Greyhound Dogs & Puppies

Sighthounds--dogs that could run after and catch game by outrunning it--were one of first types of dogs selectively bred by humans. The prototypical sighthound has always been the Greyhound. Greyhound-like dogs have been depicted since ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman times. The name Greyhound may come from Graius, meaning Greek, or from the Latin gradus, denoting high grade. By Saxon time, Greyhounds were well established in Britain and were valued by both commoners for their ability to put food on the table and by nobility for the sport of the chase. In 1014 the Forest Laws prohibited all but nobility from keeping Greyhounds near royal forests unless they had been “lamed”; these laws remained in effect for four hundred years. Even when they were repealed, Greyhounds remained the dogs of nobility because with the growing importance of agriculture and domestic animal food sources, the running dog was not economically advantageous. Instead, Greyhounds were used for coursing hare for sport, and during the 1800s coursing became a consuming pastime of the upper class. Early American immigrants often brought Greyhounds with them to the New World. Here they proved adept at coursing on the open plains. When coursing was made available to the masses by staging it first in closed parks and then on tracks after a mechanical lure, the Greyhound’s fate was sealed. Track racing, which began in 1926, proved so popular that dogs were bred specifically for short bursts of speed, ultimately resulting in the fastest breed of dog. Greyhounds continued to compete at dog shows, which they had done since the 1870s. They were AKC recognized in 1885. The breed soon became divided into show and racing types, which were seldom interbred. In America, the Greyhound is one of the least popular breeds according to AKC registrations of show stock. The National Greyhound Association (NGA) registers many thousands of Greyhounds annually; however, recently retired racers from NGA stock have become popular as pets.