The Greyhound is a sleek, contoured dog built for speed and has an extraordinarily flexible, curved spine. For thousands of years the Greyhound has been bred to hunt by outrunning their prey. As the fastest breed of dog they can reach a top speed of 45 miles per hour and for distances up to 1 mile they can maintain about 30 miles per hour. Selective breeding has given the Greyhound an athlete’s body with the grace of a dancer.

Greyhounds have a very gentle and quiet disposition. They are very pack oriented and will adopt human masters into their pack. Since Greyhounds hunt and race together aggressiveness towards other dogs and people has almost been eliminated from the breed.

A Greyhound is usually tolerant of children, if they have been raised with them. Being non-aggressive they will generally walk away from a child rather than growl or snap. Although they are the fastest breeds of dog their speed is achieved in one all out sprint and they don’t have a lot of endurance. They are quite content being couch potatoes and spend most of their day sleeping. Since they have very little endurance a Greyhound actually requires less exercise time than most dogs.

The coat of a Greyhound is short and smooth, and is the result of crossing Greyhounds with Bulldogs in the mid 1700’s. They have virtually no body fat, are very clean and require very little grooming.

Greyhound’s livers metabolize toxins out of their bloodstream more slowly than other dogs of comparable size, so it is possible for harmful concentrations of these toxins to develop. They are very sensitive to certain medications, including anesthesia, as such if your Greyhound needs surgery be sure that your vet is aware of the special requirements for Greyhounds. They are also prone to bloat, or torsion which is a life threatening disease where the stomach flips over.

Greyhounds are one of the oldest breeds of dogs and appear in both art and literature throughout history. In ancient Egypt, the Greyhounds were mummified and buried along with their owners.

Back to the Dog Breeds Page        Greyhound Breeders - Dogs for Sale
Greyhound - Dogs for Sale