I am a member of a few different pit bull groups and a few different Greyhound groups (all online). At least once a week (often twice) I see an "Amber Alert" thread; ie: a dog is missing. I very very very rarely see this on a pit bull board. Yes, unfortunately every once in a while I see that someone's dog has been stolen. Very horrible. But the Greyhound Amber Alert threads drive me insane!!
"Dog walker slipped on ice, scared Grey, ran off"
"Door opened, Grey ran off"
"Grey scared by loud noise, ran off"
"Owner dropped leash, Grey ran off"
and this week's is
"Fence fell over in wind, scared Grey, Grey ran off."
I sit and I get my stomach and head in knots trying to figure this out. (I have participated in 3 searches since August myself, 2 ending in the death of the dog.) I do know that Greys have a high prey drive. If they see something they want to chase you have 2-6 seconds to call them off of it before they lose their hearing completely. But accidents like this are never the case.
I have fallen, and so has my mother, while walking Wally (I have a bad hip and back, she has a bad leg). Not only did we not drop the leash, but he sat and waited for us to get up (and in my mother's case when she was on the ground crying for help he cried along with her, LOL). Also, when a door is opened he is trained to NOT dart out of it. He has a pretty good come when called and is very well trained in general.
People keep telling me that Greys run because they are a scared breed (Wally would like to say BS to that), very sensitive, and cannot be trained. BUT THEY CAN. I firmly believe that the reason my dog is not in any danger of running away, and the reason that so many of your dogs are the same, has nothing to do with breed, but has to do with training, manners, and respect for each other in general. So I would like to thank you pit bull owners for NOT just letting "dogs be dogs" as people say on the Greyhound boards, but training them and forming a bond which makes your dog far more safe than the others. THANK YOU for being intelligent dog owners. And thank you for allowing me a place to be where I do not have to read another story of a dog who has run away, will be on the run for an average of a week or two (some have been 4+ months), and has a 50% chance of getting hit by a car and dying before caught. Thank you for being responsible pet owners.