Chasing small dogs

Anyanka · Master

Chasing small dogs

Sunny girl · Master

Hi Kirsten, your right it is quite common for ex-racers to be interested in small dogs and furrys, and then you get others who just don't seem interested.

Seems like your doing the right thing having her muzzled and I can only suggest keeping her on the lead till you know her a bit better.

Siouxsie the GAL follow up co-ordinator would be able to give you the best advice. You can contact her by clicking on her name and then click send private message. (check me it took me ages to work that out LOL).

Good luck

Landess and Sunny

Teresa · Enlightened One

our boy, dave, is also very interested in small dogs. we have to go on some very convoluted walks around a small park to avoid them sometimes ! as far as I can work out, there's not much you can do about it - they seem to see them in the same way as cats and chase accordingly. some greys have a higher prey drive than others so just keep the muzzle on.

max · Enlightened One

Hi Kirsten, Sadly what everyone else says is true some dogs have a higher prey drive than others and this just takes time and patience to teach them different, and even then it some times never fully goes away. All I can suggest is when you are in a safe fenced of area with no other dogs allow no muzzle.If out normal walking keep muzzzle on, at the end of the day, better a well behaved grey than a injured small dog.

Nora

haz25a · Old Hand

Even when muzzled you still have to be careful they don't hurt a small dog by pouncing on them.

Probably best to keep her on lead around small dogs. Better safe than sorry.

Hazel.

MojoTilly · Master

I'd err on the side of caution when it comes to small dogs and cats - you just never know how their going to react with them. It's def better to be safe than sorry.

Dave · Enlightened One

you got about 2000 years of breeding in there to beat so it's a tough job, hounds will be hounds. Having said that at Viv's training classes we're doing clicker training with some good results, we've got the 'leave it' command down great with hot dogs on the floor, Viv certainly beleives we can (with some work) develop this onto the smaller fluffier variety of dogs..

Amber · Master

I pointed Anyanka in the direction of the GAL website (for more breed info) when she raised this subject on another dog forum. Hope she doesn't mind my saying that Piper came direct from a trainer, rather than via a rescue, so Anyanka, i hope you come back here on the GAL forum as everyone is very friendly here & happy to offer support and advice!

I think you previously said that Piper had met small breeds whilst on lead & been OK with them? Maybe she was just a bit too shell-shocked to react at that time, or maybe she got over-excited with your friend's border terrier because she was off the lead. It's hard sometimes to work out the exact motivations - things aren't always as they appear - and *some* greyhounds might get used to smaller breeds with time and careful exposure, even if they are not sure how to react at first, but it is v. important that no accidents happen along the way.

I know you've only had her a few weeks, but maybe once she's really settled in you might be able to try a good (reward based) training class (the trainer would prob need to assess her 1-1 first) to see if she can be socialised with smaller breed dogs in a safe environment. This might or might not work, but providing that she can be fairly calm around them when she's on leash, and the trainer has some experience of this sort of thing & is happy to have her in a class situation, might be worth a try?

Anyanka · Master

Thanks for all your replies. Amber, thank you loads for pointing me to this forum - the Dogpages were too busy for me, and this forum is fabulous. I'm definitely here to stay!

I did think Piper was alright at first, because she behaved fine around a King Charles Spaniel while on the lead. However, she gets badly excited around the border terrier, and yesterday tried to pounce on a small white terrier puppy. I'm not sure what makes her see a small dog as prey, but won't take any big risks. As you say, just the pouncing and pinning down could cause injury.

We have a number of different parks, fields and woodland around here; I was going to try and balance walking her in the remoter ones where I can let her off the lead (muzzled) as there are few other dogs around, and keeping her on the lead in the busier ones where she can get used to meeting small dogs. If she has to walk muzzled for all her life, then so be it - the possibility of her injuring or killing somebody else's dog is too awful.

However, I have to risk taking her off the lead regularly (muzzled and in the 'safer' fields) so that we can practice recall etc. in realistic settings. Tricky. I have to admit that I wouldn't have taken her on had I known that she is a potential puppy killer; but now that we have her we'll just have to deal with it!

Steve · Master

Don''t worry - Piper is doing what loads of other greys do. Greys are the original hunting machine - just part and parcel of their make up, it's just that some are more focussed on it than others.

Both ours are ex-racers and both will chase but our big lad sounds more like Piper. He is very affectionate with people and as good as gold in the house (well - when we are around he is!) but outside is a different matter. He's not good with non greys and will go for anything that gets too close - unless it is bigger - smart lad. Never bothered Irish Wolfhounds for example!

He's on lead 99 pe cent of the time but is no better or worse for it - and he's muzzled all the time when he's out. That is for total peace of mind and also to stop me getting in the way of his teeth when he lunges. Everytime we do the GAL shows or walks he's as good as gold but as soon as he's on his own turf at home he reverts back to form. We had him him at a can collection the other week and he was superb - no probs. Got him back in the car outside the house and a dog walks past and he goes bezerk - some lad. Suppose you could say he's our special case.

You can do certain things to lessen the lunging if that's what Piper does - basically distraction with treats when you walk near dogs to get their attention on you and not the target doggy. This reinforces that dogs coming towards you are positive - helps to an extent but with our lad his behaviour isn't changing at all so we just manage it.

We have clicker trained Harry to "leave it" when it comes to food and things we don't want him to touch so we may try this on doggies too. But if you are asking me if I reckon he'lll grow out of it - no chance, only when he's too old to care. Despite his Jeckyll and Hyde thing going on he's a brilliant dog with loads of character.

You'll get bags of advice and folk to speak to on the forum or on GAL walks/events.

Steve · Master

Oh - my personal opinion would also not to let her loose until you really know more about the dog. You won't know much about her character until a month or two. Saying that, we saw big changes in both of ours after a year or so.

Amber · Master

Hi again Kirsten, glad to see you're back here! Yes Dogpages can be a bit busy and not always friendly to newcomers, you're better off here! Having said that, if you wanted to meet up with other greyhound/sighthound owners in your area, might be worth posting a thread asking if anyone in your area has greyhounds on Dogpages, since it's national. It's always good to meet up with others who have had the same experiences/problems, plus greyhounds love socialising with their own kind. Also, I expect there is probably a greyhound rescue in your area and quite often you find that people who have got greyhounds from a certain rescue join up for regular walks, I'm sure if you could find such a group they'd be happy for you to join in walks.

It can be very difficult to find 'safe' places where there aren't other animals to let them off for a run. I have found a couple of empty fallow fields, walled, in my area that I use, but this is not possible for everyone.

It did occur to me that the trainer you got Piper from presumably has a secure exercise paddock for his dogs, but whether he would let you use that for Piper now and again, I don't know - depends a lot on the trainer really!! Otherwise I've heard that some dog obedience trainers sometimes offer use of their secure fields in such cases - one up here did anyway.

It is puzzling that she met the Cav OK, but subsequently has shown a lot more interest, but as I say it might still be possible to socialise her, but unfortunately this is one of the difficulties we face as greyhound owners ; if it's not small dogs, then it's usually cats or something else!

Good luck and keep us updated!

Anyanka · Master

Again, thanks! Steve, your experience is useful for me. It's easier for me if I know that she may not outgrow it, cause then I won't get frustrated too much but just settle for lead and muzzle walks.

Today we found a totally deserted field at the back of a favourite walk - it was oval, with a path going around the outside. I let Piper off the lead, and she was off like a shot, once all the way around. It looked as if she recognised the shape, and figured she was back on the track! After that one lap, and a little bit of mooching with Bonnie, she was exhausted anyway.

I will try and find dog training classes, too. Good point about the Greyhound rescue; there's one near Guildford, but I could also ask the people at the kennel. They are very helpful, and have asked how we're getting on (my daughter Kyra works there on a Sunday morning).

FAJ · Enlightened One

Amber wrote:

It is puzzling that she met the Cav OK, but subsequently has shown a lot more interest,

Just a wee thought about this point. Our Harry was good as gold for the first month that we had him, not reacting in any way to any dogs. Then he started his lunging, etc. It could be that Piper is beginning to realise she lives with you and is starting to show her true behaviour.

I'd posted previously that Harry is well-behaved at dog shows, etc, and even ignored a pair of weeny Jack russells. Viv suggested that the difference in his behaviour is because he knows he can't take on every dog around him, so he stays quiet and calm in the hope of not being noticed. It could well be that he was doing the same thing when we first got him.

I disagree with Steve (sorry, darling!

) slightly in that I think Harry has made progress. He can ignore another dog and focus on a treat, provided the other dog isn't off-lead or doesn't get too close. And he's happy enough with his walks on the lead - in fact, on the infrequent occasions when we do let him off he will invariably trot along close beside us. Okay, so to be totally honest sometimes it is a nuisance having to manage his behaviour. But he's so fantastic in other ways that it's a small price to pay for all the really good stuff.

Steve · Master

"It's easier for me if I know that she may not outgrow it, cause then I won't get frustrated too much but just settle for lead and muzzle walks."

It can be a shock to the system if you have never had a dog with issues but there are things you can do...and you do get used to it and you'll most likely think less of it as time goes by. Some dogs do this and some dogs do that kind of thing.

I should just state the obvious - I'm just talking about our Harry and each doggy is different. Piper may change over the year but you'll soon get an idea after a while whether you think you have full trust off lead with her or not. The majority who have greys don't have issues like Harry does. As Fiona says, it can be very frustrating and you can have bad days when nothing goes right on a walk - but we are very happy that Harry is with us as we reckon we are the right people to help him along. And of course, his sly behaviour is brilliant - he's a real thief just now - nicked my oatcakes today - ate the kitchen foil too!

Teresa · Enlightened One

tricky isn't it. we have found, with our two - especially Dave - that we will never be able to let them off the lead unless the field has six-foot fences all the way round !! Dave's prey-drive is huge and shows no signs of diminishing. Both dogs have to put up with lead walks only and the occasional muzzle and neither of them are the worse for it. In fact, if we miss a walk for any reason, you'd never know - it just means more time on the sofa !!

as for their socialisation, if the dogs they meet are not greyhounds, they simply do not recognise them as dogs. mostly, these two are ok with bigger dogs and will sniff them then ignore them, i just have to be very careful round small furries.

good luck and i'm sure Piper will give you much happiness and the lead walks will become less of an issue as time goes on.

Anyanka · Master

Thanks again. Piper does already give huge amounts of happiness, which more than makes up for the worrying bits. She is hugely affectionate, a giant lapdog, and has bonded particularly with my younger daughter whom Bonnie treats as an inferior puppy!

It's just that I've been spoilt by Bo-dog, who has been no trouble at all (okay, she used to steal food all the time, but we learned not to leave things out so much; and she does chase - and catch - rabbits and squirrels). I never have her on the lead when we're out in fields, parks, woods; only when walking along streets & roads, therefore not used to having a dog on the lead. It's always seemed cruel to keep a dog on the leash all the time, but I'm learning fast that Piper's requirements are quite different! She seems to prefer being at home over being outdoors most of the time anyway...