Training To Get Greyhound To Be Ok With Other Dogs?

[Guest katie_dog]

Has anyone done any training with their greyhound to get them to not be so stressed about other dogs? What sort of techniques did you use that you thought were effective? How long did it take for you to notice progress? My dog Katie seems to not be fond of other dogs. It seems like she doesn't trust them or feels threatened by them somehow. Often she stops and stares down the other dogs walking by and it is hard to get her back on track with our walk. These other dogs are usually pretty relaxed. I would like her to be able to walk past another dog like she isn't bothered by them and be calm about it.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

Katie may have never seen a non-greyhound dog. To her they are strange/interesting/scary. My Tia found them very scary so she would try to attack them. But we worked on it and she did get much better although she was never comfortable around husky/wolf type dogs.

 

What you want Katie to associate good things with the non-grey dogs. Keep treats in your pocket and when she sees another dog immediately give her a treat. I used to give my Tia a pep talk at the same time--telling her what a lovely dog it was- what lovely fur, etc. If you do that, keep your voice upbeat and happy. If she detects any nervousness in your voice, she will get even more nervous.

 

Also do you know anyone with a very laid back no-grey dog? If so, let them meet in a neutral place and she can learn other dogs are okay. I used 2 golden retrievers that I knew. Every one was leashed and after lots of sniffing, they ignored each other.

[Guest katie_dog]

I don't really know anyone with laid back dogs, but I've had strangers try to introduce their laid back dogs to Katie. She will snap at them if they get too close to her face. An unleashed dog came up to her yesterday and sniffed her butt. That didn't seem to bother her, but I still had the dog go away because I didn't want Katie to bite at it if it came up to her face. She's OK with strange people coming up to her and patting her, even on her mouth, but she is sensitive to other dogs getting in her face. I tried the treats once, but they didn't seem to distract her. I think I'll have to try it with chicken pieces. So after you give the dog a treat, how do you get them back on track and walking in the direction you want them to go in instead of looking back at the other dog?

[GeorgeofNE]

First of all, don't let her stop to stare. You're in charge, right? Make a noise (like you'd cluck at a horse) and wave the treat near her face and just keep walking. The idea is the other dog is SO not a big deal it isn't even worth stopping for. If she continues to walk with you, give her the treat right away. If she stops, well, give her a tug and keep going. I'm a big believer that I'm the human, I pay the bills, so I dictated when, where, and how fast we walk.

 

Sounds like you may have a "breed snob." George was like that, and honestly he never got over it. I just avoided other dogs. If people approached us, I would say, "I'm sorry, he only likes other greyhounds" and they would generally be smart enough to leave us alone.

 

He did get used to my parents' two English setters by wearing his muzzle in their house/yard for an entire day. After that first day, he was fine. He never interacted with them AT ALL (never sniffed them, wagged his tail at them, etc) but he also stopped growling at them. So it CAN be done. Sounds like your dog is pretty new to you, so focus on getting her to trust you and working on her leash manners and walking nicely.

[smurfette]

And it is very impolite to stare at other dogs and approach another dog face to face ( I don't know the english word for it, but I hope you can understand what I want to say) when you are a dog.

You wouldn't stop in the street and stare at some kind of big biker guy and make faces at him - it's the same for dogs.

When you meet people with laid back dogs ask them to walk a little with you but don't let the dogs interact. In this way your girl can observe the other dog and decide that it is not a threat to her.

 

When I had Col, my first grey, for a few weeks we met a nice woman with a nice ChowChow. Colin thought that she was a nice dog but when she walk by he got very excited by that fluffy thing she had with her and tried to take a quick snap and perhaps shake. Lucky him I was a bit faster and stopped him from biting her tail.