Lack Of Interest In Play Group?

[christinepi]

Tracker's been going to his play group (off leash, fenced in private area) for ca 8 months now, Mondays and Fridays, for ca 5.5 hours each. Whenever the various women come to pick him up in the morning, he's always been overjoyed, and practically leapt into their arms and then the van. Recently it's happened a few times that he'd be been getting up and off the sofa to greet the care taker du jour only to turn right back around and walking straight back into the house. He didn't do this every time, maybe every other or so. Today, however, he refused to get off the sofa entirely, when the care taker arrived; after some unsuccessful cooing and fussing attempts on both our parts (and he knows the woman well) we had to pull him up to get him to jump off the sofa and then, on leash, we had to pull him from the front and push from the back to get him moving towards the door. But even so--once he's out our door, he's perfectly ok walking towards the van and hopping into it. The care takers claim he's always enjoying himself during the day, but it's in their own interest to tell me good things are happening...

 

The thing is, I'm of the mind that my dog doesn't have to be this super obedient, unquestioning kind of dog. It's exactly what I love about greyhounds, even though it's frustrating at times, which is that if they don't want to, they'll be frank about it. Tracker's my first dog, so I don't have any real experience with other breeds (or other individuals). I have no problems with him otherwise; he doesn't do things I don't want him to do, it's much more he doesn't do things I DO want him to do, like get up, off the sofa, and go with the care taker when he's being picked up. So, if in most other ways we get along very well, in this case, is there then something he's trying to tell me? I can't figure out whether he's unhappy/bored/uninterested about going there, or is he "playing me". This is what the woman who owns this daycare business suggested--and she furthermore said "the motivation had to come from my end". Could this mean that after knowing me for 13 months, he's finally figured out that I'm not the most convincing "leader" therefore he can now ignore me--but, very oddly, only when it comes to this one particular situation? I"ll admit--I'm often so charmed by his independent mind, it's hard to keep a straight face sometimes and MAKE him do what I'm asking him to do, when it's about minor stuff. But then, why was he so happy to go play, for at least 8 months straight, every single time, without having to motivate him one bit?

 

I should mention that the reason we're sending him to daycare is that even though we both work from home and are around a LOT, he is an only dog, and we live in a rural area where he doesn't get to meet other dogs other than two off leash farm dogs who he doesn't much care for, and 4 fenced in wild and crazy retrievers, so no real interaction. In order to offer him off leash playtime in a safe environment we send him with the group so he can socialize and be a dog.

 

I'm struggling what tack to take. I CAN get him off the sofa, that's not the issue--but is this really about being the "boss" or should I take his reluctance as a sign of some real lack of interest, so why on earth MAKE him?

 

Has the whole thing just kind of gotten routine, but once he's there, he remembers that he loves it? What do people think?

[DocsDoctor]

Ignore the silly advice about 'the motivation having to come from your end' and needing to be the boss of him. This doesn't sound to me like a dog who is 'playing you', rather one who trusts you and is trying to tell you that he does not want to go with that care taker. That may be an issue with that individual, rather than the daycare itself - could s/he have been rough handling him into the van at some stage?

 

But as to the daycare itself - how confident are you that the staff know what they are doing? Are you going on what they tell you, or have you seen him there? If so did he look as if he was enjoying himself? Was he able to get away from the other dogs and nap, if he wanted to? As Victoria Stilwell points out daycare is not for every dog - all that 'offleash playtime' can be tiring, even stressful if all the dogs are not well-socialised and their interreactions unsupervised. Maybe if he used to like it, something has now changed - e.g. a dog he doesn't get on with.

 

Or maybe he has just realised that he COULD stay at home with you all day instead, and just snooze on the sofa! Honestly, I know this is what a lot of greyhounds, including my own, would prefer. I understand about wanting to give him opportunities to 'be a dog', but I don't think the average greyhound needs or even wants hours of boisterous play on a daily basis with other dogs, especially other breeds. He will still need to be walked of course, but maybe you can accommodate breaks for that into your working day - that is what I do and Doc and I both enjoy it!

 

I do think it is important to keep him socialised so if you don't meet nice dogs on your local walks have a think about maybe doing an all-breeds obedience class with a good trainer or joining a local greyhound playgroup/fun run.

[Fostr_Mom]

My first thought was maybe Tracker doesn't like that particular person. I would be curious enough to drop in at the daycare unexpectedly to see how/what he is doing. JMO

[Batmom]

Could be he is simply older and not interested in that much activity or that type of activity. Might be worth letting him stay home and veg for a couple weeks, and then see if he regains interest in going again.

[Guest Swifthounds]

It might just be more exercise and socialization than he needs/wants and once he's there, there's not "off switch" for the socializing and play (as compared to say, play in his backyard where he can decide he has had enough and come back inside). Maybe try just once per week and see if he improves. He may just be on socialization overload.

[GeorgeofNE]

I can't imagine my dog having to stay awake for 5.5 hours a day twice a week!

 

My vote is it's way too much him! He'd probably be perfectly content to stay at home and sleep on the couch.

[Guest momofevie]

I can't imagine my dog having to stay awake for 5.5 hours a day twice a week!

 

My vote is it's way too much him! He'd probably be perfectly content to stay at home and sleep on the couch.

 

 

I agree w/George's mom. We actually have a daycare in town who prefers that greys NOT attend. It's too much for them.

 

I, too, have an only hound and am always looking for ways for her to socialize. We do meet and greets, walk in areas where we know other dogs will be and even attend playgroups, but those each only last an hour or two and/or provide me with the flexibility to leave when Evie is ready.

[Guest momofevie]

I can't imagine my dog having to stay awake for 5.5 hours a day twice a week!

 

My vote is it's way too much him! He'd probably be perfectly content to stay at home and sleep on the couch.

 

 

I agree w/George's mom. We actually have a daycare in town who prefers that greys NOT attend. It's too much for them.

 

I, too, have an only hound and am always looking for ways for her to socialize. We do meet and greets, walk in areas where we know other dogs will be and even attend playgroups, but those each only last an hour or two and/or provide me with the flexibility to leave when Evie is ready.

[gazehund]

Could be he is simply older and not interested in that much activity or that type of activity. Might be worth letting him stay home and veg for a couple weeks, and then see if he regains interest in going again.

 

[krissy]

My first thought was maybe Tracker doesn't like that particular person. I would be curious enough to drop in at the daycare unexpectedly to see how/what he is doing. JMO

 

I like this suggestion. Also the suggestion about dropping it to once a week. I'd wait a week and see if he's more excited to go. I'd also drop in about halfway through the day and see what's going on.

 

I don't suppose the daycare offers a webcam service? I know some have cameras set up and owners can check in on the web to see what's happening and what their dog is up to.

 

Can the dogs getaway from the play to take a break if they want? Summit would probably play himself silly and be thrilled with the whole thing but then, he's a little strange. Of course, he also loves to sleep all day if nothing better is happening.

[christinepi]

The business owner wrote that note about "motivation" and assertion on my part. She's not the one picking him up. She has three to four drivers/care takers who pick him up. Tracker has always seemed to like all of the drivers. When he started being reluctant recently, it wasn't with a particular one of the women. It seems random. So I don't think it's a personal bad experience on his part.

 

The thing is that I have NOT mentioned his reluctance as being a concern to me to the care givers themselves. So when they tell me, *every now and then*, unprompted, that he had a really good day today, I trust them that they're saying this because it's true. It's only the business owner I mentioned his reluctance to. Did she instruct her care givers to only tell the owners good stuff, and avoid mentioning problems? Possibly. I don't trust the business owner. Her care givers I've always liked. So what gives? Not sure.

 

He's only 4, so I don't think it's age.

 

Unfortunately, the nearest off leash area (a dog park) is 8 miles away, and I try to avoid dog parks for the inherent risks. There are no greyhound groups even remotely near us, so that's out, too, for socialization. But I also agree, 5.5 hours seems terribly long for a dog breed that takes resting seriously. The daycare guys offer the dogs the van as a place to sleep in or under (they park the van inside the fenced in area) any time the like, and the have a shaded area with dog beds. I dropped by once, to see what they were all doing, and every single one was in the van, presumably sleeping. I have this hunch that I'd have to drop by many times to actually see Tracker up and playing. On the other hand, who knows--maybe he just runs a bit, but otherwise loves being in the company of other dogs, even if he's lying down a lot? And no, they don't have a webcam.

 

Since we work from home, we take him out a good 4-5 times a day, even if the second through 5th walks are pretty short, more like 15 minutes each (as is clearly the wish of his Highness), being spent sniffing, visiting the goat babies (he has a quite an obsession with them) and poking the head into interesting barn crevices. So he's not bored or anything and he gets his exercise. To me, again, it's mostly the socialization I don't want to deprive him of.

 

So I'll do what some posters suggested, which is to cut down to once a week and see whether his interest will come back up.

[BatterseaBrindl]

I can't imagine my dog having to stay awake for 5.5 hours a day twice a week!

 

My vote is it's way too much him! He'd probably be perfectly content to stay at home and sleep on the couch.

 

I also agree with this.

 

Just curious...

If you work at home...why do you send him to play group twice a week?

 

Does he have SA and cannnot be left home alone...so therefore you need to find him some companionship while you run errands?

 

Sounds like he gets lots of walks on the days he's home with you.

Is your yard fenced? Does he get time out in it to do zommies?

 

And they only place for the dogs to sleep is in a van?!?!? Or outdoors under a canopy?

 

I'd cancel the day care and just have him home, sleeping in his own comfy bed, walking him a couple of times a day and generally let him hang out with his own people.

 

I do understand the reluctance of owners to go to dog parks. We are lucky to have found an excellent one with good people and dogs.

We take Nixon and Bandit to the dog park every Sunday morning....mostly so Nixon can get a good run in, and also to play with his three Grey friends.

There can be anywhere from 2 to 10 other dogs - of all breeds - there at the same time.

Nixon & his friends have a few good zoomies and then just hang out going from human to human getting good scratches.

Bandit searches the woods/bushes looking for birds to chase!

 

But...After an hour or so, they all are ready to go home and nap the rest of the day away.

No way my dogs would ever want to spend more than an hour at the park.

In no uncertain terms they let me know they are ready to leave after an hour.

 

I'd try dropping Tracker off for a couple of hours once...maybe twice a week.

The rest of the time I'd let him stay home and enjoy his own people and his own bed.

[Jenbo]

Where are you in the Bay Area that's more rural? I didn't think we had very many places left like that around here

[christinepi]

Where are you in the Bay Area that's more rural? I didn't think we had very many places left like that around here

 

We're 12 minutes south of Half Moon Bay, up a canyon a bit--just about as quiet and rural (and greyhound free, unfortunately) as it can get. Tons of cows, horses, farms etc.

 

I also agree with this.

 

Just curious...

If you work at home...why do you send him to play group twice a week?

 

Does he have SA and cannnot be left home alone...so therefore you need to find him some companionship while you run errands?

 

Sounds like he gets lots of walks on the days he's home with you.

Is your yard fenced? Does he get time out in it to do zommies?

 

And they only place for the dogs to sleep is in a van?!?!? Or outdoors under a canopy?

 

I'd cancel the day care and just have him home, sleeping in his own comfy bed, walking him a couple of times a day and generally let him hang out with his own people.

 

I do understand the reluctance of owners to go to dog parks. We are lucky to have found an excellent one with good people and dogs.

We take Nixon and Bandit to the dog park every Sunday morning....mostly so Nixon can get a good run in, and also to play with his three Grey friends.

There can be anywhere from 2 to 10 other dogs - of all breeds - there at the same time.

Nixon & his friends have a few good zoomies and then just hang out going from human to human getting good scratches.

Bandit searches the woods/bushes looking for birds to chase!

 

But...After an hour or so, they all are ready to go home and nap the rest of the day away.

No way my dogs would ever want to spend more than an hour at the park.

In no uncertain terms they let me know they are ready to leave after an hour.

 

I'd try dropping Tracker off for a couple of hours once...maybe twice a week.

The rest of the time I'd let him stay home and enjoy his own people and his own bed.

 

We have a big back yard, so yes, he can do zoomies; the only reason he's at day care is to give him a chance to socialize, since he's an only dog and we'd like to avoid dog parks. He does not have SA.

 

I totally agree that the way I described the set up with the beds and canopy isn't exciting sounding. But I have to say that he literally jumped for joy every time they came to pick him up for 8 months straight, so I figured he must like it.

 

Last week I actually had a dog walker meet Tracker, who nearly flattened her with joy when she walked in for the first time. She took him to the nearest dog park today together with 4 other dogs for 1.5 hours, and was amazed, she told me upon drop off, how excited and happy he was and how he played for a long time, in particular with a fat lab (one of her charges) and a Doberman Pinscher who came with a different dog walker. I was thrilled to hear that. It sounds much more reasonable to my ears, time wise. But still, even though the walker claims she's never had a dog in her group have a bad experience there with other dogs, that doesn't mean it couldn't happen in the future. So I'll see.

 

The general consensus seems to be that daycare is definitely a looooong time for a grey, and I'll keep that in mind.

[Guest LokisMom]

I got Loki when he was 4 and even back then there is NO way he would have stayed awake for 5 hours. Even now if I take him to a play group or somewhere to run he might do 10 minutes then just wanders around until he finds a comfy spot to sleep.

 

I'd skip the daycare altogether personally. Or cut back to once a week.

[rallyp]

Since you have a big back yard, and if you were willing, maybe you could host your own little greyhound playgroup at your house. There are definitely a lot of greyhounds in the Bay Area.

[christinepi]

Since you have a big back yard, and if you were willing, maybe you could host your own little greyhound playgroup at your house. There are definitely a lot of greyhounds in the Bay Area.

 

I've so far only met with one woman and her grey, and that was a flop, my god. These 2 guys (the other one's a male, also) accepted each other without any issues whatsoever upon greeting and then, in a HUGE off leash area, went their own separate ways. Never looked at each other again. We tried this one more time, with the same result... it was rather comical.

 

Tracker actually gets along with many different breeds. There's a neighbor who has a female lab, who I swear has a crush on Tracker. We could set something up with just those two and see what that does.