It might seem crazy, but if you want a dog and live in a small apartment, or a house with little or no garden, the advice to get a greyhound doesn't look to be very sensible, after all, greyhounds are big, and they're fast, so they probably need a lot of room and a lot of exercise. Right? Wrong.

Greyhounds are big, but they're also the laziest dogs ever created. They're sprinters rather than long distance runners and 2 short walks (20 - 30 mins) a day will satisfy them. They love to run off the leash, but some of them are quite willful and will refuse to come back when they're called, so walking on a leash until they're well trained is a good idea.

Greyhounds are excellent with children and because they are so laid back, they help the children stay calm, too. They can be rather stand-offish with people they don't know, but they love their own family to bits. They are very docile and rarely jump up, although they might try and sleep on your bed! (This is because, in kennels, they sleep on a raised platform).

They have a very long history, being the only dogs mentioned by name in the Bible (the Book of Kings) and their name is supposed to have come from "gaze-hound", because they hunt by sight. They can see a very long way and if they seem to be looking off into the far distance - well, they probably are!

Greyhounds come in a variety of colours, from black to white and almost everything in between, but some of the most outstanding colours are the 'smokes' sometimes called 'blues' who are a silvery blackish-grey colour and the 'brindles', who are tiger striped, black on brown. They also come in white with patches of other colours, so there are plenty to choose from.

How do you get a greyhound? Well, there are breeders, of course, but another way is to contact animal charities. There are the Breed Rescue charities and, in England, there are 2 other charities who concentrate on re-homing greyhounds, one just dealing with ex-racing greyounds. This doesn't necessarily mean an older dog, because some racing greyhounds don't make the grade and are let go to re-homing charities around age 2, others have full racing careers and are put out for re-homing at age 4 or 5. If there is a greyund racing track near you, there will certainly be re-homing kennels nearby!

So, if you're looking for a dog which doesn't need much exercise, is friendly and good with children and can manage in a small house, think of a greyhound.

One word of warning - racing greyhounds tend to think that cats are hares with short ears, until they learn otherwise, so, if you already have a cat, be cautious in arranging the first meeting between it and your new greyhound.