Hello to everyone this is my first post although I have been browsing the forum for a while. We would like some advice please, we would love to rehome a retired greyhound, however I am not sure if we would be considered as in the past we had to rehome our newfoundland, the reason for this was not because we had become bored with her or anything like that, we had a lot of financial problems due to myself having to give up work, and we had to downsize our mortgage and our new house was just was not big enough for her, our new garden is 120 foot long as is very secure with a 6 foot fence, but the house is a lot smaller and we were not prepared to keep her in a kennel outside as this would not have been fair. The area that we live in has a greyhound rehoming centre and a lot of people in the area have greyhounds so I know that our house is big enough to accomadate one. But we dont want to waste their time and give ourselves extra heartache if we are not suitable due to us rehoming our newfie.
Advice welcome please.

I honestly don't see why you would be considered unsuitable - you did what you thought was best for your newfie, and I would expect any decent rescue to be able to see that. :-)

If you relay that story Im sure they will be just fine :)
You did the right thing by your last Newfie, now its your turn to be settled and what better way then a retired greyhound! :-D

am sure they will assess you on your current situation - not on anything that happened in the past :)

I wish you all the best, I admire greyhounds very much, they all deserve a comfy sofa to lie on!! And I am told they make fantastic pets ;)

Thankyou everyone for the replies, I do feel a bit more positive now, and really do hope that we can adopt as home just isnt home without a dog, we feel as though something is missing.

And if honesty counts you have bonus points :) Hope it works out for you

Hi kayza,

I'm sorry but I would be put off immediately.  I never understand why people re-home one dog and then get another.  I know that you say you moved to a different house which was a lot smaller, but it seems big enough for a Greyhound to stretch out in. I know Newfies are big dogs but they are extremely loyal and loving dogs, your Newfie would have been a big part of your family, was she an adolescent and quite active in the house? The adults just lounge around after their walk. I would think it would have been completely distressing to re-home her and even if I moved to a smaller house I would have found a way to keep her, even a kennel was a viable option to try to keep her Newfies have nice heavy coats, you have a large garden to have done some play with her for more of a stretch, you surely had places to walk to give her good exercise?

If you were never interested in getting another dog, fair enough, but now to want another.

I'm sorry, I will never understand things like this.

Hi and thankyou for your opionon Carrington, the lounge in my new house is a quarter of the size of my old house which shows just how small it is and my newfie had only ever lived inside, to have her outside stuck in a kennel however nice it was did not seem at all fair to us. We did not rehome her on a whim we spent a very long time agonising over what to do.
Thankyou for the reply though.

Hi Kayza

I own both newfs and a retired greyhound and my retired greyhound is huge compared to the newfs, (obviously this is in height not weight)but do please bear in mind that they are or can be extremely big dogs. I would contact your local rescue and be totally honest with them about why you had to rehome your previous dog and let them make the decision.:) I have never had to personally rehome a dog of mine BUT if I felt that I could not give a dog the home it deserved because of various reasons then I would not hesitate to put my dog first.

Greyhounds make incredible family pets but do have some drawbacks such as never being able to be let of the lead unless you have a safe and enclosed area to let them run in. We have had ours for about 3 1/2 years and I have only ever had the opportuinity to let him off the lead once in this whole time. There are others things aswel but as long as you remember that they have never been part of a family before so take that into consideration they are fantastic.

Good luck and I hope that you can give one of these wonderful dogs a home as a much loved family member that they deserve.:) If you need to ask anymore retired greyhound questions feel free as there are a few of us on the board who have the pleasure of giving these great dogs a home.

Sorry Izzy bear, but that's rubbish. We have owned Greyhounds and long dogs for over 25 years and I have never kept any of them on leads? I do admit that I was told by someone and after 3 years of owning 3 of them, that you can't let them off lead? It was a bit to late by then though as they were all lamped, coursed and were trained.

I met a lady who owned only rescue greyhounds and sadly it was running one day and broke its foot the amazing thing about it was the greyhound trust paid for all the vet bills as the poor dog concerned had to have an operation. It was all fixed though and after lead rest was off bounding around the fields again. They make great pets apparently

I can agree with what carrington had to say earlier about your poor newfie- that when you give a dog a second chance it really should be a forever home. When I had my rescue BS I was evicted from my home but I kept her- I got a new home.

You do make it sound as though we just decided to give her away, which was not the case, we did what we thought was best for our newfie.
we are going to volunteer at our local rescue then take it from there.

Sounds to me that you really cared about your newfie! Also since you`re being so careful with researching and taking your time I think you`ll make great owners if you decided to go ahead. I don`t think it`s fair people judge you on your previous situation as they weren`t there and can`t fully understand what you went through!! Surely it`s not always best for a dog to stay with it`s current owners if that dog is not getting quality of life!!!?

Thankyou RachelT

I second that.

Sorry spiritualist that you think that what I said is rubbish but I have always been told by the people from the local rescue that you cannot let ex racers off the lead as they have never been taught recall. I have been told that they have only been allowed to run in enclosed and safe areas such as the racing track / training grounds and are caught by using the lure. Do you own long dogs / greyhounds from a puppy or from the rescue background? If its rescue maybe they have differant policies? Unfortunatley as I have done volunteering with the rescue I have heard quite a number of stories of rescue greyhounds who have been let off the lead caught a scent and ran after it to either never be seen again, break a bone because the ground is uneven or as what recently happened in my local rescue, run under a bus and be killed. If a person who I regard as an expert in the care of rescue greyhounds tells me that to be safe never let them off the lead UNLESS they are in a safe and secure area so you can catch them then I will follow their instructioins implicitly for the safety of my dog. I don't course or lamp (whatever that is, sorry not sure) with my rescue boy he is no longer a working dog as he is not physically fit to work like he used to, hence being an ex racer, he is a pet and as such his safety comes first.

Its true most greys have never been taught a recall.

Its rubbish that most greys CANT be taught a recall!

Not saying they can't be theemx just that they haven't.

Please don't get me wrong if I had a local fully enclosed and safe location to be able to let him off the lead and practice recall so I could be 100% sure he would come back (is it possible to be 100% sure 100% of the time?) or caught if he didn't, I would teach him. I also know I have a back garden but this isn't to me a perfect solution to teaching recall with distractions etc. Unfortunately where I live its either open fields, country parks or playing fields with roads and cats very close. I personally when it comes to my pets would rather err on the side of caution and keep him as safe as I can and not put himself and others at risk, I also accept that there are experts that know more than me, such as the lady I got Cleetus off and if she says not to let off UNLESS safe and secure area etc then I won't simple as that.

Sorry to say, but I have to agree with Carrington, on this.  GH are huge dogs,  they can take up as much room as any other large dog.

I would need convincing 110% if I was a rescue centre, that you would not follow the same pattern with another dog.

Best to be honest  with then and  go from there.

I'm sorry if I came across that you just gave your newfie away. I obviously don't know the circumstances. Expect you loved him dearly. I went through the similar thing with having to re home my cat who continually went to fight with my dog until when he became 14 months old started growling back at her . Luckily for me I got my Dad to have her so she was still in the family. I do love cats& dogs but some how dogs are like children to me.  Its just such a shame that he was a rescue dog to begin with.

I can tell that you are thinking about this now with deciding that you are going to get a different breed rather than another newfie.    

Hello Izzy bear. Yes, our first was a rescue in 1982. His rescue in those days meant him being taken off the White City racetrack for being a bad boy towards the other racers and then being given to anyone who would have him. He came walking down the car ramp the IOW ferry in the capeable and conning hands of the 2 little Irishmen who'd both promised us that he would be a right little smasher. Well our smasher stood 26 inches at the shoulder, had a lions ruff around his neck as he was a real bloke and OH and myself nearly fainted with shock and disbelief at the size of him! We took him home of course to our static caravan in OH mums garden, as he had come so far.
We did have some great times with him, but,.....he did pee on my mothers walnut wall unit several times until her banning him from the house. He tried to attack our friends squeeling brand new baby as she held it in her arms and all in the first week! Then there was the ongoing barking, the hysteria when left alone, the insecurity, the insane greed and to many other neurosis's to name. Then again, he would never leave my side and even came to the washing line with me and we didn't have a garden fence back then. He could cuddle for England. He would run alongside my pushbike, I could dress him in hats and glasses and then after sillytime, he would go out work.
This misfit became the IOW coursing champion. He won his cup on a cold frosty afternoon on the side of a steep down and against some excellent dogs. He then qualified for the Waterloo cup of which we are so very proud.

They are all different but they do need to run. Silver did break his leg which was repaired and he is the only one of ours that did seriously injure himself. We were learning and we foolishly ran him on ploughed ground which is an absolute no no and we have learned better. They are not all the same though and firstly, they are dogs which does seem get forgotten and some of the owners need to chill a bit and let them be what they are. Even with the risks which are involved when owning such an athletic and powerfull animal, they are risks that they would willingly take if ever given the choice. These dogs are bred to run, like Collies are to herd or Dobermanns are to guard, it isn't an eliment, it is their nature. All my longdogs have loved the sound of the galloping feet on sandy soil or pine needles and will run in places where they know they will hear it. They slam their paws down hard and look like they are laughing with joy at just feeling the speed and the freedom. Without it they are dead.

we are going to volunteer at our local rescue then take it from there

I know I have stated my opinions on re-homing one dog and then getting another. :-( But you've come across really well on your posts and you are obviously not rushing in with dog withdrawal, which is what I was worried about. :-) I'm really impressed that you are willing to volunteer in rescue and take your time in finding the right dog, (you do realise you will want at least half the dogs you see at the centre, so be strong)

Good luck, and I hope that you find your forever dog soon. 

He sounds like a right character and definatley a batism of fire with him being your first rescue boy.:)

It is still not a risk I am willing to take with my own boy though and actually don't believe that without him being allowed to run he would either be better off dead or he would rather be dead. I would hope that the comfy settee, bedroom, double bed, treats and the unconditional love of myself, OH and two children who adore him more than make up for not being allowed to run. Judging by the fact that he is the most loving and loyal boy and not in the least depressed I would put money on him being happy even without the luxury of having a run. If I wrote about a breeder who gave me advice regarding one of their pups and I completely ignored it and did my own thing I would expect some people to take issue with this, but it seems that you have an issue because I am following the advise given to me by my rescue. Everyone has their own opinion and I think in this instance its a case of agreeing to disagree.:)

Thankyou Carrington.

Point taken Izzy bear and it sounds very much like he has a good life with you and your family. Yes Silver was a baptism of fire, your right about that too. If it wasn't for Silver though, we wouldn't of homed the Greyhounds we have, or had the privilage to of enjoyed them in our lives. So even if he was the devils own, good old Silver eh?