You could be forgiven for thinking greyhounds are highly strung, aggressive, incredibly active and need lots of room. Most people who come into contact with a greyhound learn very quickly that they are not all they seem. I am one such person. I'm more of a rodent person in general and when my boyfriend said he wanted to look at getting a dog, I thought a quick trip to the pound will put him off the idea. Dogs are loud, messy, require constant attention, are expensive to keep and need lots of exercise right?

When the day came for my partner and I to visit the local Animal Welfare League, we could have our pick.  There were so many unwanted little bundles of energy just waiting for someone to take them home and love them. My partner liked the Kelpie's and Labrador's because they 'loved to play' but soon realised how unsuitable they were for our lifestyle.  Since we work 8 hours a day each, the dog wouldn't get the amount of attention and stimulation it required; plus we didn't really have a big enough yard for them to run around in.  And they bark, a lot.  Which is great if you don't live in a complex where you share many people's space and need a guard dog.  While slightly better suited, a smaller breed still need lots of company and exercise.  

Then the nice AWL volunteer suggested a breed that never in a million years would my partner or I have considered; a greyhound.  A retired female racer.  She insisted they weren't what many people thought.  I was curious and asked to see her. So we went to her holding pen where she was paired with a Blue Heeler.  As soon as we approached the gate, the heeler started jumping and barking while the greyhound, fawn coloured and very skinny, waited quietly beside wagging it's tale and tolerating the bumping and pushing of the Heeler.  Somehow, the volunteer managed to get in and clip a lead on and take her out through the noise and activity.  So there she was. 'Beauty' was a large, muscled bundle of... placidness. I was surprised at how gentle and affectionate she was.  She didn't jump, didn't bark and didn't stand for long either.  She stretched out on the grass in front of us and soaked up the sun. In the 10 minutes or so that we spent with her, my partner loved her gentle nature but not that she wasn't too interested in 'fetching'.  I on the other hand, was smitten.  Me of all people, who was silently rejoicing that my partner had seen the light, that a dog wasn't for us, was amazed that such a dog even existed.  But we didn't get her.  Then.

I needed to make sure my affection for this dog wasn't a fleeting feeling.  Just because she walked beside me and no one else when taken back to her cage, didn't mean anything.  Just because her odd shape looks actually quite elegant; and just because her nature is so endearing, doesn't mean she needs to come home with us.

So I started researching the breed and every week for the next four weeks, visited Beauty at the AWL.  Actually I missed one week and she actually got adopted out, only to be returned a week later because she found the adopters pet cat a little too interesting.  This is what I found out about this beautiful breed:

•  They are very lazy.  That's right, LAZY.  They are sprinters, not endurance runners and tire quickly.  20-30 minutes walking a day is plenty to keep them healthy.  They spend most of the day sleeping.  Perfect!  Since I'm not home most of the day she won't even notice!
• They rarely bark and are usually very gentle and LOVE human companionship. Fabulous.
• Generally very good with children and other pets - including rabbits. As mentioned, Beauty doesn't get along with smaller animals but loves other dogs.  You must remember that they have been bred and taught to chase and it is only natural for them to do this.  Some dogs have more of a prey drive than others, so just be aware of this if you have other small pets.
• Have very short hair, so they hardly malt and don't have a strong 'dog' smell. Due to this and the fact that they have such a streamlined shape with very little fat, they are generally more of an inside dog as they feel the weather more than other breeds.
• Aren't a good watch dog.  They treat everyone as a new friend but their large size can be intimidating to others.
• Are generally very healthy dogs with no inherit weaknesses to illness. ISome may of course suffered an injury thorugh their racing career, so make sure you find out if they need a little extra TLC.

It seems as though a greyhound would be the only dog I'd ever want in my family.  I finally bit the bullet and brought Beauty home.  Some retired greyhounds take a while to settle into domestic life since all they've known as their home is the racing track where they are kept in crates with a couple of bathroom breaks a day.  Beauty, I'm happy to say, settled in very quickly and soon came to trust her new adopters and show her true personality.