Ben Attacked A Small Dog!

[Guest iconsmum]

I knew an (also) very quiet dog. He also nipped one of his dog housemates once or twice and it was explained away as annoyance. He grabbed at a small fuzzy a couple of times but came away with just a bit of fur in his mouth. He never appeared to be aroused when he did it - it was triggered by face-on approach of the smaller dog both times. The third time, he was one of two, both on four-foot leashes, having his daily walk, when a small dog, off leash, bounced right up to him to say hi, while her care-less owner yakked on a cell phone trailing along fifty feet behind her doggie. The poor unsuspecting little girlie was dead in a heartbeat. And for anyone who has never seen it happen and doesn't really "get" that it can, it was like this: grab/flip/bang/bang/dead - 10 seconds.

It's sooo not Jekyll-Hyde - it's not even strange -it's the way a percentage of greyhounds are - it's in the blueprint. You've been told by your dog that he's like that, by your story, three separate times now. If you're asking for advice,.... muzzle him.... EVERY time he could be in a position where there are other dogs available to him because you can't predict surprises. A muzzle at obedience school is a drop-dead must, if you decide to continue But you need to be aware that a muzzle is not a complete preventive. Also you can't "train" away his innate response to the stimulus of the little dog, so the precaution is for always. It's got nothing to do with whether he makes a nice pet, or whether he's a good dog - it's just part of his package, and it's yours to manage.

[Guest sophiesmum]

Hi, I just want you to know you are not alone here. Sophie did exactly the same thing in group training and she lives completely safely with 3 cats.

 

I still havent worked out why she went for the little dog, although one of the little dogs did paw her in the face once during one on one introductions at the beginning. Soph can be a little unpredictable with introductions. Maybe its a personality thing. With some dogs, no matter their size, she can show no interest at all, some she goes for. I still havent worked out the pattern.

 

Toward the end of the 6 weeks (post a one little dog getting free of its harness 3 times!). The trainer separated us into a little dog group and everyone else (there was a wolf hound and a few hound crosses in the class too) not because of Sophie but because one of little fluffies kept getting free!

 

I would say stick with the group training though (ours was only 6 weeks) because if nothing else, at least I learnt the cues to watch for. I came to consider it training for me.

 

Soph learned to sit too, even though I was pretty sure she couldnt. Now she sits for toast...or anything else we have that she wants. Dont worry about it if she doesnt. Stick with it anyway, just for the doggy introduction experience.

 

 

Hope this helps. I felt really bad at the time but we did learn some really valuable lessons.

[Guest Giselle]

Prey drive or not, aggressive or not, reactive or not, the issue here is not whether Greyhounds can sit or not (obviously, they can), but your dog's FOCUS skills. I highly suggest going to a seasoned, accomplished trainer who can help teach you the basics of a rock-solid focus. What type of obedience class are you in right now? I'm concerned because your trainer allowed you to have untrained dogs meet each other in a pretty new setting. No reputable trainer I know ever condones or allows dogs to meet each other if they have unknown backgrounds and aren't fully trained. I would double check this trainer's experience with reactive dogs.

 

The solution to reactivity is fairly simple: It's all based on focus. In this situation, your dog is stressed, unsure of what to do, and, thus, prone to react. If you can get your dog to focus on you with his undivided attention, (by virtue of being able to focus) he will be 1) calmer 2) more relaxed 3) less prone to react. The key behavior to teach is, thus, "Focus/Watch-Me" (basically, eye contact). You want to make eye contact his default behavior, so that he begins to offer you eye contact out of nowhere simply because it has been rewarded so frequently. Out in public and on walks (or just whenever!), you want your dog's undivided attention. You may want to read through this thread for more information and training tips/videos:

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/265474-leash-reactivity/

[KF_in_Georgia]

Eight greyhounds sitting...at the same time.

 

Jacey sits on her hip rather than her butt:

 

 

and she's ambi-siterous--sits on either hip:

 

[Guest cwholsin]

I agree greys can sit, BUT, when we were in training I tried to position Bu and he snapped at me.

 

I think that's the wrong kind of training if you're trying to push the dog into position. I'm not a training expert but I don't know any positive reinforcement trainers who do that.

 

There's nothing wrong with positioning a dog if he or she is having trouble figuring out what you want from him. Positioning does not necessarily mean 'pushing' a dog into a position. You use your body to help get their body in position. When we were first teaching Hermes, I'm not sure he was consciously aware of what to do to sit--he so rarely did it on his own and it was always a transition position from standing to 'down' which would've made it really difficult to try and reward that millisecond--especially since he was just learning what 'training' was in the first place (You're offering me food, and saying something...why aren't you giving me the food??)

 

Positioning a dog isn't fundamentally bad or scary or stressful. There are always instances when a dog doesn't do well, as there are dogs with all kinds of dispositions and boundaries that may or may not allow you to move their bodies in a way that the dog is comfortable with.

 

If a dog reacts badly, he or she is probably either doesn't trust you enough to let you touch them in that way, or it's physically painful or uncomfortable--which in greyhounds may be due to an old injury or something