My Grey's Ear Was Torn!

[Guest onceyougogrey]

Yesterday we were walking our Grey and another Grey in the neighborhood came by. We owners talked for a bit and let the dogs meet face to face and both dogs were fine. Our dog is a gentle lamb, but the other Grey is in his 2nd house and is very skiddish. Something must have happened during previous ownership to make the dog fragile. Long story short: the other Grey went to do the usual sniff the butt thing, but when our dog was about to do the same thing she was viciously attacked by the other dog, I had to pull them apart and as a result, our dog's ear was torn badly. She is getting stitches for them today. The bill comes to $550!!! Luckily, the other owners agreed to pay the bill. However, they are quite concerned about the dog as this is the second time he's done this to another dog. Not like Greys typically, right? The owners are very sad as they face an important decision - they wanted a playful, happy Grey, but they've ended up with a dog they cannot take anywhere, so the social part of the Grey community is not there for them. Do you all have any recommendations?

 

OnceYouGoGrey

[TheFullHouse]

How long have they had this greyhound? If the dog is new, they may be pushing new situations on it too quickly, especially if it's a bounce. It will take time for the dog to learn to trust them. That would be the first step, gaining the dogs trust so the dog will know they will protect it if necessary. The second step would be to introduce the dog to other dogs, muzzled so no one gets hurt. It sounds like they need to have a chat with the group they adopted this dog from to get some background on the dog first of all and secondly, get some advice on how to proceed with the dog. That's what the group is there for.

 

So sorry your hound got hurt. Hope she heals quickly.

Edited April 11, 2013 by JillysFullHouse

[JAJ2010]

Sounds like the other greyhound probably has many issues to address. knowing their history would make it easier. The dog obviously was not comfortable in the situation those owners put her in. The are supposed to protect their dog and they failed. Unfortunately your pup took the brunt of it.

 

How long have they had the pup? Can they join greytalk themselves so we can help them directly? Stuff gets lost in translation sometimes.

 

You may be the first person ever who is more concerned about the other dog that attacked yours! LOL

[racindog]

My goodness! why don't they just use a muzzle? My Minny had to be muzzled 24/7 (ultimately found out he had brain cancer?). At any rate he was the most loving empathetic soul I have ever known and was a tremendous blessing to me. I certainly would have hated to have missed out on him just because he had little aggressive "farts" every now and then and would go after other dogs. (In fact the first day I brought him home as a foster he attacked Goldie and Goldie had to be stitched up. So I put a muzzle on him.) Wearing his muzzie was never an issue with him-he could even run and play and even carry his kong ball and other toys with it on and was in fact a playful happy grey that I took everywhere with me- MANY greyhound and other events and everything-never was any sort of problem(because he was muzzled). BTW there was a study that found that SOME dogs have a problem with corn in that in them it can interfere with the production of serotonin in the brain and cause lessened inhibitons etc. Minny did seem to improve when all corn was removed from his diet as well. You might mention it to them to try. It could also very well be that he is just new and has not "got it together" yet. Regardless IMO he shouldn't be "diagnosed" and written off so quickly. I'm so sorry your girlie got hurt. Poor baby. Give her a gentle hug for me.

Edited April 11, 2013 by racindog

[MP_the4pack]

There are just some greys that need to be only dogs. I fostered one that ended up needing to live alone. After a month of fostering him in peace, on a last call for potty break he tore a huge hole in my Brindle's side.

I fostered an older girl another time and at her new home with first time grey adopters, when she met another grey, she attacked him. She was returned to me to foster and someone who was more grey savvy adopted her and she did fine.

 

While I can't say it's a frequent occurance, there are just some greys that do not like to be with other dogs. I hope the other dog's owners work with him or he ends up in a grey savvy home.

 

I'm sorry your girl got the bad end of things.

 

 

PS....welcome to Greytalk.

[greytpups]

Not knowing all of the details, but was there any warning, a low growl or quick air snap. It not, it sounds like the other grey doesn't have bite inhibition, or an air snap was intended but a tooth got caught on your grey's ear instead. By your description it sounds like there wasn't a warning though. Often this means that a dog is punished for growling and when they are in an uncomfortable situation, instead of warning they go right for the bite.

 

I'd suggest they talk to their adoption group who may be more familiar with the grey's background.

[Houndtime]

Hope your guy heals well.

[fsugrad]

I totally agree with Judy and with racindog!

When you get a new hound--especially one that has been bounced, for one reason or another--I just think it's important that you NOT set them up to fail. I know, we had one like that. What do your friends know from the group about why the dog was bounced, etc.? And what can they do as new owners of this hound to prevent that from happening again? When we adopted Robin, we kept him in a pretty controlled environment as we got to know each other (not around any other dogs besides Toby, never went to a dog park, certainly never let him near my mom's cat, etc.) Our greyhound group has get-togethers from time to time and there's always someone who would bring their fluffy non-hound to these. Robin was super high prey, and would zero in on the non hounds and immediately start licking his chops. So we'd never go to one without bringing a muzzle for Robin. Better safe than sorry. And while some here would disagree, he was the only one muzzled at these events until the last of the non-greyhounds would leave the party. He loved being around other greyhounds. I just wanted to avoid a tragedy, and I managed to do so his whole life. Sometimes people would come up and say, "Oh poor thing, why is your dog the only one wearing a muzzle?" Didn't bother me. By the way, our group has grown considerably and they now require all hounds to wear muzzles when we have a gathering. Better safe than sorry! I hope your baby heals quickly.

Edited April 11, 2013 by fsugrad

[JohnF]

Sorry to read about the injury. Dogs can be like random snapdragons.

They need to return that dog so that it may find a more suitable home, perhaps one that does not need to be out in public? Then they need to list exactly the kind of dog they need to a rescue group. Otherwise it must always wear a muzzle in public... not a big deal but they will need to stay focused.

 

I sent one back for small dog issues and lost my adoption fee... the dog got a new home inside a week.

[MaryJane]

Maybe you could ask the dog's owner to post here to get suggestions .....

[Hubcitypam]

Agree with having the dogs owner post here.

 

I am just a bit confused. Just yesterday you posted a very long article from your website about greyhound health issues. Last week you made a post in a thread about understanding dominance -

 

Posted 02 April 2013 - 10:45 AM

To understand dominance theory, it is important to know the meaning of this term. Dominance is defined as “the status in a social group, usually acquired as the result of aggression that involves the tendency to take priority in access to limited resources, such as food, mates, or space.” The problem with dominance theory is that this dog training methodology is based on studies of wolves “Canis lupis”, and dogs are not tame wolves. Dogs are their own species “Canis familiarius”, and are more scavengers in nature than predators. In the wild, dogs live solitary lives as opposed to wolves that live in packs. It is also important to note that feral dogs have never reverted to become wolves. Trying to apply the study of wolf behavior to dog behavior is very flawed right from the get go. Read More Here

From your posts and the link to your website of the same name it seems that you have more greyhound knowledge than most people on GT.

[greysmom]

Hopefully the vet will wrap your dog's ear well after stitching. She should have the ear somehow secured to her head so she can't shake it and flap it around. She will not like this, but otherwise you'll end up with "Happy Ear," and blood all over your walls.

 

If she doesn't come from the vet, you can use the leg part of a sock, or the arm of a stretchy sweatshirt, a bandana, or just wrap her head with gauze.

 

Here's Lilly in her headsock after Toni pierced her ear for her.

[Guest onceyougogrey]

How long have they had this greyhound? If the dog is new, they may be pushing new situations on it too quickly, especially if it's a bounce. It will take time for the dog to learn to trust them. That would be the first step, gaining the dogs trust so the dog will know they will protect it if necessary. The second step would be to introduce the dog to other dogs, muzzled so no one gets hurt. It sounds like they need to have a chat with the group they adopted this dog from to get some background on the dog first of all and secondly, get some advice on how to proceed with the dog. That's what the group is there for.

 

So sorry your hound got hurt. Hope she heals quickly.

Thanks! She's got a bandage on tonight and the famous lamp shade for the next 2 weeks! I think they've had their Grey for about 1 year. I mentioned the muzzle as well, and I think many people have today, so at any rate, I hope they use it from now on if they decide to keep him.

[a_daerr]

I think they've had their Grey for about 1 year.

 

That's a long time... I wouldn't expect a grey who's been home for a year to be hauling off and biting at other dogs.

Sort of makes me think something else is going on.