Food And Toy Agression

[Guest katieandpadfoot]

After posting my own food aggression question, and reading all the other post....why do some greyhounds have the aggression towards food or toys, or is just a dog thing.

[Guest Bean_Scotch]

Greyhounds have never been asked to share anything for oh 3 years of their life or so. In their crates at the track they are all seeing all knowing. No one's taking things away from them. They aren't having to share with another human or hound...now suddently they are expected to share all things? Yeah. they need to be taught. My hounds have no problems with it anymore, but they sure did when I got them!

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

I saw a bit of this "a dogs crate is her castle" when we were visiting relatives at Christmas, with Bang. She got along fine with my SILs dog, UNTIL she tried to enter Bang's crate; THAT elicited a snarlfest! My SIL, in the middle, simple held them apart and my VOG did the rest. No harm to anyone. Interloper left and Bang entered her domain in triumph.

 

Oddly, it then occurred to me to get in the cage WITH Bang to see what she would do....

 

She licked my face in a very frightening fashion!

 

~D~

Edited July 21, 2010 by Bang_o_rama

[Guest sheila]

I vote it is just a dog thing.

[Guest jaws4evr]

Having never been asked to share, any dog is likely to resource guard. The track lifestyle just makes GH more likely to having trouble adjusting to potentially sharing things.

 

Ours growled at us twice over bones, but following strict corrections, and studious trading-game practice, she hasn't made a peep of protest since over food or bones. We're also careful that no other pet tries to steal another pets food during meal time, which I think has helped her trust over these things

[Guest Jubilee251]

Just a dog thing, not limited to greys, and not all greys have it. Molly and Jet have absolutely ZERO space, food, or toy aggression with each other. After each one finishes dinner in their own bowl, they will switch and each go to the other's bowl and ascertain that it's licked clean.

[Guest TBSFlame]

I think it is a dog thing not a grey thing. My five greys share their space, plates, toys with no trouble.

[inugrey]

This article gets posted with some regularity and this seems like yet another appropriate topic for this. I just did a search for Gilley and pulled this from a post by Gazehund from June.

 

Your girls new life from HER point of view. By Kathleen Gilley

 

Of all breeds of dogs, the ex-racing Greyhound has never had to be responsible for anything in his life. His whole existence has been a dog-centered one. This breed has never been asked to do anything for itself, make any decisions or answer any questions. It has been waited on, paw and tail. The only prohibition in a racing

Greyhound's life is not to get into a fight----------------or eat certain stuff in the turn out pen.

 

Let us review a little. From weaning until you go away for schooling, at probably a year and a half, you eat, grow and run around with your siblings. When you go away to begin your racing career, you get your own "apartment," in a large housing development. No one is allowed in your bed but you, and when you are in there, no one can touch you, without plenty of warning.

 

Someone hears a vehicle drive up, or the kennel door being unlocked. The light switches are flipped on. The loud mouths in residence, and there always are some, begin to bark or howl. You are wide awake by the time the human opens your door to turn you out. A Greyhound has never been touched while he was asleep.

 

You eat when you are fed, usually on a strict schedule. No one asks if you are hungry or what you want to eat. You are never told not to eat any food within your reach. No one ever touches your bowl while you are eating. You are not to be disturbed because it is important you clean your plate.

 

You are not asked if you have to "go outside." You are placed in a turn out pen and it isn't long before you get the idea of what you are supposed to do while you are out there. Unless you really get out of hand, you may chase, rough house and put your feet on everyone and every thing else. The only humans you know are the "waiters" who feed you, and the "restroom attendants" who turn you out to go to the bathroom. Respect people? Surely you jest.

 

No one comes into or goes out of your kennel without your knowledge. You are all seeing; all knowing. There are no surprises, day in and day out. The only thing it is ever hoped you will do is win, place or show, and that you don't have much control over. It is in your blood, it is in your heart, it is in your fate-- or it is not.

 

And when it is not, then suddenly you are expected to be a civilized person in a fur coat. But people don't realize you may not even speak English. Some of you don't even know your names, because you didn't need to. You were not asked or told to do anything as an individual; you were always part of the "condo association?; the sorority or fraternity and everyone did everything together, as a group or pack. The only time you did anything as an individual is when you schooled or raced, and even then, You Were Not Alone.

 

In my "mobile abode," the Greyhounds each have several unique names, but they also have a single common name: it is Everybody. We continue to do things as a group, pack or as we are affectionately known in-house, by Kathleen's Husbandit, "The Thundering Herd."

 

Back to those who have not been permanently homed. Suddenly, he is expected to behave himself in places he's never been taught how to act. He is expected to take responsibility for saying when he needs to go outside, to come when he is called, not to get on some or all of the furniture, and to not eat food off counters and tables. He is dropped in a world that is not his, and totally without warning, at that.

 

Almost everything he does is wrong. Suddenly he is a minority. Now he is just a pet. He is unemployed, in a place where people expect him to know the rules and the schedule, even when there aren't any. (How many times have you heard someone say, "He won't tell me when he has to go out." What kind of schedule is that?) Have you heard the joke about the dog who says, "My name is No-No Bad Dog. What's yours?" To me that is not even funny. All the protective barriers are gone. There is no more warning before something happens. There is no more strength in numbers. He wakes up with a monster human face two inches from his. (With some people's breath, this could scare Godzilla.) Why should he not, believe that this "someone," who has crept up on him, isn't going to eat him for lunch? (I really do have to ask you ladies to consider how you would react if someone you barely knew crawled up on you while you were asleep?) No, I will not ask for any male input.

 

Now he is left alone, for the first time in his life, in a strange place, with no idea of what will happen or how long it will be before someone comes to him again. If he is not crated, he may go though walls, windows or over fences, desperately seeking something familiar, something with which to reconnect his life. If he does get free, he will find the familiarity, within himself: the adrenaline high, the wind in his ears, the blood pulsing and racing though his heart once again--until he crashes into a car.

 

Often, the first contact with his new family is punishment, something he's never had before, something he doesn't understand now, especially in the middle of the rest of the chaos. And worst of all, what are the most common human reactions to misbehavior? We live in a violent society, where the answer to any irritation is a slap, punch, kick, whip, or rub your nose in it. Under these circumstances, sometimes I think any successful adoption is a miracle.

 

He is, in effect, expected to have all the manners of at least a six-year old child. But, how many of you would leave an unfamiliar six-year old human alone and loose in your home for hours at a time and not expect to find who knows what when you got back? Consider that if you did, you could be brought up on charges of child abuse, neglect and endangerment. Yet, people do this to Greyhounds and this is often the reason for so many returns.

 

How many dogs have been returned because they did not know how to tell the adoptor when they had to go out? How many for jumping on people, getting on furniture, counter surfing, separation anxiety, or defensive actions due to being startled or hurt (aka growling or biting)? So, let's understand: Sometimes it is the dog's "fault" he cannot fit in. He is not equipped with the social skills of a six-year old human. But with your love and help, you can make it happen.

[Guest kydie]

IMHO,, dogs, not just greys, must be taught to share, just like children, when they are not taught this, it is not natural to do so,,, and somethings, like a bed,, may never be shared,,, so let's see,,, am I going to share a beer with my neighbor ,,, sure,,, my new car with my neighbor,,, NOPE, logic sometimes, must prevail

[Guest GreyRabbit]

Though this is unrelated (not to pirateer your post), that article was AMAZING

I hadn't ever considered it from the dogs pov. Sure I've read the Brannagan books, but that puts things into a whole new perspective! Each potential adopter should read that!

 

And my grey is pretty food obsessed but doesn't give a hoot about toys, while my lab mix is toy obsesed and doesn't give a hoot about food-so we luckily have the perfect mix in my house and we humans are always very vigilant about maintaining boundaries so they don't have to take things into their own hands...err paws...

[sobesmom]

It's a DOG thing - not a greyhound thing IMHO. We only notice it and associate it with greys because MOST pet dogs - have lived with their family since they were 6-8 weeks old - so they learn to act the way the family expects them to. DOGS - left on their own WILL resource and food guard - survival of the fittest!

 

Some greys - not all - show guarding more - because they weren't raised in a house - and - they never had to worry about their food - it was delivered to their crate where nobody else could touch it - until they got into a house. Now - the DOG INSTINCT kicks in - and HOLY CRAP - SOMEBODY COULD TAKE MY FOOD!!!

 

It's a DOG instinct. A toy poodle would do the same thing under the same circumstances.

 

Luckily - it CAN be easily dealt with.