Althouse: The greyhound.

July 2, 2025

The greyhound.

48 comments:

Peachy said...: Who is this?; 7/2/25, 11:38 AM
FullMoon said...: Years ago, I saw the pest control guy and the dog's owner chasing a Greyhound (mught have been a Whippit ).
Must have escaped when pest control open back gate.

Made eye contact with pest guy. He seemed kinda forlorn.; 7/2/25, 11:40 AM
reader said...: I miss the puparazzo.; 7/2/25, 11:41 AM
Quaestor said...: That's an National Greyhound Association greyhound. Hounds registered by the NGA are really a different breed than the American Kennel Club greyhounds. The NGAs are smaller, more compact dogs. Both are quiet, friendly pets that are kid-safe but not necessarily cat-safe. Retired NGAs available for adoption used to be abundant, but not anymore since greyhound racing bans became lucrative source of extra income for state legislators where dog tracks used to operate. Nowadays, most of them come from kennels in West Virginia, and the waiting list is long. When WV finally bans dog racing, greyhounds will become as rare and expensive to own as Scottish deerhounds.; 7/2/25, 11:46 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: Is he alive? That's one tired doggie.; 7/2/25, 11:55 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: legs are very horsey.; 7/2/25, 11:55 AM
Quaestor said...: NGA hounds are adapted for running on flat ground in pursuit of quarry that doesn't change direction. Under those conditions, they are astonishingly fast. Over broken ground against quarry with a brain, deerhounds are considerably faster. Coursing whitetails and mule deer is legal in some Western states, but nowhere east of the Mississippi that I know of. I've been told some hunters have crossbred Scottish deerhounds on NGA greyhounds and produced some fine coursers able to take elk when run in pairs and troikas.; 7/2/25, 12:00 PM
Quaestor said...: "legs are very horsey."

But they don't run like a horse. The equine vertebral column isn't as flexible as a dog's. Because the sacral vertebrae of a greyhound can flex to much wider arc, its hind feet can overtrack its front paws.; 7/2/25, 12:06 PM
Peachy said...: skinny leggy Zeus.; 7/2/25, 12:10 PM
Quaestor said...: "legs are very horsey."

The leg anatomy is quite different as well. In a horse, everything from the "knee" (which is actually a wrist) down forms a single toe equipped with a bundle of compressible ligaments that functions like a biomechanical spring that pushes the horse up and forward with a large proportion of the kinetic energy the hoof applies to the ground. The single-toed ungulates spent 30 million years evolving legs to stay in front of the ancestors of that greyhound.; 7/2/25, 12:17 PM
rehajm said...: The neighbors had a former racer. They’d let it out, it would bolt around the yard for thirty seconds then was a couch potato the rest of the day….; 7/2/25, 12:17 PM
rehajm said...: looks like a santa’s little helper collar. Tied for first as my favorite Christmas show that one is…; 7/2/25, 12:18 PM
Quaestor said...: In effect, a galloping thoroughbred race horse stands on four biological pogo sticks.; 7/2/25, 12:19 PM
Quaestor said...: Those wide collars are popular because a greyhound's head is hardly wider than its neck. A sighthound can escape from regular buckled collar just by backing up. Consequently, we sighthound-owners use choke collars, which seem inhumane, but they're necessary to ensure their safety when out for a walk. Sighthounds are hunters than react reflexively to movement. One of my deerhound leapt straight up and snatched a squirrel from a tree limb over eight feet high. Their power and athleticism is hard to believe. Among dogs, their prey drive is more wolf-like than most other breeds. Without a choke collar, a greyhound could be off-lead and running after someone's cat in a heartbeat. The wide strap applies more pressure on the hound's neck with far less discomfort.; 7/2/25, 12:31 PM
Tina Trent said...: I love greyhound racing. I feel guilty about its downside. But it is beautiful to watch.; 7/2/25, 12:33 PM
Quaestor said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/2/25, 12:33 PM
Aggie said...: @Quaestor, I use choke collars made of thick soft nylon rope (~3/4") which is easier on the neck than a metal chain, but just as effective.; 7/2/25, 12:41 PM
Quaestor said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/2/25, 12:44 PM
Quaestor said...: "They’d let it out, it would bolt around the yard for thirty seconds then was a couch potato the rest of the day…."

Sighthounds have been bred for good indoor manners since medieval times. They were the only hounds routinely allowed to roam at will in the castle's great hall along with the knights and ladies, whereas the scent hounds were outside in kennels. As a group, whether small like a whippet or a giant like an Irish wolfhound or a Scottish deerhound, they are gentle, quiet, and tolerant of each other and humans. I've seen four deerhounds comfortably occupy the same couch.; 7/2/25, 12:49 PM
PM said...: Wonder if the ears are simultaneously responding to the click of the camera.; 7/2/25, 12:57 PM
Quaestor said...: Typical sighthound indoor manners.; 7/2/25, 12:57 PM
Quaestor said...: Speed.; 7/2/25, 1:08 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: Greyhounds can run really fast when they want to, but they’d usually rather just chill. He’s saying, “Look at me. I’m a greyhound; I got nothing to prove.”; 7/2/25, 1:19 PM
Narr said...: A tired doggy is a good doggy.

The friends we got our recently deceased dachshund from fostered a lot of dogs, mostly dackels and dackel-mixes, but one of my favorites was the retired racer--gentle and calm when the rest were yapping and leaping.; 7/2/25, 1:20 PM
n.n said...: He looks despondent.; 7/2/25, 1:45 PM
Wince said...: Dog Day Afternoon.; 7/2/25, 2:06 PM
bagoh20 said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/2/25, 2:12 PM
bagoh20 said...: Speaking of dogs that don't hunt, "Senate bill adds $1.3 trillion more to national debt than House version."

It's like those studies they do analyzing grocery bills and finding that customers get overcharged. They never get undercharged. Very suspicious.

https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/senate-bill-adds-1-3-trillion-more-to-national-debt-than-house-version/; 7/2/25, 2:13 PM
Aggie said...: House caucus digging their heels in at the profligacy. We need a better mechanism for providing voter feedback to Congressmen, other than occasional voting.; 7/2/25, 2:21 PM
Iman said...: “Nobody knows teh kibble he’s seen”; 7/2/25, 2:27 PM
Ann Althouse said...: This dog is a champion who ran in 63 races and won 6, came in second 9 times, and third 7 times. Plus he’s very sweet and good with cats. He’s retired now. Encountered by chance. Not our dog.; 7/2/25, 3:03 PM
Mr. D said...: My sister and her husband live in Madison and they've fostered and owned greyhounds for many years. They are wonderful dogs - they love to laze around until it's go time; when it's go time they can really go.; 7/2/25, 4:29 PM
Birches said...: I miss Zeus.; 7/2/25, 4:30 PM
Greg Hlatky said...: Nothing, but nothing sleeps more quietly than a sighthound. When I go out to the kennel to let our Borzoi out in the morning, I have to check very carefully to make sure they're breathing.; 7/2/25, 4:35 PM
Political Junkie said...: Is this the open thread?; 7/2/25, 4:56 PM
Narr said...: "Is this the open thread?"

Say something about dogs, then go whither thou wilt.; 7/2/25, 5:09 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: My father and grandfather used to call the Greyhound bus ‘la perra’. There was a Greyhound station where the carrier is/was now. I wander if a running dog is assumed to be female by some cultures.; 7/2/25, 6:16 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I asked Google 🤖: “The term "running dog" is a literal translation of the Chinese pejorative 走狗 (zǒugǒu) meaning a "yes-man" or "lackey", referring to someone who helps or flatters more powerful people.
While the term implies subservience and negative connotations, it does not inherently suggest a female gender. The derogatory use is derived from the tendency of dogs to follow humans hoping for food scraps.”

“In some cultures, dogs have been specifically associated with women, leading to a stronger bond between them. ScienceDaily notes that a cross-cultural analysis found that societies where dogs had a special relationship with women (like being named and treated as family) were more likely to regard dogs as a type of person. This suggests an association between dogs and femininity in some cultural contexts, but it's not specific to the term "running dog" or to running itself.”; 7/2/25, 6:25 PM
Quaestor said...: "Plus he’s very sweet and good with cats."

Good with cats could in many cases be better expressed by inversion. Instead of good with cats, perhaps the owner should have said, "My cats are good with greyhounds."

There are two kinds of house cats -- the lazy, confident cat and the shy, cautious type -- the scaredy cat, the sort that darts from hide to coverture like a sneak thief. It's that surreptitious behavior that can trigger the predator response.

Any dog breed can be conditioned to live a harmony with other animals, but it easier if you start early with a pup. However, racing greyhounds are fully adult when they're retired to adoption as pets. As a rule, they aren't raised with cats. People who act as intermediaries in the adoption process do what they can to socialize the racers to the "multi-pet" environment of the typical suburban American abode. Sometimes, they're successful, and sometimes less so. Some adoptees come with a warning, NCS.; 7/2/25, 7:13 PM
Eva Marie said...: Overly dramatic pose. Everyone’s a diva when you take their photo.; 7/2/25, 7:27 PM
tcrosse said...: Not all cats are good with cats.; 7/2/25, 7:28 PM
Quaestor said...: One of my deerhounds.; 7/2/25, 7:37 PM
Viva Maria said...: I'm tired of being admired.

You all go out and get jobs. And bring me biscuits.; 7/2/25, 8:42 PM
JIM said...: I've got my hands full with a small pack of Chihuahua's right now, but I have always wanted a Greyhound. I imagine they require a lengthy walk to keep them healthy.; 7/2/25, 9:02 PM
Jamie said...: I would like to see "a small pack of Chihuahuas."

We have neighbors with one such. In his youth, he was a specimen. He was trim enough to fit between the bars of our fence, and would sometimes turn up actually inside our house, because we were not great about closing our back door.

On one occasion, our daughter had a friend visiting. Matti decided now was his moment to come over and visit, and came through the fence, across the yard, and into our back door, striking a small but heroic pose in the doorway. Our daughter's friend declared, " He is a champion."

This has never failed to crack me up as Matti has increased in girth and curmudgeonliness.; 7/2/25, 10:17 PM
Eva Marie said...: “I imagine they require a lengthy walk to keep them healthy.“
According to Grok a twenty minute walk a day is enough. They’re very lean, with little fat so it’s in their nature to conserve energy. My friend had 3 of them. Very mellow dogs. As racers they spent a lot of time in their kennels so sleeping on the job was just part of their routine.; 7/2/25, 11:30 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Beautiful deerhound!; 7/3/25, 5:27 AM
Quaestor said...: Thank you. That was Guinness. He was good in the show ring, and great at coursing until he figured out the lure would always come back to where it started. It was a hot day and his tongue was redder than usual.; 7/3/25, 8:05 AM