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Are glass doors a risk to adopted greyhounds? Yes! Glass doors, unlike the brooms of last Saturday, are a definite risk to foster greyhounds fresh from the track.

Greyhounds are sight hounds, meaning anything that moves captures their attention. Anything on either side of a glass door falls into that category. Sliding glass doors are particularly challenging because the view is floor to ceiling, making it easy to confuse the adopted greyhound.  When adopted greyhounds see something moving in the yard they’re off like a shot, heedless of the barrier they’ve looked straight through.

This can only result in a bad or worse scenario.

First, the greyhound can bounce off, having knocked themselves dizzy or bloodied that long, slender nose. Not terrible and for a bloody nose I recommend keeping the adopted greyhound still and letting the nose drip onto a towel until the bleeding stops. (Some day I’ll tell you how I know).

The ‘worse’ scenario is the dog doesn’t bounce off the door, but goes through it. The adopted greyhound won’t be the only one wanting to panic if this happens. Do your best to stay calm, which will help calm the dog too. Treat any injuries with basic first aid and then try to secure your house.

Going through the door gets even more troubling if it’s a glass door that lets out into an unfenced area. If your adopted greyhound is loose, and panicked from a collision from a door, you’ll have to put your recovery plan into action.

Screen doors pose a similar problem, though damage and injuries won’t be as severe. Either way knowing a friendly, reliable handyman is helpful.

There are some simple steps you can take to prevent damage to both your glass doors and your adopted greyhounds.

1. Take a walk through your house with your adopted greyhound on the leash and let them safely explore stairs, floors and glass doors. If you’re adding to your greyhound family, let your current greys help with this training. It’s amazing how much foster greyhounds learn just by following the examples of adopted greys. (in most cases this is a good thing)

2. This solution sounds juvenile, but it really works. Put window clings or other type of decoration on your glass doors (at the greyhound’s eye level) to remind your adopted greyhound about the barrier. If you have screen doors, tie a bit of yarn or fabric to accomplish the same thing.

3. Don’t clean your glass doors. Before you judge, hear me out. When I know I have a foster greyhound coming in, I don’t bother to wipe up the nose prints my greys have made on our glass doors, it’s like the window cling idea, but with even less effort.

Not every adopted greyhound will have trouble with glass doors, but it’s better to be prepared than suffer an accident as your grey settles into retired life.

Live the greyhound adventure!