Do Greyhounds Feel Empathy Towards Each Other?

[Guest FrostyBottoms]

Mugsy had to go for an ultrasound yesterday, all is fine...he just has an enlarged prostate, but he went to the same place that Vinny went for his ultrasound the day we had to let him cross the bridge. Frosty was with us that day in May. When we came home with Mugsy she sniffed him up & down. Fast forward to this morning, Mugsy was lying on the floor on his side, Frosty came in from outside ran upstairs with a purpose, came right back with one of Mugsy's favorite toys in her mouth walked right over to him, dropped it in front of him and walked over to the couch and waited for me to straighten her blanket so she could lay in her spot. It seemed to me that she knew where he had been, and thought he needed some care. Could that be? She picked one of his favorite toys out of a bin of about 30 or 40 toys...coincidence?

[greyhead]

Not coincidence.

 

We had three greys come to visit one day for the first time. One of them, Sirius, had a favorite toy at home and found that we had it too. He went right for it, but he didn't keep it. (His mom might have taken it away. IDK, I wasn't watching at that point.) But a couple hours later, our Shane picked up the toy and brought it over to Sirius, dropping it next to his face. Everybody acted hugely surprised, but Shane just wanted to be a good host!

 

Don't greys have the reputation of being particularly empathic dogs? Our first vet, who owns greys, said greys are very intuitive and that that's one of the reasons they're as close as you can get to being a cat and still be a dog!

[XTRAWLD]

Mugsy had to go for an ultrasound yesterday, all is fine...he just has an enlarged prostate, but he went to the same place that Vinny went for his ultrasound the day we had to let him cross the bridge. Frosty was with us that day in May. When we came home with Mugsy she sniffed him up & down. Fast forward to this morning, Mugsy was lying on the floor on his side, Frosty came in from outside ran upstairs with a purpose, came right back with one of Mugsy's favorite toys in her mouth walked right over to him, dropped it in front of him and walked over to the couch and waited for me to straighten her blanket so she could lay in her spot. It seemed to me that she knew where he had been, and thought he needed some care. Could that be? She picked one of his favorite toys out of a bin of about 30 or 40 toys...coincidence?

 

That is so awesome. Makes you think good things about the world sometime when an animal surprises you like that, doesn't it?

[Batmom]

That's incredible.

 

Frosty :wub:

[greysmom]

Awesome Frosty!

 

I think they do feel something for each other, it's just we can't always see it. My other four greyhounds acted very differently towards Dude after he came home from the hospital follwoing his amputation. They were very careful and left him plenty of room to maneuver. Cash particularly checked on him throughout the day. As he got better, they got less careful!

[JJNg]

I definitely feel that greys can feel empathy. One particular example that comes to mind is when my friend and vet tech's greyhound Jose hurt his foot, Willow was glued to his side the entire day they were at the clinic together. Willow usually doesn't snuggle much with other dogs, but she was where ever Jose was that day. She even got in our way when we had to change his bandage. Photos here.

[Yamaha_gurl]

Wow those pics are awesome!

[HoundHeavenAZ]

My Lima was always very intuitive about the people that she visited with when she was a therapy dog - good and bad, she could always detect the people to visit. I was just the driver - she was the navigator.

WTG Frosty and WTG Willow - those pictures brought on the tears!

[TheFullHouse]

Before having Emmy and Andy I probably would have said no, but after having these two, I can't say that. I've never seen a connection between two dogs like they had. The way Andy took over and helped Emmy when she went blind still amazes me to this day. He never left her side after she lost her sight.

 

 

 

He would walk with her around the yard and help her when she needed to go out.

 

 

 

 

[Yamaha_gurl]

I love their story Judy, I tell it to everyone...my bf even knows the names "Emmy and Andy"

[Guest zombrie]

Caesar is my sensitive boy. Whenever one of the dogs is hurt, Caesar is right there, barely ever leaving their side. When we had Manny, whenever he had seizures Caesar laid by the gate (Manny was separated when he had seizures) and you couldn't get him to move. Once Manny was let out, he stuck to him like glue.

[Guest FrostyBottoms]

I definitely feel that greys can feel empathy. One particular example that comes to mind is when my friend and vet tech's greyhound Jose hurt his foot, Willow was glued to his side the entire day they were at the clinic together. Willow usually doesn't snuggle much with other dogs, but she was where ever Jose was that day. She even got in our way when we had to change his bandage. Photos here.

 

 

These pictures are amazing! I do love the Emmy & Andy connection too, Judy.

Greyhounds are just wonderful beings

 

The pictures of Emmy & Andy are so sweet!

Edited July 27, 2011 by FrostyBottoms

[Guest mbfilby]

When Mickey was sick Cy refused to leave her. We didn't know she was terminal but I think Cy did. We gave her the spare room and bed because she had lost control of her bladder, and he would not leave the room.

[DesiRayMom]

Bless them all; each and every one.

 

I have no "empathy" story to share, but I sure have enjoyed all of yours. Made my allergies flare.

[JJNg]

Wow, Emmy and Andy's relationship is wonderful! It always warms my heart to hear stories like that. Willow and Jose's interaction that day was particularly remarkable because it was so different from her usual behavior.

 

I have another example of empathy between my 2 greys but it wasn't as dramatic because Wiki loves to snuggle anyway. But when Willow was sick last year (described in this response to another post) Wiki seemed particularly concerned about her. Photos here - the first few pics from 2/4/10 were just a couple days after Willow started not feeling good, and we had no idea how bad it would get. The couple from 2/9 show some of the swelling of her face and leg, but she was still trying to clean Wiki's ears. And the last few from 2/20 were about a week after her biopsies, and she's wearing the t-shirt because the biopsy site on her right side opened up.

[Guest FrostyBottoms]

Photos here -

 

 

Such precious photos, I am so happy that I have some sweet photos of Frosty & Vinny cuddling, now that Vinny is gone

[Guest BrianRke]

Im not sure, but it certainly is very very sweet. :inlove

[JaneW]

I've never seen any indication of it in Greta . Life is all about her. She is an "only" dog and doesn't interact with other Greys much at all. And there is a reason she is an only--she definitely prefers it.

[Ragsysmum]

Not sure about other greys but I do think they empathise with people they are close to. When I broke a toe and could only hobble along when taking the dogs for a walk, both mine and the kennel hounds all walked slowly beside me without any pulling, weaving or anything. Once I was walking normally again they all reverted to doing whatever they had done before and the pullers and weavers continued to try doing that.

[GreytNut]

Yes, they do pick up on what's going on with their comrades. When Argus had bone cancer in his leg, Raven knew it before we did. She was constantly fussing over him, licking his leg and hardly letting him out of her sight. She was clearly worried about him. Argus, who usually wasn't a touchy-feely type of dog, seemed grateful for the attention. He let Raven snuggle with him, which was something he didn't normally permit.

[3greytjoys]

A bit of a different spin from "medical" empathy behavior, but when our brood mom's 2 year old daughter joined our family, she often roamed the house collecting bath mats, towels, etc. to "gift" only to her own canine mother. It made no difference that there were always other Greyhounds in the house, nor did it matter where her mom was lying down. Daughter always found her momma. This happened for many months and occasionally still happens.

 

Great reading these empathy stories, and see everyone's amazing pictures.

[Guest FrostyBottoms]

A bit of a different spin from "medical" empathy behavior, but when our brood mom's 2 year old daughter joined our family, she often roamed the house collecting bath mats, towels, etc. to "gift" only to her own canine mother. It made no difference that there were always other Greyhounds in the house, nor did it matter where her mom was lying down. Daughter always found her momma. This happened for many months and occasionally still happens.

 

Great reading these empathy stories, and see everyone's amazing pictures.

 

 

So sweet! I am enjoying all of the stories as well!

[krissn333]

I believe they do

 

Anytime we've had a new dog in the house or a pup who isn't feeling well, he or she sleeps in the living room where there's tile (in case of accidents, etc.). Pinky always stays out there with them so they won't feel alone Particularly when Sutra was recovering from a stint in the ER with HGE - I slept on the couch and she slept on the loveseat that was right next to his bed. The rest of the hoodlums took full advantage of the fact that I wasn't using my bed

 

Skimmie my iggy was also very sensitive to Sutra. When he first came home he was recuperating from a bout with pancreatitis that almost killed him. He was 47 lbs. and didn't want to eat. Skimmie was always laying with him

 

 

And also when he was diagnosed with osteo, Skimmie was always around (excuse the dirty bed, my hard is a mud hole when it rains and the dogs had no doubt tracked it in):

 

[Guest FrostyBottoms]

I believe they do

 

Anytime we've had a new dog in the house or a pup who isn't feeling well, he or she sleeps in the living room where there's tile (in case of accidents, etc.). Pinky always stays out there with them so they won't feel alone Particularly when Sutra was recovering from a stint in the ER with HGE - I slept on the couch and she slept on the loveseat that was right next to his bed. The rest of the hoodlums took full advantage of the fact that I wasn't using my bed

 

Skimmie my iggy was also very sensitive to Sutra. When he first came home he was recuperating from a bout with pancreatitis that almost killed him. He was 47 lbs. and didn't want to eat. Skimmie was always laying with him

 

 

And also when he was diagnosed with osteo, Skimmie was always around (excuse the dirty bed, my hard is a mud hole when it rains and the dogs had no doubt tracked it in):

 

 

 

All your pups are adorable...but that Skimmie has just stolen my heart!!!!!

Edited August 18, 2011 by FrostyBottoms

[Trihounds]

I would have said no between my two littermates before tonight. Our bossy guy, Bumper (aptly named), ran into Brucie while he was rounding a corner during a backyard sprint, sending Brucie flying, rolling, into the only tree in the yard. Huge GSOD, as you can imagine. This was caused purely by Bumper (he has a spinal issue and runs awkwardly himself, slightly off balance). Brucie was really scared initially, only superficially hurt (thank heavens) but had a gash in his eyelid. When we were back in and I was treating the gash, Bumper came over to Brucie, sniffed then licked him. They have NEVER been that close and never shown (any) affection towards each other. I could swear he was apologizing and checking on him....that was my first thought when I saw it!!