Dog Park Behavior - Seems Odd To Us But...

[Guest duckbilled]

Ike doesn't get to go to the dog park often because there are not a lot of them around us. They just opened a new one this summer and we took him there last night. We were hoping there would be another greyhound there but there wasn't. His behavior on this trip was similar to the way he behaved on the last trip and when we taking him around other dogs. It is really not a problem but I was just wondering if anyone can clue me in to what he is thinking.

 

When we arrive at the park, he does the usually greeting with all the pups - sniff, sniff... After the greetings, he has little interest in the other dogs. All he wants to do is mark. He walks the entire perimeter marking every post and if another dog marks a spot, he is quick to re-mark it. After an hour of marking, he starts to shoot blanks. That still doesn't stop him.

 

We want to take him to the park so he has a little more room to run but he never takes advantage of it. He still runs in our yard regularly so we know he has it in him.

 

BTW, in two years, he has never marked in the house. Nonetheless, we don't have other pets and we don't allow people to bring their pets inside our house due to our fear that we may open a can of worms with his love for marking.

 

Any idea what he is thinking? Is he just walking in to the park and saying "Nice place, its mine now and all you others are guests in my domain?" Is it something else?

Edited August 30, 2010 by duckbilled

[arandomchic]

Molly is similar, only she's more interested in meeting all the people, then on to the marking. She's only ran once at the dog park, and that's when a 12 year old boy ran by her and called her to chase. She doesn't zoom nearly as fast as she does in the back yard.

 

We chalked it up to her just being more distracted by all the other scents that the running around part isn't as interesting.

[Guest MnMDogs]

That's how my Matty girl was. She absolutely loved the park, but preferred to hang out on the perimeter peeing and sniffing. She would occasionally break into an all out sprint. But generally alone, she seemed to prefer that to running with other dogs, unless there were other greys there

[TheFullHouse]

I'll bet if there were another greyhound there and it started running, yours would too. I think some greyhounds just love to run with other greyhounds.

[DevilDog]

Roscoe does this. He'll spend a minute of sniffing the dogs who come to greet him, and then he just trots off and spends a good deal of time marking around the parameter. The first few times I took him to the park he'd do only this, but as we go more and more, he does engage in play after his initial parameter check. So he's loosened up.

[Guest IrskasMom]

My Morty has no Interest in other Dogs ... zero. He goes around on the Perimeter and Sniffs and then he stands behind me .When I look at him , his Eyes are saying " are we going now,are we going now???" Really most at the time , I bypass the Dogpark Enclosure and just walk at the Parks beautiful paved Walkway. I could also not afford some other Dog attack my Morty . So it does not bother me, if he gets nothing out of it.

[Trihounds]

Even when we take Brucie to GH only ballpark runs, all he does is trot the perimeter and mark, oblivious to the action going on around him. He'll run in our yard, though. Go figure.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Why dont you try a fun game of recall training? What you do is get two people and some really yummy treats that your hound never gets any other time, say hot dog bits. Get two sports whistles, and all the cut up hot dog bits in each persons pockets. Stand a few feet apart and blow the whistle, when your hound looks at the sound, give a hot dog bit. Then the other person does this, repeat. Take a step back and each person repeats. Do this and keep increasing the distance. Eventually you will be able to get a hundred yards apart and have your hound RACING between the two of you. One tip, add a hand signal to the sound when you start getting more than 50 feet apart. My hounds would run to the closest human, not me. Once I added the hand signal (waving my arm in a clockwise rotation) my hounds will race past anybody between us to get to me or my wife. This is a very useful drill as it reinforces recall and your hound will RUN. Good luck

 

Chad

[Guest mbfilby]

It seems to us that when you take your pup to a place where a lot of other dogs frequent, there are so many scent distractions that they get consumed with sniffing and marking.

 

Ours do this at the sprint path at the track. We bring them out to run and play, and they spend the entire time doing the sniff and squirt. Get them into a ball field or another secure area not frequented by other dogs, and they teara$$ around until they tucker out.

[OwnedBySummer]

I've only taken Summer to ball fields so the "sniff and squirt" isn't too much. Even when it's a greyhound run, there's not too much of that. When it's just her or just her and one hound friend, I use one of those Chuck-It things and fling tennis balls around. She likes to chase a dog who is, in turn, chasing the ball. If I throw her Kong Wubba, she'll happily chase that, pick it up and run around with it like a nut. Maybe some toys might encourage more play behavior? Oh, and "Greyt_dog_lover", I like your recall training thing! -- I'm going to tweak the idea a bit and start practicing it!

[Guest GreyFan09]

Why dont you try a fun game of recall training? What you do is get two people and some really yummy treats that your hound never gets any other time, say hot dog bits. Get two sports whistles, and all the cut up hot dog bits in each persons pockets. Stand a few feet apart and blow the whistle, when your hound looks at the sound, give a hot dog bit. Then the other person does this, repeat. Take a step back and each person repeats. Do this and keep increasing the distance. Eventually you will be able to get a hundred yards apart and have your hound RACING between the two of you. One tip, add a hand signal to the sound when you start getting more than 50 feet apart. My hounds would run to the closest human, not me. Once I added the hand signal (waving my arm in a clockwise rotation) my hounds will race past anybody between us to get to me or my wife. This is a very useful drill as it reinforces recall and your hound will RUN. Good luck

 

Chad

 

What an awesome idea!! We will try it this weekend!

[sobesmom]

The running joke among my dog-owning frieds is that the greys don't "get" dog playtime. Or "greys are dog-snobs". When we get a mixed-breed group together, there's the requisite butt-sniffing all arond. Then all the other dogs run about and play - the greys either lay down, or go pee on everything. They really don't socialize too much with the other dogs.

 

But - bring a new grey around - and they totally recognize it, and are very interested.

 

If you want to have fun at the park - engage your dog yourself. Run , play chase, throw stuff.

 

Don't expect your grey to buddy up with stranger non-greys, many of them just don't.

Edited August 31, 2010 by sobesmom

[Guest duckbilled]

We actually decided to go to the park last night because we though someone was going to bring a couple greys. When I stopped by to check the place out, the guard told me to come back after 6 because someone else stopped by to check it our earlier. The person said they were coming back with their two greyhounds.

[Guest Swifthounds]

I'll bet if there were another greyhound there and it started running, yours would too. I think some greyhounds just love to run with other greyhounds.

 

 

. This and the safety issues with dog parks is why, when my hounds were younger, I got up before the sun, loaded them up, and was at the park by sun up (when it opened). No one else was crazy enough to get up that early, load a van full of dogs and drive 30-60 minutes (depending on which park) just for 20-30 minutes of exercise. Greyhounds like other greyhounds, not because they are snobs, but because they know how greyhounds play.

 

If the marking bothers you, you can work on training him not to mark. I have done it with my pack over the years.

[Sighthounds4me]

It's pretty common dog behavior. This is not their home, and they need to get to know it. The more often you go, the more likely he is to open up, and start playing. Our older boys did that when we had a smaller yard, but would take them to our local kennel club's big field. Eventually, they'd play, but they had to sniff the scents first.

 

If you are alone at the park, consider taking toys to get him to play. Naples loves chasing moving objects (I have to retrieve them, of course; she loses interest as soon as they stop moving), and that often gets her running wildly, for the pure joy of running. If you are able to do that, please do - I bet you'll have fun!

[Guest duckbilled]

We did take a squeaky toy (his cow), but he wasn't in to it. I do think he was distracted by all the new scents ans sights. We will have to go there more often.

 

Ike loves his cow.

 

 

Almost as much as his platypus.

 

Edited September 1, 2010 by duckbilled

[Guest cheltzey]

What a cutie with his stuffies! Lando loves the dog park, but we do spend a lot of time marking. However, he's definitely more interested in the other dogs. So no advice, just wanted to say that your pup was adorable!

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I do the recall thing, only since I'm the only one who does stuff with the dogs, I put them in a stay (or if they're not trained yet, I have some other dog owner hold the collar), and go as far away as I can and then whistle or wave. This is the only way other than lure coursing that I've ever found to get my Whippet to run. He's a very lazy dog.

[gracegirl]

We did take a squeaky toy (his cow), but he wasn't in to it. I do think he was distracted by all the new scents ans sights. We will have to go there more often.

 

Ike loves his cow.

 

 

 

 

Now how prescious is that picture?

 

Boys will be boys. They pee on stuff. The dog park is where Fenway learned to "turf" (kick up grass after marking).

 

The more we go, the less time he spends sniffin/marking and the more time he spends running. He's kind of nutty though. Grace, on the other hand, preferes to go to the dog park to see the people. She rarely runs, but when she does it's to chase Fenway.

 

Hopefully the marking will die down over time. I also find that if I keep walking around the permimiter of the park (on the inside of the fence, of course) that my hounds will try to keep up with me. (Hang back, pee, eat grass...sprint to catch up. Sniff, go see that person over there, sniff that dogs butt...sprint to catch up.)

[Guest Travelover]

My girl was initially bored with the dog park, but now I take a tennis ball thrower and she enjoys chasing the ball a dozen times or so, then she just likes to lay in the grass and smell the earthy smells. Sometimes she will find a dog that she likes to run with, but most are ignored. If another person throws tennis balls for their dog, she will show off and race them to the thrown ball.

 

At our park, treats are banned so it is hard to do recall training unless no one else is there and I sneak in a few treats.

[kudzu]

My girl was initially bored with the dog park, but now I take a tennis ball thrower and she enjoys chasing the ball a dozen times or so, then she just likes to lay in the grass and smell the earthy smells. Sometimes she will find a dog that she likes to run with, but most are ignored. If another person throws tennis balls for their dog, she will show off and race them to the thrown ball.

 

Sounds like my girl. Though I no longer take toys with me.

 

At our park, treats are banned...

 

Which is as it should be & the same reason I no longer bring toys. Too much chance of causing a squabble. Now if I want to get the dogs moving I just take off running, as best a stumbling fool such as myself can, and encourage the dogs to follow. Do the same thing if the dogs are bunching up & looking like things are getting tense.

[Guest Lgyure85]

It took a few times taking Maddie to stop being so interested in other things (specifically people with her). Eventually she realized that those other creatures were at least fun to chase, though I still don't think she realizes they are the same species as her. She doesn't really do the butt sniffing etc. with them, and if she isn't runnign she would MUCH rather be with the people. I swear she tries to go home with a new family every time we go!

[Guest Travelover]

Which is as it should be & the same reason I no longer bring toys. Too much chance of causing a squabble. Now if I want to get the dogs moving I just take off running, as best a stumbling fool such as myself can, and encourage the dogs to follow. Do the same thing if the dogs are bunching up & looking like things are getting tense.

 

Yea, good point. I haven't seen any scuffles over the tennis balls, which are generally left at the park, but one day someone brought a squeaky ball and my girl snatched it up and would not give it up.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Which is as it should be & the same reason I no longer bring toys. Too much chance of causing a squabble. Now if I want to get the dogs moving I just take off running, as best a stumbling fool such as myself can, and encourage the dogs to follow. Do the same thing if the dogs are bunching up & looking like things are getting tense.

 

Bringing toys and treats to a dog park is asking for trouble.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I have seen fights over tennis balls too.