To Roach Or Not To Roach

[LaFlaca]

...that is the question. My first Grey, Wendy, was roaching the minute she stepped through my door. New girl, Lola, has been home a month and shows no desire to "assume the position". In your experience, do some Grey's take awhile to feel comfortable enough to go belly up?

[Sundrop]

Absolutely - and some will never roach no matter how comfortable and happy they are. We've had 6 greyhounds over the years, and they've varied in their roaching. Four of them roached all the time and started very quickly, one would roach sometimes, but it took him a few months. We had one with us for over 5 years and he almost never roached - maybe 5 or 6 times that we ever saw. He was also our space aggressive hound, so I think he was always wary of it, even though he was a really happy boy!

 

I think for our one boy, it was just not very comfortable for him, as he showed some signs of discomfort with his back (in general). So don't be upset if your girl takes some time, or never roaches at all. It varies by pup!

[Hubcitypam]

Neither of my girlw ever roached....the80# boys were another matter.Buck walked in from the track in Wichita and immediately roached in my living room. Buddy spent his life upside down.

[LaFlaca]

Buddy spent his life upside down.

 

Yup...that was my Wendy, too!

[XTRAWLD]

Ryder has never roached....he's been close, only really to lift his front leg and ask for his belly to be rubbed, but he prefers sleeping his side. It took Kasey a while to start roaching but once he did, he did it all the time.

[krissy]

I have never had a true roacher. Summit has never roached at any point while we have had him. Kili and Kenna will roach for brief periods of time every so often, but not commonly and rarely for more than a few minutes before they flop over.

[Remolacha]

Fletcher was another who spent his life upside down. Val is usually found on her back as well, but the rest of my greys rarely roached, so definitely an individual thing.

[LaFlaca]

I wonder if it has to do with the size of the dog? Wendy was small for a Greyhound; raced at 47 lbs. and went up to 51 lbs. Lola is huge in comparison - 68 lbs. Maybe roaching is less comfortable for the larger hounds.

[krissy]

Maybe, but I doubt it. Both of my girls are under 60 lbs and I've known some very large males that were champion roachers. Roaching is also not exclusive to greyhounds and lots of very large dogs of other breeds will also roach. I think it probably has more to do with individual conformation than size as to whether they find it comfortable.

[ramonaghan]

Add Sweep to the list of upside-down hounds. I don't know how we'd dremel her nails if she didn't roach! She makes it so easy for us.

[palmettobug]

Johnny is a big boy, 75+, he loves to roach! He can't do it in the car like Sweep, his soft crate isn't big enough.

[greysmom]

Maybe, but I doubt it. Both of my girls are under 60 lbs and I've known some very large males that were champion roachers. Roaching is also not exclusive to greyhounds and lots of very large dogs of other breeds will also roach. I think it probably has more to do with individual conformation than size as to whether they find it comfortable.

 

Our Toni was always very stocky - short bodied, short legs, big wide rib cage, kinda stubby triangular head - she looked more like a lab cross than a full greyhound. Anyway. She roached a lot when we first got her, then she gradually stopped as she got more "relaxed" shape-wise! So I do think body conformation has something to do with it.

 

Currently we have a 52 pounder, a 74 punder, and a 89 pounder and they all spend as much time upside down as rightside up!!

[Fostr_Mom]

My boy can't roach, something to do with his back and my girl half roaches.

[kronckew]

all mine have been gold medalist members of the UK Olympic roaching team.

 

poppy came to me a few days after her spay, you can see her healing incision in the picture of her roaching on 'her' couch within a few minutes of arrival:

 

i'd bet she's upside down in the bedroom as i type this.

 

on your mark:

 

get set:

 

GO!

 

mobile vet came and removed her stitches a few days later.

[KickReturn]

I have one now that desperately wants to roach but is too uncoordinated to figure it out. I have even tried to help him a bit, but it's getting ridiculous.

[fastpointydoge]

I've had my grey 5 months and there has been no attempt to roach unless begging for belly rubs!

[FiveRoooooers]

Aiden 1-5 went from the hauler to my house to the couch and upside down. He is flipped up more than he's upright. Ditto Bea, who I swear is "in roach" most of the day. Trevor achieves a roach occasionally. None so far for new boy Bosco but Bruno is a champion flag waver

[Beachbum1]

Each dog (close to 90 pounds) was upside-down within 24 hour of coming to me.

And they stayed that way.

 

[sobesmom]

Some do. Some do after a while. Some NEVER do. No matter how happy and content they are. When I was new to the breed I thought roaching was a "measure of happiness". NO. My first grey, Sobe, started roaching after a year, but ONLY on the couch. And it took nearly a year for him to be allowed on furniture (he had issues that needed to be dealt with before he got furniture privileges). My 2nd grey, Diana, roached in the car on the way home from being picked up from transport from the track riding to and from a strange place with strangers. Totally not a "content and settled situation". That's just how she slept. All the fosters we had- did or didn't. IMHO - yes, a dog roaching is cool and comfortable. But - a dog that doesn't roach is NOT not cool and comfortable. They just might not want to relax in that position. It's like putting your feet up on the coffee table. Do you? Or don't you? I don't. My DH does. We're both chilling and happy, but I'd rather have my feet curled up under me on the couch. Personal preference and comfort. Don't read too much into it.

 

It's like Roo-ing. Sobe was a champ. It gave Diana panic attacks. There are "general trends" but they're just general. Not for every dog. And that's OK. They're individuals.

I have one now that desperately wants to roach but is too uncoordinated to figure it out. I have even tried to help him a bit, but it's getting ridiculous.

OH - I had a foster like that. It was really awkward and (I'll admit) super funny. Some of them are just not built for it. It's like their spine is too skinny to support it!!