Moo

My grey has for the last 2 years been relatively ambivalent to medium - big dogs, but seemingly over the last few weeks has become quite aggressive to them while we're out. The exception to this being fellow greyhounds and long dogs. * seems fine with small dogs still * no one "incident" with a big dog has occurred to cause this * he gets aggressive and growly even if they're a good distance away - they're often not even in his space before he's getting reactive. * was fine previous to this starting, he'd on the rare occasion lunge but that was once in a blue moon. Otherwise it's waggy tails, bum sniffing, etc. * no particular size, sex or breed causes more of a reaction, anything labrador sized upwards seems to trigger it. * seems relatively happy, healthy and pain free otherwise. He's been vet checked very recently, no issues. I'm not sure if this is a very delayed coming out of his shell behaviour and he's just being more assertive about saying he doesn't like things, but I don't want it to get to a point where he can't say hello to dogs at all. I think I'll be muzzling him as a precaution if I can't get him to chill. Any thoughts on why this could be? My only real guess is spring fever? Grumpy old man syndrome (8 this year)?

He's just sworn at me twice because I picked his collar up for walks he then went mental for 5 minutes in anticipation and got himself tired. To be fair he's had to stay in a lot this week with the heatwave so he's probably bottled all his excitement up.

Rumble has never been a woofer, but he's taken to having a woof (literally 1 ) when he's feeling particularly pleased or just needs to express himself. I've had him 2 years now so it's a bit of a surprise for him to make sounds other than screaming and whinging. Have anyone else's greys suddenly started to bark after a few years? I'd rather he kept this up than the screams we get when someone leaves the house. I swear someone will call animal welfare on us one day for the crime of... getting on the car without him

If like mine she's a mooch for anything I'm eating, have you tried putting her food in a people bowl/plate, putting it on the table or wherever you eat and pretending it's your dinner, doing the whole "mmm, tasty!" act then giving her it? She might think she's getting jackpot human food and fool her into eating it?

I apologise if it seems I'm making light of the situation as I definitely am not, but I have to smile when I see these "help, my grey is frozen!" posts as I've been there several times with my boy, and it makes me chuckle how much these dogs all act so similar. But I can promise with 99.9% certainly it will pass! Not without you feeling worried and desperate that pees and poos aren't happening and not enough exercise is taking place. But every step is a victory, and sometimes you might have to bum-shove a little to motivate them to take a few more. I felt like I was never going to get mine past the garden gate, it went on for weeks, maybe months. Remember to praise their efforts and keep trying even if it feels like no progress is being made! You'll eventually get back to that stage of them loving walks, it'll just take time and patience.

My aunt has a van she sometimes uses and it would be helpful if we could get Rumble in it from time to time. What's the most secure way to transport a grey in a van? When I tried googling it I found pics of the whole back part kitted out in massive cages, which is overkill for just one dog. I was hoping maybe some sort of secure bed exists that can be tied to the sides? Thanks

Rumble doesn't have many teeth, but he does have some really stubborn plaque on a few teeth that I can't shift. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the ultrasonic toothbrushes that are popular lately, and whether they really do move difficult plaque like they promise? Many dog brands don't look any different to the human ones like Philips Sonicare, so does anyone have any thoughts on that?

Exactly my thoughts It's not like a chapstick where you might lick it by accident

Interesting! That'd certainly explain it. My boy's are very flippy floppy so I couldn't picture how other greys could make them stick up full time. I've been curious about it since seeing a gorgeous goofy looking boy on a greyhound rescue page and have been experimenting with folding my boy's in different ways to see if they'll stay up. Good job I have patient dog.

Wasn't really sure where to best put this as it's not really a "health" question, but how do greys sometimes get (permanent) pointy ears? I can't imagine they're being cropped by racing breeders and owners since what's the point? I'm very much against cropping but the pointy ears are so cute! I've also seen a few flop varieties, like some whose ears will flop forward in quite an elegant way, bit like puppy ears. I'm guessing they just fall like that?

Tail wag: only for important things like walks or getting in the car. Prey drive: squirrels, no. Rabbits, YES. What the difference is I'll never know, they're both fluffy and grey, but Rumble is definitely a bunny boy. Zoomies: He doesn't tend to do them indoors other than to run inside after pee and poo to tell my aunt "I HAD A POOOO". He's such a weirdo. He does however have his frisky freak outs which tend to start with a weird sort of bum biting, where he tries to attack his own arse and goes around in circles, then he'll quickly look around for the nearest thing to rag and fling (usually a blanket), and after that just sort of go into a heavy breathing derp mode where he wants fussing. I bought him his own furry cushion for Christmas so he could feel "naughty", as 9/10 he wants to rag our stuff, not his. Sleep: Yep, you got yourself a classic doofus. Rumble hasn't got many teeth left, so his ham escapes are pretty chronic and daily.

Rumble had about 30 teeth taken out before I got him, and was supposed to have the rest out before I consulted different vets who recommended I keep what was left, which were very dirty and worn to stumps in some cases. I clean his teeth every other day (he thinks toothpaste is treats so he's very willing!) and use a seaweed supplement in his food that's supposed to remove plaque. His remaining teeth still look dirty and to me seem to have a lot of build up near the gum no matter what I do, but I'm always told by the vets that they look fine. So he's never had a "dental" per se, but I do try to clean them very often myself.

I suppose it's like a "I'M SO HAPPY I COULD BARF!" thing

Mine often does this before dinner. I don't get it, but he seems fine.

Nothing more to add as it's already been said, but just wanted to say that I totally understand the fright and perturbed feeling you get when your own dog turns against you, as coming from a creature you love unconditionally (and loved back by) makes you almost feel betrayed. The key thing to always remember is to not react like a human, react like a dog. A human child understands time out, dogs don't. Biting and barking are more often than not them saying "I DO NOT like this and I'm trying to tell you in the one way I know will get the message across" rather than "I hate you and I want to hurt you on purpose", which is often how we interpret it emotionally. The last few times my dog has growled at me I knew logically what he was telling me, but emotionally it still hurt me because it's hard to disassociate the message from the delivery. I'm hoping I get used to it too! It's amazing seeing my aunt react to when he growls, as from what she's told me she grew up with some pretty viscous dogs (one story in particular of a border collie that would nip everyone to round them up or snitch and snarl when told it was getting a bath ) so isn't scared of them at all, whereas I'm much more wary.

I echo kitchen bed, it's the best thing to keep him in one place and not everywhere! My hound might as well be on elastic with me or my aunt. Until after dinner and dark when he couldn't care less if we were at home or on the moon.

Sounds very much like a possession type behaviour where he's trying too hard to protect what he considers to be his. I think a behaviourist is needed here, possibly some anti anxiety meds? But I know this subject has come up a lot here so there'll be plenty of people with experience to advise.

My grey didn't go up or down stairs in the house, but loves to climb things when outdoors. For some reason, he one day decided "yes, stairs good. I will stairs" and has started whizzing up and down them of his own accord. The only suggestion I have is putting treats on each step. I have to often do this to get him downstairs at night for his pees and poos before bed.

Exactly this. You know in your heart that it's time, and the entire reason we do this is to avoid a worse ending for our friends. This is an act of kindness, please don't feel guilt over it. Give him a great day and enjoy being with him, he'll fall asleep happy, content and loved, and you'll let him go knowing his last day was one of his best. Take care. x

I've suffered a similar knock after moving back to live in a suburban area from living with my parents which was near the coast and countryside. Unfortunately I also moved shortly before halloween and bonfire night, so the trauma of moving was followed by near constant fireworks. Previous to this Rumble was a very confident walker (he had the general freezes for a few months after I first got him though), so it's been hard seeing the setback he's had. Weirdly, despite living opposite a park, he prefers to walk down the local streets and fairly busy main road? I don't know what the logic there is, but I don't mind if he doesn't mind. He's also got a weird thing about houses, so I always say he's interested in properties as he likes to stick his snoot in peoples gates and peep through the windows. The only real downside to this is that the floors near me have a lot of glass so you have to be careful, but anything that gets him out the house is a bonus now. He's also developed a fixation with my aunt's car who I now live with (he didn't go in a car much before this), so everytime we go out to walk he makes a beeline for the car and I often have to lure him out the gate with treats or push his bum. He doesn't even care where he goes in the car, he just likes to sit in it. We've driven to the park with him many a time, and he just refuses to get out. The back seat seems to be his favourite place! Odd dog, but you have to love their weirdness.

Rumble has always sort of grumbled to an extent, but he seems to be doing it a lot more lately. It's generally a neutral or happy thing he does, like a sort of nasal growl. He grumbles when he lies down, but lately has started grumbling occasionally when I fuss him and pet him (which I assume is a happy sound as he punches me with his paws to continue). Given that he's started doing it a lot more all of a sudden, is it normal? I'm being a worrier in case it could be a throat thing, as he had a throat infection a few months ago, although didn't grumble at the time because of it.

Rumble has grown accustomed to getting excited and putting his front paws on the seat, then waiting for us to lift his big bum in for him. He's capable of getting in himself, but for whatever reason, be it lack of co-ordination or laziness, he prefers his bum lift now. I didn't know the walks were every month! I actually went to the Halloween one, and met a lot of lovely hounds. Although Rumble loves meeting other sighthounds I think he was a bit overwhelmed, as when we stopped at the cafe near the lake he wouldn't speak to anyone. I don't think he's seen so many hounds since he stopped racing, poor sod.

Haha, I shouldn't have asked How do multi dog households transport your longdogs? I don't drive but live with my aunt, but her car just about fits Rumble on the back seat (Ford Fiesta). Unless one could go in the boot? I should NOT be pondering this as much as I am! It's a shame though as I work from home and probably do have the time, space and money, the transport is probably the biggest issue really. I'd love to consider fostering though if it ever came up. Given how perplexed the poor things are when they get to a home it'd be nice to give them a stepping stone to settling in. And Rumble took to house life remarkably well (I think he had maybe 1 accident at night) so maybe he'd be a good mentor? Aaaah broody for noodles!

This is speculative really, as I'm doing that thing where I start looking at all the greys in shelters and start fawning over them (I assume normal women feel this way about human babies, haha). I've got a 6yr male, Rumble. As far as he's concerned, if something is hound-shaped it's a friend, but I don't know if this would translate to living together. The only thing he's aggressive or aggressively possessive of is bones, so I don't let him have those. Otherwise he's a relatively soft sod. How does introducing a second dog normally work out? What experiences do people have?

Yeah this is what I was thinking, surely if it's an issue raw wouldn't be the optimum diet? I'd like to try raw some time, or maybe supplement with raw, but my family still have hang ups about giving dogs raw meat. 🙄