Hi Michelle
When I first got Vernon he had been in a kennel all his life and he was very unsure of other dogs especially small white fluffly ones.  Over a few weeks and gradually meeting lots of other dogs he calmed down and now doesn't bother at all and can meet any size or breed and be friendly.  I think it is just because they live with other greys all their lives and don't recognise other breeds as dogs at first.  Just be patient and keep him muzzled while out and I'm sure he'll settle.

Hi Michelle, i have to agree with Claire, it does take time but will be worth the effort in the end.

Sally has been with me since August and her reaction to other dogs was quite extreme after the first couple of weeks settling in period, so on went the gentle leader to give me a bit more control and i suppose i was lucky in that sally is very food orientated so it was the water spray when she reacted badly and a treat once she calmed down and stood quiet to allow the other dog to pass.

Another thing that you might want to think about is how you hold Jet when you see another dog approaching. i think the natural reaction is to shorten your own dogs lead ready to hold him tight but i remember being told that in actual fact by doing that you are moving your dogs head into an aggressive position as well as the fact that he will pick up tension from you, so with Sally i tended to remove her to the other side of the road, stand with her to let the dog pass, saying firmly "quiet Sally" and giving her treats, but keeping the lead loose. Now we don't have to cross the road nad i can keep walking without her getting me in a tangled mess by jumping around and as soon as i see a dog approaching and tell her to be quiet she automatically looks in my hand for a treat.

It does take time but Sally will now stand and even have a little sniff and a waggy tail with the dogs she sees regularly but i do still use the gentle leader and although the water spray is long gone, my pockets are always full of treats.

Best of luck with anything you try and let us know how you get on.

Gail, Neo, Sally and Logan.

Hi, Michelle - good to hear from you, and congratulations on being sucked into the wonderful world of greyhounds.  Your life will never be the same again!

This is a very, very common problem amongst greyhounds who, typically, aren't socialised during their early weeks/months/years.  In fact, this is how most dogs would behave if they're not socialised, not just greyhounds.

Our big boy, Harry, is exactly the same. I wrote an article about him and his issues with other dogs for the last GAL newsletter.  We've had Harry for two years and he's made very good progress from his early days.  He started out by lunging and growling if any dog got within 20 feet of him - he'd even go ballistic if he saw another dog from across the road. It was a bit of a shock to the system! The thing that we had to remember ws that he wasn't being bad or aggressive, he was merely exhibiting his anxiety by trying to scare the other dog away. When this tactic worked, it soothed his stress and so he thought to himself "hey, that worked, I'll do that again". This was what we were told by a very well-respected trainer and behaviourist (hi, Viv!) and on seeing how Harry interacted with her dog - a very bouncy, friendly young GSD - in a controlled environment, it was like a lightbulb going off, because we could see precisely how Harry was feeling. When he had the chance to interact with her dog properly, in the end he actually lay down and had a little snooze at the dog's feet.

As for changing his behaviour, we started off by teaching him to "look" at us whenever another dog approached then give him a treat for doing it.  The idea was to change his perceptions of other dogs, so instead of them being horrid and scary he now associates them with nice treats. It's taken time, patience and consistency but it's worked.  He can even ignore one particular dog round our way that always, always lunges and growls at him and just walk on calmly by as he munches his treats.  Go Harry!

It's good advice to try and keep the lead loose if you can when other dogs. We never jerked the lead when he growled in the early days or told him off or anything like that, for fear of reinforcing his ideas that seeing other dogs was a Bad Thing. If we were in a confined space like a narrow path, then of course we held him in tight to us. Nowadays, we do tell him "NO!" sharply if he reacts. He now knows what behaviour is expected of him when passing other dogs, whereas beforehand his feelings were in control of what he did. We still dish out the treats for good behaviour - we never go anywhere without a nice full pocket of gravy bones!

We used to muzzle him on all his walks but we now more often use a gentle leader. It gives us more control over him and also restricts his jaws.  If we go anywhere where we're sure to come across small dogs then we revert back to the muzzle - no amount of treats will convince him that small animals are anything other than to be got at right away!  That's just his training coming out.

Good luck with Jet.  It'll no doubt not be too long before he's as big a soppy lump as Harry is.

Hi Michelle, The water spray i used was just a little plant spray bottle, small enough to carry with me but strong enough for Sal to realise she had been "skooshed". I always aimed it at her face as it seemed to have more of an effect if she felt it on her nose, but the spray was not strong enough to hurt her in any way, just give her a little shock to bring her attention back to me. As i always said a firm "no" at the same time after a while the command was enough and i stopped carrying the spray at all.
Hope that helps, not saying it will work with every dog but it's worth a try.
 
Time and Patience will help him i'm sure and i think knowing that other people are dealing with similar behaviour helps a lot. Fiona's description of Harry's behaviour in the newsletter sounded so much like Sally that it actually helped me to take her reactions in my stride and made me realise i was not alone and it would get better, and it has.  

We used to muzzle him on all his walks but we now more often use a gentle leader. It gives us more control over him and also restricts his jaws.  If we go anywhere where we're sure to come across small dogs then we revert back to the muzzle - no amount of treats will convince him that small animals are anything other than to be got at right away! 
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Hi Michelle

I have been reading this post with interest as Harley has also had his issues with other dogs, which are now mostly resolved but as has been said before it does take time and patience. 

I too use a Gentle Leader for better control (and previously used a leather head collar)   - I'm sorry I have to disagree with the above comment though . Under no circumstances should a Gentle Leader collar be used as a substitute for a muzzle.  They can easily be worn together (as I do with Harley). 

Gentle Leaders do not restrict a dogs jaws enough to stop it from biting. They are a training aid and should only be used as such.

Here is a link to the web site if you are interested in Learning more Michelle. They are very good but do need to be fitted correctly.

http://www.sinclair-sahc.co.uk/page_info.asp?ContentID=47&CatID=4

I wish you all the best with your training.

-- Edited by Lorna at 15:24, 2007-02-16

Alexis an Adult Medium fits both Neo and Sally and there is a fair difference in their overall size but you get plenty of adjustment with the gentle leader anyway. Most Grey's are a pretty standard muzzle size so i would imagine a medium would fit most. Someone may know better but that is my experience.

A few pm have come my way regarding the gentle leader and as Steve said misunderstanding can happen as we have seen in the past and will no doubt continue to see in the future on forums and emails. so just wanted to add a couple of points:

1. The Gentle Leader will not stop a dog being able to bite, the jaw is able to open fully if the dog wants to.

2. The Gentle Leader, if worn correctly (which is extremely important) can aid the problem of the lunging "due to the pressure that is applied to the reflex and response points on the nose and neck which help him relax and feel that his owner is managing the problem for him"**

3. If ever in doubt always muzzle, especially when your dog is new to you so you can get to know how your they responds in different situation.

4. The Gentle Leader can be worn with a muzzle just make sure you have the hanging part through the bottom space of the muzzle so it hangs in the same way as it would without the muzzle.

Steve did stat he does NOT use the GL as a substitute for the muzzle. They have had Harry a long time now and know him and have felt through their experiences that they are more confident in controlling Harry while he is on the GL .

I would definitely recommend the link that Lorna has posted above to give you indepth info on the GL



 

Hi Fiona & Steve

I'm sorry no offence was intended by my comment - from my own point of view I was just worried that others who are less experienced greyhound owners might form the opinion that they could use a GL instead of a muzzle.

I realise you are experienced owners and have done a lot of work with Harry.