Walking At Night

[Guest FlirtyMyrtle]

I try to avoid walking my 2 in the dark as Myrtle gets herself into a real frenzy in the belief that every shadow and every leaf is a small furry wanting to be chased! Dan is ok, if a bit more nervous, at night but Myrtle is a nightmare! I'm not sure if it is her prey drive (high!) going into overdrive, or whether her night vision is a bit poor. Does anyone else have trouble like this with walking a sighthound in the dark (well, with streetlights)?

[Guest VaGreymom]

Battlegrounds surround our neighborhood and we have soooo many deer, they are everywhere. 2 of my girls just go crazy when they see them so I try and avoid walking at dusk or at night. The deer come right up to my front gate, they are that comfortable with their surrounds around here. Greyhounds have such great site that maybe they do see something that you don't. Also leaves that the wind blow grab my girls attention as well. We have no street lights here and when it gets dark its dark.

[cleptogrey]

the more you do it, the more accoustomed they will be to the shadows and nite life. some dogs take everything in stride, my late gal emily was always ready to get it, but was cool, calm and collected. my pup was the exact opposite. i worked on getting him to ignore things around him and focus on me and where i was going. during the summer, when it's too hot to walk during the day i am out w/ the critters at night. yes, one has to be alert....those skunks are out! but i conditioned him to focus on me and his walkies not his prey drive.it a matter of conditioning and consistancy getting them to look for you for leads rather than their instinct.

[Guest PiagetsMom]

Mirage is very much alert and "on guard" when we walk at night - I really think it's just the different look to things that he's wary of. It's something we do very infrequently, so I don't know if doing it more regularly would make it more comfortable for him or not. Common sense would tell you yes, but I have a feeling it just depends on the pup.

[jetcitywoman]

I'm not sure if this will help the dog, but I love it. Search amazon.com for "puplight". It's an LED light that hangs on a loose collar around a dog's neck. If you want, you can just hang it on your dog's regular collar. The LED lights are BRIGHT and it runs on batteries. I forget if it's three or four batteries, and I forget if they're AA or AAA size, but in either case, they're small and they are supposed to last a long time. It hangs under the dogs chin or in front of his chest (depending on how loose the collar is, and you can tilt the light if you want) and shines ahead like a headlight. I found that even if it doesn't help Capri much, it helps me to see the ground ahead and not trip over things.

 

One caution, if you have problems with vertigo, the way the light can swing as the dog walks might bother you. It doesn't bother me, but DH commented on it. You might be able to adjust that by tightening the collar, though.

[Guest gecko_foot]

I try to avoid walking my 2 in the dark as Myrtle gets herself into a real frenzy in the belief that every shadow and every leaf is a small furry wanting to be chased! Dan is ok, if a bit more nervous, at night but Myrtle is a nightmare! I'm not sure if it is her prey drive (high!) going into overdrive, or whether her night vision is a bit poor. Does anyone else have trouble like this with walking a sighthound in the dark (well, with streetlights)?

 

Tumnus is a low prey drive grey, but he is still much more reactive at night. During the day, he ignores (or is easily distracted from) any small furries we encounter, but he tends to fixate more at night. I don't think his night vision is poor - he often sees things before I do - but that he's just more alert. I just roll my eyes and tell him to come on.

[Guest FlirtyMyrtle]

Thanks for the ideas. She's controllable when she's on her own if Dan's there too they wind eachother into a total frenzy! Dan thinks it's something that's going to kill him which winds Myrtle up even more!