Question for individuals who hold owned verbs hounds...?
...Can you please try to talk me out of buying one?
I'm thinking along the lines of Sloughi or Ibizan Hound or Pharaoh Hound.
I know they are quite large and require like mad of exercise and patient training and are supposedly shy of strangers BUT i want personality traits that are fairly adjectives in the breeds that don't get mentioned very habitually.
Things that as owners you have felt were intensely inconvenient and something you didn't expect to have to deal with?
Or perhaps it was expected but much more difficult to deal with than you thought?
Maybe they don't similar to children? Maybe they don't like other dogs? Maybe they do better with a companion dog? Maybe they bark excessively? Maybe they chew things? Maybe they are diffident of some thing? Maybe they pee everywhere?
Anything at all where you thought that perhaps you chose the wrong breed to buy...?
I want worse case scenarios!
My sight hound is a retired racer, a wonderful greyhound. I've had him for 3 years and the worst article was, and still is, house training. I tried the recommended positive re-enforcement method but I think that's a bunch of whoo-ee. I still prefer the rub the nose within it and spank method.
My dog doesn't require much exercise. In fact he's quite happy on HIS sofa (notice that word his). He loves to travel for a walk, but is as lazy as the day is long.
I know this isn't what you considered necessary to hear but if you're still into sight hounds why don't you consider adopting a retired greyhound. They are greyt dogs and adoption is normally only about $200, much cheaper than the price of a puppy.
I would consider getting rid of the wife and kids before the dog.
Why would we talk you out of buying one of these elegant breeds? As long as you are prepared to live with the hound mentality - not fussed on obedience, definitely not fussed on talk about, like to chase (and kill) any small furries in its path, step for it.
Discuss the breeds with the 3 breed clubs, they are the people who really know the breed and will tell you whether you are a suitable owner.
http://www.pharaohhoundclub.co.uk/page7.
I owned a Borzoi a few years ago. I'm sorry to say they are lovely, gentle, intelligent, sweet dogs. They lounge around the house, are calm and barely audible but... Whenever I let my Borzoi off the lead she be gone. She would run until she was out of sight and come back whenever she be ready. The last walk we go on, she ran across a busy main road onto a traffic island because she'd see a bird, she saw me and darted back across the road. Because I was other late for work, waiting for he to return from her jaunts, I had to give her put a bet on to the breeder but she was a beautiful dog, inside and out
Well, I have two sight hounds (Greyhounds) and they are both amazing dogs! Both are stale the track, sweet, affectionate, great with kids, and couch potatoes. They have a big yelp which is nice and they only use it when someone approaches the house. Wonderful dogs that I will own again in the future.
ALL dogs involve TRAINING!
None of your concerns are breed or even group specific.
Sighthounds tend to be..well, NOT "cuddly",which seems to be HUGE criteria for most "pet-people" here..they should buy a teddy take on instead of a dog,but that's beside the point.
They can easily be over-fed,can be sensitive to anesthesia & flea treatments
Thank you for asking this press as I'm about to get into the 'other' hound after years with the scent array and I'm finding the answers so far useful. My experience so far with my new breed, the Whippet, is they are extremely loving and want to be near their owners 24/7 - apart that is, for the time they get into their other mode and are gone like the curl. I am reliably informed (by the breeder who obviously wants to sell me one of her lovely litter) that they don't adjectives take off to the tall timbers, but I'm not so certain. I also know they can be counter critters - one I had first-hand dealings with, although didn't own, used to own me stripping anything in the kitchen (in his owners' absence) that wasn't actually bolted down. He was the most loving boy, and whether I got angry with him (which at times wasn't hard to do) I could demolish him. Being a hound, they love other dogs, associates, anything. But they can kill cats!! I'm seriously worried if Whippets are 'worse' than bigger sighthounds. But I'm up for the challenge (??)
To answer your press - why don't you get your head into books on the breeds, get to some shows and run into the breeders - provided they aren't just going into the ring (do NOT approach them at this time) they will usually be more than chirpy to give you all the pros and cons. And breeders don't want you to have one of their puppies unless they are certain you really want one.
Good luck (and wish me luck too please).
My experiences near sighthounds are afghans - breeder and exhibitor for many years, greyhounds, Irish wolfhound and pharaoh hound. Afghans, greyhounds and wolfhounds - and I'm generalizing here - like kids, are dog friendly, my afghans lived beside cats as well, they're not much for barking, any dog will chew if bored, untrained and frustrated and that applies to sighthounds.
Sighthounds are the wrong breed for society who don't believe in positive training because a sighthound will shut down if you're a heavy-handed trainer, but they respond quickly to positive training. They aren't shy beside strangers, but can be aloof, meaning they stand back a bit and make up their minds first whether or not they want to be friends beside this person - that doesn't apply to greyhounds who tend to like everyone.
They're also not dogs for people who want to stir to dog parks because you can't let them off leash - they're bred to run and chase small game and when they're running, they won't hear you.
I hold to admit, I wouldn't have another pharaoh hound, he was too stand-offish and independent for me and his hunting intuition was too strong. Any other sighthound I've met has been awesome!
I've grown up beside Whippets and Borzoi and I would always have one of these.
Borzoi are a large sighthound, aloof, sensitive, loving. They are a bit guarded of strangers but are loving and friendly with their family.
I remember walking one of my mums Borzoi a big dog who came up to my hip and I'm 5' 6", I be walking in a fairly secluded nouns when this man appeared. The dog obviously sensed something because he came and literally stuck himself to my hip as we walked along. I don't know whether the man was dangerous but he turned and went the other passageway!
Never forget that they are sighthounds and are "prey" driven, that said they are trainable and certainly in our family we single have say "Come" and each and every Borzoi will come hindmost.
Whippets are stubborn, fun loving, love lounging on the sofa or under your duvet but in my experience actually harder work than some larger sighthounds.
They aren't the shivery little creatures society think they are and are in fact tough as nail!
Any dog is capable of all the things you have programmed, maybe some more than others at the end of the day what you put into your dog is what you will obtain out.
Answers: The best way to reach a deal yourelf out of owning a sighthound is to get to know as many of them as possible. Talk to the owners, they'll tell you stories of chasing the dogs down engaged highways, trying to keep them out of the refrigerator, from opening doors and gate, and trying to keep them from stealing whatever they have a intellect to, and can drag or carry off!
They don't bark alot, but, they will chase anything that runs from them. If you are squeemish don't go and get one. Mine catch and eat birds, rabbits & mice.
If you don't feed them top qauality food beside no corn or wheat they tend to get yeast infections. They should be kept lean, they live longer, and they do best with some real meat and crude bones in their diet..
They can be difficult to keep, but, they are worth it.
The Ibizan, pronounced "I-bee-than", is the most clownish of the three. The Sloughi is most like a grey hound, more laid put a bet on, the Pharoah is a quick, cat-like intesense hound.
Be sure to get one from a breeder that shows and/or courses/races/hunts their hounds. They will hold the best temperaments. They should be wary, not shy, mine love kids, most are pretty tolerant of kids, or should e. They should be keen, not sharp, intellegent and certain of themselves. A good Sighthound should "own the ground he walks on".
Try these links
http://www.sighthounds.com/
http://www.notra.org/
http://www.asfa.org/
http://www.performancesighthoundjournal.
