MerseyGrey

My aunt works for a hedgehog rescue charity and would disown me if she saw what Buddy did to his first one

I see the standard issue hedgehog toy waiting to be deconstructed! What is it about a roach that makes me so ridiculously happy? I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing these graceful creatures exposing themselves.

Welcome home Jenny! I can’t wait to see the photos!

Yes, Buddy is inconsistent when it comes to meeting other dogs - he seems to tolerate puppies jumping at his face much better than older dogs, but occasionally it’s just all a bit too much for him and he snaps. He also likes female puppies a lot more and is earning a bit of a reputation for himself... He’s noticeably better with other greyhounds as lots of ex racers seem to be. We know he can be unpredictable, and that’s what say to people who let their dogs approach him off the lead. I don’t want to say that he doesn’t like other dogs to them because I want them to take a bit of responsibility for what their dog does. At nearly 9 years old I don’t think we’ll ever get him to a point where he enjoys other dogs’ presence but we have bought one of the books previously recommended on this thread (Feisty Fido - the other one is not in Kindle format!) and have started to apply some of the suggestions made in there. we have noticed an increase in his whimpering at other dogs this week, particularly ones that bark at him - most have been smaller dogs. This is what he was like when we first got him but we’re optimistic that we can make progress with him. Fingers crossed and thanks for your advice.

What a handsome boy! It’s so hard to choose just one from that selection!

I was sorry to hear about Lola. We are on our first boy so I can’t compare with a girl, but Buddy certainly matches some of the descriptions given as general boy behaviour. He’s quite clingy and loooooves people. He’s a sweet and gentle soul and a real mummy’s boy, although he gives his dad the best welcome when he comes home from work. There is one room in the house where he can’t be trusted to be alone as he likes to pee in there but otherwise he’s not really one for marking. He also likes to take his toys out to the garden one by one, but he either waits for you to notice him before he goes or he checks out of the corner of his eye to make sure you’re following him. When he gets you out there he does his best to keep away from you, not actually wanting to play, just wanting you to watch him play! he also runs at you in order to ram his nose between your legs - from in front or behind - just to keep you on your toes I think. He’s a quirky boy. I hope you find a good match for you this weekend!

Thanks, I’m trying to reduce the size of some of my photos so I can upload more. It’s great to see a photo of his sister on there!

Hi Dick, my name is Ellen and I wondered if you would mind posting some info on greyhound data for me when you have time? The photo is of my beloved hound, racing name Buddy Molly, pet name Buddy. He has adopted Dan and Ellen Haydon as his human companions. Thanks in advance, ellen

Thanks Greytpups, i think you’re absolutely right about Buddy sensing our nervousness - Buddy is not the only one who has required some training over the last year! I have tried hard to be a bit more relaxed around other dogs when we are out walking but my husband is very protective over Buddy and did his best to intervene yesterday. I think it puts Buds on edge a bit, and someone I work with suggested that Buddy may have been trying to protect Dan, lovely boy that he is! So I’m going to work on training both my boys.

Thank you all for your advice. As usual, some great stuff here and I'm going to look into it all. Thanks for the link Banjoman - I was struggling to find an official website for the UK.

Thanks Bizeebee, all these responses are so helpful. Yes, I’m expecting to see him become a bit more nervous when dogs approach him *sigh* but we’ve found that in various aspects of his training although we’ve had setbacks he’s still massively improved from the dog we brought home last June. I haven’t seen those collars before - just ones that say ‘nervous dog’ - so these are something that we can consider. Thanks!

Thanks racindog, both replies are reinforcing what I already think - I don’t want to muzzle him because he’s come on so far since last year. I’m glad he was able to defend himself this morning and I don’t want to have a knee jerk reaction to one incident. It’s good to get this advice from you so I know I’m not being irresponsible. Thank you!

Thanks Macoduck, we weren’t quick enough this morning and I’m not sure that either of us had our phones on us but I think we’ll start carrying them now. There is no law to have your dog on a lead here although obviously each owner is responsible for their dog and it is recommended for greyhounds to be kept on a lead. The other owners probably felt it was ok to let their dog run free as it was so early but it baffles me as to why people assume that just because their dog I’d ‘ok’ with others, that other people’s dogs will be ok with theirs. Luckily Buddy came out unscathed today. Hopefully we won’t bump into them anytime soon!

Hi everyone, we had an incident whilst out walking this morning which I’d like to get some opinions on from people with more experience than me. We were out walking Buddy this morning at about 5.30 as we normally do. On our return home we came across a dog that we hadn’t seen before with her owners. She bounded towards him and before we knew it there’s was a full scale emergency with the other dog in Buddy’s mouth, and him trying to tear strips off her. a little context: Buddy is not great with other dogs. We have spent the past year of owning him trying to get him more used to being around other dogs with reasonable success. He is much more tolerant of other dogs but still can’t stand it when they jump up in his face and at this point he will snap and let them know it’s not welcome. After he snaps he gets himself out of the way. Before the snap comes we warn the other owner that he can be a little unpredictable (this was after a few months of telling people that he wasn’t likely to snap and them telling me that it was alright, their dog is ok, or ‘look! His tail’s wagging! He’s fine’ or the ultimate - Buddy being happy to meet the other dog and making me look like liar!) Buddy is no angel - we had him off the lead for a while until he himself attacked another dog after chasing a rabbit. This I put down to his prey drive being engaged and not caring what he got got hold of - he just wanted to complete the chase and catch game. He’s been on the lead ever since except for in enclosed fields when we’re happy there’s no other dog in there. To this morning: the rogue dog ran at Buddy from about 30 feet and got in his face. No lead. It was a bit of a blur but I think I saw her try to bite him (she was some kind of Staffordshire terrier mix and could only just reach his chest) and the husband tried to get in between them whilst avoiding being bitten by either dog and losing his specs in the process. Whatever happened, it resulted in Buddy clamping down on her neck and ear (he always goes for the neck of his squeaky toys!) and not letting go. Predictably she was growling and crying which made him want to bite her more. Buddy let go of her and she seemed to come back for more, at which point he tried to bite her again until her owner finally reached us and dragged her away. He said he thought that Buddy must have gone for her because she was a friendly dog and only wanted to play (she was still straining at the lead to get to him - he pointed this out as evidence of her being friendly). He then stated that he walked at that time to avoid this scenario which makes me think it may have happened before. A brief discussion resulted in me pointing out that we keep Buddy on the lead so we can control him, checking that both dogs and owners were ok, an apology from the other owner (just the man, the woman seemed to be completely disinterested), and me steadfastly not offering to take care of any vet bills. we were a bit shook up and after checking Buddy over we came home. Buds had no bite marks but I’m not sure if that’s because he got in there first. The other dog had bites to her ear. I suppose what I would like to know from people is: should I consider muzzling Buddy? We stopped using it after he was set upon in February by a pit bull type dog as we felt that he wasn’t unable to defend himself if it happened again. I’m no dog psychologist but his greatest improvement in behaviour towards other dogs seems to have been since he’s not been wearing the muzzle. This may be confirmation bias, however! was I right not to offer anything towards vet bills? Something about these people leads me to think that they might not be taking their dog to the vet anyway...which is very judgemental as the man at least clearly cared a lot about his dog. other than warning people that he might be unpredictable and then essentially putting all the blame for potential attacks onto Buds, is there anything else I can do or a better way of avoiding conflicts (I don’t really want to kick the dogs away in these situations but am not opposed to putting my foot up the owner’s backside) ? will I, at some point, become less neurotic about my greyhound?!?! I want another (and another! And another...) but I love him so much that I stress over every tiny thing! Actually, I am LOADS more relaxed about him that I was this time last year even if it doesn’t sound like it! I’m still working on getting the husband that way. sorry for the long post but your collective advice is much appreciated x

We have one of these... https://www.amazon.com/Kurgo-Zip-Line-Leash-Carabiner/dp/B002AN6STC which we used for Buddy on the back seat of my car. We put the main strap between the passenger handles above the doors and then attached the lead to that with the carabiner. The strap length is adjustable and the lead has loops along its length so you can restrict the dog as much as you need to. I’ve now bought a new car so I can fold the seats completely flat and he has the run of the boot and back seat space and think this will work in that configuration too. I also have the kind that clip in where the seatbelts would but I found that it wasn’t really long enough to allow him to move around at all. I want him to be safe in an accident but not to strangle him while he’s finding his comfy spot so the Kurgo is better for us.

Buddy had a similar thing a few months ago after crashing into a wall during a zoomie. We left it uncovered and I didn’t stop him from licking. It took a couple of weeks but it healed up on its own. A few months on and there is hardly even a scar. Our groomer recommends an antiseptic spray called Leucerin - I’m not sure if it’s sold in the States, but that might help to keep it clean.

Could it be an injury he has picked up from running around? Buddy has a similar thing on his front leg at the minute which is improving as the days go by, but he is stiff on getting up then he seems to walk it off. I think that was from a particularly vigorous zoomie on some uneven ground resulting in a twisted wrist (wrist? Ankle?). Another possibility is a broken claw that isn’t completely broken off, that produced similar symptoms too. But if you’ve had him for seven years you’ve probably already experienced that once or twice and know what it looks like. What kind of cancer did yours have? I would probably want to exclude the possibility of a recurrence if it’s one that is difficult to completely remove, or one that that may have metastasised. There are other people on this forum with a lot more experience than me (Buddy has been with us for just over a year), and they will be able to give you much clearer advice. Hopefully he’ll shake it off.

We kept Buddy’s name (racing name: Buddy Molly) but he was nearly 8 when we adopted him and we have a three year gap in his history after he retired. We assume he’d been in a home and got used to his name but we don’t really know. He’s a bit of a clingy, nervous boy and felt that he’d probably already had enough changes, and Buddy’s a good dog’s name anyway.

Buddy has that hedgehog! After he destroyed his first one we bought a batch and it’s still his favourite toy! Lydia is a beauty. My brother in law lives in San Diego, and when his parents fly out from the UK to dog sit, they always take the dogs to Lake Hodges. I’m not sure what the facilities are like up there but they really enjoy the walk.

We have an area in our garden where the wall is 3-4 feet high. Buddy put his paws up when we first brought him home but has never tried to jump it. The lady who did our home check was unconcerned about the height. But I would think that your adoption service will let you know if a particular dog is an escape artist - in which case even a six foot fence might not be enough!

Our vet recommended Royal Canin and Hills. We recently switched to Hills but Buddy’s being a bit fussy with it so we are going back to RC as he rarely skipped a meal with this

We recently changed our older boy’s food in an attempt to combat his smelly bottom, but he doesn’t seem to like the new stuff (unless we put it in one of his treat toys, then he might eat it). So we started making a gravy from a bit of wet food and mixed it in with his kibble. I have just watched him suck the gravy off most of the kibble and then spit the pieces back into his bowl. We’ve also tried mixing his kibble with yogurt, which he really likes. And I frequently see my husband with kibble in his hand, sniffing at it and making it look like the tastiest food ever before feeding Individual pieces to the boy. I think the dog knows exactly what he’s doing...

Buddy broke his nail without taking it off. We took him to the vet who booked him in for sedation and removal a couple of days later, but said that if it came off on it’s own then not to worry about it unless it was giving him obvious pain. She prescribed us an NSAID for the interim. We took him for a walk the next day and it must have broken off completely when he scratched after his toilet break with not a peep from him. I would echo what’s already been said - painkillers for a day or two and keep an eye open for infection. Buddy licked his for about three weeks (he’s a champion licker anyway) but he was right as rain and running around like a lunatic within a couple of days.

We were experimenting with Buddy being off the lead up until a few weeks ago... he chased a rabbit which he didn’t catch. He came back to us afterwards when we called but unfortunately the next thing he came across was a small fluffy dog and before we knew it the dog was in his mouth . And so the experiment ended. We didn’t tell him off because we didn’t really read the signs of his prey drive properly (and we assumed, rightly or wrongly, that the dog attack was linked to his prey drive having kicked in), but to answer your second question, we haven’t found that he is more interested in chasing small animals of any kind - certainly no more interested than he was before ‘the incident’. The other dog was ok by the way. Buddy didn’t even break her skin but I suspect that was to do with three of us holding his jaws apart and stopping him from from shaking her as he does his squeaky hedgehog. Lesson learned. (I’m still feeling guilty, hence the confession).

Unnecessary panicking: an essential part of the first year of owning a dog. We adopted our boy Buddy almost a year ago and I swear that almost every tiny blip felt like a complete failure. You will relax a bit more the longer Senner is with you, and some things that feel like failure at the minute, in six month’s time, you will learn to accept are things that you can’t (and probably don’t need to) change. I am by no means an experienced owner, but have eventually realised that when we adopted Buddy, we were put through a reasonably rigorous vetting process and were deemed to be competent to have a dog placed with us. It will be similar for you if you’ve adopted. Just keep doing what you’re doing and your care, love and attention will be rewarded. And in addition, this site is brilliant for helping you to put things in perspective! I’ve only recently joined Greytalk but have read lots of threads over the past year, and these chats really help you work out what you need to be worried about (about 5% of what your greyhound does) vs. greyhound peculiarities (everything else, and then a bit more when you least expect it)