of a big dog.

There is just her and her boyfriend and they live in a semi with an ok sized garden but loads of walks locally. She works part time and he works from home 2 or 3 times a week. The longest time the dog would be alone would probably be about 4 hours.

Anyone got any advice or suggestions of any other breed that would suit them.
Thanks

foreign_correspondent

A greyhound sounds ideal - they are lovely dogs, and generally very chilled in the house, they do not shed much fur, and they are happy with a couple of shortish walks per day. They are also pretty healthy as far as pedigree dogs go, as they have been bred for fitness and athletic ability, rather than squshed in noses and other unhealthy features!

However, greyhounds do not tend to be great round small furries - I dont know if that is a consideration - and many are dificult to recall if they are off lead and spot a rabbit - many grey owners choose to walk them on lead unless in an enclosed area.

It depends on your friend... if she is looking for a clean, quiet housedog, who will enjoy a stroll and not need three hours of exercise every day than a greyhound would be fine - if she is looking for a dog to take on long hiking trips on a regular basis and can commit to a lot of exercise and training, then something with more stamina may be better. There are some super staffies and their crosses out there too, and they are generally lovely affectionate dogs - they vary a lot, from small dainty staffs, to big muscular ones.

Take a look on dogsblog - you can select by breed or criteria - boxes on the right hand side - here is a list of ready housetrained dogs which may make your friends like much easier if she is a novice dog owner!
http://www.dogsblog.com/tag/house-trained/

Edinburghlass_2

A lovely thread here about someone taking on an old rescue dog

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2400835

and another useful thread about rescues dogs with people's experiences

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/31916167#Comment_31916167

longtermlurker_2

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

A greyhound sounds ideal - they are lovely dogs, and generally very chilled in the house, they do not shed much fur, and they are happy with a couple of shortish walks per day. They are also pretty healthy as far as pedigree dogs go, as they have been bred for fitness and athletic ability, rather than squshed in noses and other unhealthy features!

However, greyhounds do not tend to be great round small furries - I dont know if that is a consideration - and many are dificult to recall if they are off lead and spot a rabbit - many grey owners choose to walk them on lead unless in an enclosed area.

It depends on your friend... if she is looking for a clean, quiet housedog, who will enjoy a stroll and not need three hours of exercise every day than a greyhound would be fine - if she is looking for a dog to take on long hiking trips on a regular basis and can commit to a lot of exercise and training, then something with more stamina may be better. There are some super staffies and their crosses out there too, and they are generally lovely affectionate dogs - they vary a lot, from small dainty staffs, to big muscular ones.

Take a look on dogsblog - you can select by breed or criteria - boxes on the right hand side - here is a list of ready housetrained dogs which may make your friends like much easier if she is a novice dog owner!
http://www.dogsblog.com/tag/house-trained/

Thanks for the info. Her neighbours have cats do you think that would be a problem?
I will ask my cousin those questions and show her the link.
Thanks

Edinburghlass wrote: »

A lovely thread here about someone taking on an old rescue dog

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2400835

and another useful thread about rescues dogs with people's experiences

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/31916167#Comment_31916167

Thansk for the links but she doesn't want a really old dog or a puppy. She doesn't have any children at the moment, think the dog is a child subsitute:rotfl:

foreign_correspondent

If she may decide to have kids in the lifetime of the dog, then looking for a dog which is known to be dog friendly would be a wise precaution. Again, you can search dogs suitable to live with children on dogsblog... http://www.dogsblog.com/tag/good-with-children/

The neighbours cats may or may not be a problem - and of course, some greyhounds live quite happily alongside cats - does she have decent fences? My mum has a lurcher who chases anything that moves - luckily, cats can jump the fence but she cannot - having said that, after about a week of the dog being there, the cats stopped coming into my mum's garden - they are not daft!

longtermlurker_2

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

If she may decide to have kids in the lifetime of the dog, then looking for a dog which is known to be dog friendly would be a wise precaution. Again, you can search dogs suitable to live with children on dogsblog... http://www.dogsblog.com/tag/good-with-children/

The neighbours cats may or may not be a problem - and of course, some greyhounds live quite happily alongside cats - does she have decent fences? My mum has a lurcher who chases anything that moves - luckily, cats can jump the fence but she cannot - having said that, after about a week of the dog being there, the cats stopped coming into my mum's garden - they are not daft!

Not sure she will allowed to have kids (long story!!!) But there are a lot of kids round there.
Her fences are only about 3 foot high then they are surrounded by trees. Would that be enough?
Maybe she should try looking at other breeds. She was looking at pugs but I told her I would never visit her again if she got one:rotfl:
I know some people love them but I just can't take to them.

foreign_correspondent

no, she will need to do something about her fences for any dog - unless it is something like a pug, which isnt likely to be fit or agile enough to jump anywhere (sorry pug lovers!) - but a Jack Russell for example, would be over a three foot fence with no trouble, (I used to have a terrier who could jump 4 feet plus with ease!) as would most dogs if something interesting was on the other side.

longtermlurker_2

Thanks again. None of us thought about fences!
I won't tell her that a pug would be ok with them I don't want to give her any excuse to get one:rotfl:

Thanks for all your help

arlybarly

Greyhounds are usually beautiful dogs but quite lazy and dont mind lying around on the settee while the owners are at work. Staffies on the other hand are usually uncontrollable thuggish dogs used by chavs to try and look cool,thats why every other dog in the rescues is a staff or cross staff.

jackieglasgow

I take complete exception to that last remark. Staffies in the hands of thuggish louts do tend to look uncontrollable as are any other dogs owned by people who don't train them properly. I have a wee rescue staffie, who is the sweetest dog in the world. However, she's not mad for other dogs, cats, birds, balloons, socks and sticks. She adores my children who are eight and ten, and my ten year old regularly walks her on his own, with no difficulties at all. She is particularly fabulous with children, and is madly in love with my sister's fourteen month old daughter. The reason every other dog in a rescue is a staff is because they are overbred by thugs looking for a quick buck from them, and unwilling to put in the time training them.

My wee girl is going in at 8am to be speyed, doing my bit for the breed. As soon as she is well enough, and her training is coming on well enough, we will be looking into rescuing another one from the pound.

paddypaws101

Nice one jackieglasgow! Well done for putting the record straight for the poor staffie....and even better for re-homing one, or two...
I live in East London and YES every thuggish chav and his brother has a staffie....but I know from experienced owners that they can be sweet and loyal pets. I was deeply dog phobic from childhood but my friend's 2 staffies helped re-habilitate me!