Dog for a flat dweller ?

My neighbour seeing us with dogs in our flat has asked if we think a greyhound would be a suitable dog for him. Never having had one I thought I would ask you.

He is on the third floor (no lift) and works from home so he is here all day, has owned a dog before (small rough coat terrier type) and gave that little dog a lovely life until unfortunately he died last year. He now feels ready for another but is reluctant to get a puppy again. So is looking at rescues and greyhounds appeal to him.

I would say probably not - many greyhounds can't or don't 'do' stairs as they have spent their lives in kennels. A neighbour of mine was turned down by the Greyhound rehoming people because his flat was up one short flight of stairs!

I think your neighbour should also consider what might happen if the dog was sick or injured and couldn't manage the stairs - could he physically carry the dog up & down? A small breed might suit him a lot better. My own neighbour eventually took on a rescue whippet after thinking about this.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a mini pinscher. As long as your neighbour is fit enough to take the dog out regularly.

I have one in a 4th floor apartment. Suits us both fine. I take her out 4 times a day - once for her main walk, once for a shorter walk and the other two times just to pee and poo.

She is a very happy little dog. Happy to stay in her cage when I have to leave her for a few hours. And seems to find the place big enough to go exploring and do her occasional 100 mile an hour runs round it! She has an outdoor 'house' too on the large verandah and is happy in that when I am outside soaking up the sun.

As your neighbour is home all day they'd be suited to having a companion type dog too. For those my first choice would be the adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

I would be worried about the stairs, as Sue said. Perhaps an older terrier type would suit him? Obviously there's the issue that an older dog may not have many years left to share but if he could open his heart to an oldie and spoilt it rotten in its last few years, it would be a lovely thing to do, and may be the perfect way around the flat issue - small enough to carry downstairs, doesn't require a great deal of exercise. Obviously the latter will depend on the dog as some oldies have great stamina and energy levels still, but a rescue should be able to match him up with a suitable dog if he's honest about how much exercise he can provide.

Ah that's interesting I didn't realise grey couldn't do stairs so well. I think he is leaning towards a larger dog but we have pointed out our problems with our Mollie (she is medium I guess) as she ages the stairs are becoming a problem. He is much younger than us by 20 odd years so the stairs and carrying a dog wouldn't be such a problem I think.

I think it depends on the Greyhound, and on the stairs. Axel cannot get up our stairs, they're too steep. He tried once and failed miserably after doing a Bambi impression.
He has been able to learn to do almost every other set of stairs he's encountered, from those at New Street, to shallow canal steps. He would need to find one with some stairs capability, some never master it.
Stairs aside, I would happily have Axel in a flat as he is very inactive indoors, he sleeps most of the time.
My main concern would be somewhere to be able to let the dog stretch his legs. Not all Greyhounds can be let off other than enclosed areas, does he have any nearby?

Well we drive out to Chobham common or Virginia water if we want off lead times - not sure he would want to do that too often. Otherwise it is on lead walks around here really.

Are Chobham and Virginia enclosed? Some Greyhounds I know are happy with on-lead for like 95% of the time anyway, but most do still enjoy stretching their legs every now and again

Mo lived in a second floor flat before we took her on and she managed the stairs perfectly well.
As Insomnia says Greys are quite inactive indoors but they do like to have a good stretch now and then

I would tell him to rescue a calm middle aged dog, the rescue will match him to the perfect dog for him, if thats how he wants to go about it. Dogs trust do this online so he can simply fill in what dog etc he is looking for and then the results will come up and volia! (sp) he has a dog I wouldnt reccomend a greyhound - italian greyhound maybe - but they're whippet sized