The Dong Thread

the chikkenpup is the opposite of my dog. mine has a skinny body, long legs, floppy ears and hair.
 
The ChikkenPup, enjoying some, uh, brown water :shady:

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Some ice cream while a newfound friend looks on

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OMG I LOVE THE CORGI.

Someday when I get a house I"m going to get a second dog. And he will be a Corgi, and I will name him Fergus.
 
I didn't look at the background when I saw the pics last night but I totally know where you are :cool:
 
Greyhounds are completely awesome dogs. If I were in the market for another dog, I would get a greyhound without hesitation. They're smart, sweet, and funny dogs. Everyone who's met my Amelie loves her. If anyone is more interested in a detailed rundown of what its like to own one, I'd be happy to oblige. There are some things you should know about greys before you get one that are unique to the breed.
 
I'm looking at getting one, so please share any info you can. The greyhound adoption league in Addison has an awesome brindle I've got my eye on. I've read about them over the past few days but any other insight you can provide would be much appreciated.
 
I'm looking at getting one, so please share any info you can. The greyhound adoption league in Addison has an awesome brindle I've got my eye on. I've read about them over the past few days but any other insight you can provide would be much appreciated.

From what I understand about greyhounds is that you have to be prepared to keep them active. This is what I've seen on the dog training shows. I'm sure your son could wear the dog out though. They seem like super dogs though.
 
I love brindle dogs. I want a great dane or a boxer... but I think we're just going to inherit my mom's daschund/beagle mix.
 
Here's the one I want. Brindle coloring is awesome.

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Aww.

Ok, when you get a grey understand you're getting a dog that's been treated like a Chinese Olympic athlete; fairly well regimented but not use to normal life. You *need* to buy a crate for the dog because that's all its used to living in. To throw him in a strange new space without a "den" of his own, that will freak him out. The crate should be big enough for him to stand up and turn around without any problems. These dogs have zero body fat so they need a decent bed or mat to lie on. Once they get used to your place and start hanging out in places other than their crate, expect them to lay on the couch. If you don't want them on furniture, get a bed for them to lay in where ever you tend to hang out.

These dogs are used to a schedule. They get up, get fed, run track, go lay down, rinse, repeat every 3 - 4 hours. This is good for you because they're already somewhat house broken. I say somewhat because they're used to being kept in a kennel when not on the track, so if you just give them full reign of the house at first, you may have problems. If you keep them in a kennel when unsupervised and walk them on a regular schedule, you should have no problems. Since these dogs are used to a 4 hour cycle, it will take a while to get them used to your 8-10 hour cycle. I'd suggest you take a few days off to work them into to. At very least, go home for lunch and walk them. Every day, push the midday potty break back 20-30 minutes. They'll get used to it, it just takes a little time to change.

When you walk them, they need a martingale collar and standard leash. The rescue will probably give you the dog with a martingale already on it. Retractable leashes are a no-no. Never, ever, ever let the dog off leash unless you're in an enclosed yard. If he sees something and goes after it, you are not going to catch him.

These dogs are the laziest fucking lumps you've ever seen. Get used to a giant cockroach in your house :
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They're built for speed, not for endurance. If you give him 15-20 minutes of exercise twice a day, he'll be fine. Some days not even that. The other 23 hours of the day they sleep or just hang out.

These dogs are used to regimented diet, so you have to be mindful of how much you feed them. 1 cup of food in the morning and 1.5 c at night is a good rule of thumb. You should always be able to see their ribs. If their ribs disappear, you're feeding them too much. Find out what the rescue is feeding them and feed them that at first. Because of their metabolism, they don't take changes in diet easily. You have to wean them over. If you want to feed them something other than what the rescue is feeding them, that's cool, just make sure it isn't cheap food and you blend it with their old food for a week or so until they're used to it. Otherwise you could come home to a literal shitstorm. Track diet is usually raw meat, so their teeth are in poor shape usually. Only give them rawhide or compressed products for chews, kongs and the like for toys. Hard plastic or bone will eventually break teeth.

This is the one that's toughest for people to understand. These dogs are really only accustomed to being around other greys. They have no idea how to act in a house. As a result, if you get a dog right off the track, expect it to act timid, cold, or stand offish for the first 3-6 months. He'll probably just want to spend a lot of time in his crate, like this:
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However, once they get the rhythm of their new "pack", you'll see them really start to open up to you and you will discover their true personality. It's almost like a switch flips. During this time, don't force them to be out of their crate if they don't want to be. Leave the crate door open and let them explore and figure things out. Keeping with this concept of pack, being alone all day may bother some greys. If you have a cat(s), but a cat bed on top of the crate and encourage the cat to be near the grey. It'll make him feel less lonely. Keeping a radio or TV on when you leave the house is also helpful. My dogs listen to NPR all day, lol.

Cats and small dogs shouldn't really be a problem, but ask the rescue group. Most test for cat and small dog tolerance when they take them in. Even if they have a little chase in them, you can usually break them of it:
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With their height, counter surfing can be a problem. If you catch them starting this behavior, fill a couple of cans with loose change and put them near the edge of counters. The dog will knock them down and the loud noise will scare them. Once this happens once or twice, counter surfing is no more.

They don't bark. Seriously. The only noises a grey knows how to make naturally are howls (which come out more like rooooo) and jaw claps (which sound like wood blocks knocking together). Roo's can mean anything from hello, to take me out, to I'm hungry. Jaw claps are almost exclusively "let's play!". They can learn to bark, but if they don't live with other dogs that bark, they probably won't pick it up.

They don't need baths or grooming. Just get pre-moistened bath cloth pack from the pet store (they look like big baby wipes) and wipe them down once every other week. They blow coat twice a year. If you notice them starting to shed, you can use a soft brush to knock it all off and speed up the process. Better than having it all over the house. A Furminator session usually gets all the shed out in one go. Alternatively, you can take them outside and just run your hand a bunch of times against the grain of their coat. The only real grooming needed is trimming their nails once a month or so. It's probably the lowest maintenance big dog there is in terms of grooming.

If you have any other issues or problems, the rescue will most likely be a great source for info. I can also answer just about any question you might have. This may sound like a lot, but once you and your dog get over the initial transition period, they are very little work for a whole lotta love.