Socializing An Only Greyhound

[Guest conrad0491]

Hello folks. As some of you know I'm awaiting the arrival of Tonto from St. Louis. He will be an only dog, at least until the chip syndrome hits me at some point in the future. I've had greyhounds continuously since 1992 and multiple hounds the majority of that time. I lost part of my left leg a few years ago and have been at home ever since, so I'm home most all the time. I can see where that might be an advantage, but at the same time I wonder if it might be "too much of a good thing". All of my previous hounds have been more than social around other people and dogs as well and I'm confident Tonto will be also.

 

I have a fenced backyard so I can exercise him there every day. Will a daily walk around the neighborhood suffice to keep him socially adept? Maybe I'm concerned for no good reason, but I'm curious what others do under similar circumstances.

[PrairieProf]

I have an only hound and here are things I do to make sure she gets social time: going to the dog park (early in the morning, when it's not busy, with large dogs only who are familiar to us); greyhound playdates; dog training classes; taking her to places where we meet other dogs on leash and people too (Beth adores getting petted by new people): pet food stores, farmer's market, outdoor festivals and concerts of various kinds. I live in a big dog-walking area too. Oh, and doing greyhound Meet & Greets of course! That's a great social activity for her. I'm sure she'd be fine with less (and obviously we don't do all these things all the time), but I do work at it -- she is a very well socialized and outgoing dog!

 

If you are home a lot you might also be a great person to think of offering hound- or general dog-sitting for people in your area.

Edited July 10, 2011 by PrairieProf

[GeorgeofNE]

Hi! Sorry to hear about your leg!

 

I only have one dog, and it's just me--we have a one dog only rule here at my condo, so there is no option for George.

 

However, George is one of those oddballs who ONLY likes other Greyhounds! Loves all of them, instantly, but has a very strange and aggressive reaction to all other breeds. I'm not sure if it's ridiculously rough "Let's play whatever you are" or "You don't look like me or my friends and I'd like to rearrange your parts!" so I just keep him back.

 

He seems none the worse for his four years with me!

 

By happy chance, someone else in my condo adopted a male Greyhound last year, so every few days he gets to sniff butts with one of his own kind!

 

I did also take him, a few times, on a Greyhound only group walk--gave those up those because we both found them TOO SLOW.

 

Do you have any friends with dogs? You could have them over to play in the yard! That would be a real treat to someone like me, who has no hard and has to leash walk 365 days a year!

[Guest june]

My first grey was an only for a long time. We went to dog friendly stores and helped at meet n greets. Although I now have three she was very well socialized. Walks through local parks are also another way to get some socialization.

june

[Batmom]

Wait and see what your new dog wants to do. My first greyhound would've been perfectly happy never to see another dog again. He didn't dislike other dogs, he just liked people a whole lot more.

 

Best luck with your pup!

[Guest mariah]

If you have friends with dogs, going for walks together is great as it gives them a chance to check out some sights, and smells together. My boy Chips has reservations with strange dogs he's meeting for the first time, and he's not much into playing with other dogs, so walks with his dog buddies are a great, low-pressure way for him to socialize. Good luck with the new hound

[Guest Timo]

 

However, George is one of those oddballs who ONLY likes other Greyhounds! Loves all of them, instantly, but has a very strange and aggressive reaction to all other breeds. I'm not sure if it's ridiculously rough "Let's play whatever you are" or "You don't look like me or my friends and I'd like to rearrange your parts!" so I just keep him back.

 

 

Same here. Timo is an only dog and is very wary of other breeds. He just wants them to stay away, and if they get too close and pesky, he'll bark and snap at them. But, he has no problem being surrounded by ten greyhounds.

 

He also loves people. We take him for walks around the neighborhood, and he actually Roos for people to come pet him.

 

We tried the dog park but had a bad experience when we first adopted him. We haven't socialized him there since then.

[Guest NewGreyOwner]

Our greyhound, Connor, is an only dog. He, too, doesn't really care that much for other dogs, even greyhounds. We've taken him back to the kennel in Wisconsin where we got him for supervised kennel runs with other greys. It's about a 1-1/2 hour drive one way for us. He will walk around sniffing other greys for about 10 minutes, then goes and stands by the gate so he can go home! We have also attended greyhound meet & greets at the PetSmart, but he's pretty much indifferent to the other dogs. He does love the people, though! The best part of any outing for him is meeting the other humans, large and small.

[Guest Swifthounds]

I would wait until you get him home and let him be tour guide as to how much "created" socializing he needs.

 

One thing I would suggest since you're home so much is to condition him to some alone time, either by you leaving or him being separated from you for periods of rime so that he acclimates to that. Only dogs will by default form very strong attachments to their people. If you jace to leave him at the vet or with a sitter for some reason down the road, it will be easier on him if it's not total system shock.

[BootsyCollins]

Add Bootsy to the list of greyhounds indifferent to other dogs, greyhound or not. He gets excited when another dog comes to visit, but that lasts for about 10 seconds, then he ignores them. He'd much rather be with people.

[Guest katethegreyt]

As others have said, he might not mind at all = )

 

My girl (our only one right now, but hopefully not for long!) is mostly indifferent to other dogs (unless they are super submissive, then she likes to harrass them...) She seems to enjoy being around other greyhounds (mostly for the bum sniffing it would seem), but she's not a huge player.

 

Still, we are pretty social, so we take her with us places where dogs are allowed quite a lot (we go to a lot of pubs and restaurants with dog-friendly patios). We also regularly do meet & greets with our local group as well as parades and other events. She's funny because she sometimes LOVES going to say hi to new people (at the St. Patricks Day parade, she spent the entire time on the edge of the parade route so she could meet new people), and other times she's just kind of "meh" on the whole thing (usually when some promising potential adoptor comes to pet her, haha).

 

Anyway, I think just doing some regular activities is enough to get a typical hound "socialized." If they have any issues with other dogs or people, that's when you have to get really active about it. But I think a lot of greyhounds seem to come off the track socialized enough to be happy and safe during most activities where they join you.

 

***Wait, what am I saying, clearly you just need to go get another greyhound, haha = )

[Guest conrad0491]

I meant to thank everyone for the suggestions and apologize being so late in doing so.

 

swifthounds addressed my primary concern almost to a T. I don't think that Tonto has SA problems, but my concern was if he might develop a problem by being around only me the majority of the time. I believe once he settles into my routine I'll start leaving him alone for a short time and increase the time as I go along. There are stores within walking distance of home that allow animals that are leashed, so we may add that to our walks as well.

 

Once again, thank you all for the comments and suggestions.

[Guest peacehound]

My girl has been an only dog for three years now. She is only interested in greyhounds, so I try to take her to events a couple times a year. However, after about ten minutes of playing with the other greys she usually just comes over and stands by my husband and I. He says if I ever want to at once we will have to adopt a pair next time around, for now Peace rules this house and seems to love it.