My Normally Sweet Grey Lost It At The Dog Park- Am I Overreacting?

[Guest fruitmatters]

We've had our grey for about 5 months now. He's 4 years old and has been settling in great so far. He is small dog and cat friendly, and has always been calm and friendly with the other dogs at the dog park (we live in an apartment so we take him to the sizable apartment dog park several times a day). It's usually empty, but he's never had any problems with the dogs he's played with (more like co-existed with) there. He LOOOOVES chasing and chewing on balls so we are usually playing fetch with him there.

 

HOWEVER, someone in our apartment recently got a lab puppy that is very in his face when they're together at the dog park. The puppy doesn't leave him alone, and is getting pretty big so he can really jump up to his face now. Usually he grabs his ball, growls at the puppy, and trots away when he gets too close. If the puppy gets bored and leaves, he lays down to chew on his ball until the puppy comes back and then the same thing happens. He grows and barks, but he has never nipped because he won't put the ball down when the puppy is nearby. The puppy's owner is unconcerned about this because "he has to learn to not to jump in dog's faces somehow".

 

Today they were at the park together and this was happening, which was nothing new. I wasn't intervening because the puppy's owner wants to let them work it out themselves.

 

When it was time for us to go, I took the ball from him (this is usually what I do when we leave the dog park, because he'll follow me if I have the ball in my hand) but he completely ignored me and went after the puppy. He was nipping/biting at him (I don't think he hurt him, but I was sure concerned) and completely bowled him over running after him, barking and growling the whole time. He ran around after him like this for a bit, with both of us trying to call/catch our dogs. He bit/nipped the puppy a few times, but I don't know if it was that hard because the puppy never yelped. The puppy was definitely trying to get away from my grey though. After we had the dogs under control, the owner didn't seem that concerned, sticking to his "that's how he's got to learn to not be so annoying to other dogs" line, but I was mortified and concerned because I'd never seen him act that way and he COULD really hurt the puppy if he wanted to.

 

So now I'm wondering, was he just asserting himself the way dogs do and I should just let it work itself out the next time they're at the park? Or do I need to cut off all contact and make sure we're never at the dog park at the same time from now on? Is there an in between? He has never reacted this way to a dog before, even dogs that were acting aggressively toward him.

 

A greyhound is by far the biggest dog I've ever had, so I'm not sure if I'm overreacting to a normal dog interaction or if this is really something to be concerned about.

[BatterseaBrindl]

I don't ever go to dog parks.

Things can get very out of control in a split second.

[Scoutsmom]

I think the key is your statement "he could have hurt the other dog, but he didn't". Adult dogs teach puppies to behave by growling at them, knocking them over, and finally, if the pup is really stupid, nipping at them. Your dog was disciplining the lab and the lab was not learning so your dog had to up the discipline. Hopefully the lab has understood the lesson and will leave your dog alone. If not, I would not let them play together in the future--It isn't fair to your dog.

 

An example of this all in action: My sister has a 6 month old collie. At our Christmas gathering, the collie was a bundle of energy and would not leave my old boy alone despite our best efforts to keep them separated. My Henry tried growling, but was ignored. Finally, my boy had had enough, he spun around, growled, and nipped the collie. The collie immediately left my boy alone and did not bother him for the remainder of our visit. It was rather funny watching her submissive behavior around my boy after the "lesson".

 

Many people will respond to your post by saying how bad dog parks are. I don't always agree. If you have a young dog who needs exercise, you only visit when few dogs are there, and you monitor carefully then I think they are fine.

 

PS If the other dog had been an adult dog, then you should be very concerned.

Edited April 17, 2018 by Scoutsmom

[rsieg]

There may be a "cultural" problem here, though. Your greyhound has learned to interact with other greyhounds in a social dog environment, where he was with a pack of other greyhounds pretty much 24/7 at the track and hence learned "proper" dog socializing. The puppy you are encountering at the dog park, on the other hand, was very likely taken away from its mother early on and has been mostly with people, not living with a pack of dogs. So, the puppy may not know the correct social responses to interacting with another dog like yours in a pack environment. This means that the puppy may not behave properly with your greyhound (according to the pack rules your greyhound learned) and may not react to the discipline your greyhound is administering in the correct way (again, according to the pack rules your greyhound learned). This can lead to problems. In my case, there is a husky in my neighborhood that clearly never learned proper dog etiquette, and would put its paws on Logan's back. The husky was just playing, but this is a huge insult in pack culture, equivalent to one person getting into another person's face and yelling. End result is that Logan is terrified of that husky and we cannot walk down that particular street anymore. (Logan is a lover, not a fighter :-)

 

Upshot is, I would not take your greyhound to the dog park when the puppy is there if its owner is too dense to recognize a possible problem and control his dog. If your greyhound were to actually hurt the puppy (which is more likely as the puppy gets older and is seen less as a puppy and more as another adult dog by your greyhound) its owner would likely instantly shift from "that's how he's got to learn" to "your big dog attacked my little dog!", completely ignoring the fact that the puppy instigated it. Sounds like your dog is not enjoying himself when the puppy is around, so why risk it?

[MaryJane]

Your dog is biting another dog at the dog park, That is a problem. Don't take him to dog parks anymore or the next incident may not be minor.

[smurfette]

When my mom got Bendith, her standart poodle puppy, with 12 weeks he was a cheeky little brat. Bendith was with my old boy Colin who was 10 at that time. Colin lay on the ground relaxing and Bendith tried to lick his ears. First Col growled and showed his teeth but little Bendith wasn't impressed. He walked around Coland tried to reach his ears from the back. Col jumped up and with a massive growl and bark went after the little guy who fell down and screamed bloody murder.

It was a scary thing to witness but...

 

... Colin had his whole fang over the poodle. Poodle screamed, Col let off and poodle ran to hide behind my mom's shoes.

 

My mom went to fetch the little culprit and not only wasn't he injured, not even his fur was wet. Col never touched him, just showed him his boundaries. It was a one time thing, never needed to happen again. (My mom was total relaxed)

 

Watch how your dogs react to each other when they meet again. It could have been a one time incident but when your grey tries to bully that little guy that's a no-go.

[GeorgeofNE]

As others have said, there are good reasons most of us do not take greyhounds to dog parks. Not all, some do it, and some do fine. What your dog did was normal DOG behavior, but we live in a very litigious world full of people who do things like risk the dog park, and then sue the person whose dog injured theirs (when everyone at the park should know, full well, injury is a very real possibility when you let a bunch of animals run around loose together!).

[mychip1]

As others have said, there are good reasons most of us do not take greyhounds to dog parks. Not all, some do it, and some do fine. What your dog did was normal DOG behavior, but we live in a very litigious world full of people who do things like risk the dog park, and then sue the person whose dog injured theirs (when everyone at the park should know, full well, injury is a very real possibility when you let a bunch of animals run around loose together!).

 

Yup....exactly.

[Guest fruitmatters]

Thank you for all your replies so far! I really appreciate how helpful this community has been with the whole adoption process. Reading other's posts is incredibly helpful too.

 

I'll talk to the puppy's owner next time we see them and quickly try to assess if the puppy learned his lesson (maybe through the gate of the dog park to see if he's still trying to jump on my grey's face without them being too close). If he hasn't learned (the likely scenario unfortunately) then I won't let them be in the dog park together for both of their sakes.

 

One day, I dream of having my own yard and not having to deal with this For now, it's got to be the apartment dog park though.

[Banjoman]

Your other problem with letting the Labrador ,or any other dog, run with your greyhound is that with the greyhound thin skin the Lab could turn to play or bite your dog and he ends up with a rip or worse down his side leaving him in pain and you with expensive vet bills. This is why greyhounds wear muzzles when racing and out in exercise pens.

[NewGrey2017]

My dog does not care for other dogs. He either ignores them, growls at them or for those little yippee dogs we encounter on our walks, he barks at them.

 

Then one day, a lady pulled her car over and said she lived a few doors away and had a greyhound too. So, I followed her and she brought out a female grey (mine's male). Well, I don't know if you remember those old cartoons where the male dog's eyes pop out of his head and his heart leaps out of his chest, but that's about what happened. He was in heaven. The female thought he was just okay, but wanted to get back to her couch and keep her options open.

 

So, the point being, if you can find a greyhound play group near you, that may be worthwhile for you and your hound.

[Guest kidwellca]

I'll try to make this short. My grey was adopted with his racetrack muzzle on. We were told that when our grey is around other dogs the muzzle should be on, simply because greyhounds sometimes tear their own skin when running and playing rough with othe dogs. It also prevents situations like yours.

 

A Sad Story: My neighbor has a fiesty little guy named Fergus (as 20 lb terrier) whose bark was worse than his bite. Consequently, when Fergus was being walked, other dog owners avoided him. Until one day when one owner did not. As the new guy on the block approached, Fergus barked his head off and pulled on his leash, as did the other dog, until suddenly Fergus lunged for the other dog, who jumped back causing his owner to fall. Fergus took full advantage of the situation and jumped on the owner before my neighbor's reaction kicked in and she pulled Fergus off. The gentleman got up, brushed himself off, said he was fine, and went on his way. A half hour later, the police arrived at my neigbor's issuing a complaint against Fergus and a written warrent stating that he must be quarantined until the gentleman who was attacked was sure he had no severe injuries. As neighborhoods will do, our became lively with chatter and rumors. Fergus was uncontrollable, he was viscious, a real monster of a dog! Eventually, there was so much pressure that Fergus had to be rehomed because other neighbors felt he was so dangerous. My neighbor, who had just lost her husband, was devastated. It was one of the most unfair things I have ever seen, and yet life is unfair!

 

Moral of Story: Keep your dog away from dogs they are not used to!

 

Soji's Mom

[racindog]

Dog parks are a big NO! in my opinion. You have so many ignorant people(like the Lab puppies owner) and so many ill-bred dogs that a disaster of some sort is almost guaranteed sooner or later. Your hound did NOTHING wrong. In fact your hound has modeled EXCEPTIONAL control and manners. I think you should thank him and appreciate him more for that. It sounds as if the pup is about to get on your hounds last nerve and who could blame him. As dog owners we should always strive to set up our dogs for success! If you let them be together again you are doing just the opposite. You are putting your boy in a situation then where he may even inadvertently basically be forced to hurt the pup. Then it will be on his record and make him look like he is troublemaker when nothing could be farther from the truth. Your boy likes his ball because he has good prey drive. It is a highly sought after gift because it enables them to be trained to do many things well. Most dogs with high drive would not tolerate ANY other dog competing for whatever it is that they are playing with. You cannot train it out of them-it is genetics-and whats more it is a good thing. You do them a horrible dis-service if you try to punish or correct them for it because they really have no control over it. The fault here lies solely with the stupid puppy owner who obviously knows nothing about dogs. If he lets his pup do that to the wrong dog the pup will be injured or killed. Protect your wonderful and tolerant boy from such ignorance! He needs you to do that. Set him up for success and keep troublemakers like that pup and its dumb owner away from your wonderful boy. And for heavens sake NEVER muzzle YOUR dog and put him in with unmuzzled dogs! He would be defenseless and probably injured bad if one of them jumped him.

Edited April 18, 2018 by racindog

[robinw]

Thank you for all your replies so far! I really appreciate how helpful this community has been with the whole adoption process. Reading other's posts is incredibly helpful too.

 

I'll talk to the puppy's owner next time we see them and quickly try to assess if the puppy learned his lesson (maybe through the gate of the dog park to see if he's still trying to jump on my grey's face without them being too close). If he hasn't learned (the likely scenario unfortunately) then I won't let them be in the dog park together for both of their sakes.

 

One day, I dream of having my own yard and not having to deal with this For now, it's got to be the apartment dog park though.

Are you sure you want to change that? Perhaps you can take him to the dog park on off hours, when there aren't other dogs there.

[rascalsmom]

I'm with Robin on this one. Take your dog there when there are no other dogs. He can enjoy his playtime and be safe at the same time.

 

I was watching two neighbor dogs (different families) playing yesterday. The young husky mix was jumping all over the golden retriever who is about 6 years old. I commented to my dh that I could not imagine Phoebe tolerating that! Needless to say, Phoebe doesn't really "socialize" with the neighbor dogs. I often wish she had greyhound friends to walk and hang out with (like my previous greyhounds had), but that's not the case.

[claudiav]

I also think the 6 month mark is one to watch... 2 of my 4 greys were perfectly happy with other breed dogs in the first 6 months of adoption... but, out of nowhere, and seemingly overnight, they turned and decided they no longer like other breeds and have to be kept far from them... just be on the lookout for changes in what may be normal behavior... also why dog parks are not recommended for greys... they tend to speak different "dog language" than those who only spend 8 weeks with their mother and siblings, then go to a home with humans and learn to speak "human" more so than "dog"

[Fruitycake]

Labradors have a somewhat different approach to life than greys, and I would seriously doubt that one instance of your dog telling off a lab puppy would make much of an impact. They are enthusiastically rough-and-tumble, and unlikely to accept your dog's message to stop - especially if the owner doesn't reinforce the message that another dog is trying to give by calling him off/ending playtime. He could very well just ramp up his own behavior because he might think 'that's just how this dog plays' and feel he can 'play' that way, too. If that happens, it might cause a real bite by your dog someday, especially as the pup ages and loses the 'puppy grace period' where poor behavior is somewhat tolerated. (In humans, for example, a screaming fit given by a baby or toddler is somewhat tolerated, while the same behavior in an 8-year-old gets much less sympathy and a lot more irritation/anger.)

 

I'd avoid that area when the puppy is out there, and if the pup comes out when you're there, I'd leave immediately.

[GeorgeofNE]

Actually, no, it doesn't "have to be" the apartment dog park.

 

I've been leash walking 5x a day now for over 20 years. My first "my own" dog was a mix, and he did get to go run loose at dog parks. My first greyhound was a MAJOR breed snob, and even if he had been even slightly inclined to listen to me (he was not), I couldn't have taken him to dog parks as he hated all other breeds with a passion. My current hound is way too skittish, and even at greyhound only play dates (which you should consider looking into) he tends to get "picked on." I don't know why, but he is a small male, and I HATE it when I look and see him all stiff with his hackles up surrounded by his own peeps! That's when I rescue him.

 

The point is, there is no practical NEED to let your dog run off leash, except for to save you from having to exercise as well!

 

Not that I don't often want to do that myself--but it is actually possible to have a happy, healthy, and fit greyhound without ever letting them off leash. You just have to commit to it!

[turbotaina]

...

The point is, there is no practical NEED to let your dog run off leash, except for to save you from having to exercise as well!

 

Not that I don't often want to do that myself--but it is actually possible to have a happy, healthy, and fit greyhound without ever letting them off leash. You just have to commit to it!

 

Some dogs need to run. Turbo was walked every day for two hours, plus turnouts that included lots of zoomies, and if he didn't get his weekly fun run with other greyhounds where he would run at race speeds multiple times with his "girlfriend", he would be bouncing off the walls. There are only so many hours in the day that one is home and available for dog walks. If the OP can find a good enclosed area to play fetch and allow the dog to run and burn energy, that's great and beneficial for the dog. Not all greyhounds are couch potatoes.

[Guest fruitmatters]

I hear what you all are saying about dog parks being dangerous but fetch is really the highlight of his day, so I would hate to take that away from him. So far, we haven't seen any other dogs at the dog park this week. I won't let him be with the lab anymore, and I'll use extra caution with other dogs, but I don't feel the need to keep him away from all other dogs at this point. Most of the other dogs that go to the park he has met and gotten along with well, they usually happily sniff and then ignore each other. I always closely monitor their interactions, and I'll resort to only going when it's empty if I feel it's necessary.

 

Thank you again for all of your advice!

[GeorgeofNE]

 

Some dogs need to run. Turbo was walked every day for two hours, plus turnouts that included lots of zoomies, and if he didn't get his weekly fun run with other greyhounds where he would run at race speeds multiple times with his "girlfriend", he would be bouncing off the walls. There are only so many hours in the day that one is home and available for dog walks. If the OP can find a good enclosed area to play fetch and allow the dog to run and burn energy, that's great and beneficial for the dog. Not all greyhounds are couch potatoes.

 

Perhaps you missed the part where I said I walk my dog five times a day.

 

Not needing to run off leash is NOT the same as being a couch potato. I bet my dog gets more exercise than most of the dogs with yards.