I want to put a good word in for the Sighthounds here. My old vet, who I knew socially, raised sighthounds, so I got to meet all sorts of greyhounds, salukis, afgan hounds, borzois, and their mixes. I really enjoyed knowing them: they were pretty sweet, smart, interesting dogs. Well, scratch that smart for the afgans and borzois.
They are also serious athletes. If you get a 'Recycled Racer' off the tracks, there's actually a period where you have to go exercise them like crazy, they are so used to high level athletics. After a few months they taper down to a more normal coach style lollygagging. Being that Greyhounds are still bred for a task, they have less screwed up bloodlines than some other dogs. Also, the breed has an ancient lineage: you can go back and find ancient Egyption and Middle Eastern art that has the identifiable sighthound characteristics.
A neighbor of mine got a retired racer, a fine black greyhound named Jesse. He earned a couple of sacks of treats from me for his bravery under...fire...sorta. The neighborhood had a pair of predatory skunks that came around all the time, messing up the trash and stinking up things. Most dogs on the block were incapacitated by their particular brand of chemical warfare. Jesse, being a sight hunter, was not. He just got angry instead, and in one week he caught and killed both skunks!
That is one issue with them; if you have cats you have to monitor the dogs' behavior. Especially the retired racers, as they have been taught to chase small (real or faux) critters.
