Greyhound History
Greyhounds and lurchers are mainly bred for use in racing, hunting, coursing and showing. The majority of the dogs that GAL rehome come originally from one of the sporting backgrounds, whether they arrive with GAL directly or have already become a pet for some time. Some of our rescue dogs are surrendered by owners who, for many various reasons, cannot care for them any longer.
We also rehome some dogs who were strays and who therefore arrive with very little background information. Rehoming a rescue dog is no small responsibility, especially when the background of the dog is largely unknown.
Greyhounds are sight (or gaze) hounds, i.e. they are hunting dogs who predominantly use their keen sense of sight to catch their prey. The general shape for sighthounds tends to be deep-chested and lean with long legs.
Greyhounds were one of the earliest dog breeds to be domesticated and were highly regarded in Egyptian society, where they hunted and were companion animals, sometimes worshipped as gods and even mummified. Early Egyptian paintings depict dogs very like greyhounds and they were mentioned in very early literature.
In the middle ages, while other breeds were looked down upon, greyhounds became a status symbol for the highest classes and commoners could be executed for owning one.