Resource Guarding And Snapping At Other Non-Greyhound

[Guest kelsey1ann]

Hello,

 

first time greyhound owner, long time dog owner. We have a two year old pit mix named Mac who I have had for almost her whole life. She is dog friendly and submissive.

 

We just adopted Willie, a 4 year old greyhound. We've only had him for about five days. He loves all humans and has been adjusting well. He and our other dog sleep next to each other at night and on the couch. He even rests his head on her sometimes. He still gets nervous and paces and we are working on being comfortable in the crate. Last night, we put him in his kennel to eat. We leave our other dog out with her bed next to his kennel because he seems to be comforted by her presence there. He growled and then aggressively barked at her. I was totally surprised because they have eaten around each other before and they drink water together from the bowl.

 

I am somewhat versed in dog training so we immediately started doing some counter conditioning to ensure the resource guarding doesn't get worse, and until Willie is more comfortable in the home we've put the toys away.

 

Today he was laying on the couch next to our other dog. My boyfriend was on the other end of the couch. Everything was fine until Mac sniffed him and he growled and snapped a little at her. Our other dog was pretty anxious after this. My boyfriend and I tried to be as calm as possible. They're now sleeping next to each other fine on the couch and he even snuggled up closer to our other dog.

 

I think he was just telling her to back off because she was annoying him, but I was starting to get anxious, as these two incidences happened within half a day of each other. I also have anxiety and am trying not to over worry myself, but I am so afraid this is just dominant behavior manifesting itself and will get slowly worse.

 

Is it okay to continue to allow them to be next to each other on the couch? Is there something I should know about greyhound behavior that I could be missing that is making the situation worse?

[spottydog]

Far too early for couch privileges. Should be months before he is allowed on the couch. Also, greyhounds are often very touchy about their personal space. One minute it's okay another dog is lying next to them, and the next minute it's not. Also search this forum for

"Sleep Startle". Good luck with your new boy! Greyhounds often have a few piccadillos, but are such a fun breed.

[Guest kelsey1ann]

Far too early for couch privileges. Should be months before he is allowed on the couch. Also, greyhounds are often very touchy about their personal space. One minute it's okay another dog is lying next to them, and the next minute it's not. Also search this forum for

"Sleep Startle". Good luck with your new boy! Greyhounds often have a few piccadillos, but are such a fun breed.

 

Thank you for the advice. His blankey and bed are now on the floor. Firm but gentle signs from us that couch is no longer a viable place to sit. He seems a little put out, trying to get back up, but other than that being very polite. He finally gave up pretty quickly and laid on the ground.

We're also working on the lay down command so hopefully once he learns that it will be helpful with telling him where he can and can't lay.

I guess our next commands with be "off" and "drop it"

Other than these few worries, he has been a total sweetie.

[krissy]

Far too early for couch privileges. Should be months before he is allowed on the couch. Also, greyhounds are often very touchy about their personal space. One minute it's okay another dog is lying next to them, and the next minute it's not. Also search this forum for

"Sleep Startle". Good luck with your new boy! Greyhounds often have a few piccadillos, but are such a fun breed.

 

This can be a personality trait, a startle response, or just a lack of trust/comfort at this time.

 

I have 3 hounds. Summit is very easy going and doesn't get upset if he gets squashed a bit or jostled, but he doesn't really like being cuddled or jostled. He typically doesn't sit on the couch with anyone, but he doesn't snark or get upset if someone sits with him. He is getting a little bit grumpier in his senior years, but I think that's fair since he's probably sore and just doesn't have the patience he used to. It's mostly just with the other dogs, not with us. He was a retired racer that we got as a bounce.

 

Kili HAS to be touching me in bed, but she doesn't want to be moved or jostled or she'll grumble. She often jumps up and gets off the bed/couch but then climbs right back up again. We've had her from 8 weeks old so there was no lack of being touched and handled... it's just a personality trait.

 

Kenna is still too busy to have much freedom, but we have let her sleep on the bed a few times and when she's super tired she might spend some time on the couch with me in the evening. She's much more snuggly with both the other dogs and with people, and so far doesn't mind being moved/jostled/cuddled. We've also had her from 8 weeks old. She's actually quite closely related to Kili and they do share a lot of traits, but not this particular one!

 

I think it's a bit early for couch time or cuddle time with the other dog. I'd encourage them to interact calmly while standing up, but encourage the new boy to use a dog bed on the floor for now until you can determine if this is a startle reaction, a personality thing, or just that he's new and not quite comfortable with everyone yet.

[Guest kelsey1ann]

 

This can be a personality trait, a startle response, or just a lack of trust/comfort at this time.

 

I have 3 hounds. Summit is very easy going and doesn't get upset if he gets squashed a bit or jostled, but he doesn't really like being cuddled or jostled. He typically doesn't sit on the couch with anyone, but he doesn't snark or get upset if someone sits with him. He is getting a little bit grumpier in his senior years, but I think that's fair since he's probably sore and just doesn't have the patience he used to. It's mostly just with the other dogs, not with us. He was a retired racer that we got as a bounce.

 

Kili HAS to be touching me in bed, but she doesn't want to be moved or jostled or she'll grumble. She often jumps up and gets off the bed/couch but then climbs right back up again. We've had her from 8 weeks old so there was no lack of being touched and handled... it's just a personality trait.

 

Kenna is still too busy to have much freedom, but we have let her sleep on the bed a few times and when she's super tired she might spend some time on the couch with me in the evening. She's much more snuggly with both the other dogs and with people, and so far doesn't mind being moved/jostled/cuddled. We've also had her from 8 weeks old. She's actually quite closely related to Kili and they do share a lot of traits, but not this particular one!

 

I think it's a bit early for couch time or cuddle time with the other dog. I'd encourage them to interact calmly while standing up, but encourage the new boy to use a dog bed on the floor for now until you can determine if this is a startle reaction, a personality thing, or just that he's new and not quite comfortable with everyone yet.

 

We take them on walks together during potty breaks and longer in the morning to build trust between them. He seems to defer to her in the car because that's his anxious place.

He loves to cuddle with us and seeks out hugs and kisses from us and strangers. He is still very new so he wants us to always reassure him.

He is currently laying on the floor. Once I stood up and stopped him from the couch he pretty much gave up. We've interacted with tons of rescues, but Willie here is pretty unique. Most of the rescues I've worked around are used to being house pets, so sometimes I need to remember that this is pretty new for our retiree.

 

I'm fairly certain it wasn't a startle response though because they had JUST come in and he was still awake with his head up.

[greysmom]

Time and patience. He's only been with you for a few days!

 

IMO, several things are going on here. One, he's very new to you and to living in a home and to having another breed of dog around. Greyhounds are raised around people and greyhounds and they often don't recognize and/or understand dogs that aren't just like them. Greyhounds stay with their brothers and sisters a lot longer than most dogs, so they learn proper dog language and behavior, rather than being taken away from their families at 8-12 weeks and only living with humans. Many greyhounds don't have any problems telling other dogs to back off or correcting their behavior if they are approached incorrectly or too exhuberantly. He probably still has some anxiety himself in transitioning to this new stage in his life. Some greyounds adapt quicker than other and yours will have his own time table.

 

Two, he's NOT being aggressive or dominant - probably. Mostly because it's too early to say one way or another. Barking and growling are normal ways for dogs to communicate. And while it looks and sounds bad to *us,* to the dogs it's just the way they talk to each other. Mac is friendly and wants to be friends and mostly Willie is OK with that.

 

Three, because he's so new to home life it can take time for their true personality and characteristics to emerge. It's like they are on their best behavior and being very good when they first come home - they are scoping everything out, and seeing what's what and who's who. Then, as they figure it all out and learn how it works and what's expected of them, they sort of relax and be themselves more. They start saying "You know, I let you do that before, but I really didn't like it, so stop it!" They've never had any toys or treats that they had to share with any other dog, so that's all new too. You will see his personality emerge and change dramatically over the next several months.

 

Everything that you described is really *very* normal behavior for a newly adopted greyhound. You're not doing anything wrong, and neither (really) is Willie. Relax!

 

Congratulations and Welcome!

[Guest kelsey1ann]

Time and patience. He's only been with you for a few days!

 

IMO, several things are going on here. One, he's very new to you and to living in a home and to having another breed of dog around. Greyhounds are raised around people and greyhounds and they often don't recognize and/or understand dogs that aren't just like them. Greyhounds stay with their brothers and sisters a lot longer than most dogs, so they learn proper dog language and behavior, rather than being taken away from their families at 8-12 weeks and only living with humans. Many greyhounds don't have any problems telling other dogs to back off or correcting their behavior if they are approached incorrectly or too exhuberantly. He probably still has some anxiety himself in transitioning to this new stage in his life. Some greyounds adapt quicker than other and yours will have his own time table.

 

Two, he's NOT being aggressive or dominant - probably. Mostly because it's too early to say one way or another. Barking and growling are normal ways for dogs to communicate. And while it looks and sounds bad to *us,* to the dogs it's just the way they talk to each other. Mac is friendly and wants to be friends and mostly Willie is OK with that.

 

Three, because he's so new to home life it can take time for their true personality and characteristics to emerge. It's like they are on their best behavior and being very good when they first come home - they are scoping everything out, and seeing what's what and who's who. Then, as they figure it all out and learn how it works and what's expected of them, they sort of relax and be themselves more. They start saying "You know, I let you do that before, but I really didn't like it, so stop it!" They've never had any toys or treats that they had to share with any other dog, so that's all new too. You will see his personality emerge and change dramatically over the next several months.

 

Everything that you described is really *very* normal behavior for a newly adopted greyhound. You're not doing anything wrong, and neither (really) is Willie. Relax!

 

Congratulations and Welcome!

 

I literally have tears in my eyes. Thank you for the reassurance. Sometimes my brain just tells me things are literally the worst and it can't be fixed. It's good to know this is a common thing that can and may resolve itself. I tell myself that he's just expressing himself but I also worry.

 

Mac tends to be overly friendly and he is right to tell her not to be so rude. She snaps at dogs at the dog park when they violate her space and don't listen when she tells them no so Willie should be able to do the same to her. We didn't reprimand him because I don't want him to learn that warning signs are wrong and go straight into bite mode.

 

He still pants and paces from nervousness, so I'm sure he has some anxiety about her being around too. He had a particularly hard couple of first days with us because he was COVERED in fleas and we had to bathe him several times and take him to the vet his first two days. He also had hookworms and had to get a fecal test done and has been taking dewormer. Not a fun start for a doggo.

[MaryJane]

You mentioned that the food bowls are close even though one of your dogs is in the crate, The bed was also close.

 

I'm going to suggest that you place the food bowls for each of the dogs far away from each other - the same with dog beds. The greyhound is new, keeping him so close with the other dog could be making him more anxious than he needs to be as he may be feeling that he needs to protect his food/bed.

 

Eventually, the greyhound will feel more comfortable and the behavior may lessen.

[Guest kelsey1ann]

You mentioned that the food bowls are close even though one of your dogs is in the crate, The bed was also close.

 

I'm going to suggest that you place the food bowls for each of the dogs far away from each other - the same with dog beds. The greyhound is new, keeping him so close with the other dog could be making him more anxious than he needs to be as he may be feeling that he needs to protect his food/bed.

 

Eventually, the greyhound will feel more comfortable and the behavior may lessen.

Only his food was in the room, I just had her stay in the room with him. Up until then, he seemed to be comforted by her presence. It was my mistake to not think about him being food insecure, because he absolutely devours his food. Learned my lesson! They are both kenneled in separate rooms when eating now. She also isn't allowed in his kennel or on his bed, and he's not allowed in her chair. She also tends to be a sneak and steals toys from my parents dogs so I think she might have been getting a little too close for comfort around his food.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Lots of good advice as been given

Time, time and more time is needed. Be patient.

You sound quite knowledgable and caring. Willy will be fine!