Greyhound

The Greyhound is the fastest dog in the world — a coursing sighthound that reaches about 70 km/h, and a famously placid housemate between sprints.

History

Dogs of this outline appear in Egyptian and Greek art, and the breed has been kept in Britain for coursing hare since at least the Middle Ages, when law restricted ownership to the nobility. Track racing from the 1920s created a second, much larger population bred to run in circles, and the retired racers rehomed every year are how most people now meet the breed.

Temperament

The breed is known for being gentle, quiet and startlingly lazy indoors — the "forty mile-an-hour couch potato" — affectionate with its household and reserved rather than nervous with strangers.

Care and training

It needs a daily chance to run in a secure space, and very little else: two short walks suit it. Fencing must be real, because anything that runs will be chased. The thin coat and near-absent body fat mean it feels cold and needs soft bedding.

Health

Generally healthy, with the anaesthetic sensitivity common to sighthounds, bloat risk from the deep chest, and a documented predisposition to bone cancer. These are patterns for the breed rather than a forecast for one dog; the measured facts are in the panel.