Walter

Walter is a huge, sweet, wonderful boy.  Just looking at him makes me happy.  We were told that he is a staghound.  He currently weighs 71 lbs and is 3 inches taller at the shoulder than our biggest greyhound. Walter has a lethal tail when he gets excited, so make sure breakables aren’t at tail height! He is young (about one year) and still has some puppy issues, like chewing on sticks and digging. He is really smart and is responding well to some gentle training.  We have provided him with chew toys that we give when we see he has found a stick to chew on.  He is such a funny boy!  He tried to bring a big stick in through the dog door but couldn’t fit.

He loves to play with toys and really loves it when we throw anything for him to run after.  He does well with our cats. They pretty much ignore one another. Sometimes if a cat darts through the room all the dogs, including Walter, will run after it but they never try to snap or anything.  Walter knows how to sit and he is learning “wait” and “off”.  He does jump up at us sometimes when he is excited; he’s not too forceful and he is learning not to do it.  He loves his food and we are using a slow down dog dish to control how fast he eats.  He has been around our grandchildren some and he can be a bit overwhelming at first because of his size, tail and his overall exuberance and he can be taught to stay off.  He gets along well with our dogs (three greys and a saluki mix).  He is always trying to get one of them to play with him.

He has not been tested with a small dog. Due to his size and being a bit clumsy, he may unintentionally injure a little dog.  We think he perhaps needs at least one good-sized dog buddy. He has never been destructive indoors (except toys), and we do not know if he would have separation anxiety without another dog around. We always leave light music, or rain sounds, or old time radio shows playing when we are gone, and we can be away for several hours with no problems.

We have an electronic dog door and he can go out and back in whenever he wants even when we are gone. Although he digs some – scratching holes and slits in the dirt – he has never tried to dig out of the fence. Walter loves being outside.  He dragged one of our outdoor beds to a place he likes to lie down and we often find him there with a pile of sticks! 

Walter’s ideal home will have a playful canine companion, a large yard and an active family. Because he loves the greyt outdoors, we don’t believe he would do well in an apartment.