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My husband and I plan on adopting a dog, possibly two, within the next year or so. We live in a condo now, and are looking at houses. We would not adopt the dog(s) until we had a house and yard. We do have 2 cats. The female is almost 10. She is a little high strung and likes to keep to herself most of the time. Our male is 5 or 6 and very friendly and playful. He is also FIV positive but doing well. We have no children and do not plan to at our ages. Our pets are our children.
My husband works full time. I retired early a couple of years ago, and have been working part time a couple of days a week. When I work, it's usually 12-4, or something like that. Never more than 4 hours at a time. Other than that, I would be home.
We had been thinking about a Greyhound, but have some concerns about their prey drive. Does anyone know of Greyhounds living in homes with cats? Do Greyhounds normally chase cats? We would want our dog(s) to be indoor most of the time. Thanks for any advice or information you have to offer!
pet greyhounds pretty much exclusively come from rescues which foster and temperament test, so the odds that the rescue will know whether a specific dog is cat friendly are very good. greyhounds do tend to have a high prey drive, but there are cat friendly greys out there.
with any cat-dog situation, i'd always keep them separated unless monitored for quite a while and at the very least always have a place where the cats can go to get away from the dog.
I wouldn't try it with a Greyhound. We had one for a few yrs. It is ingrained in them to chase and catch. When we used to take ours to the dog park, he had to have on his racing muzzle as whenever another dog would take off across the field, our Grey would run, catch and knock down. Other owners would freak out, getting upset thinking their dog was going to be killed. A few times it got to where my dog was not gonna back down until....they want to be the fastest that's for sure. He'd take off after any running dog and wouldn't stop till the other dog completely stopped. It was very interesting to say the least.
You would never want to come home to find your cat dead or severely injured would you? What if it got spooked or ran across the room and the Grey attacked it? Of course they are sweet as pie and it wouldn't be out of malice....that's just my 2 cents from owning one. And he had the sweetest temperament otherwise. But in that dog park, his wild came out for sure.
pet greyhounds pretty much exclusively come from rescues which foster and temperament test, so the odds that the rescue will know whether a specific dog is cat friendly are very good. greyhounds do tend to have a high prey drive, but there are cat friendly greys out there.
with any cat-dog situation, i'd always keep them separated unless monitored for quite a while and at the very least always have a place where the cats can go to get away from the dog.
^^ yes!!
and would like to add that i did a homevisit for a rescue group adoption a couple of weeks ago.... the woman had a 12 y/o greyhound and an 8 or 9 y/o cat and they were JUST FINE.....
I wouldn't try it with a Greyhound. We had one for a few yrs. It is ingrained in them to chase and catch. When we used to take ours to the dog park, he had to have on his racing muzzle as whenever another dog would take off across the field, our Grey would run, catch and knock down. Other owners would freak out, getting upset thinking their dog was going to be killed. A few times it got to where my dog was not gonna back down until....they want to be the fastest that's for sure. He'd take off after any running dog and wouldn't stop till the other dog completely stopped. It was very interesting to say the least.
You would never want to come home to find your cat dead or severely injured would you? What if it got spooked or ran across the room and the Grey attacked it? Of course they are sweet as pie and it wouldn't be out of malice....that's just my 2 cents from owning one. And he had the sweetest temperament otherwise. But in that dog park, his wild came out for sure.
It's your call.
but see, that's one dog. there are two greys that regularly come to my dog park and they don't chase other dogs at all, not even for fun, and we have dogs of all sizes at the park. they just kinda lope around on their own and occasionally run really fast, not after anything in particular. my dog really likes to quietly hang out with them; they calm her down.
i don't know how those dogs are with cats, but not all dogs of the same breed have the same temperament.
putting any dog together with cats is a potential recipe for disaster, which is why you have to be extremely careful about it. but i don't think greyhounds are a definite no for people with cats.
I agree with Groar.. I have seen greyhounds at adoptions and the fosters know whether or not they are cat friendly. My cats usually avoid a new dog at first anyway.
I have a wiem which also can have a high prey drive but she doesn't bother the cats, now squirrels are a different story. I have seen warning about having them with small dogs too but she lives just fine with my 2 yorkies.
pet greyhounds pretty much exclusively come from rescues which foster and temperament test, so the odds that the rescue will know whether a specific dog is cat friendly are very good. greyhounds do tend to have a high prey drive, but there are cat friendly greys out there.
with any cat-dog situation, i'd always keep them separated unless monitored for quite a while and at the very least always have a place where the cats can go to get away from the dog.
We would keep them separated, unless one of us was with them. Our cats like to go under the bed, so that would be their safe place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by twowolves
I wouldn't try it with a Greyhound. We had one for a few yrs. It is ingrained in them to chase and catch. When we used to take ours to the dog park, he had to have on his racing muzzle as whenever another dog would take off across the field, our Grey would run, catch and knock down. Other owners would freak out, getting upset thinking their dog was going to be killed. A few times it got to where my dog was not gonna back down until....they want to be the fastest that's for sure. He'd take off after any running dog and wouldn't stop till the other dog completely stopped. It was very interesting to say the least.
You would never want to come home to find your cat dead or severely injured would you? What if it got spooked or ran across the room and the Grey attacked it? Of course they are sweet as pie and it wouldn't be out of malice....that's just my 2 cents from owning one. And he had the sweetest temperament otherwise. But in that dog park, his wild came out for sure.
It's your call.
Thanks for your post. My husband and I are very concerned about the safety of our cats. We would be devastated if anything like that happened. Even if the dog was just chasing, and not catching or hurting, the cats would be terrified. I don't want to make their lives miserable..
I have alot to think about. I want us to make the right decision, which is why I'm planning far ahead. As the saying goes, if I fail to plan, I plan to fail...
Quote:
Originally Posted by latetotheparty
^^ yes!!
and would like to add that i did a homevisit for a rescue group adoption a couple of weeks ago.... the woman had a 12 y/o greyhound and an 8 or 9 y/o cat and they were JUST FINE.....
That's really good to hear! I won't rule out Greyhounds yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by groar
but see, that's one dog. there are two greys that regularly come to my dog park and they don't chase other dogs at all, not even for fun, and we have dogs of all sizes at the park. they just kinda lope around on their own and occasionally run really fast, not after anything in particular. my dog really likes to quietly hang out with them; they calm her down.
i don't know how those dogs are with cats, but not all dogs of the same breed have the same temperament.
putting any dog together with cats is a potential recipe for disaster, which is why you have to be extremely careful about it. but i don't think greyhounds are a definite no for people with cats.
Thanks for the comments! More to think about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Keeper
I agree with Groar.. I have seen greyhounds at adoptions and the fosters know whether or not they are cat friendly. My cats usually avoid a new dog at first anyway.
I have a wiem which also can have a high prey drive but she doesn't bother the cats, now squirrels are a different story. I have seen warning about having them with small dogs too but she lives just fine with my 2 yorkies.
We do have a few Greyhound rescue groups in the area so I can try to contact them and get more information. It sounds like we would definitely want to look for a dog that had a foster home with cats.
Thanks again for the advice, I really appreciate it!
My friend has 2 greyhounds and 3 cats and they get along wonderfully. In fact, when he walks the dogs, one of his cats comes along and just follows them up and down the street, stopping every time one of the dogs has to pee or poop. He was found as a stray and spends all his time indoors, except when it's time for a walk. The dogs love him especially and they cuddle together all the time.
I'm not gonna argue about it. The bottom line is this: No one, not even a Greyhound foster family, can tell for sure if one day, (yes, one day in the future) that that Greyhound wouldn't run after a skittish, playing or spooked cat (OP has 2 cats) and 'catch' it resulting n injury or death.
To say that a Foster could predict that happening or not by having the dog for a few days or weeks, to me, is preposterous. What do Pit owners say after their dog mauls a childs face off? "Oh, I can't believe she did that, she is soooo sweet!'
But, w/e.
For the record, the OP needs to know just how FAST they run. I'd guess at saying atleast 3 times faster than her cats. If she wants to take that risk, that's her prerogative like I said before. I, myself, knowing about and owning one, would never take that chance with an indoor cat. She also mentioned the fear factor for her cats. If she did get a Grey and it did not work out, and the cats did suffer, she would likely get rid of the Grey (as they cannot live outside, ever). At the end of that 'potential' ordeal, the cats had to suffer and the Grey had to be placed again.
This is not a case of 'oh she can't get any dog because she has 2 cats.' 90% of any other dog breed would not hunt down and chase a running cat like a Grey would. That is the reality. This is inbred in them. A Shepard does not have this trait, a Poodle does not have this trait, and I could go on.
I say good luck luck to the OP.
Last edited by twowolves; 05-24-2010 at 07:20 PM..
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