Does Your Grey Play?

[Guest 3greysinPA]

All 3 of my hounds only play sometimes...... i mean.. at least once a day they play with stuffies or tennis balls and of course several times a day run around the yard....they also enjoying sleeping and roaching quite frequently.

[Guest fraserl]

I haven't read the whole thread sorry but thought I would get into the spirit of replying to posts (as a newbie) as well as waiting for responses to my own.

 

We have had our greyhound-cross, Twiggy, for just over a week. At first, we offered her a few toys - balls, squeakies, a bone and she wasn't interested in them at all and seemed scared by the squeaks. Now she loves to chase a football around the garden, play-growling at it and also entertains herself with a squeaky ball. It's hilarious to watch her. She'll play with us for a bit and then take it away to chew; she'll then stop and seem to wait for it to move which obviously it doesn't so she nudges it with a paw or her nose and then pounces on it like a cat! We just left the toys around and she soon got interested. Do you leave the toys out for your dog to investigate in her own time?

[Guest scfilby]

Our 8 year old greygirl plays a lot. In fact, its one of her cues to go outside, and the way she responds if she agrees to a question. Unfortunately, she treats the beagle as a stuffy, so.. "Wanna go outside?" .. rough up the beagle.. "Wanna go for a walk?" .. kill a stuffy, rough up the beagle.. "Wanna go for a car ride?".. go and hide in the crate, or on the bed.. she hates car rides.

 

Super Foster boy will play in brief spurts but will stop as soon as the others come to investigate..

 

The girl was a hoarder when she first came to us. She also had a favorite screaming monkey.. so she was always a player here. The boy has not shown great interest in playing yet..

 

 

[Guest FordRacingRon]

I haven't read the whole thread sorry but thought I would get into the spirit of replying to posts (as a newbie) as well as waiting for responses to my own.

 

We have had our greyhound-cross, Twiggy, for just over a week. At first, we offered her a few toys - balls, squeakies, a bone and she wasn't interested in them at all and seemed scared by the squeaks. Now she loves to chase a football around the garden, play-growling at it and also entertains herself with a squeaky ball. It's hilarious to watch her. She'll play with us for a bit and then take it away to chew; she'll then stop and seem to wait for it to move which obviously it doesn't so she nudges it with a paw or her nose and then pounces on it like a cat! We just left the toys around and she soon got interested. Do you leave the toys out for your dog to investigate in her own time?

 

I've never seen this thread so I answered no. Leia has live here almost 4 yars. The first couple of years stuffies were fun,,now they just lie around the house. I should put them away becasue she never plays with them,,never plays much at all actually,,but I wanted to leave them out in case she ever gets back to it.

 

This is Leias play. We alka arund a park in the AM. Its about 3/4 of a mile around the park. The first lap is for sniffing and doing business. The second lap is the play lap,,if it happens. To initiant this she stops me in the walk and give me the look and maybe a play bow. Then she wants me to run so she can run next to me and grab my arm in her mouth (no pressure though). Then she'll stop, playbow, growl as she wants me to grab her rear. As I grab for her rear she starts turning 360s and bark/growling. So we jog a bit palying "whos got the big butt",,,grabbing, growling, turning 360s. We do this for 1/2 a lap. Then we finish the walk with another 1 1/2 lpas which are strictly for walking.

[Guest Flysmom]

'The Chaos Brothers' love to play.

Cisco loves to catch balls and to bring them back or running with a stuffie in the yard or the house. Poncho is throwing his stuffies in the air, catches them and then runs and repeats the throwing.

[HJsM]

All three of mine play. Of course, they sleep a lot, too. The toys are scattered around the house when I come home so I know they've been into them during the day....and they toss things around when I'm here.

 

The poll I would have to start would be " do your hounds play with the same 5 favorite things over and over again and ignore the other 345,324,873 toys in their TWO toy boxes and why the hell do you have so many toys for them anyway in that case?"

 

(sillys...and I can even BURY the 5 favorites underneath everything else and GUARANTEED they will be pulled out when I return home)

[Guest Morgaynn]

I voted occasionally. Nike is a stuffy Cuddler. However, when she's really uber excited (generally when we have guests over) She'll run and find Alisha Moocow or The Hog (Hedgehog) and chomp away in a play bow for about five minutes. Every now and again I can get her chasing them through the house, but she hasn't done that since Tyler went home... ::shrugs:: I think some greys are more playful than others. For the most part Nike is a reserved quiet girl. I guess that's why I'm hellbent on convincing DH that we need a goofy hound to balance the pack!

[Guest hlpnhounds]

Mine LOVE to play ! Logan and Posh will both chase each other around the yard and throw stuffies up into the air and pounce on them ! They both love to play chase around the house and in the yard. Posh even does "puppy spins" in the yard !

My last foster loved stuffies so much, she would carry them around while muzzled and still toss them in the air and play !

[stlgrey]

Ali plays and my whippet Chase loves toys and running around. Sierra however, doesn't play with toys, but she is playful by digging holes in the yard.

[rschultz]

took ours 6 months and yes dh and i played catch with each other and also what helped is lexie watched the neighbor dog play ball.

[Guest Ashley]

Tessie never lets anyone see her play. I know she does sometimes because I have caught her but she will stop as soon as she knows you are looking.

 

Sadie is the same way I used to encourage her whenever I saw her grab her ducky, but then she would stop!

[rebeccamcl]

Davis took a long time to learn to play. When I was first able to take him to off-leash dog parks, I took him to a real small one. The first couple of weeks he paced and watched the other dogs play. After about a week and a half, he raced for the ball and got there first. He sniffed it and looked up in disbelief, like 'You're chasing that!?! It's not even alive!' Then he started romping with other dogs some,. When I took him to the larger parks, he spent most of his time sniffing, but some of it running and some of it playing with the other dogs we got to know there. I got him a few toys; mostly stuffies that squeaked. But he didn't like it when I shook them at him or squeaked them at him, and if I threw them at him he got up and moved away. When we moved to virginia Beach, he made friends with a golden retriever. After several days of rain, the golden's mom called me up and asked if Davis could come over and play - her dog was driving her nuts because it was too wet & muddy to go to the dog park. When we over there, he saw the golden playing with toys. He just watched for the longest time. When he realized that the golden liked one toy in particular, he stole it from him! He Tossed it in the air a couple of times and wouldn't let his friend have it, then suddenly tossed it back to him and went and found other toys. He doesn't play with toys a lot, but does a little bit every day. He just needed a dog to show him what to do!

[Guest theKP]

Our boy doesn't do a whole lot of playing on his own. He shakes his stuffies a little, and will make a lap around the living room with one in his mouth, but he totally ignores balls and ropes. We had the same experience with kongs that you did: way too much work since he's not very food motivated. He's more of a cuddler. What we have found that gets him going: an RC car. It was kind of an expensive investment, but it's his favorite thing in the world now. He can even occasionally flip it over with his nose when it ends up upside down! He has to wear his muzzle to prevent him from picking it up (it's way too big for him to swallow as a whole, but we don't want him chewing on it and breaking off a part that he could swallow). He has a really good time chasing after it.

[Guest jtavants]

Hi, new owner here. Had I answered this poll after the first week of bringing in Tucson, I would have voted "never", but now I can happily vote "sometimes"!

 

Beyond running around with me in the backyard and the occasional shake of a stuffed animal, Tucson really never "played" for the first two weeks that I had him. Despite having everything at his disposal - stuffies, chew toys, rawhide, tennis balls, a Kong, etc. - and my attempts to show him how to play he really just never showed an interest. Then one day after I had let him out into the backyard on his own to take care of business (I usually walk out with him) he stumbled across one of the tennis balls he had previously disregarded. Perhaps because he thought no one was watching or because he was trying to imitate my past how-to fetch demonstrations (which involved me throwing the ball back and forth across the yard and chasing after it myself while Tucson stood on the sideline looking confused), he picked up the ball and started tossing it around the yard, chasing after and pouncing on it. My girlfriend and I excitedly (but discreetly) watched for a long time until eventually he grew tired of it and decided to come inside. Ever since, Tucson loves his tennis ball and looks forward to our daily game of fetch. He is also learning to play "tug of war" and shows a ton of playful interest in all things fuzzy (for better or worse).

 

I find it so interesting how a new greyhound's personality will evolve. They can be so guarded at first. Even now after nearly a month, Tucson's personality has yet to fully reveal itself. Nevertheless I am enjoying every bit of the process!

[Guest Althea]

Silas loved his stuffies from day one, but never wanted to play with humans or other dogs. Even playing with his stuffies was something best done in private, and he would lose interest if anyone was watching too closely. He has a very practiced dignified look where he intentionally does not make eye-contact when you are doing something he finds distasteful. Since bringing Viola home a year ago (yay!) when she was 16-months old (crazy!), Silas' personality has completely opened up. He now plays as much as, if not more than Viola. More often than not, Silas is the instigator, and Viola has to run to catch up. Now he doesn't care at all if you watch him while he demolishes the stuffies.

 

I know you mentioned a lot of different types of toys... some of them are fuzzy, right? Neither Viola or Silas will play with something that isn't furry or stuffed with soft filling. Squeakers are bonuses.

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

Our sweetie girl likes to retrieve stuffies that mysteriously migrate to the far ends of the condo, and tug-the-stuffie is a great fave. We also found out, when we had a visitor who brought a small child, that Bang thinks that ALL stuffed toys are belong to Bang.

~D~

[3DogNite]

I have tried everything to get Shelby to play with toys but she isn't the least bit interested.

I have spent a ton of money on Chew, squeaky, Grunty, rubber, canvas, rope and balls of all sizes and she just looks at them and walks away. I don't get it.

are there other grey out there with the same problem?

How can I get her interested in playing? Any suggestions?

 

 

I've had 5 greyhounds over the last 12 years. My newest boy is the ONLY one who want's to play! I had one who I could tempt into playing, but really he was just being kind to crazy mom! It's really fun to watch them play,, but I love to watch them "play' in their sleep too..

the ones who have never plaed,, RUN LIKE CRAZY in their dreams!!!

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

One is OBSESSED with toys, walks, play. Two like to play with other dogs but not toys, and one hardly plays ever, but will romp with the others time to time.

[Guest FatCatSkinnyDog]

We've had Rajah for four and a half years and he JUST started really playing. I will be in the kitchn and hear thumps, turn around and see him tossing his stuffies in the air and pouncing on them. He would always pick up a stuffy and take it to his bed, but wouldn't really play with them. Now he will chase toys that we throw and even (sometimes) bring them back. patience is most certainly a virtue with these guy

[Guest the36thchamber]

My two will happily play but what they really prefer doing is sleeping

[Guest sneakers]

Different dogs have different personalities. My first grey has absolutely ZERO interest in any type of toy. He didn't even like chewie bones! I recently adopted a second grey, and she is bonkers for her toys, especially squeaky ones. The more noise it makes, the more she likes it. Don't worry if your pooch doesn't like toys. Chances are, he/she just enjoys lazing around and living the good life.

[Burpdog]

It took Mizzy two years to start playing!

 

Huston, on the other hand, played from the beginning. Loves his stuffies. Also likes swatting me when he wants my attention

[nyGreys]

ArchE loves to play, he loves stuffies but his favorite toys are his balls.

Lass plays with stuffies & she likes to run with ArchE, Abby will join in if she's in the mood, & then the fun police show up

& they have to stop.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Different dogs have different personalities. My first grey has absolutely ZERO interest in any type of toy. He didn't even like chewie bones! I recently adopted a second grey, and she is bonkers for her toys, especially squeaky ones. The more noise it makes, the more she likes it. Don't worry if your pooch doesn't like toys. Chances are, he/she just enjoys lazing around and living the good life.

 

Hahaha that's how Rome is. I got some new ones that make ridiculous sounds. He LOVES them! Today at the mall I stopped in a toy store and bought a fuzzy rat that winds up and runs across the room. That thing looks REAL. My Whippet went nuts. He's the laziest bag of bones on earth, and he's an old geezer, but that made him go crazy. I think it reminded him of the fuzzy mice we used as bait when I was showing him. He misses going to shows.

[Guest lil_pip88]

Arthur play? Ha! It is all business with my lanky gentleman. He picks up his toys and brings them to his bed as if he were punishing them for being in another part of the room! I do hope to see him play some day. I have only had him for two and a half months...