Playful Biting?

[Greynewbienow]

We have had our rescue greyhound Paddy for a week. This evening he got over excited and jumped on the sofa and went to nip at my youngest son (not aggressive, seems more playful) and nipped at my top. Later when my two sons were messing about on the sofa Paddy ran over and put his mouth on my youngest sons head, again it did not seem aggressive in any way just like he was trying to join in the play. I got in the between him and the boys and firmly said NO and he sheepishly backed off and lay down by the back door. Whilst there was no aggression on Paddy's part, it gave us all a bit of a fright.

 

Does anyone have any experience of this?

 

How should I address this behaviour?

[greysmom]

What you did was ok. I hope you also stopped or moved your boys playing too. "Over excited" is probably the right answer, not being aggressive, because after all, if he'd wanted to really bite he certainly could have.

 

Paddy was playing how dogs/greyhounds play - lots of noise and growling and barking, lots of wrestling, and at some point a roomie race. Many times my house sounds like a war zone with 4 dogs playing. So diffusing the situation and calming everyone down is the way to go.

 

And if your kids are old enough, they should be helping out with Paddy' s care, so he begins to see them not as fellow pack mates to play with, but like caregivers along with the other adults in the house.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Yes...

When they get wound up and playful, nipping is how many Greyhounds 'play'.

Good advice given above!

 

Our 10 yr old Nigel is our 'nipper'... mostly at meal times ... and he has left more than one tiny little bruise on me while waiting for his supper.

[Greynewbienow]

What you did was ok. I hope you also stopped or moved your boys playing too. "Over excited" is probably the right answer, not being aggressive, because after all, if he'd wanted to really bite he certainly could have.

 

Paddy was playing how dogs/greyhounds play - lots of noise and growling and barking, lots of wrestling, and at some point a roomie race. Many times my house sounds like a war zone with 4 dogs playing. So diffusing the situation and calming everyone down is the way to go.

 

And if your kids are old enough, they should be helping out with Paddy' s care, so he begins to see them not as fellow pack mates to play with, but like caregivers along with the other adults in the house.

[Greynewbienow]

Thanks for the advice.

My boys are 8 and 10 so can be involved in his care. My eldest gives him treats but my youngest has just been keeping away from him so far.

[Reminaz]

Hello, I am responding to this conversation which is quite old now but I hope someone can offer advise. Above it is stated "lots of noise and growling and barking, lots of wrestling" describing how greyhounds play. We have a 5 year old female and she not only makes noise, growling and barking but she nips at the other dogs in the dog park. This has become a problem because although we can tell with her wagging tail, etc that she is playing, she has been too rough with most of the dogs. One of the dogs loves the way she plays and when she lays down to rest he goes over and tries to get her up but the majority of them are frightened of her. We used the muzzle on her when this happened but the dog who loves her, treated the muzzle as a new toy and began biting on it and trying to pull it off of her. She is getting a bad reputation in the dog park and she is such a docile sweet girl in every other way. Please let us know what you think.

[Time4ANap]

3 hours ago, Reminaz said:

Hello, I am responding to this conversation which is quite old now but I hope someone can offer advise. Above it is stated "lots of noise and growling and barking, lots of wrestling" describing how greyhounds play. We have a 5 year old female and she not only makes noise, growling and barking but she nips at the other dogs in the dog park. This has become a problem because although we can tell with her wagging tail, etc that she is playing, she has been too rough with most of the dogs. One of the dogs loves the way she plays and when she lays down to rest he goes over and tries to get her up but the majority of them are frightened of her. We used the muzzle on her when this happened but the dog who loves her, treated the muzzle as a new toy and began biting on it and trying to pull it off of her. She is getting a bad reputation in the dog park and she is such a docile sweet girl in every other way. Please let us know what you think.

There are many here with no love for dog parks here due to lots of bad experiences, just like what you are dealing with.  Greyhounds play rough, and it can lead to them being mis-labeled as aggressive or result in an injury that looks intentional but is simply a result of play biting.  When greyhound groups get the hounds together to play, muzzles are required for this reason and due to the thin greyhound skin that can rip or tear easily.  The nipping is play biting to them, but to other dog owners it looks like biting or fighting.  Honestly, I would avoid the dog park at all costs before this situation escalates into something that gets blown out of proportion or ends up with your dog being labeled as aggressive. 

If you have other greyhound owners in the area, it may be better to get a play group together where everyone is muzzled to prevent injury.  The problem with only your dog being muzzled at the park is that if a play incident escalates, your dog cannot defend itself and may end up being attacked by the other dogs that aren't muzzled.  While there are a few people on GreyTalk who have positive experiences with dog parks, the majority do not, mostly due to the unique attributes of these dogs to play hard being mis-interpreted. 

[Reminaz]

Thank you for your thoughts and taking the time to help! I have to say that I am quite relieved to hear you validate that these are normal Greyhound play behaviors. We have only had her since last May and have not owned any dog in the past 40 years so I was a little concerned that she was developing a mean streak. There are absolutely no other greyhounds anywhere in our immediate vicinity, unfortunately. Perhaps we would be wise to arrange to go to the dog park ONLY when the other little dog is there who loves her. He is only 18 months old and half her size but a tough little bugger who loves to run and topple with her. When we take her and no other dogs are there at all, she doesn't really run too much and get exercise. We throw balls for her, etc but there's nothing like other dogs to get her wound up. But we need to be smart about this. Thanks again!!