GreyBoy

I would LOVE to read a copy of your article. All I could find online was a reference to buying old copies of the magazine. Do you have a link you could send me online to the article! Many thanks.

Thank you to everyone who posted. Your stories of your wonderful, beloved greys is the best to hear about. I am not ready yet to adopt because I feel like I would be replacing him. I know that is silly but this cancer thing and his younger age just knocked me over. I know I will someday because I could absolutely not live without a dog in my life. But now even seeing dog product commercials or dogs out walking brings me to tears. I was thinking about two greyhounds and if that is just as easy as one or not. I'm not sure. I like to take my grey with me when I go out shopping etc, bring him into Home Depot with me, or leave him in the car for short errands. I think that would be harder to do with two. But the house is so eerily empty without my dog that maybe having two would ease the pain of losing one later on. Is that selfish to think that way?

I lost my beloved greyhound and best friend a week after New Year's Day. The end of November he was diagnosed out of the blue with hemangiosarcoma. He had surgery to remove his cancerous bleeding spleen the day I took him to the vet for drinking more water than usual. Unfortunately while he went through the surgery fine, there were metastases. My husband and I took him home and cared for him, giving him treats and all good things, including steaks, which he loved. Eventually things went downhill. Now it is a month later and I can't seem to go a day without sobbing. So many things remind me of him and how wonderful he was to have around. Our children are gone and far away, but he was always there to greet us or just came with us just about everywhere. He had just turned six years old, too young. His brother whom we were aware of died young also. I am broken-hearted. What is the best way to heal myself? It just seems so lonely without him. He was wonderful. Any advice would be appreciated. (He is my second greyhound ever. My first one lived to be 12 and that of course was difficult but this was so, so unexpected.)

Once again, I am not going to punish my beautiful, calm grey for the inconsiderate behavior of another dog owner. My dog's behavior was not prey driven. I am absolutely convinced of that now. We were out for a walk this morning and a rabbit hopped right across his yard and he did absolutely nothing. He was protecting himself from an aggressive dog. We are not "weak" dog owners. Our dogs are welcome anywhere because they do display good behavior.

"But every dog is individual and each situations is individual. Blanket generalisations and statements do not always apply, especially when none of us have ever even laid eyes on this dog or know anything about it. " Re the above, my dog, my grey, is very gentle, well-liked by everyone, not aggressive in any form, never barks or disturbs things, never takes food unless invited to, etc. He is well mannered and well trained, gets along with other dogs, and I do believe he was defending himself in this situation with the white fluffy. I really don't think it was prey-driven in my heart of hearts.

Unfortunately I will never again be around little dogs without keeping a very close eye on my dog, and will try walking him by avoiding other small dogs. I do understand that what happens once can happen again so it is better to be safe for the sake of both my dog and other dogs. It is the responsible thing to do.

I have never seen my dog ever posturing, snarling, or barking for any reason so using that as a sign that he is about to defend himself against another dog would never work for me. Most greyhounds that I know don't bark. I know they can though. I just do not believe he was acting in a prey-driven way. But everyone has there own thoughts on that and I asked for comments. Thanks to everyone who did comment. It was very much appreciated.

One more thing, this happened so, so fast, that we could not have gotten out a complete sentence to tell them our dog is not safe around small dogs (even if we knew this to be true). The fluffy ran for our dog, twice my husband said to pull back your dog, fluffy growled, and wham, he was in my grey's mouth. Then as above.

In regards to picking up the white fluffy in my grey's mouth, I understand my dog rapidly scooped up white fluffy, then swing, swing, swing, toss! The white fluffy then was whimpering on the ground. (I just found this out from my husband). The owner went over to the dog but said nothing really, just when my husband asked him to keep the other dog on a shorter leash immediately he again said it would be okay. My husband and dog left then and the owner said nothing further. I certainly hope that white fluffy was not seriously hurt. I get the feeling from my dog that he is still upset by it. Kind of lethargic today. But maybe that is just me interpreting his feelings as remorse. I don't blame him, it was unexpected by us certainly, but I will be very, very cautious in the future for sure. As for the other dog, I hope he is okay.

I would feel bad for him to have to muzzle him. It would make him look like a vicious dog. I am sure that is what other people would think. I have never even owned a muzzle. But I understand your point.

According to my husband, no, the owner didn't seem that "present." He was in fact not even tightening the leash length on the other matching white fluffy. However, like I said, everything happened in a manner of seconds once my husband told him twice to control his dogs. But or course I still feel some responsibility. I am just sorry it happened at all and it will make me more vigilant than I was for the last 5 years that I have had my grey, which is unfortunate. Never even a hint of an incident before this other than he does alert to cats, but he has only seen a cat in a crate, never walking around.

Thank you so much for your kind reply. He just reacted under threat but it still bothered me.

Is this something to worry about? My husband was walking my dog around a public lake, properly walking on a lead as always. A man with two small white dogs was approaching on a lead that allows the dog to extend and pull the leash longer. One of the white dogs was especially eager to get toward my dog and was growling. My husband asked the man twice to please control his dogs and the man said it would be okay. Well it was not okay with my grey. The white dog came charging at him wanting to nip his legs and in no time at all the white dog was in my dog's mouth and being thrashed like a stuffed animal. It was all over in seconds. The white dog was not seriously hurt from what my husband could tell and the other owner did not seem overly concerned. He did not look like he was bleeding but he was yapping while he was being tossed around by my dog. My greyhound has never been aggressive to another dog. Is this something I should worry about in the future when out for walks. He has several little white dogs in the neighborhood who do not "charge" him and they are "friends" but now I am a little worried. Any advice? Many thanks.

Thanks to the community for all the wonderful advice. So, so helpful! Appreciate it!

My son and his wife are expecting their first child very soon. They have a greyhound, and we had two greyhounds while he was still in my house. So he is well experienced. What I am concerned about is something they have been doing in their home. Everything is set up for the baby, all the new bells and whistles, car seat, baby swing, etc. They have been putting stuffed animals in, for example, the car seat and let their greyhound try to pull the stuffed animal out of the seat, or swing. The grey is pretty active and a jumper. Is their anything they should be doing to ensure good behavior when they bring their new baby home? Their baby girl greyhound has had one bite on the face to my son and he required stitches on his lip. So there is one bite already. Any advice. Thanks so much. I have used this forum previously throughout my many greyhound years and have always found it extremely helpful. I never had little children in my home when I adopted my greyhounds.