An approved homing centre
The full £420 is released and goes towards the greyhound's kennelling, feeding and care at the centre until a home is found for it.
Life after racing
What happens when a racing greyhound retires
It is the first question most people ask about this sport, and usually the one they are most nervous about asking. Here is how it actually works — the scheme, the money and whose job it is.
The short answer
They become somebody's dog
A greyhound usually finishes racing somewhere between three and five years old, which leaves most of its life still ahead of it. It goes to a home — sometimes an adopter found through a homing centre, sometimes the owner's own sofa, sometimes the trainer's.
There is a national scheme behind that, funded by owners, and there is a rule that makes it somebody's named responsibility. Both are worth understanding before you take a dog on, because one of them is you.
The Greyhound Retirement Scheme
Every racing greyhound is paid for in advance
When a greyhound is registered to race, its owner pays into a scheme that funds its retirement — years before anyone needs it.
How the bond works
- You pay, at registration
- £210
- The GBGB matches it
- £210
- Held as a bond for the dog's whole career
- £420
The payment is not optional. Without it, a greyhound is not allowed to trial or race at all. The money sits there for the dog's entire racing life, and the interest earned on it funds the GBGB's side of the scheme.
What you get back depends on where the dog goes
This is the part almost nobody writes down, and it catches owners out.
You keep the dog
You get your own £210 back — but not the GBGB's matching £210. You will need a vet's invoice showing neutering and any dental work.
A home you find yourself
The same again — your £210 back, no matching contribution, and the same vet's invoice. The GBGB will contact the new owner to confirm the dog is with them.
Worth knowing: the bond never covers veterinary costs. Neutering and dental work are yours to pay for, whichever route the dog takes.
The rule that matters
It is the owner's responsibility, not the sport's
This is the bit people assume works the other way round. The GBGB runs the scheme and holds the money, but under Rule 18 the duty to see a greyhound into a home sits with its registered owner. It does not end when the dog runs its last race. It ends when the dog has somewhere to live.
In practice a decent trainer carries most of that load with you, and should say so plainly before you ever hand over any money. But if a kennel is vague about whose job it is, that is your answer.
The paperwork
What actually has to be done
The Green Retirement Form
Submitted to the GBGB under Rule 18. It records the greyhound's behaviour and temperament, its vaccinations and its medical history — the things a new home genuinely needs to know.
A homing information form
Goes to the homing centre or the new owner, so whoever takes the dog on knows what they are getting: how it is with other dogs, with cats, with children, and what it is frightened of.
A receipted vet invoice
Needed if you are keeping the dog or homing it yourself, confirming neutering and any dental work. Without it the contribution is not released.
Two things that get a greyhound homed faster
Neutering before it goes. A neutered dog is quicker to place, and homing centres will say the same. It is also the one cost the bond will not pick up, so budget for it rather than being surprised by it.
Being honest on the form. A greyhound described accurately goes to a home that suits it and stays there. One described flatteringly comes back. Nobody is served by a dog being oversold, least of all the dog.
Life afterwards
What a retired greyhound is actually like
People expect a highly strung athlete and get something closer to a cat. Greyhounds are quiet, clean, affectionate and extraordinarily lazy — a couple of short walks and the rest of the day asleep is a full programme for most of them.
The things that genuinely need thinking about are the ones nobody mentions: they feel the cold, they cannot be let off the lead until you know the dog very well indeed, and a lifetime in kennels means stairs, glass doors and kitchen bins all have to be learned from scratch.
None of that is difficult. It is just different from a dog that grew up in a house, and it is worth hearing before you decide, rather than after.
Where we stand on it
Retirement at Ivanhoe Kennels is planned while a greyhound is still racing, not arranged in a hurry afterwards. No dog leaves this kennel until there is a home we are confident in, and owners are part of that decision rather than told about it later.
If you are weighing up ownership and this is the part worrying you — and it should be — ask us about it directly. It is a fair question and we would rather you asked.