greyhounds the dog, not bus.

[WheelGloryDame]

greyhounds = hunting dogs?

A greyhound racing track is going under in Wisconsin. I would love to adopt one of the 900 dogs that need homes, but we already have a mini dachshund. But, there is an old man down the street who covets our Meg. So here is the question that will tip the scale. Can a retired racing greyhound be trained to hunt? They were breed for hunting, but it doesn't seem as if anyone uses them for that purpose anymore. I've tried googling for an answer, but nothing I can find says anything about it.

 

[WheelGloryDame]

p.s. as a side note, if anyone wants to adopt a dog, let me know, I have the necessary info.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Tough questions you ask!

Not that I'm any kind of canine guru or anything...

But at first thought, I'd almost say that "no", several generations of racing Grayhounds behind 1 other racing grayhound wouldn't easily be able to be "untrained" in one thing and trained in another.

BUT, their prey-drive has been tweaked throughout all of the racing and breeding to race. You wouldn't have an issue of the dog chasing a rabbit, that's for sure.

The problems arise in getting the dog back to you, back to you with the quarry, back to you with quarry intact (or getting there before it's destroyed), having the dog listen to commands, etc etc etc.

Also note: dogs bred to race aren't nearly as rugged as dogs that are just dogs. They're bred to be as strong/fast as possible while retaining the least amount of body weight. They're essentially bred the inherent rugged strength out of them. Straight-line running on groomed tracks is great. But when you put them out into the scrub brush to chase bunnies, the rough ground and cutting/weaving might seriously injure the dog.

The same thing has happened with race horses. Ever wonder why the "recent" rash of race horses that injure themselves during racing? They've bred the inherent ruggedness out of them and replaced it with the lightest bone structure. Couple that with the horses not being raised on rugged ground = easily broken legs.

Race horses USED to be left in the pasture for a few years, to build strength and bone density, before ever being groomed to race.

And if you have a weiner dog at home now, I'd almost bet money that a grayhound would see it as "prey", too.

Again, I'm NOT at all any kind of canine expert...just applying what little I know about horses to dogs. Might not cross-apply at all.

-J-

 

[tyrajam]

When I was growing up, the farmer up the road adopted a greyhound. Getting the dog to chase anything that moved was not the problem, finding the dog again was. As far as I know, that dog spent its life on a chain because if it got a sniff of freedom, it wouldn't slow down for 30 miles.
Again, I'm not an expert, and I've never hunted with sight hounds before, but if you want to put a dog down in the brush to kick up rabbits, I don't think you would ever try a racing greyhound a second time.

 

[CountryBoy19]

if you want to put a dog down in the brush to kick up rabbits, I don't think you would ever try a racing greyhound a second time.

I don't know why, but that just made me laugh for some reason. Thanks

Sorry, I have nothing to contribute to the actual topic.

 

[WheelGloryDame]

humm. so maybe no greyhound. at least not now in life.

 

[abnk]

I'm not a greyhound person, obviously, but from what I know about dogs, a breed meant for a specific purpose, despite recent use of this breed, should not have too much trouble reverting to its original purpose. That is a very general statement, I know, and it will depend on many genetical and environmental factors. One example I can give you is the German Shepherd Dog (GSD). The dog was initially bred for herding, but has been used in police, military, and protection application for most of its history. Despite this selective breeding for tracking and bitework, GSDs still do very well if put to herd.

I don't think the horse analogy mentioned above applies here, because the weight is not really such a big factor as it is with horses; especially if you keep your dog lean.

All this said, if you want a hunting dog, things would be much easier and predictable if you just went with a proven hunting breed.

 

[Big John]

Ok I understand not the bus.... What about the INGO member???

 

[Prometheus]

NO!

For one, these dogs know two things, running and cages. That is it.

While I'm not the greyhound expert, we did own one and I've always been friends (since a child) with the owners of them.

They are the sweetest animals around. They will BOLT after anything small that catches there eye. they can't help it. My greyhound would regularly catch and kill rabbits and squirrels in the back yard. It would bite their heads clean off, leaving two intact portions.

Mine was fine with the cat, a friend went on vacation for 2 weeks and gave us their kids gerbil to watch... it literally trembled and salivated staring at the cage. We had to lock the gerbil and it's cage in a separate room.

Even the nicest track still instills complete fear of humans into greyhounds. They are taught to be tame and not to bite.

They cannot (from my many years of watching) be taught to ever be off of a leash or fenced enclosure.

If your greyhound gets loose, get your keys. No joke. Can you run 55+mph? Get your keys and immediately give chase via a car. You stand no chance on foot. They can corner like they are rails as well.

The first time you bring a greyhound home it's a world of firsts. It's never seen carpet. It's never seen stairs (more than 2 steps).

Alll it's life has been in a tiny cage (crate) and running on a track.

Greyhound make wonderful pets for someone who wants a dog that will just 'chill'.

Our greyhound (like every other one I knew) would run like teh wind for several minutes and then be content to lay perfectly still (watching or sleeping) for hours before it would feel like moving again. They are LAZY dogs that like to run (for short bursts).

I loved our Greyhound. She was a great dog.

There skin is very delicate, their legs spindly. They wouldn't stand a chance in the woods. They'd be bleeding like crazy from underbrush and probably break their legs trying to run in uneven terrain, let alone all the holes, sticks ect. ect.

I'd get another one if I didn't want a dog for protection. I did the rescue thing, now I want a dog that will defend it's home.

 

[clt46910]

I had friends that use to run Jackrabbits in West Texas with greyhounds. They did go to a Florida racetrack and picked up a couple of retired racing greyhounds. They did not work out in the field, got hurt way to easy, but they did work to cross breed with their working dogs for a bigger faster working dog.

 

[WheelGloryDame]

thanks prometheus. Very insightful.

 

[dburkhead]

Back when I was active at the Indianapolis Humane Society's "dog park" (before one of my dog's developed "dog aggression" and couldn't go any more) one of the folk I knew there was involved in greyhound rescue. Prometheus is spot on. You take one off leash in an open area, they will chase something, and they will get lost, and you'll probably never see them again.

That's really a shame, the "sight hounds" (greyhounds, whippets, Afghan Hounds, etc.) were originally bred as hunting dogs--to chase down prey by sight rather than smell (thus "sight hounds"). They were meant for open field, rather than woods, hunting where they simply outrun the prey. The selective breeding for racing or for showing has lost them a lot the traits that made them good hunters.