Ever Been Bit By A Greyhound?

[XTRAWLD]

I always hug and kiss my boys. Often close to their face and muzzles etc. Never once has anything like this evoked a response like "get away from me". They have never snapped, never got mad, never growled or showed their teeth. They stand there and take all the fuss going on about them.

 

While it's never happened, and I'm not sure it ever will but I guess I'm curious about the breed in general - even though we've had Kasey for 6 years now. I'm not talking about a playful nip from anyone, but rather a full out mouth grab. Do greyhounds possess the "anger" or "intolerance" for lack of a better word than other breeds of dog? Not many other breeds would like a head and face right next to theirs and would lunge and strike.....I wonder sometimes if they would ever just snap and lose it and grab me. LOL

[Hubcitypam]

Yes, they might. I've been bitten twice by greys and both bites were pretty nasty.

 

The first time was many years ago when I was new to greys and got in the middle of a food spat between my dog and a foster.

 

Second time was about eight years ago when I first got Rex. I had fallen asleep on the futon watching TV with Rex. Sometime in the night Poodle jumped up right on us. I came up swinging, Rex came up biting and my left arm once again was the loser in that situation. I have 3 scars on my left arm -- two from greys and one from Poodle.

[GeorgeofNE]

Yes, they do.

 

My dog has a very strong sleep startle response, and might have bitten me on more than one occasion had I not been aware of it.

[dante2zoe]

Yup, they can bite. I have been bitten by my own dog. She had sleep startle and slept with her eyes open. I learned a lot from her very quickly! I was lucky, she didn't do serious damage - especially considering it was my face that made contact. I suppose that she could have if she wanted to, so I guess she had more restraint than I gave her credit for.

[45MPHK9]

Yup, they can bite. I have been bitten by my own dog. She had sleep startle and slept with her eyes open.

 

Same story here. We were both bitten by Murray early on. He was bounced from his two previous homes for biting people. So yeah, these dogs can and do bite.

[Guest BrianRke]

Frank bit a friend of mine when he sat beside him while he was sleeping. He jumped up and bit him on the ear putting a hole all the way through it. This was soon after I got him and it hasnt happened since.

[Guest Tes623]

Sooner's bitten me twice but I it was my fault. Both times I was laying on the floor petting him and both times my elbow went between his ribs and he snapped at me. (I'm not a quick learner ). Now when I'm on the floor petting him I make sure not to lean on him. He was in a previous home and was returned for biting. I'm not sure what that situation was. Anyway, that was about 6 years ago and I've learned my lesson and no more bites from my Soonie boy.

[Wonder]

Passion bites me when I try to trim her nails.

[Guest KennelMom]

Yes, greyhounds can bite but I would not say it's their nature. I've been bitten...oh...three times that jump to mind.

 

Dumb human move #1: I thought it would be a good idea to lay down next to one of our newly adopted greyhounds while she was on the floor (facing her). She sleep startled and snapped...grazed my forehead. DH's first words: Wow, Heather. I can't believe you thought that'd be a good idea.

 

Dumb human move #2: Had two fosters out in the kennel visiting with a potential family. Dog 1 had a history of resource guarding toys from other dogs (no issues w/people). I saw him going for a toy and eyeballing the other dog who was going for the toy...I stuck my arm out to grab the toy (in the middle of the two dogs) and dog 1 decided the best defense of the toy he wanted was a good offense and he decided to grab the other dog's head instead of the toy. He grabbed my arm...had a pretty deep puncture on my wrist. eta: the family ended up actually adopting "the biter" (they were pretty experienced dog people and understood how I'd set the dog up in a situation where he could fail (having toys out with another dog) and that I stuck my arm in the path of an open dog mouth so the bite (to me) wasn't intentional

 

Dumb human move #3: We had a foster we were fostering b/c she was returned for aggression/severe bite of a child. We had tried for months to elicit some sort of bite behavior from her to no avail. Then one day I took a break from my desk, got on the floor as she was on the dog bed behind my desk...wanted to give her some pets and loves. I was talking to my hubby in the other room (so, pretty loudly), I said her name and touched her thigh...then as I bent over her body, she snapped up and grazed my face. Scared the sh*t out of me more than anything else...because I wasn't expecting it from her. Rule #1 with dogs: recognize they can ALL bite you given the right circumstances.

 

Don't get me wrong, I kiss and cuddle and give their faces smooches all day long, but I am (usually) always very aware of where all the pointy bits in their mouth are. Sometimes I gently wrap my hand around their muzzle as an extra precaution. And most importantly, they are usually standing, fully awake and ready to accept loves and attentions...not half dozing on a dog bed.

 

When people tell me they've been bitten by a greyhound, my first thought is always: what did they do wrong and/or what warning signs did they miss. Dogs rarely ever bite "for no reason" or "out of the blue" or "with no warning"

Edited July 20, 2011 by KennelMom

[krissy]

I'm not sure the OP's concern was about sleep startles or redirected aggression when breaking up fights. I think it can only be expected that if you get in the middle of a fight you might get bit... often accidentally, sometimes just out of redirection. Greys definitely have higher levels of sleep aggression compared to a lot of other breeds, but I think it's safe practice with any breed to wake them from afar before you get your face next to theirs.

 

I think greys tend to be very tolerant. I can sleep on Summit, I can open his mouth, stick my hand down his throat, take blood from him all by myself, pick at things, clip nails, and so on and so forth with absolutely no response. I have seen a grey that got really nasty about dad clipping his nails. No biting, but some scary show. I think everyone knows their dog best and knows what their limits are, and greys are generally very tolerant by nature... but they're still dogs and you still never know when enough might be enough. I think it's always best to keep an eye on body language for signs that your dog is getting fed up and back off at that point. And of course, lots of treats and praise for tolerating unpleasant things.

[DaisyDoodle]

Had a breed snob in the group I used to work with. He didn't like my mix Lucky. Unfortunately, I knew he didn't like me/us/Lucky, but when he was adopted, he was adopted by another board member who boarded his dogs at the adoption kennel for doggie day care (and I boarded Daisy & Lucky when on vaca). Between myself and my husband he nipped/bit at least three times--he ripped a coat, bit my husband but didn't break the skin and ?? on the 3rd incident. He was the only GH I've ever seen who did anything like that.

[RaineysMom]

yup (you guys KNEW I would have to chime in ). Found out the hard way. Was just a fluke thing. Here's the post: http://www.gpawisconsin.org/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6950. Said I'd never be able to kiss her again. That lasted all of maybe 2 weeks. Couldn't keep from kissing my babies. Just am a LOT more careful now!

[cacky]

Yes, they do.

 

My dog has a very strong sleep startle response, and might have bitten me on more than one occasion had I not been aware of it.

Same, both my hounds are fine unless they are sleeping. My Red has bitten several times 'cause Daddy just doesn't learn. Black eyes in my home were common from grey noses till I learned.

[Time4ANap]

Yup....Rocket was on his bed and rolled over on his back and made the pawing motion like he was asking for belly rubs. Didn't realize that he was still actually asleep. When I started rubbing his belly, I got a sleep startle response and a large tooth all the way through my hand, right between the thumb and index finger.

 

He also bit a visitor who reached down to pet him on his bed, even though the person knew they weren't supposed to - again - sleep startle. Our rule since then is that we only pet when he's standing up, that way we know he's awake.

 

We do still sneak in a belly rub or two, but make sure that he's really awake when we do.

[NevadasMom]

I've been snapped at by both of my hounds, but never bitten. Each incident was totally my fault & totally stupid on my part.

[Trihounds]

Both my hounds are like the OP's. Tolerance galore with the hoomans.

[Guest happygrey]

Yes, I've been bitten. I consider it my fault. I was attempting to remove some blanket from my grey's mouth while he was eating a bone (super hi value) in his crate. Some of the blanket he was lying on had gotten stuck on the bone and in his mouth. He gave me a growl and bite before I had time to reconsider what I was doing. Which was really sorta dumb. Who cares if he got a bit of blanket in with his bone? Anyway, I was completely shocked. The "good" dog had just bitten me! I cleaned it up and bandaged it and it healed just fine.

 

And I can skip another lecture from those here who feel I need to get my dogs to allow me to take anything I wish away from them.

 

I'm not in that school.

Edited July 20, 2011 by happygrey

[Guest Heehoo]

Yep, and it hurts, those big teeth can rip real good. Two of mine got into a fight & I reached over Pegasus' back to grab his collar, he saw "something" in the corner of his eye & bit my arm, ripped me a big ole hole. Took 16 stitches.

Of course the look on his face after he did it was pitiful, Ohmygosh I've bitten the hand that feeds me. He followed me all over the house while I tried to get everyone calmed down, then when I got home (6 hrs later) from the ER, he slept right next to me.

Nope, I didn't return him...it was my fault. I forgave him a 100 times for that mistake.

[Guest simile]

I haven't been bitten, but my DH has, twice, by different dogs. Both were human error when we were both relatively new to retired racing greyhounds, and he was new to dogs.

 

The thing with greyhounds (and sighthounds in general) is that they're so very, very fast. And, they have a longer reach than you might expect .

[IndyandHollyluv]

Oh yeah! During the first year with my first grey, I was sitting in a chair eating popcorn. Well, apparently the aroma sent my hound into another galaxy! He approached and was practically in my face - right at eye level with me. I gently touched his muzzle and told him no, or go sit down, and in the blink of an eye -- snap! he bit me right between the eyes. And I don't mind telling you that it #%&@!! hurt.

 

I was a novice owner. I learned my lesson.

 

ETA: I guess I should say that I didn't quite know what to do after the bite (which bled FOREVER!), so I put him in his crate for three hours and never said a word. He never attempted to bite me again.

Edited July 20, 2011 by IndyandHollyluv

[kudzu]

I always hug and kiss my boys. Often close to their face and muzzles etc. Never once has anything like this evoked a response like "get away from me". They have never snapped, never got mad, never growled or showed their teeth. They stand there and take all the fuss going on about them.

No, I have not been bitten but others have. Dogs are bounced for this very reason. It is one of the reasons people who have a dog giving warnings such as those you mention need to either get immediate, competent help or return the dog before it gets a bite history.

 

My guess is that this sort of thing, as you describe in the first two sentences, is probably the most frequent cause of bites. Have you watched in a mirror how your dogs react when you do this? Have you had someone else take a video, from multiple angles, of your dogs while you do this? Unless you have you may not really know if it bothers your dogs are not. Dogs give off many, many far subtler signs than growling, baring teeth & snapping. Those are actually highly escalated responses most often used when the subtler signs have been ignored or unsuccessful.

 

All that said, if you have been doing this for quite a while, your dogs trust & are comfortable with you, then they may have come to recognize it as a sign of affection. Though these are things dogs normally don't like, once our dogs recognize how we intend them I think most dogs learn to tolerate it with good humor & some even enjoy it. In other words even if your dogs don't mind or perhaps even like such human displays, do not or a minute believe this extends to most dogs. Better safe than sorry when dealing with dogs you do not know well. Even then, many a person has been startled when something "he's always loved" turns out to be the trigger for a bite.

 

[Disclaimer: I routinely kiss my dogs on the nose or the top of their head. Do as I say, not as I do. ]

[3vagreys]

Yes. My angel Stampede bit me twice. The first time when he was newly adopted and I decided it would be good to lie down beside him on the floor. I found out he had sleep aggression right then. I worked on it with socks and stuffies and he was fine for many years. The second time was when he was older and not well. He slept on my bed and he startled when I moved and bruised my arm. I discovered that if I told him when I was going to move for the first hour or so, he was fine and he uneventfully slept with me as long as he was able to get in the bed.

[Guest zombrie]

I work at an adoption kennel and have met and taken care of hundreds of greyhounds. I have been bitten once, and it was my fault. The dog had been bitten by another dog and was in pain, and I was holding onto him as the vet tech looked him over for other bite wounds. We stupidly didn't put a muzzle on.

Other than that incident, no. And I hug and kiss the dogs all the time.

 

ETA I have never been bitten by my own greys, either. I have been bitten by my GSD several times, though. She doesn't tolerate anything at all, even routine things I have to do (nails, grooming, etc.)

Edited July 20, 2011 by zombrie

[Guest conrad0491]

I too have had an incident with one of my hounds doing the sleep startle bite. Conrad was asleep right in front of my chair and when I started to get up I bumped him. Holy cow! He was on his feet and lunging at me so fast it gave me chills. He was the only one of nine that ever did that, of course I didn't put myself in that position again either.

 

The only other biting I've experienced was completely my fault. It actually wasn't as much a bite as a warning grab. I reached down to move Jag's empty food bowl out of the way and he grabbed my forearm in his mouth and bit down, giving me that growl that comes from deep in their chest. I adopted a policy of letting the dogs move away from the feeding area before removing the bowls. Never had a problem again.

[Guest Heehoo]

Ya know Conrad0491 Marc, its funny you mention that about the bowls. My beloved Pipi-Francine wouldn't bite me for the world but I don't dare reach down & get her bowl. I did it once & she stomped her front feet & went into an eating frenzy, so after that I learned to move it with my foot (shoe intact).

I've also learned a technique to use when dogs do get into a fight vs grabbing for a collar. I think that bite was more painful than both knee replacements & a broken femur together.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Heehoo