A survey of undesirable behaviours expressed by ex-racing greyhounds adopted in Italy

Previous research showed that behaviour problems are a major reason for relinquishing adopted dogs to animal shelters, and it is possible that undesirable behaviours also affect the success of adoptions of retired racing greyhounds. The current study aimed to measure behaviours of ex-racing greyhounds adopted through the Greyhound Adoption Center Italy, as reported by 176 owners. Desirable behaviours were reported by a large percentage of participants as occurring always or almost always, such as being easy to manage (90.9%), being clean in the home (89.2%), and being good with children (89.2%). The only desirable behaviour that was reported as occurring always or almost always by less than half of participants was being good with other animals (48.9%). A few undesirable behaviours were expressed by more than 40% of dogs at least sometimes. These were predatory behaviour towards cats (79.6%), aggression towards unfamiliar animals (61.9%), fear of thunderstorms (46.6%), and following the owner around the house (69.3%). Several participants indicated the problematic behaviour had improved over time, and very few reported that it appeared or worsened long after adoption. A principal components analysis revealed six factors for undesirable behaviours. Few, and generally weak, significant correlations were found between factors and owner features or dog management practices, and only Social Fear (r = -0.180, p = 0.017) and Non-social Fear (r = -0.208, p = 0.006) correlated with overall satisfaction with the dog. In comparison with similar data previously collected in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), eight undesirable behaviours were reported to occur more frequently by ANZ, and two by Italian owners. Predatory behaviour towards cats was the only behaviour reported as occurring by more than half of the sample at least sometimes among both ANZ and Italian owners. These findings are relevant for associations involved in the rehoming of ex-racing greyhounds, and for perspective owners. In addition, the findings should be used to increase awareness about problematic behaviours among people who breed and/or train racing greyhounds.