Guest brandi007 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Hi there, I know I haven't been on here in a while but a lot has happened this past year. Got married, lost my beloved Sophie and a huge chunk of my heart and almost lost my little kitty - I also added a new family member, Dallas - formerly known as Rock N Desperado. Dallas is a big, big, super cool dude. He's goofy, he's happy, he's nibbley, he's snappy happy and he puts up with Hannah's bad attitude! He's got a big butt, he's got kind eyes, an all-destroying tail and just an over-all sweet disposition. The only issue we're running into is Dallas tends to either get over excited or aggressive around playing or hyper dogs. He lunges at them, snapping and rears up. I'm not sure if this is leash aggression/excitement and am frankly not really willing to unclip and find out. We've been doing walks at our local dog park (Hannah goes and sniffs, poos and runs around - its' fenced in) with him on lead and to try and desensitize him to other dogs playing around him but he just goes crazy! However if we're all standing in a big group talking and everyone and their dogs are calm he's totally fine with them. Any opinions on this and methods you think would help me help him would be greatly appreciated. I'd like it if he could go for play-dates at friend's houses but at this point am pretty nervous as with his size (about 83-84lbs) even with a muzzle he could do some damage! Here he is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feisty49 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 I have no advice, I'm sorry, but he is indeed one big, super cool looking dude! He's very handsome and his fun personality is written all over his face. Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinw Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Good to see you, Brandi! Congratulations! I wonder if it would help to have him sit every time he runs into hyper or playful dogs. Maybe that would help him to relax. I'm sorry for your losses, but congrats on your marriage! Quote Xavi the galgo and Peter the cat. Missing Iker the galgo ?-Feb.9/19, Treasure (USS Treasure) April 12/01-May 6/13, Phoenix (Hallo Top Son) Dec.14/99-June 4/11 and Loca (Reko Swahili) Oct.9/95 - June 1/09, Allen the boss cat, died late November, 2021, age 19. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brandi007 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Thanks so much Robin!! Yeah...quite the year - hoping for a much less eventful year next year. Dallas isn't big on relaxing - he was supposed to be a big, docile sweet guy but it turns out he just had one of the worst cases of hookworm I've ever seen and after we got him (hopefully) all fixed up, he's actually a crazy 4 year old who's going on 2. A big, crazy, house chewing lug! I want to get him into dog school but don't think I can afford it right now. Poor little kitty is pretty sick and is costing me a fortune, in addition to the vet bills after losing Sophie and having him come up with really horrible hookworm that he passed onto Hannah, in addition the wedding and a car with a transmission that blew up, i'm broke! Lol! Saving up to take him in though, he needs to learn how to focus without spinning around and running into things. He's already almost given me 2 black eyes and I think he fractured my pinky. Such a cutie though! Biggest feet and heart i've ever seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinw Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) One thing we learned in obedience school was to get our dogs to focus on our eyes using treats. We would hold the treats up to our eyes or nose so the dog would focus on us, then give the treat as a reward. Wonder if you could try something like that if you could find a treat that high value enough for him to focus on. Rollover treats work well for us. Edited January 9, 2013 by robinw Quote Xavi the galgo and Peter the cat. Missing Iker the galgo ?-Feb.9/19, Treasure (USS Treasure) April 12/01-May 6/13, Phoenix (Hallo Top Son) Dec.14/99-June 4/11 and Loca (Reko Swahili) Oct.9/95 - June 1/09, Allen the boss cat, died late November, 2021, age 19. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brandi007 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 He'll eat anything - Shirts, shoes, felts, toys, couches, mail, etc - I don't think finding him a treat will be a problem I like the school situation because I have someone telling me if I'm doing something wrong and it also gets the kids separated which makes them far more manageable. He's doing really well though - any dog that can put up with Hannah's BS is good in my books. That and he's the single best potty trained dog I've ever met. Even when he was pooping huge balls of bloody goo he held it all day. Hannah wouldn't hold anything for 30 seconds if you turned around to use the washroom for the first 3 years I had her...lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_daerr Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 You (and your two black eyes) are probably not going to want to hear this, but the best way to remedy the situation is more exposure. Truman started having some aggression-based issues on leash, and what really seemed to help is more on-leash introductions with other dogs. That, and LOTS of treats. It helps if you have friends with well-behaved dogs. We are working through Truman's issues in an obedience class. Put as much distance between the two dogs as you need to (BEFORE the point where he's spazzing out, any closer and it's no good). Then give him treats for being calm. If he starts freaking out, turn in the other direction and walk away. Over time, the idea is to gradually get closer until the two dogs are able to greet each other without incident. I might put a harness on Dallas, since he is on the large side and there might be a safety issue. P.S. He's adorable. Is it just the pics, or is his fur really that long? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brandi007 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) The thing is he's an absolute DOLL with all other dogs (5lbs all the way up to 120lbs, male, female - doesn't matter) as long as they're not playing. Literally, we can be standing there with 2 other dogs for an hour and he's greeted them, said hi and they're buddies - but the second they want to play he goes all Cujo on me. I don't know if he's just all pent up because he can't go play with them because he's on lead or if he just can't handle the over-stimulation. Sometimes I wonder if it's me also, I'm definitely a lot more cautious with greyhounds and introductions after all the aggression issues I had with Hannah. Here he is with another male dog at a greyhound walk after they just met, they must of stood like this for a good 1/2 hour or more (he's on the left side of the photo). He's sooooo social, just don't get excited around him! Edited January 9, 2013 by brandi007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedHead Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) Judging from your description of him, it sounds more like overexcitement than aggression (keeping in mind that overexcitement can lead to fighting or growIing). I don't know if this is a "greyhound thing" but Teague still greets new dogs by springing at them with his tail and ears up. It looks like aggression, but it isn't as he never growls or snarls and after the initial meeting he calms right down and basically ignores. I think he just reacts to excitement by lunging/springing through the air, but it often freaks out the other dog. I try to keep him behind me when I meet a dog, I greet the dog first, and that seems to allow the initial excietment reaction to pass. I would keep exposing him to a lot of dogs, see if treats will redirect him, and hopefully with time and experience, he will calm down. Greyhounds are very competetive (found that out at a greyhound run!) and I think other dogs running and playing triggers behaviours in some of them. Edited January 9, 2013 by RedHead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest brandi007 Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) I think you may be right RedHead.... Just so scary to try it though! I think having Hannah having such a huge issue with other dogs has really ruined me on the situation.... The first time I took her on a public outing (a greyhound walk) I took her out of the back of my truck where she morphed into an angry ball of spinning, growling, snapping teeth. I had to pick her up and put her back in the truck and even to this day there are so many times I just have to leave as she gets overwhelmed. I'm proud of her though, she's come a loooooooong way! I hope I can get this figured out, he really wants to play and Hannah just growls and barks at him when he tries to with her. He is really a big sweety but it's scary when he's lunging and snapping. I'll see if any of my friends want to try it in a large backyard with lots of people..... Edited January 10, 2013 by brandi007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.