RebenaJones

Thank you so much for that thoughtful and detailed response! We are using the bits of hot dog for my daughter, but that's been just a couple of times a day as well - and as said Slick is quite agreeable to that. Will give her a pouch to have on her all the time, and will check out the book you suggested as well (Slick is fine walking and not dog reactive at all, he just doesn't like being sniffed - which we were told about when we got him). Thanks again!

Hi all! Advice/help please! We adopted Slick last August. He's a very friendly greyhound, that has mostly settled in quite well after an adjustment period where he did show some aggression/growling when we approached him laying, but that seems to have gone now. My eldest daughter moved away to university in September shortly after we got him and has come home many times throughout the year for a weekend visit. One of the first times we picked her up in the car and Slick was in the backseat with her and growled at her. Scared her, but he had his muzzle on so no harm done. Then I was away for an afternoon so had asked her to feed him when she moved back in April. He growled and snapped at her and terrified her. A few sleep startles as well as her schedule is late, but he sleeps in a crate so if he growls when she comes home late it's not dangerous. She's now been home for months and his hackles go up and tail between legs and he fixates on her when she's around, especially in the kitchen, but pretty much anywhere. Our adoption person suggested tethering and her doing all the feeding, but this is not really an option since she's not home all the time and she's also terrified of him. I've tried having her feed him while I hold him on the leash with muzzle on, he still growls (Firm NO and a tug was suggested ). Then we tried having her toss high value treats to him (bits of hot dog) when she sees him, which he's quite agreeable to, but she's still scared and it can't be in the kitchen. It was suggested that he's resource guarding ME, but I'm not sure this is the case. I realize that her intermittent schedule is making it more difficult, but I need some help. She's moving out again in a month and I don't want to her to be scared every time she comes home for a weekend. It's also very out of character for Slick as he is very friendly with all other people, my youngest regularly feeds and walks him as does my partner. He does growl and snap at other dogs when they sniff him, but we just avoid that so isn't an issue often.... Any suggestions/advice/help much appreciated.

Hi. Well this is timely for me as we adopted a 4.5 year old greyhound last August, so 5.5 months ago and recently he's been growling at my 13 year old daughter. I reached out to the adoption group and they said he was trying to assert his place in the pack and to put his muzzle on him for a bit in the house and when he was lying on the bed in the middle of the living room (a big cushion - he has a separate crate which is HIS safe space and no one goes in it or pets him when he's in there). They said to "UP" him a few times off the living room cushion bed when daughter comes in, and let her go and sit on his bed, so he would learn that he's not the alpha - with the muzzle on. He's never bit or nipped, but the growling has been more and more frequent and is obviously startling for all of us. We're on day 2 of this, so far so good. I'm also going to have my daughter do our training with him, she already feeds him and walks him, but am going to be more diligent in making sure that she does it as the BOSS and not just as his best friend.... I'll follow this thread and update as needed. Thanks for sharing -

Hi! I'm a fairly new greyhound owner as well (just over a month now), and it was recommended that we have a crate. I don't have a large house, but I also had a long space under my stairs, so I converted it to be a crate/bed. Slick seems to love it, it's a nice private place for him. I made a gate to go on the front which I leave open all day and he often goes in on his own and stores his favourite stuffs in there too. Then at night that's where he sleeps. I got this bed from amazon for him (https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07ZGZCVQX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), lined any sharp corners with carpeting, panelled the walls (the bed isn't quite as long as the space so I've doubled up a sleeping bag and blanket to fill the gap as still looking for a bed that will fill the gap)... it's a pretty great space actually. Then I bought another one of those beds for the living room which he seems happy about... Good luck!

@greysmom thank you for all your suggestions and advice... I'm still unsure what to do and how to interpret his looks and behaviour. He keeps his tail tucked tight in when my daughter is around now, has spent a lot of time in his crate today (his choice, I just leave the door open when we're home), but otherwise seems ok. I will heed your advice about his space and play rules, and give him a chance here and try to be the confident 'leader' that I have read so much about them needing. Fingers crossed, will update if anything changes. Thanks again.

Hi. Ok well I'm new to this forum, but have read many posts and am hopeful that all of you experienced greyhound owners can help us! We have adopted a 4.5 year old retired racer (myself and my two daughters and boyfriend). Slick has been with us for 3 weeks now: started off all great and we have dog beds and stuffed animals all over. He's not allowed on any furniture and we are still walking him with a muzzle and feeding him in his crate, as per instructions of the adoption team we got him from, even though they felt he would settle in easily that's just what they recommend. He is pretty good on walks, just alerts and kind of goes nuts over squirrels, and small animals. So we just keep him on the other side of the street and away from dogs (he snaps when they sniff him, we were warned about this). So that was all manageable but sort of stressful but we could deal with it. Then he started getting a little more comfortable and when sitting on our front porch with us he started growling if his bum landed on my foot or his tail touched my leg or whatever, so I just started moving my feet. I've been scared of large dogs my whole life but this guy was so gentle and nice that it hasn't been an issue for any of us. Then last weekend my daughters boyfriend was running around the yard with him and Slick jumped up and caught his face with his mouth (I won't say BIT because I know if he'd wanted to BITE he could have, but he DID break the skin, so that's terrifying). Yesterday he growled and snapped at my 12 year old daughter when she reached to pet him. Slick immediately knew he'd done something wrong and got up and went to his crate (we both screamed, it was pretty scary). The problem is that we don't trust him, and I'm sure he senses this. He's laying looking at me and I don't know what it means! I'm honestly in my head considering taking him back, even though we have been committed to having this dog and I don't want to, but.... And I know it's US and not him, but I'm not a dog expert and am not sure I'm prepared to live in a house with a large animal that we have to tiptoe around for fear of growling or snapping - and I worry obviously that this can easily escalate to one of us actually getting bit. I emailed the adoption lady and she said it was cause for concern as he'd never shown any negative behaviour towards humans before. Help.....? Thank you in advance!!!