I'd like to know more about retired racing greyhounds and if they would be compatible with my family. I've done lots of research but you can only learn so much from books and the internet!

A bit about us, we've owned a dog before, a little shetland sheepdog.  We got him when he was a puppy and had him until his death 3 years ago when he was 11 years old.  His passing was very hard for all of us.  We feel like we are now ready to open our hearts to another dog.  We live in the country on 7 acres of unfenced land.  We also have 2 cats(kept in the upstairs level of our house), birds and reptiles(all kept in cages).  We also have a child under the age of 3 and may be adding more to our family someday.

We became interested in retired racing greyhounds after meeting some at our state fair and a local petsmart.  They were so calm and well behaved!  Since then, I've read as many books about greyhounds that I could get my hands onto. It just seems so unfair to me that such beautiful, amazing dogs are being killed just because they can't run.  I don't know if our family is better suited to donate to a greyhound adoption program or actually adopt one of these wonderful dogs, but I'd love to hear other's opinions about this matter.

Thank you for reading all of that!  I'm new here and I look forward to meeting you hearing about your dogs!