Breed Spotlight - Greyhound

 At Cill Dubh Hounds, we love all dogs - big ones, small ones, fast ones and the ones who want to take it easy.

We'll be taking a closer look at all the different breeds that make up our favourite four legged companions.

First in our series of breed spotlights, we'll be looking at the inspriation behind Cill Dubh Hounds - the Greyhound!




Greyhounds have quite a history, and are the only dog breed mentioned in the bible and at one time, only the royalty of England, Wales and Egypt could own a Greyhound. 

As they were built for sprinting after prey, and were popular hunting dogs with the nobility of England. At first they were tasked with hunting deer, but as over hunting took told their masters' attention turned to other animals they could hunt, and they became popular for hunting rabbits and hares due to their speed.

Greyhounds are built for sprinting, and can reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour, which is why you find a lot of Greyhounds on a race track.

If a Greyhound is considered good enough to compete, they can race on average until they are between 3-5 years old.

Racing Greyhounds are identified by the tattoos in their ears. An English bred greyhound will typical only have one tattoo in their right ear, but an Irish bred greyhound will have a tattoo in each ear.

Due to Greyhounds being used for racing, it can often be a common misconception that they need a lot of excersie, but they're actually known as the world's fastest couch potato, as they love to snuggle down and sleep.

How much excerise they need, is like any other dog, it's individual to their needs.


What else do you need to know about Greyhounds?

They're part of the sighthound group of dogs, and have excellent vision - they have a 270-degree field of vision, so they'll definitely see you break that treat in half if they're nearby.

Males can weight up to 40kg, while females can weigh up to 34kg.

When running at top speed, a Greyhound spends 75% of its running time in the air.

They have a very low percentage of body fat, which can mean they get cold easily in the winter and struggle with regulating their body temperature in the summer so can overheat if you don't keep an eye on them.

They can live up to 15 years.






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