Greyhounds and apartment living

Living in an apartment with a greyhound takes a very big commitment to meet the dog's needs, and to give it the best possible life.

Just like people, greyhounds need to go to the toilet every few hours, and definitely first thing on walking up in the morning. So, unless you are home a lot, or have a dog walker, this is not easy to manage. Even when you have a totally secure area for the dog to toilet, greyhounds are very large dogs that produce a lot of excrement. A greyhound and an apartment are not always an ideal mix, so please consider the following before you apply to adopt or foster a greyhound.

• GSN will not place a greyhound in a home where it has unsupervised access to a standard height balcony railing, as they are big dogs that could easily jump over with fatal consequences. (Minimum height for balcony railing must be 1.5 metres for a greyhound.)
• Generally young greyhounds under five years are too lively to be suitable for apartment living, as they need more stimulation and may become destructive if left alone for a number of hours.
• Greyhounds are not suitable for full time workers. If you work away from home for more than 4-5 hours per day (including your commuting time) please outline what arrangements you will put in place to meet the greyhound's toileting needs while you are away from home, including sourcing the availability and costs of dog walkers. Greyhounds cope better in an apartment if you are not working full time and are able to walk them during the day, play with them, and give them the companionship they crave.
• You need to be prepared to take your greyhound outside to toilet multiple times a day. On waking, after breakfast, around lunchtime, mid afternoon, after its dinner, and last thing before bed.
• If you are working, the greyhound will have no stimulation during the day in an apartment, and should ideally be walked at least 15 minutes before you head to work, and again a longer walk when you arrive home. All greyhounds need at least a 30 minute walk every day.
• Obviously, being able to take your greyhound to work or using a dog-walker or doggie-daycare centre will assist you to manage some of this issues, but this would need to be done each day.