Does Your Greyhound Play?

[Guest kimmel729]

How long did it take for your GH to learn how to play? Brooklyn has a few toys but she doesn't seem to be interested in them. When I first brought them home she promptly tore out the squeakers & mutilated it for a little while...But then she loses interest. Is this something they learn to develop or are some dogs just not into playing?

[Guest caelanarcher]

I got Aaron in September, so he's been home for a little over 9 months (already?!). He's just now figuring out the "play" thing. Before, he'd sometimes do his zoomies, and once or twice picked up one of his squeaky toys. He didn't know how to squeak them, though. Now, he's reached a point where I can tell that he's riled up, and if I grab his squeaky octopus, he'll play tug with me, or toss it around, or just go into a play bow and squeak it for all it's worth. Or I can bounce a tennis ball and he'll bound and jump after it (but he never picks it up). Even now, he'll only play for maybe 2 minutes at a time, and then he's done.

 

 

So yes, it could take quite some time for your hound to figure out the whole "playing with toys" thing.

Edited July 1, 2010 by caelanarcher

[mychip1]

Our older boy, EZ never has played. He's a pretty serious fellow who would rather have a great ear rub. My Jack, who just passed, loved to run around and steal my shoes and move all of his toys around the house - as well as move all of his beds - he rearranged his furniture routinely. We just got our two new little ones....The baby does not play, but JJ is amazed by squeaking ducks....and he has figured out how to find the squeaker and squeak away.....even at 3:30 in the morning!!!

[Guest KennelMom]

some do, some don't.

[Guest MyCody]

Our big boy, Cody who passed at 13 never played with stuffies but would tuck one under his chin when laying down.

 

Leah is a maniac with squeking them and poor JJ watches her like a hawk and can't figure out how to do it!!! She is the one that empties out the stuffie chest, brings them to Leah and the one thing she does with them and anything else she gets ahold of is tear them apart. I'm on my third pair of slippers since she came home in January, I know, my fault, I just never keep them on, then find them on her bed. She and Leah play with each other so hard at times that we have to stop them. Leah is nine and JJ is three but Leah has become the one who starts the jumping, and gentle, so far, mouthing. I think she's making up for lost time from when she came here at four and Cody would not play at all with her.

Edited July 1, 2010 by MyCody

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Most of mine came right off the track and within seconds of entering my home were attacking stuffies. Sophia took a few days, and Zephyr isn't one for tail wagging and playing. He's just a lover.

[Guest Jubilee251]

Molly doesn't really play in the house, even though she has a billion toys at her disposal. She'll chew on a few of them sometimes, or if she's really excited. But generally, in the house, she's calm.

 

Outside...if you let her loose at the dogpark...WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY. She loves to chase and run with other dogs. Playing with stuffies by herself, not so much. She's a social butterfly.

[AstasMinion]

Asta plays a little bit. She'll grab one of her stuffies when she's excited or frustrated (say, when someone she likes visits or she's not getting what she wants fast enough).

[Guest Samantha]

Maddison has a mad 2 minutes everyday, where she emptys the stuffie box, but other than that she would rather be lying next to you

She does love to play with other greys and have seen her "wrestle" and mouth and go crazy with others

 

It may take time thats all.

[Guest 4dogscrazy]

That IS how mine play, attack the stuffie, remove sqeaker and stuffing, done.

[Pepsi2004]

My Angel Grey, Foley, never did learn to play.

[Guest Sweetreba]

I actually had to teach mine how to play. I would get a stuffie and gently wiggle it in her face and if she grabbed it I would pull and act excited. It took her about a month or more before she really caught on and almost two years later she is wiggling them in my face constantly. Petey took about 6 months to play with me tugging then Reba would join in and it was the two of them against me which he seemed to like. Eventually after playing that way for about 3 months he finally started tugging stuffies with Reba. Now they are playing tug of war a lot together. It will be two years I've had Reba and in Nov. two years I've had Petey. So it did take time and with my help.

[GeorgeofNE]

I've had George for a couple of years, and aside from the occasional 30 seconds of flipping a stuffy around, George has NO interest in playing. I don't let it bother me. He has the toys if he wants 'em!

[Guest gecko_foot]

I've had Tumnus since January, and he has never played for more than two seconds. He'll pick the toy up, squeak it once, and then drop it.

[Guest UtahCoyote]

My 4 year old grey girl took a while to figure out how to play. When she gets excited or wants to show off, she will bite one of her squeaky stuffed toys or bite a little pillow that I put in her crate, and walk around with her toys. She bites them and gets the squeaker going, then her playing if over just as fast as it starts. She's played with a tennis ball a couple of times in the yard, but playing is definitely something that she's learning to do, not something natural for her. It is such a joy to watch her when she's playful!

[Guest hshirlow]

Sunshine has been in our home for almost 8 months. She is just really learning to play. She brings me her toys and when I toss them, she looks at me like, "why would you throw what I just gave you?" She plays by herself more than she plays with us. And, she's just learning how to catch! It's too cute.

[Guest NeroAmber]

Nero is one for the short bursts of play, it's growing slowly, from a mad 30 second toy-attack to now about three minutes of ball-chasing and chewing. It was the squeaker toys that finally got his full attention! . Amber the lurcher is a toyaholic, though she was used for coursing, so I'm not too surprised.

[Hubcitypam]

I've never honestly had one that was a big stuffie player.

 

Harley would fetch until the cows came home but he was the only one that ever did. Little Girl would spend all day moving stuffes from bed to couch to dog bed but never played with any of them. Rex would never play at all.

 

Current foster will play for about 3 minutes a week with his stuffies but goes crazy to play keep away in the yard. I used to love to play ball with Rex. I'd toss the ball and he'd run to the end of the yard and lie down beside it. That was it.

[Guest Longdog]

My Cush never played with toys but used to wrestle with us as long as it ended with a good neck rub and a treat. The new pups Willie and Whizzy are manic with their toys and take themselves off to the garden for the odd five minute aerobic session tossing their toys up in the air and chasing them around.

[Guest kydie]

My boy is not a player He will pick one up toss it in the air catch it, drop it and walk away, even though the GSP tries so hard to get him to play with him and a stuffie, the GSP willl walk over to the grey's bed, as he is all stretched out on it, and bump him with the stuffie, the grey looks up from his bed, as if to say, "Get out'a here"

[tra708]

jackie will play and squeak a stuffie, and play tug with you, but only when she's in the mood. if not, here's what happens:

[Guest Spencers_Greyt]

Well Spencer never played even when he was young! He was an old man at the age of 3. He's now 9 and still doesn't play except he always has to have his favorite stuffie nearby I adopted Buzz at the age of 7 and he had been previously owned. He would love to play but neither Emmy or Spencer will play with him and he won't play with me. He doesn't particulary care for toys unless they squeak and then he promptly kills them

[Guest kimmel729]

jackie will play and squeak a stuffie, and play tug with you, but only when she's in the mood. if not, here's what happens:

 

This looks familiar except I get the stink eye when I start with the squeaky toys. Then she gathers them all up and sits on them so I can't get to them!

[LBass]

Piper, my first greyhound, didn't play much until he'd been with me for over a year. Even now, he is not a dedicated player. He destroys stuffies in minutes and loves to chew on toys. MoMo, who was played with her entire life, came to me loving to play! Her favorites are Cuz squeaker toys and chew bones. Spirit is not much of a player even after a bit over a year here, but every now and then he'll play bow and grab a toy for a few minutes. Of course, I love seeing him begin to enjoy playing.

 

--Lucy

[moofie]

Both my boy's love to play with toys and have done so since their first days home. They tend to spend a few minutes killing stuffies before going back to snoozing a few times a day.

Edited July 2, 2010 by moofie