Greyhounds / sighthounds in Singapore?!

[evaldea]

Hello,

Moving to Singapore with my two rescued retired racing greyhounds and would be so grateful for any advice or tips.

Are there any other people out there with greyhounds or medium/large lurchers/sighthounds in Singapore?

I am prepared to be stared at! They are large and black, and to be honest even here in London they often make people wary of them - even though they are the met placid, lazy, gentle beasts.

Would love to know of vets that appreciate the breed's specifics, and good place to take them for a little run maybe.

Thanks,

Eva

[sundaymorningstaple]

I believe there are a couple of Great Danes around here so, assuming you will have landed property (you might not be allowed to have them in a condo due to their sizes and the general fear of both big dogs and black dogs in Asia in general). You are technically not required to muzzle them in public as they aren't on the list of mandatory muzzled breeds but they must always be leashed in public. As long as you are prepared for the worst, you should be okay.

http://www.ava.gov.sg/AnimalsPetSector/ ... /index.htm

Obeying The Laws

If you are a dog owner, take note of the licensing, leashing and muzzling conditions that are required by law. These laws include :
All dogs older than 3 months must be licensed. Licensing details are available here.
HDB apartments are allowed one dog of an approved breed or its cross. The cross should be 40 cm or less at the shoulders and weigh 10 kg or less. For the list of dogs approved by HDB, click here.
All dogs have to be leashed when in a public area. In addition, the Pit Bull, Akita, Neapolitan Mastiff, Tosa and their crosses, and the Bull Mastiff, Bull Terrier, Doberman Pinscher, German Shepherd Dog (and related breeds), Rottweiler and Perro de Presa Canario must also be muzzled.

A responsible dog owner should do the following :
License your dog once it has passed 3 months of age.
Discipline and socialise your dog properly.
Control your dog properly at all times and do not let it become a nuisance.
Do not allow your dog to bark excessively.
Have your dog on a leash when it is in a public place.
Muzzle it, if required by law.
Pick up your dog's poop in public places.

Bishan Park has a Dog Park where you can unleash them and let 'em run I believe.

[maneo]

The far eastern end of West Coast Park also has a dog park.

[Kaminilam]

Hi eva.. Our greyhound Kozzy is arriving from Australia this weekend. We'd love to meet with other greyhound owners! Have you settled into Singapore yet?

[curiousgeorge]

We always had lurchers, rescue/racing greys and whippets back in the UK (with the occasional Irish and deerhound!) so yeah we love the sighthound family

Not much to add - you'd almost certainly not be able to live in an HDB (not approved). You might be able to appeal and get a temp permit, but they will overturn it in a heartbeat if any neighbours complain. The pool of available condos for dog-owners is small too, and some of them enforce rules similar to HDB rules.

I go to West Coast Park dog run 7 days a week (I have a crazy little poodle cross thing at the moment) and we've seen whippets rarely, lurchers and greys never.

West Coast Park is the biggest of the dog runs, Bishan is far smaller though it does have an even smaller area for "small dogs" (but they are not restricted to the small area). Even with a car you'd want to factor that into your living location.
If your dogs have good recall, then Tajong Beach on Sentosa has a sort of unwritten off-lead rule early in the mornings on Sat/Sun. (Its the "adult" beach on Sentosa so doesn't get very busy early on).

All the national parks have lead laws, so can't walk trails with your dogs off-lead.

BUT life in Singapore will be different...for a start, most people including dog-owners won't be used to a large dog at speed. They may freak out.

Also, as sighthounds...be aware that there are a LOT of toy dogs in Singapore, also at the dog runs. Let grey loose, see tiny fluffy maltese in the distance...if your dogs aren't good at recall or stopping commands there will be blood!

Although not mentioned in the Qurʼān, various hadiths declare dogs to be ritually unclean, and some Muslims will go out of their way to avoid being touched by a dog's nose/wet bits. And old Arabic traditions declare black dogs to be manifestation of evil in dog form, which to some degree has passed into some modern Islamic teachings/beliefs. Its not just that you will be stared at - some people will literally run in the other direction/refuse to get into a lift with you/scream when you get close. This happens with my 3kg apricot poodle cross.

If you're planning on having a domestic helper, specify the dog duties up-front (especially if you expect her to care for them when you go on vacation). You're more likely to get a dog-loving helper from the Philippines or Sri Lanka rather than Indonesia, for instance.

As for vets - you're not going to get a vet with a lot of experience with Greys - more likely experience with Italian Greyhounds. However, a lot of vets I've come across have trained and interned overseas, so exposure in countries like Australia and UK is more likely. I've got a lot of confidence in the vets I've seen for my pup.

[curiousgeorge]

Also, http://www.petschannel.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is the best forum for pet-related stuff I've found in Singapore. You may get more help there.

And if you do end up here with them, I would love to meet them

[JR8]

+1 - Agree with the general observations made by CG above. I'm familiar with sighthounds but haven't owned one.
I have a mental image of it bombing off down the beach at 40mph and clearing a path through any locals like the parting of the Red Sea. Come to think of it I've seen something similar with a friends greyhound off the leash in Hyde Park London, whenever it spotted a squirrel

These links might also be useful background for you...

http://www.contactsingapore.sg/why_sing ... tyle/pets/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.ava.gov.sg/explore-by-sectio ... -dogs-cats" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can also use the forum/search facility (top right) to dig up previous discussion re: the considerations for dog ownership here in Sg.

[rajagainstthemachine]

There's a place close to the grandstand called Sunny heights or something, they don't seem to have a website, this is the closest i could find,
i.e a facebook link https://www.facebook.com/animalworldsg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyway this place is quite nice if you want to give your pet a bath in an outdoor dog pool, so if you've managed to bring your dogs down here successfully, then you might want to consider bringing your pets here.

[sundaymorningstaple]

+1 - Agree with the general observations made by CG above. I'm familiar with sighthounds but haven't owned one.
I have a mental image of it bombing off down the beach at 40mph and clearing a path through any locals like the parting of the Red Sea. Come to think of it I've seen something similar with a friends greyhound off the leash in Hyde Park London, whenever it spotted a squirrel

I used to have a freakishly oversized Irish Setter who though he was a sighthound. You mention of clearing a path through any locals...... reminded me of Murphy a lot. Picnickers at the lake near were I lived on the outskirts of Washington DC were often run over by my dog and another setter who also was brought down there a lot on weekends would get together and just take off like a pair of runaway trains across blankets with people on them and anything else that got in their way at full tilt!

[JR8]

[Lovely dogs btw]