Why Are My Greys Scared To Death Of Flies?

[Guest june]

Jazzy says, "Mmmmmm, SNACK!"

Mom says, "No kisses on the mouth!"

Edited October 27, 2012 by june

[ozgirl2]

Can't help, except with a story...

 

A friend's grey thought flies came out of his butt! ONCE, he snapped at a fly back at his rear end & for the rest of his (long) life, if he saw a fly, he looked back at his butt!!

[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.

 

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.

 

Interesting. Have either of you ever noticed that Riley or Kali have any bug bite allergies? In the summer, Flower gets little welts from bug bites (none of my other dogs ever have). They go away within 24 hours, but I imagine they sting or itch, which may be a contributor to her fly-phobia.

Edited October 28, 2012 by ZoomDoggy

[RedHead]

Wow, another thing I have never heard of (and apparently not all that uncommon!). I have seen dogs that don't like flys but never ones who are extremely fearful. Is there any chance they can be enticed with food (REALLY yummy food like real chicken or steak) when there is a fly around? Honestly, that would drive me nuts, I think I would have to do something!!

 

I know how HORRIBLE biting flies are...we have deer and horse flies here for a few months in the summer and they are enough to drive anything insane. I am guessing that these dogs were bitten by flies at their kennels so they associate them with pain (those bites DO hurt!).

[Guest Jupiter]

I've only had my Honey girl for a little over a year now. Her fear of flies was one of those things I thought was extremely rare! I'm glad to hear she's not the only one.

 

I noticed that she seems absolutely compelled to pick fights with bees if she sees them outside. She literally cannot let it fly by without chasing it down. One or two times I've witnessed this behavior followed by her immediately darting inside - no sign of being stung, but maybe she was stung on the inside of her mouth and I didn't see it? My guess with flies is that she's confused to what is a bee and what is a fly. Typically if there is a fly she will attempt to kill it, but is extremely anxious about doing so. She will try to kill it as fast as possible and her whole body trembles the entire time. If she fails that first attempt at snatching it up she darts into another room to hide, and if it follows her she moves to another room.

 

She has also had sleep aggression, maybe its related? She came from Caliente stadium in Tijuana, and I imagine the flies there are pretty intense.

[kronckew]

no help here, millie thinks flies are little flying snacks. also bees, wasps and bumble bees. she learned that wasps 'bite' back. £50.00 for the exterminator on that one. luckliy millie was unharmed. last mo. she tried to eat a bumble bee & i had to restrain her. she's even caught a pigeon on the wing. flying =food.

[Guest SealDogMermaid]

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

 

LMAO! ahahaha this is so true! The dreaded GSOD gets me every time!!! Describes it perfectly! Thanks for sharing - too funny!

Edited November 2, 2012 by SealDogMermaid

[Pepperjack]

never noticed any welts, Aimee.