Hello everyone,
My girlfriend and I adopted a 2yo retired racing grey just over 3 months ago (our first dog together and our first greyhound). She is a very lovable girl and is incredibly sweet. We love her dearly and she has brought so much joy to our lives over these past few months.
However, she has a bit of a biting problem and has bitten humans on two occasions. The first instance occurred after we had had her for only a few weeks. My girlfriend and a friend were sitting on our couch (which we had stupidly allowed our grey to go on) and our grey bit the friend, drawing blood and leaving bruises. My girlfriend and I chalked this up to space aggression and her still being very new to life as a retired racer. Since that first incident, we have never let her up onto any of the furniture.
The second instance occurred yesterday (Thanksgiving). My girlfriend‘s aunt (a very dog-savvy person) called our grey over to her, and the dog came. The aunt then knelt over the dog and proceeded to pet her when BAM — without warning, she got bit which, like the first instance, drew blood and left bruises. To make matters worse, later that night when we had muzzled our grey, the aunt (presumably looking to put the whole situation past her) went over to pet the dog (who was standing next to my girlfriend and I). Our grey then reared up onto her hind legs and appeared to nip at the aunt’s face. I’m still not entirely sure that she actually intended any harm, but in light of the biting incident which occurred several hours prior, my best guess is that she was in fact trying to nip.
My girlfriend and I are at a crossroads. Option A is to get in touch with a behaviorist and try to work things out with our grey. However, we would likely never be able to take the dog to family functions again, since everyone who was at yesterday’s Thanksgiving dinner are aware of the biting incident and are now afraid of our grey. This is not an insignificant consideration, since we visit our families monthly.
Option B is to return her, before she accrues an even worse bite record, to the adoption organization, which would try to rehome her. I think our grey’s prospects for rehoming are good — she is a very beautiful dog, with a (generally) great temperament, and she is still quite young. We feel that there very well could be a better home out there for her, with an owner who has the knowledge and experience to work through her biting issues.
Regardless of which option we choose to pursue, my girlfriend and I are distraught. We love this dog and our little “fur family.” Neither of us could sleep last night and we are both very, very sad. While we do not want to return her to the adoption organization, we know that it may be the best choice for both of us and for our grey.
Any advice is greatly appreciated — thank you.
