We are considering getting a dog from a greyhound and lurcher rescue society. Have looked at lurcher info on internet and all seems very positive. Any potential problems I should be aware of ? We have young children and have owned dogs before. The rescue dogs have been fostered and socialised and the rescue people seem very careful about matching dogs to prospective owners. They suggest suitable dogs which you can visit at foster homes rather than you wandering round rows of cages like at some rescue shelters. We will be looking for a small dog (possibly whippet cross) as we don't have space for large hound when we camp.
Comments welcome. Thank you.

Just be aware that they are sight hounds, and will chase and kill small animals given the opportunity! This means care needs to be taken around cats and small dogs in the park! Training classes to get a good level of obedience, kind methods esential, they can be stubbornin a covert way, unless the terrier is uppermost (small lurchers are usually whippet terrier).

Don't let anyone tell you they can't be trained, but you will always need to use caution and common sense when excersising off lead!

We have several lovely ones that come to our Pet Obedience class, all with young families!

Hi Guest-
Have you been in touch with Evesham Greyhound and Lurcher rescue, as the fostering/ home visit stuff sounds like them?
I got my Lurcher Nellie from them nearly 3 years ago and she is wonderful. I was worried about getting anything other than a young puppy, as I have 6 cats, and Nellie was fully-grown (don't know how old she is as she had been dumped). They let me see how Nellie behaved with Pip's 2 cats, she totally ignored them and did the same when introduced to my cats on the lead.
She has the most adorable nature, very loving, and absolutely adores children, so I wonder if she was brought up with them. I can only let her off the lead, however, when we are in a totally enclosed area, since she totally forgets me when off the lead in the open, and has ended up 100's of yards away, just working the hedge. She doesn't run away, I can go up to her, but she just wants to do her own thing- maybe this was why she was dumped-as a working lurcher, she's obviously no good if she won't come back!
She has no vices, except pooing in the utility room when it rains- she hates walking on wet grass! I would love to know more about her, i.e. her breeding, history etc, but this is obviously impossible for many rescued dogs.
Just another word of advice, be very careful not to leave your lurcher tied up outside shops,in the car etc, Lurchers are the number one target for dog theives. Even if I leave them in the car just to pop into a shop, I have panic attacks until I get back to the car, convinced they have been stolen!
Good luck with your search, spend time choosing the right lurcher, and you will never regret having one!
Liz

Hi Guest, Brainless has given you a good list, but a few more thoughts. Don't always accept what you are told about a lurchers 'mix'. The information may well be offered in the best of faith, but except with pups from a few enthusiasts, lurcher 'pedigrees' are often guesswork, and that makes working out the likely temperament and degree of prey drive more difficult. Basic rules of thumb are the more sighthound the more 'laid back' the dog is liable to be, but a lot of sighthound blood also tends to increase the urge to chase and decrease the level of 'trainability'. Saluki input also tends to decrease trainability. It sounds however, as if you are looking for a adult rescue not a puppy, so that probably won't matter as much as it would if you got a pup.

One problem with getting an adult lurcher rescue is that someone has got rid of it, possibly for a reason. As often as not the 'reason' is that some idiot has got the poor dog with dreams of bagging hundreds of rabbits, and then blamed the dog rather than their own inepitude when it failed. But if that is the case the dog may have been tried on prey, which is apt to have increased its urge to hunt and such dogs may have been very poorly trained about cats and sheep. It may also have been run far too hard and far too young, so check for injuries and if possible try to see the dog after it has had a good gallop, and make sure that its breathing is OK.

Don't necessarily write off larger lurchers/sighthounds on space grounds. They tend to tidy themselves away very neatly - we have no problem taking two adult deerhounds in a caravan each year - and the larger lurchers often have a good deal of input from very laid back sighthound breeds. Full bred greyhounds also make wondeful companions, and are usually excellent with children.

Good luck with your lurcher hunt - all the positive things you have read about them are true :-)