r/Lurchers

Hi all! Getting my lovely boy neutered in a couple of months (when he reaches 18 months)

Any advice on ways to help him settle post surgery? Anything I need to be aware of beforehand? He's my first dog so I'm feeling a little nervous and just want to make sure it doesn't leave any negative impact on him (although bonus points if it stops him licking female dogs lady bits and drooling)!!!

Thanks in advance

I am planning to adopt a lurcher/whippet this summer and have a list of sighthound rescues I plan to apply to, but wondered if there were any people have had particularly good or bad experiences with?

We adopted a lurcher over a month ago from a specialist rescue. He started displaying certain behaviours which we are finding difficult to train and safely manage (mostly extreme separation anxiety and reactivity outside that doesn’t help his anxiety). We said from the get go we couldn’t manage SA as we are a working household and the dog must be left for 4 hours at a time, which they said would be no problem. We took 2 weeks off the the beginning and started desensitisation training from day 2 and so far he has consistently managed only a few seconds before escalation. The reactivity isn’t ideal but in isolation is not a huge problem. We have used the help of certified sighthound trainers, Dogs Trust behavioural helpline and the lovely Redditors on here and the general idea is if we can’t stay at home until he can fully manage being home alone, we can’t keep him.

We live in a central London flat and the neighbours have the right to get us or the dog kicked out if he continues to bark and howl, which is what he does the moment we leave him. The rescue is both suggesting methods like crating and leaving him on a schedule (so 4 hours twice a day morning and afternoon) until he gets used to it and ignore his distress (so his howling, crying, destroying whatever is in the crate, ignore the neighbours when they file a complaint), using a halti to control him during breakdowns on walks (he chokes on them and struggles, and many professional we have spoken to told us to stop) as well as flat out rejecting our request to return. We have given them a date until we can’t keep him, we have spoken with other rescues who fully confirm this was a bad match and it’s disgusting behaviour from their side, sadly we cannot find anyone who can take him due to full capacity until end of the year or they need the original rescue’s written approval to rehome (eg Dogs Trust). Frankly, the rescue’s responses to us have been threatening, rude, unhelpful and very dismissive, saying he showed no SA at their kennels so we are downright lying and are too lazy to take care of a dog. We cannot find a full time dog sitter that can stay at our home for 9 hours straight most of the week and also handle his reactivity outside. All dog walkers have mostly ignored us once we tell them about his reactivity, meaning he needs ongoing training when walked, need a solo walk and more or less every work day. Nobody is able to help rehome him, and no dog sitter is able to help consistently. If we need a sitter to go on a grocery run or celebrate an anniversary at our local cafe, his anxiety is high.

We have had him assessed at the vet and also with a qualified behaviourist, he has severe SA that will takes months at least to rehabilitate, if even possible, hinting we were not the right fit from the start. The rescue says this is BS and says it is our fault and whatever behaviour he shows is not grounds for returning, which is said in the contract. The contract says we are not allowed to rehome him to anywhere else and if we cannot keep him he must return to them. She refuses to cooperate and say it’s our dog, our responsibility and we face the consequences but we must stick to the contract.

Our only option now is a pound surrender, which is extremely sad because he is otherwise a wonderful dog and would be a perfect fit for a family outside of London with people at home all of the time. On the other hand, both of our bosses have noticed we are not able to spend as much time at work, we are distracted and mentally drained and have both said that we need to return to the office immediately or risk our jobs. We are both mentally exhausted, stressed and I have a chronic flare up due to all of this. I have stopped eating due to the stress and anxiety and not knowing what the next move is and what aggression will come from the rescue new. Amongst all of this, we realised we cannot safely keep him without destroying our lives in the process. Again, rescue is unhelpful and returning him there is absolutely not an option. The general response we have from them is along the lines of ‘you made your bed you lie in it, you made a lifelong commitment so we are trapping you’. They said we went against their advice and listened to professionals and the vets advice, this is why we are in such a bad position so we have to live with the mistake. They have shown other red flags throughout the process, such as dismissing our concerns about his fear-based dog reactivity (they said before adoption he’s over excited to play with other dogs) and saying that other lurchers have it worse than him so we need to stop complaining.

We are now not looking to rehabilitate him for months, or use medication. We want him to find the right home now before he bonds and before we both collapse of mental overload. What do we do now? Seek legal action (the way she manipulates her words in her responses makes it sound like it’s entirely our fault so do we even have a case)? Stand outside the rescue and demand them to take him (they won’t)? My partner is considering showing up every weekend outside their door with our dog and telling everyone coming in to rescue a dog the truth. Because when Dogs Trust, Battersea, All Dogs Matter and certified clinicians tell you the rescue is appalling and unethical, you have to believe them. When owners of sighthounds that know how tough they can be to manage in a busy city tell you he likely isn’t the right fit and how awful the rescue is to suggest her methods, you have to believe them. He doesn’t deserve to go to the pound and get euthanised. What do we do?

Edit: we both have experience with dogs in the past but this is our first dog together and first experience with sighthounds overall. We don’t take commitments such as getting a dog lightly, but we also know when it’s a bad match and when we are beyond our capacity.

I've just been walking with my lurcher (beddlington whippet, 4 years old)

We did 13 miles the first day and 7 the second. She's done long walks previously but this is her longest. She seemed absolutely fine, and will sleep more today, but I know it can be hard to read pain in dogs so I'm wondering how you tell what the limit is? any idea or experience?