Why Are My Greys Scared To Death Of Flies?

[Guest BrindleBabes]

Anyone care to enlighten me on why both my 68# Greyhounds are deathly afraid of flies? Does anyone know how to help them through this fear?

 

This morning a tiny housefly found its way into the kitchen -- which meant Tess flew into the front bedroom without eating. An hour (and one dead fly) later, she is still in hiding.

They generally refuse to lay on the patio for fear of a flying insect.

Grace would not participate at our last group training session because there was a fly in the room.

A fly landing on one means the abrupt end to a nice walk in the park -- it's a beeline back to the car.

 

And so on. Even our trainer cannot think of a way to desensitize them.

 

Aauugghhh! Any suggestions are welcome!

[FiveRoooooers]

There is a wonderful article in an older issue of Celebrating Greyhounds about this very topic. It won't help with the problem, but the description of the GSOD in response to a *fly* will have you

[Guest BrindleBabes]

Thanks. Do you remember which issue or year? I save them -- and I can't believe I would've missed that article!

[Guest cristaron]

Our 11 year old boy does this too, always has since we got him 9 years ago. Even a tiny baby fly sends him running into

his kennel. He's only ok when I finally kill the little bugger and tell him "I killed him dead", then he'll come back out.

Boxelder, lady bugs, mosquitos don't even phaze him - it's just a fly.

All these years and he's still scared to death, no matter what I've tried.

 

Even grabbing the fly swatter sends him running because he knows there's one of those dreaded little things flying around

somewhere.

[FiveRoooooers]

Thanks. Do you remember which issue or year? I save them -- and I can't believe I would've missed that article!

 

I'm happy to check tonight, I was just reading it but don't recall which issue it was.

[beledi]

Samlur loves to chase and eat flyting things. He even watches airplanes. I have to be careful if he sees a wasp or a bee. He loves the white skunk cabbage butterflies.

I too am interested in the article from CG. I do not remember seeing it. Sorry, have no thoughts on how to "fly" desensitize.

[JAJ2010]

Rainy is the same way! and she's getting worse every year...

[ZoomDoggy]

I've had a couple of fly-phobes over the years. Flower is my current basket case when it comes to harmless houseflies. It's pathetic to see my healthy happy-go-lucky 65lb girl turn into a shut-down trembling ball in a darkened room because there's one tiny fly buzzing around the house. My only guess as to why some greys have this fear is that perhaps they had experienced biting horseflies at some point during their career. And those flies HURT!

[LaFlaca]

Yup, Wendy is terrified of flies. Any other winged buzzy thing she tries to snatch out of the air and eat. Mighty Huntress!

[Guest borzoix4]

We had this with an adopted Borzoi, and what it actually was is that she was afraid of a fly swatter. So- see a fly and obviously someone would get the fly swatter. ( ie person starts smacking things in the dogs mind). Is it possible this applies as well?

 

What we did was not use a fly swatter, and instead just get a small fly strip to take care of the matter. Meanwhile- when I would get out the fly swatter it was 'cookie time' to change the pattern of association. It took a bit, but it worked.

[FiveRoooooers]

I did a quick online search of previous issues, is it the Spring, 2009, p. 19?

[ZoomDoggy]

We had this with an adopted Borzoi, and what it actually was is that she was afraid of a fly swatter. So- see a fly and obviously someone would get the fly swatter. ( ie person starts smacking things in the dogs mind). Is it possible this applies as well?

...

 

In my cases, it was definitely the fly. The trembling and carrying on starts before I even notice the fly flitting around. Seeing Flower shut down is usually my first indication that there's even a fly in the house at all.

[Guest borzoix4]

We had this with an adopted Borzoi, and what it actually was is that she was afraid of a fly swatter. So- see a fly and obviously someone would get the fly swatter. ( ie person starts smacking things in the dogs mind). Is it possible this applies as well?

...

 

In my cases, it was definitely the fly. The trembling and carrying on starts before I even notice the fly flitting around. Seeing Flower shut down is usually my first indication that there's even a fly in the house at all.

Yea Femka would react with a fly, but it was because obviously her prior owner started smacking around the house was her anticipation.

Only other thing I can think of is maybe she was bit before by a horse fly?

[racindog]

Thanks. Do you remember which issue or year? I save them -- and I can't believe I would've missed that article!

Me too.

[RaineysMom]

Larry is only afraid of them when he's in the living room (from whatever happened a couple months ago with the fly swatting) or when we're out walking (he'll make a quick head turn to look at his back legs like one landed on him). If they're in the kitchen (on the sliding glass door) he'll go out of his way to eat it, no fear at all. Weirdo.

[msjpk]

Plummer becomes the velcro dog when he sees a fly. His ears go up he starts looking for a human to protect him. To funny.

[Hubcitypam]

None of mine have ever been afraid of flies. I've chuckled many times at some of them acking after they finally caught the elusive fly and found out what it tasted like.

Edited October 25, 2012 by Hubcitypam

[ZoomDoggy]

Recently Flower was terrorized by a fly for a good couple of hours before I finally figured out why she was freaking out. So I found a swatter, dispatched the fly, and showed her the smushed fly still adhering to the swatter. She sniffed it closely, then ate it. Definitely no coming back from that, Mr. Fly. :

[FiveRoooooers]

Thanks. Do you remember which issue or year? I save them -- and I can't believe I would've missed that article!

Me too.

 

Spring 2009, pg. 19.

[Guest Gemma]

Peyton is terrified of flies, too! If he sees one, he gets all paranoid and starts looking for one everywhere. If one touches him, he freaks out and runs away. He loves to go for walks but will not sit outside with me for long periods of time because of the bugs.

 

Someone once told me that it could be because of his experience as a puppy. Apparently, some states where there are a lot of greyhound farms have nasty black fly problems in the summer, and a lot of puppies get bitten by them. I don't know how true this is but it would explain a lot if factual.

[revamp]

Rocky doesn't seem too concerned about flies, but he's scared to death of a flyswatter. He runs off and then statues with the "thousand mile stare"

[Guest BrindleBabes]

OK, I couldn't locate my Spring 2009 issue of CG, but I found this on a blog site and it's quite funny. I hope I don't offend anyone by including it (if so I will delete) because the only credit I could find was "Vistacruise" who does not appear to be a member of this forum. So here goes:

 

There are many tools that coddled, spoiled Greyhounds use to ensure their ongoing success: sad eyes, whining, whimpering, and yowling, just to name a few. But the most lethal tool by far is the Greyhound Scream of Death (GSOD). Contrary to the visions of heinous, life-threatening injuries this may conjure in your mind, a Greyhound unleashing the GSOD is likely not hurt, but may have actually stepped on a blade of wet grass and wants you to fix it immediately. Let me outline an example; picture this…

You and your Greyhound are sitting on your deck outside enjoying a beautiful spring afternoon. Your Greyhound is snuggled on a nice, soft blanket you brought out, snoozing and dreaming of happy things, while you are stretched out on your chaise lounge relaxing with a good book. The birds are chirping happily, playing in your new bird bath, not a cloud in the sky. It is an afternoon that defines serenity.

Unbeknownst to you, a fly has decided to check out your Greyhound. It buzzes around cautiously, quickly realizing that the beast is not disturbed by its presence. It hovers briefly above your Greyhound’s nose, lining its feet up for maximum traction and then lands abruptly. Out of nowhere, your Greyhound goes from sweet serenity to a swirling mass of uncoordinated legs and tail, spiraling around in confusion, while letting out the most ear piercing, heart stopping scream of agony you have ever heard.

It is a sound heard by the neighbors over their home theater system as they contemplate dialing 9-1-1. Chipmunks and squirrels you didn’t even notice are chattering the alarm and seeking higher ground taking the other woodland creatures with them. It is full of such portents of danger the birds leave and fly to trees miles away for safety. You, meanwhile, reflexively throw your book 20 feet in the air and rush to save your dog from the evil that has cursed it before you even realize you are standing up.

Your dog, seeing that you are on your way, stands still with one front paw gingerly lifted off the ground, quivering with soft, sad eyes staring at you, wrenching sobs from your throat and welling your eyes with tears as you envision that some failing on your part has caused harm to come to your favored friend. As soon as your Greyhound sees that you are affected, he hobbles towards you so you can caress him and check him over to fix the horrendous injury that has caused his anguish.

You take the seemingly injured paw gently in your hands, expecting spurts of blood or missing fur and scraped skin… but there is nothing. You spread his toes to check the webbing, expecting to see it split wide open and oozing blood… but there is nothing. You check pads for splinters, the wrist for gashes; you work your way up to the ankle, gently manipulating the whole way with your heart pounding so loudly you are afraid it will burst. You are expecting to find a twist or sprain with your ever-so-gentle massage that will elicit the GSOD again… but there is nothing.

And then you see it… the fly laying on your dog’s bed, its heart stopped from fear, dead where it was tossed when your Greyhound jumped for the sky. You gently flick it off the bed to the grass below, and your Greyhound trots right on over (using all four feet) where he nests the blanket and settles right back to his snooze, oblivious to your gaping jaw.

Posted by Vistacruise at 7:23 PM

[Pepperjack]

We had this with an adopted Borzoi, and what it actually was is that she was afraid of a fly swatter. So- see a fly and obviously someone would get the fly swatter. ( ie person starts smacking things in the dogs mind). Is it possible this applies as well?

...

 

In my cases, it was definitely the fly. The trembling and carrying on starts before I even notice the fly flitting around. Seeing Flower shut down is usually my first indication that there's even a fly in the house at all.

 

And we have a control group, as I have her litter mate, who just happened to race in the same exact same kennel. And confusingly there is no fly issue at all for her. Flower's reaction is clearly to the fly itself, and the previous year I was killing flies without any swatter. And yes, she was eating them after they were dispatched.

[Remolacha]

:rofl

 

Sometimes Fletcher will leap up off the couch and scuttle, tail tucked and ears back, into the bedroom because a fly is buzzing around the room. Other times he will leap up and go into mighty hunter mode, chasing and snapping until the fly is gone. I have never figured out why the different responses

[Guest TBSFlame]

OK, I couldn't locate my Spring 2009 issue of CG, but I found this on a blog site and it's quite funny. I hope I don't offend anyone by including it (if so I will delete) because the only credit I could find was "Vistacruise" who does not appear to be a member of this forum. So here goes:

 

There are many tools that coddled, spoiled Greyhounds use to ensure their ongoing success: sad eyes, whining, whimpering, and yowling, just to name a few. But the most lethal tool by far is the Greyhound Scream of Death (GSOD). Contrary to the visions of heinous, life-threatening injuries this may conjure in your mind, a Greyhound unleashing the GSOD is likely not hurt, but may have actually stepped on a blade of wet grass and wants you to fix it immediately. Let me outline an example; picture this…

 

You and your Greyhound are sitting on your deck outside enjoying a beautiful spring afternoon. Your Greyhound is snuggled on a nice, soft blanket you brought out, snoozing and dreaming of happy things, while you are stretched out on your chaise lounge relaxing with a good book. The birds are chirping happily, playing in your new bird bath, not a cloud in the sky. It is an afternoon that defines serenity.

 

Unbeknownst to you, a fly has decided to check out your Greyhound. It buzzes around cautiously, quickly realizing that the beast is not disturbed by its presence. It hovers briefly above your Greyhound’s nose, lining its feet up for maximum traction and then lands abruptly. Out of nowhere, your Greyhound goes from sweet serenity to a swirling mass of uncoordinated legs and tail, spiraling around in confusion, while letting out the most ear piercing, heart stopping scream of agony you have ever heard.

 

It is a sound heard by the neighbors over their home theater system as they contemplate dialing 9-1-1. Chipmunks and squirrels you didn’t even notice are chattering the alarm and seeking higher ground taking the other woodland creatures with them. It is full of such portents of danger the birds leave and fly to trees miles away for safety. You, meanwhile, reflexively throw your book 20 feet in the air and rush to save your dog from the evil that has cursed it before you even realize you are standing up.

 

Your dog, seeing that you are on your way, stands still with one front paw gingerly lifted off the ground, quivering with soft, sad eyes staring at you, wrenching sobs from your throat and welling your eyes with tears as you envision that some failing on your part has caused harm to come to your favored friend. As soon as your Greyhound sees that you are affected, he hobbles towards you so you can caress him and check him over to fix the horrendous injury that has caused his anguish.

 

You take the seemingly injured paw gently in your hands, expecting spurts of blood or missing fur and scraped skin… but there is nothing. You spread his toes to check the webbing, expecting to see it split wide open and oozing blood… but there is nothing. You check pads for splinters, the wrist for gashes; you work your way up to the ankle, gently manipulating the whole way with your heart pounding so loudly you are afraid it will burst. You are expecting to find a twist or sprain with your ever-so-gentle massage that will elicit the GSOD again… but there is nothing.

 

And then you see it… the fly laying on your dog’s bed, its heart stopped from fear, dead where it was tossed when your Greyhound jumped for the sky. You gently flick it off the bed to the grass below, and your Greyhound trots right on over (using all four feet) where he nests the blanket and settles right back to his snooze, oblivious to your gaping jaw.

 

Posted by Vistacruise at 7:23 PM

Funny and very true.

 

We had this with an adopted Borzoi, and what it actually was is that she was afraid of a fly swatter. So- see a fly and obviously someone would get the fly swatter. ( ie person starts smacking things in the dogs mind). Is it possible this applies as well?

...

 

In my cases, it was definitely the fly. The trembling and carrying on starts before I even notice the fly flitting around. Seeing Flower shut down is usually my first indication that there's even a fly in the house at all.

 

And we have a control group, as I have her litter mate, who just happened to race in the same exact same kennel. And confusingly there is no fly issue at all for her. Flower's reaction is clearly to the fly itself, and the previous year I was killing flies without any swatter. And yes, she was eating them after they were dispatched.

 

I also have a littermate and no fly issues with Riley.