Greyhounds
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44 free Greyhounds trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
The Greyhound is the fastest dog on earth and, for most of its history, a dog you were not allowed to own unless you were noble. It is the only dog named in the King James Bible, it appears on Henry VII's coat of arms, and its 8th-century bones from a Czech hill fort are almost genetically identical to the racing dogs of today. These 44 questions cover the animal and the sport built around it: the 43 mph top speed and the double-suspension gallop, the big heart and odd blood chemistry that trip up vets, the grighund etymology, the 'Velcro dog' temperament and the sleep startle, coursing and the Waterloo Cup, Owen Patrick Smith's mechanical hare, Belle Vue 1926, Mick the Miller's nineteen straight wins and his stuffed afterlife at Tring, Master McGrath, Ballyregan Bob's 32, the English Derby, adoption after the track closures, the Italian Greyhound, Santa's Little Helper and how an American bus line got its name. The expert tier asks about Crufts 1928, the Vindolanda tablets and the Waterloo Hotel. Every answer is cited to a page we checked and comes with a short explanation, so you learn something even when you miss. Play solo or print it for a dog-lovers' night.
30 of 44 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Retired racing Greyhounds, which can reach about 70 km/h, are usually what at home?
Couch potatoes
Couch potatoes: bred as sprinters rather than distance runners, most Greyhounds are content with short bursts of exercise and spend much of the day asleep.
Q 02Which famous novel opens by giving its hero a lance, a lean nag and a greyhound for coursing?
Don Quixote
Don Quixote's hidalgo keeps 'a lean hack, and a greyhound for coursing', and when he decides to become a knight-errant he renames the old nag Rocinante.
Q 03What is the Greyhound's fastest running gait called?
Double suspension gallop
Double suspension gallop: the dog is airborne twice in every stride, a big reason for its speed.
Q 04Which Prussian king asked to be buried near his dogs at Sanssouci, a wish granted only in 1991?
Frederick the Great
Frederick the Great: his nephew overrode the wish and buried him in Potsdam's Garrison Church, so he reached his terrace crypt only after German reunification.
Q 05Which smaller cousin of the Greyhound did northern English coal miners race in 'rag' races?
Whippet
Whippet: before rag racing caught on, Victorian owners turned its hunting of rabbits and other small animals into a gambling sport.
Q 06What nickname do owners give Greyhounds that follow them from room to room?
Velcro dog
Velcro dog: fittingly, Velcro itself was invented after George de Mestral saw burrs cling to his dog's fur following an outing together.
Q 07Why can a napping Greyhound look wide awake?
Its eyes stay partly open
Its eyes stay partly open: people may touch a dog that is deeply asleep, and a Greyhound woken suddenly can growl or snap, which rehomers call sleep startle.
Q 08Why do rehoming bodies advise keeping Greyhounds on a lead outdoors?
Strong prey drive, poor recall
Strong prey drive, poor recall: a Greyhound that spots a cat or rabbit may bolt and ignore calls, risking a fence or traffic at full speed.
Q 09Which type of anaesthetic do Greyhounds metabolise poorly?
Barbiturates
Barbiturates: their livers clear these drugs slowly, so in studies Greyhounds given thiopental took far longer than mixed-breed dogs to stand up again.
Q 10Compared with other breeds, Greyhounds have higher levels of what in their circulation?
Red blood cells
Red blood cells: that oxygen-rich blood, plus a high share of 'universal donor' blood types, makes retired racing Greyhounds popular canine blood donors.
Q 11Why do many Greyhounds feel the cold so badly?
Thin fur, little fat
Thin fur, little fat: with a short, fine coat and hardly any body fat to hold warmth, many Greyhounds need a warm coat on winter walks.
Q 12Retired racing Greyhounds are unusually prone to which complication after routine surgery?
Delayed bleeding
Delayed bleeding: in studies, over a quarter bled 36 to 48 hours after neutering, and a clot-stabilising drug given afterwards cut the rate.
Q 13In a medieval French legend, the greyhound later venerated as Saint Guinefort saved a baby from what?
A snake
A snake: seeing the blood-smeared dog beside the overturned cradle, the lord killed it, then found his son unharmed beside the dead snake.
Q 21Which track staged Britain's first modern greyhound race around an oval?
Belle Vue, Manchester
Belle Vue, Manchester: 1,700 people watched that first race, and by the end of the 1920s annual crowds ran into the millions.
Q 22Which legal change in the early 1960s began drawing British punters away from greyhound tracks?
Betting shops opened
Betting shops opened: until then, a legitimate cash bet meant a trip to the track, so many punters simply stopped coming.
Q 23In 2018, voters in which US state chose to end live greyhound racing at its tracks by 2020?
Florida
Q 14Which Canterbury Tales pilgrim, a churchman who loved hunting, kept greyhounds 'as swift as fowel in flight'?
The Monk
The Monk: Chaucer mocks a man meant for the cloister who scorns study and manual labour and spends freely on horses and hare hunting.
Q 15Arrian's coursing treatise describes the vertragus, a hound of which ancient people?
The Celts
The Celts: Arrian wrote to add their hare-coursing hounds to Xenophon's hunting manual, since Xenophon had never known the breed.
Q 16In medieval Europe, owning Greyhounds was a mark of which class?
The nobility
The nobility: old forest laws forbade many commoners, such as those living near royal forests, from keeping Greyhounds at all.
Q 17Which Shakespeare villain, hiring murderers, compares men to 'hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs'?
Macbeth
Macbeth: as 'dogs' covers every breed from greyhound to cur, 'men' covers every rank, so he dares them to prove their worth by killing Banquo.
Q 18Which book's older translations name the Greyhound as the only dog breed?
The Bible
The Bible: the King James Version lists 'a greyhound' among things 'comely in going', but the New International Version reads 'a strutting rooster'.
Q 19A Greyhound named Primley Sceptre won the first what in 1928?
Best in Show at Crufts
Best in Show at Crufts: its owner, Herbert Whitley, was the millionaire animal breeder who founded what is now Paignton Zoo.
Q 20What did American promoter Owen Patrick Smith invent for greyhound racing?
A mechanical lure
A mechanical lure: Smith was moved by the deaths of the live rabbits used in coursing, so he built a mechanical hare to replace them.
Florida: it was home to 11 of the country's 17 remaining greyhound tracks, so the vote shut down most of the sport.
Q 24Which hare-coursing event ran at Great Altcar, Lancashire, from 1836 to 2005?
The Waterloo Cup
The Waterloo Cup: the Hunting Act 2004 banned hare coursing, so the 2005 meeting was the last.
Q 25The man who founded Britain's biggest hare-coursing cup also founded which horse race?
The Grand National
The Grand National: the handicapper Edward Topham turned it into a handicap in 1843, and his family later bought the course outright.
Q 26Which dog was the first to win Britain's biggest hare-coursing cup three times?
Master McGrath
Master McGrath: he was due to be drowned until a boy named McGrath persuaded the trainer to spare him, and the dog took his name.
Q 27In Irish hare coursing, what must the greyhounds wear while they chase the hare?
Muzzles
Muzzles: the Irish Coursing Club made them compulsory in 1993, and hare deaths fell from about 16% of those coursed to about 4%.
Q 28In which country was Mick the Miller born?
Ireland
Ireland: after two English Derby wins he became greyhound racing's first star, making front-page news and even starring in his own film.
Q 29London's Walthamstow Stadium stopped greyhound racing in 2008 after its land was sold for what?
Housing
Housing: its owners blamed falling profits and crowds, and a site so close to the 2012 Olympic Park was worth more for new homes.
Q 30In 2025, which UK nation's government published plans to ban greyhound racing by 2030?
Wales
Wales: the draft law would make running a track an offence, closing the country's only one, the Valley stadium in Ystrad Mynach.