Bee

Sorry I am so late with this response. We use raw bones only to avoid splinters. Beef rib are his favourites although lamb cutlets work well too. We just avoid marrow because while he likes licking out the marrow he doesn’t chew on them at all. If you’re in the UK, have a look at the Cotswold Raw selection. No grain in his food although he tries to scavenge a slice of bread or a piece of croissant from me at any available opportunity and as a treat within a generally raw diet it doesn’t seem to be a problem.

@LazyGrey so sorry to hear about your latest incident. 100% with you on being sick of irresponsible off lead dog owners. Especially when they then have a go when you tell their dog to stop as they’re hurling towards yours 😬

Thanks all! We have been in full on avoidance mode since!

Thanks @rsiegTo be honest I really agree with you that he had to tell them off and get them to back off. However I am obviously worried that this is reinforcing his anxiety when it comes to other dogs and will make progress on reactivity generally more difficult. I would love for him to trust I can solve the issues and he has nothing to worry about and situations like this- where I am not sure that I can- are really unhelpful! Unfortunately the other dogs’ owners were nowhere to be seen!!

Hi all, a question for those with experience of reactive greyhounds. Rook is reactive to non-grey males and we have been managing the situation pretty well - he is calm when we pass dogs that are on leash, or when the off-leash dogs don’t get too close, and typically even if they are pretty close after a few growls we can move on pretty quickly. However, on our walk last night (we are spending the summer in rural Portugal) we got “ambushed” by a pack led screaming chihuahuas, getting close and barking at him from all sides. Rook of course went mental. Barking/lunging such that it took all my strength to keep him away from them. My question is this- how much can/should we expect to control this? Of course he should look to me for protection and to get him away from the other dogs safely, but I don’t seem to be able to focus on keeping him quiet while also trying to tell the other dogs to back off! Any advice on how to accomplish these things at the same time much appreciated!

We are relative newbies on the greyhound front relative to some people here, so take this post with that in mind. I do agree greyhounds are different- to other breeds and to my expectations. But discovering the joys of what they are like, and gaining their trust over time to allow cuddles etc, is what makes the journey so rewarding 🥰

We had this exact issue for the first year or so of having Rook, and tried everything from different kibbles to olewo carrots etc. Eventually we switched to raw food, which has really helped. He now has less frequent and far more solid poops. (But this is our experience only- I’m really not qualified to comment on the raw food debate more generally.) However, before doing so, we found that giving him (raw) bone as treats also made a difference. Good luck!

Hi Enzo and Enzo’s mum! We have had very many similar issues to you with Rookie, so a few thoughts from our personal experience. Rook was initially very sensitive to having us cuddle him in particular ways- anything where he felt crowded or restricted got a quick growl. We just tried to learn what he didn’t like and avoided it, and otherwise tried not to get too hurt by the growls or make a big deal out of them. A quick “sorry for invading your space” and move on . Over time, as he got to trust us, his need for personal space has decreased massively - if anything I am the one craving it now 🤣- and the growls are now super rare. on reactivity, this one is still an issue for us and one we have learnt to manage rather than solve. My one cautionary piece of advice is not to try and force other dogs on him as a way of getting him to get comfortable with them. We probably over exposed him early on (on and off lead in dog parks) and definitely made things worse. Others’ comments on teaching “leave it” /“watch me”, and reading Feisty Fido, have really helped us. Then introducing him to non-greys slowly one on one (more robust breeds first so you feel safer that no one will get hurt, and avoiding the first meeting if on lead being face to face contact). Last but definitely not least, clothing!! AK creations for fleece and waterproof coats! Gorgeously made and super easy to put on a doggie that wants more personal space. And Houndtees for lighter tops. They deliver from Australia - not great for carbon footprint but they arrive super quickly, and are gorgeous. A bit harder to take on and off but they stretch and get easier.

Coming to this very late (so hopefully your issue is sorted) but like @MerseyGrey this was our problem with Rook from day one. We have - after a number of experiments - switched over to raw food. I am not sure I am an expert in the raw food debate but that has certainly helped Rook a lot with getting his morning poo solid. I think it is the bone bits in raw food that are the main reason for this, as when he chews bones it also helps with firming, but it could also be that it imposes a longer digestion time. In any event, however, this does not stop Rook doing soft poos on his afternoon walks, if he is walking for some time. I think he just can't help himself but try and go even when he doesn't need to. So those I have just accepted as a fact of life (while encouraging him to do it in bushes etc where if I can't pick everything up it is less embarrassing!)

Well done! 👏

🥰

@steerpikejust to say that we are working through the same issues. Watch me (basically lots of treats every time he sees a dog) has been the absolute best tool for us- luckily he is very food oriented!! When we take Rook to a Sighthound Sundays walk he is absolutely brilliant with all other greys (we just keep clear of whippets in the group)- and actually being around other greys makes him far less reactive to other passing dogs. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Thank you @racindog. The good news is that he is super gentle and friendly with people, with other greyhounds and with the few non-greyhound friends he met before the incident. And he is very treat responsive so as long as he is on a lead, we can train him to leave alone and/or move away as needed MOST OF THE TIME. It just makes me so sad that the way that he is, he can never be allowed off the lead unless it is an enclosed space with only greyhounds around, and that walking on lead is so stressful for him if we go to any parks where off-lead dogs may bound up at him (basically all the parks in London except those where dogs are not allowed!). I also suspect that the fact that he is not neutered makes the other dogs more aggressive towards him also. This is why we want to research all options, but agree with you that the answer may well be accepting the limitations and knowing that this does not stop him being loving or happy in his forever home.

Thank you so much for this reply and all replies on here. We have been practicing off (in the daytime!) but we certainly lack consistency in the middle of the night as sometimes it is just easier to let him settle in than spend half the night getting (and keeping) him off the bed. In any event we have found that making sure that we keep the downstairs room where he normally sleeps warmer means that we get far fewer nighttime visits. But just one question- we have closed our bedroom door a few nights to discourage sleeping with us. He can still open it by pushing but takes more effort- is this cruel or fair game in bed wars?

The only concern is how it would affect his behaviour. The vets are saying that castration can make his anxiety worse- so to try chemical and if it works, then make it permanent. But I also wonder if it isn’t just easier to get it done once and for all and hope for the best.

Has anyone had any experience trying chemical castration (suprelorin)? We are trying to treat Rook's aggression towards non-greyhound breeds, but understand from our vets that castration may well make things worse if (as we suspect) his reactions are fear-based. The vets have suggested trying a chemical treatment first and seeing the reaction - does anyone have any experience with this? (For info, Rook is a retired racer, 3.5 years old, and has been with us for about 10 months now. Not sure how he came to us intact but there it is, and he is such a wonderful and brave boy that we are wary of changing him unless it will help. He was initially very friendly towards other dog breeds but after a couple of negative encounters, he has now turned very reactive, and really will want to pin down any dog that he doesn't know that gets within a couple of metres from him. We are working on leave it/ watch me, and of course on trying to educate other dog owners not to let their off lead dogs near ours, but still want to protect him from doing harm if things turn sour - and I am worried that with small dogs, muzzle notwithstanding, his 32kgs can do a lot of damage.)

Super helpful, thank you! We will persevere with the training: not at midnight when we are exhausted and likely to give in ☺️ Think we have got into too much of a habit of making room for him once he is on sofas, he has trained us well!

Super king!! 🤣He does understand off (after a few minutes of pretending not to!) but it only lasts for five minutes and then he hops back on!

Hi all, we have had Rook for about nine months now and early doors instituted a rule about not getting up on our bed. He was very happy with this until, foolishly, we persuaded him to come up one morning for morning cuddles… Now he is determined to spend the night with us (I suspect it being cold at the moment is partly to blame) stretching out from the middle of the bed until both my husband and I are falling off the sides! Is there any way to teach him that the bed is only allowed for morning cuddles, or do we have to go back to a full blown ban? So cross with myself for confusing the poor boy…

We had this same issue when Rook arrived (about 6 weeks ago) and have followed the advice of others on this forum and gone for Olewo carrots added to the food. Rook isn’t a huge fan but eats them to get to the good stuff and it has definitely help to firm up his stools and reduce the (noxious) gas. The other thing I have noticed is that his stools are firmer if you leave it longer between poo breaks, and (if possible) stop the walk after the first two poos. Hope it improves! (Nb for wet food we use Forthglade, which he loves but not sure it is the answer to the stool issues.)

We have had Rook for a couple of weeks now and he has settled in beautifully. For the first couple of days we had some issues with marking indoors but after a few “no”s (and some lemongrass spray) he quickly learnt to treat the whole house as his kennel and not to mark it. But I am worried about what will happen if we take him to other people’s homes/ (dog-friendly) restaurants. Any advice on how to approach this would be much appreciated. Thanks!