ex-racing greyhound Exercise needs and food advice
I am often asked these five questions through Sabrina’s Instagram Account so I thought it would be helpful to address them here on The Lovely Hound Blog.
How much food should I feed my greyhound?
Can you recommend a food for my Greyhound
How much exercise does a Greyhound need?
What health issues does Sabrina have?
Do I need to take my Greyhound to a Groomer?
Greyhound Exercise needs and food advice
How much food should i feed my greyhound?
While I am not a dog food nutritionist, I have over 20 years of experience feeding dogs. And five of those years feeding my own Greyhound.
Therefore, I felt it best to offer up a day in the life of Sabrina the Greyhound that way you can take away Sabrina’s daily food and greyhound exercise needs and apply it with your modifications to your own greyhound.
Up at 5:00am for a pee break
Breakfast: 1 C of lamb kibble 23% protein with daily supplements (moistened with bone broth)
Morning Walk: 4 to 5km or Morning Run: 3.5km (significantly reduced in summer months)
12:00pm Yard time and pee break
Lunch: ½ Cup lamb kibble with daily supplements
Snack/Treatos: Several pieces of dehydrated lamb liver stuffed into a Kong
Dinner: 1.5 C of lamb kibble topped with moistened dehydrated lamb
Supplements: Olewo Carrots, Olewo Beets, sprinkle of organic dried kelp, Green Lipped Mussels
Evening walk: 15 minute walk after a minimum of one hour rest after dinner to avoid any potential for Bloat
Sabrina cannot tolerate any large amounts of high protein, so I top up her protein consumption with very high-protein dehydrated lamb.
Sabrina is not fed human food but does get the occasional taste of banana, cheese or a french-fry.
I feed Sabrina three times a day and additional treatos/snacks to control tummy acid.
It is important that you maintain your Ex-racer’s body weight at a healthy number. If you don’t, this extra weight will put stress on both their joints and back.
As with humans an actual weight number is not always helpful to compare your hound with. In Sabrina’s situation, she has occasional lower back strain and has joint issues (from her racing days) so I keep her as lean as I can without being scolded by my veterinarian.
She can easily become too heavy or too thin so I try to keep her food and exercise as consistent as I can.
I can slightly see her spine, her ribs and her hip bones. While I rarely have her on a scale, I do eyeball her on a regular basis and watch for the profile of her tucked up tiny waist to ensure it does not get too rounded.
Sabrina is now eight years old and has slowed down considerable since she was adopted when she was just three years old.
She is a tall girl and is considered to be an active Greyhound.
Her current weight sits at about 68lbs or 31kg.
greyhounds need healthy treatos
Sabrina is enjoying her Kong stuffed with dehydrated lamb.
your greyhound can easily get fat or even obese
I have seen a lot of obese rescued Ex-racers on Instagram and let me just say that this is very unhealthy and is harming the hound in such a way that it may shorten his or her life span.
Please consider your Greyhound’s quality and length of life and reduce the amount of food being provided, IF your hound is on the chunky side.
Provide them with more greyhound exercise options like a trip to the park or beach. Consider walking them more often or a bit longer.
Even small changes will make a big difference.
Enrichment items like stuffed or frozen Kongs, Lickamats, snuffle mats filled with food are not long-term substitutes for exercise.
These things are perfect for when your hound has to stay inside for example, a heatwave, extreme cold, and injury or illness or when you’ve already walked your hound and you’re heading to school or work.
We all kid around about Nuggies and Pizza bones for our hounds but IF they are overweight you should not be providing them with any human food like hamburgers, pizza, cheese or bread.
keep your greyhound fit & healthy
Sabrina the Greyhound’s ribs are slightly showing and she has a tucked up tiny waist side profile.
can you recommend a food for my Greyhound?
I recommend any food that your Greyhound enjoys eating and agrees with their gastrointestinal (GI)
Gas and a soft or runny stool may indicate the food does not agree with your Greyhound’s sensitive tummy.
In Sabrina’s case, she can only tolerate high protein in small amounts so she only receives as a topper on her kibble. Or stuffed into her Kong for a snack.
I purchase medium quality lamb and brown rice kibble for her. She loves it. It agrees with her GI and she has very little tummy upset or gas.
From my own experience, I suggest staying with one protein in the beginning until you can determine if your Greyhound has any food sensitivities.
And, if they have an upset tummy don’t automatically give them rice and chicken. Many dogs (including Sabrina) cannot tolerate chicken and you will only make things worse.
no two greyhounds are alike
Some will sleep all day while others need walks & adventures. But all Greyhounds need a safe and quiet place to put their head at night.
How much exercise does a Greyhound need?
Remember that no two Ex-racing Greyhounds are the same when it comes to greyhound exercise needs.
I thought I would just provide you with a typical day of greyhound exercise for Sabrina, as follows:
One 45 minute walk a day depending on the temperature. Sometimes we go longer and sometimes we shorten the walk. We had been running three to four km twice a week but that will have to wait now for the cooler weather.
Regardless of what I’ve planned for our dog walk, I always monitor her for how she is feeling.
Our walks usually include a structured walk part, a free walk part (Sabrina is free to choose to walk where she wants) and the all important ‘Snifarri’ where she can just sniff and stand and sniff. We always walk on a loose leash.
This combination meets Sabrina’s greyhound exercise needs. And we always have fun!
We do city walks, neighbourhood walks, forest walks and beach days. A different route almost every day.
We always incorporate a bit of training in each walk. Mostly safety type training for traffic, e-bike riders and for a potential off-leash dog attack.
Sabrina knows to wait when I ask her to do so or immediately get behind me when there is an imminent threat from a dog or coyote.
Sabrina can be very protective so when there is a real danger she knows exactly how to keep us both safe. She is not a barker but will aggressively bark when we are threatened by a serious danger.
Recently we had a frightening coyote encounter and she saved us both by channeling her inner Doberman Pinscher.
I always carry a dog/coyote repellant spray which I sprayed into the face of a Cane Corso one summer. It is more like a stream than a spray and must be used close up. If your purchase something like this, be sure to practice.
In terms of collar equipment she wears an easy-release house collar, in the house in the event of an emergency. And on walks a martingale collar that will not slip over her head too easily. Both have my contact information. She does not use a muzzle, harness or flexi-lead.
When on holidays, she will have a tracking component added to her collar for safety.
Greyhounds love fun Adventures
Sabrina loves hiking in the mountains. And jumping into little streams
What health issues does Sabrina have?
Greyhound Health and Medical: hookworm, urinary incontinence, mild lumbar strain
Sabrina has a medical condition called Urinary Incontinence. It is treated with a low dose estrogen-based hormone medication called Stilbestrol prescribed by our vet. She receives this twice a week. She has successfully been on this for five years. Ironically, it’s the exact same dose my female Doberman Madeline was prescribed for her Urinary Incontinence.
There is a lot of negative information out there on this medication, however, I did not hesitate to put Sabrina on it as she was so upset losing control of her bladder. She would get so upset when she would lose control of her bladder that she would either lay in her wet bed in fear that she had done something wrong or hide.
This was no way for her to live.
My female Doberman Pinscher Madeline was on this same medication most of her life and it did not cause any health issues. I chose this medication over the advice of many armchair veterinarians after watching poor Madeline go through the exact same symptoms as Sabrina.
If you are considering a medical treatment for your Greyhound’s Urinary Incontinence, please do your homework and discuss any risk you feel is there with your veterinarian.
This is not a Greyhound issue but can be a common issue in spayed female dogs.
Sabrina also receives a parasite control every 28 days for Hookworm. Hookworm is a stubborn parasite that is prevalent in Ex-racers from the southern states in the USA. It typically passes from the brood Greyhound to her pups when they are nursing and largely goes untreated until the Greyhound leaves the racing industry and the guardian of the Greyhound is left to treat the Hookworm.
Sabrina has had a very stubborn and life threatening case of Hookworm but I’m happy and relieved to report that she is very healthy and they are well under control.
Remember that not all Greyhounds will have this issue.
Other than these two issues and a sore back after she fell in the yard and ended up upside down like a stranded turtle (recently treated with cold laser) Sabrina is the healthiest dog I’ve ever lived with.
As Sabrina was a racing Greyhound before she was adopted, her legs are badly scarred and she has a hip injury that causes her to occasionally drag her right leg. At this time, there is no treatment required but in the future she may need something to ease any arthritis she may have.
Do I need to take my Greyhound to a Groomer?
You never need to take your Greyhound to a Groomer
Sabrina does not go to the groomer as I take care of all her hygiene requirements at home. It saves me money and is much safer for her.
I bathe her at home a few times a year. She always smells clean and her coat emits very little odor, if any.
Greyhounds do shed though, so I brush or vacume her on a daily basis. Mostly because she loves it.
I brush her teeth (and do scaling when necessary) twice weekly at a minimum. So far, I’ve been able to avoid risky and costly dental work at her veterinarian clinic.
The safest way to keep any dog’s nails trimmed (and the Greyhound is no exception) is to use a Dremmel on them. Clipping dark nails can be a recipe for disaster as it is impossible to know where the nail quick ends. This practice is almost guaranteed to cause your hound pain, once the Quick is cut. And it will make the next nail trimming session even harder.
Either way, have some Quickstop (or similar product) on hand to stop any bleeding. Not only will it stop the blood but it also has an antibiotic component.
Greyhound Tip!
Quickstop also is very fast acting when put on your Greyhound’s cuts and abrasions. It is always in my Greyhound First Aid Kit.
Always remember you are your Greyhound’s entire world and it is your job as guardian to make them feel loved and safe at all times.
Don’t forget Greyhounds love to have fun too!
