Basic questions and small update

[Apollo_the_Grey]

Apollo has been with me just over a month now.  His silly personality is starting to come out.  As is his love of cheese!

I found Apollo's race record let's just say he didn't seem interested in running... only 5 races.  But the important part is that I found out his DOB.  7/10/19.  His sister and brother had easily double that.  Also, silly question about the ear tattoos:  His right ear number was 79b, and his sister and brother were 79F and 79D.  What happened to the A & C dogs in the litter?  Is there a high mortality rate in racing greyhounds?

Update on my previous thread:  Thanks for all the advice there.  I put a doggie mattress just outside the kitchen and he loves to lay there while I cook.  He's comfy and out of the way.  In the event that he enters my tiny kitchen, I keep a pot and a spoon at hand to create a loud "boom boom boom" which gets him out of the kitchen if he doesn't leave when I say "OUT!" and then I reward him after he leaves the kitchen and he's close to his mattress.  

Now for a couple of questions:

 

Tail wagging:  Apollo is a very shy and not super confident boy.  In fact it's only when I come home from work that he wags his tail at all.  Mostly it's semi curled under or just hanging limp.  It's not really a big deal to me if he does wag it, but it's a nice bit of communication and feedback that I'd love to see.  (Especially coming from my background with PHs.)   Does anyone else have a non-waggy tail boy?  Will he grow into it or is that just something that maybe he won't ever do?

Squirrels/ Prey drive:  Probably not what you're expecting.  This dog has zero interest in squirrels or other fuzzy friends.  In fact he got stared down by a squirrel only 5 or 6 feet away and he almost pulled the leach to get away.   I find it kind of baffling that a sighthound wouldn't have a higher prey drive, but am I wrong?  Is low to no prey drive a frequent behavior in retired greys or do I have the oddball out?

Zoomies:   Apollo's zoomies are pretty consistent in timing, almost always at midnight to 12:30ish.  Just as I'm laying down for bed.  Any ideas on how to change that timing?  It doesn't keep me up, but I'm afraid of him throwing things around and running into walls, doorways and the bed in the dark.  (Though it's quite hilarious to see him zooming and playing with his stuffies.)  And we do get 10-15 minute walks 2x a day and at least a 1.5 mile walk/jog once a week.  Sometimes it's a 2 to 2.5 mile walk as well.

Sleeping:  Apollo sleeps with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.  Cause for worry or he's just a loveable doofus?

 

Thanks for humoring me.  The differences between PHs and GHs are huge in some respects and miniscule in other respects.  I like the goofiness of Apollo in most situations as opposed to the seriousness that PHs can  often bring into a situation.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2021 by Apollo_the_Grey

[HeyRunDog]

I'm glad you've found a workable solution to keeping him out of the kitchen. As his confidence grows I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually stops using that doggie mattress and stays on one of the other beds.

Tail Wagging - Grace isn't a great tail wagger either. She'll wag it when walkies are mentioned but stops when I reach down to put her lead on and her teeth chatter away in happiness.

Prey Drive - Sounds like Grace. Very low prey drive until the squirrel, rabbit, small furry animal runs. If they stay still and stare her out she'll back off.

Sleeping - Having the tongue hanging out of the side of the mouth is usual. Rich Skipworth's (look up his greyhound glossary) definition. DERP: The facial expression of a Greyhound that seems to imply complete and utter spaced-out empty-headed weirdness. Usually accompanied by a lolling tongue.

Sorry I can't answer the question about zoomies or the missing ear tag codes.

[MerseyGrey]

The only thing I can add is that Buddy’s eyesight doesn’t seem to be worse at night than during the day - he is just as likely to crash into something in full sunlight. If you are worried, do you have somewhere you can plug in a nightlight? We have one which we use every night but we didn’t originally buy it for Buddy, and I don’t think he really needs it.

Like Grace, Buddy is very selective about who/what he wags his tail for and sometimes will greet complete strangers like old friends.

Prey drive varies from hound to hound. Apollo might show more interest in small furries as he becomes more settled; he may not. Just take care around them until you’re sure.

[LBass]

What a lovely update on your boy.  

Tail wagging--of my 4 Greyhounds, the amount of tail wagging is mixed.  One seldom wagged at all.  I think individual variation is quite normal.  I've also noticed that mine tend to wag more for strangers and visitors than for me. 

Prey drive--individual variation there seems quite normal as well.  Honestly, I find Greys without strong prey drive to be welcome since I've always had cats as well.

Maybe plan a 10 minute play time before bed to take advantage of his readiness to play then?  Otherwise, mine seem to see well at night so I don't expect that he'll hurt himself.

Sleeping--perfectly normal.  One of my favorite photos of my first Grey was of Piper, sound asleep, eyes open, tongue hanging out and almost "crisp" from being dry.  

Don't you love the gradual unveiling of who your Apollo is? 

[Houndtime]

Sounds like a sweetie.

[palmettobug]

G is a seldom wagger, he is a teef chatterer tho.

His lack of front teeth makes his tongue fall out, too, and he can't lick in a straight line.

[Remolacha]

Most of your questions have been answered but I did want to mention helicopter tail. Some greys, even if they are not normally tail wagers, when excited start spinning their tail around at high speed, like a helicopter rotor. They will slap it into anything in the area, which can lead to that thin, boney tail getting cut and splattering blood everywhere so it looks like a crime scene  You may never see this, only one of my seven greyhounds did this, but it can happen, didn’t want you to be caught off guard!

[BatterseaBrindl]

Wonderful update 

None of our Greys have been big tail wagers.  Kibo the Galgo has a huge helicopter tail sort of wag that can be deadly.

The tongue on Sid our Irish boy  is always falling out the side of his mouth when he lays down, often getting stuck on the laminate floor  

 

[FiveRoooooers]

I was going to add the GSOD (Greyhound Scream of Death), and found this previous GreyTalk thread that might answer some more of those basic questions   What did they not tell you when you got your 1st grey

Edited December 28, 2021 by FiveRoooooers

[greysmom]

Littermates - the missing ear tattoos do exist on a dog somewhere.  If you're looking on Greyhound Data, you can also search for dogs by tattoos.  They may have been delayed getting registered, or went to be adopted before they even started training.  But dogs are tattooed at, like, 6 or 8 weeks, so all those letters of the alphabet that are missing were put on a puppy at some point.

Tail wagging - some do, some don't, some develop the habit later on.  If he's particularly anxious or shy it might take him a while.

Prey Drive - low prey drive is probably the reason he went to adoption so quickly.  It's a function of their genetics, and bred into them, so it doesn't come and go or develop later on in life.  Even dogs from the same litter can have vastly varying prey drives

Zoomies - he just might not want to play where you can see him.    A lot of anxious dogs prefer not to be watched.  This should change as he becomes more comfortable.

Sleeping - totally normal.  Completely, totally normal.   

 

ETA - Here's his Greyhound Data page where you can see his pedigree.  No other sibs listed though, so I bet they never trained or raced.  It's highly doubtful they're dead.

CET Chukln Chuck

Edited December 28, 2021 by greysmom

[Apollo_the_Grey]

1 hour ago, Remolacha said:

Most of your questions have been answered but I did want to mention helicopter tail. Some greys, even if they are not normally tail wagers, when excited start spinning their tail around at high speed, like a helicopter rotor. They will slap it into anything in the area, which can lead to that thin, boney tail getting cut and splattering blood everywhere so it looks like a crime scene  You may never see this, only one of my seven greyhounds did this, but it can happen, didn’t want you to be caught off guard!

My PH Emmy had "whip tail" in which her tail would wag so strongly and wildly that she almost put out my boy PH's eye, and has also bruised my legs.  She never got it cut but I was always worried about a break.   

 

 

Thanks for all the answers guys.  I kinda figured most of these were really natural occurences and behaviours but it never hurts to check with those who have more experience with these amazing doggos.  His personality is really starting to show...both pushy and shy, energetic and lazy... He's super fun.

[Apollo_the_Grey]

2 hours ago, greysmom said:

 

 

ETA - Here's his Greyhound Data page where you can see his pedigree.  No other sibs listed though, so I bet they never trained or raced.  It's highly doubtful they're dead.

CET Chukln Chuck

Thanks, I found 2 of his sibs... from the site I linked...from ear tattoos.  I even watched their race replays.  

 

[Sniffy]

 

You have some greyt answers here, but I'll add my own just to the tally, as it's not new info:

Stanley's prey drive has changed over the ~6 months he has owned me.  We live in a neighborhood chock full of 's...at first he went nuts every time he saw one (meaning, at every house we passed .  Now, he only is interested if the rabbit makes a sudden move (same with squirrels...cats, he hates universally).

Stanley also is a rare tail wagger:  He only does it when he meets another dog during a walk, and sometimes when he greets a human. 

As for Zoomies...Stanley likes to get his zoomies in at the end of a walk, as we cross through our yard.   I hold the leash and run a few strides while he hauls @$$ back and forth. The neighbors probably are thinking of me but it gets in some quick shuttle sprints in.  He then calms down in time for his meal and then... until the next walk. The only thing I *might* suggest if possible is if you make the 10-15 min walks more like 45-60 mins (especially the late one). That might tire him out sufficiently so that he doesn't commence wind sprints in the middle of the night...just a thought.

As for the derp tongue: VERY common, but presented differently sometimes!  Stanley derps his tongue out the side of his mouth DURING A WALK, usually after a quick shake. Tongue goes back in place the next time he sniffs a tree or something similar. While sleeping he sticks his tongue straight out the FRONT of his mouth : 

Enjoy Apollo, he sounds like a wonderful lad.

[Apollo_the_Grey]

Just had a wonderful outing with Apollo.  Socialization, socialization, socialization!   Pet stores x 2, outdoor mall walk and then a walk around the outside of a dog park.  He's not ready to go face to face with other doggos yet.  But he did approach the fence and let some dogs smell his backside from 1 foot away.  I'm super proud of him for that.  He's certainly got a lot of love to give and even more curiosity.  I love how he waits until someone (dog or person) turns away from him before he approaches for the sniff.   Baby steps with a lot of love and affection are going to increase his confidence bit by bit.   

It's fun seeing him get more and more confidence along the way.  I can tell that in the wrong family, he would have become a spook dog and still could if I mess things up (he discovered airplanes the other day and those kinda scared him.}  So for now it's baby steps and slow confidence building with a lot of reassurance when he does well.   As of now, it is very rare that his leash becomes taut, but he also has a habit of putting me, the alpha, between him and anything he's unsure of, which is my job anyways.

And I'm fine with low prey drive, that means getting him a companion should be fine.

[Remolacha]

Sounds like he is doing really well!

[Apollo_the_Grey]

1 hour ago, Remolacha said:

Sounds like he is doing really well!

He's doing very well!  I'm in awe of just how much work greyhound fosters have to do, since I got him straight off the track basically.  

Forgot to mention that we went up 2 flights of stairs in a parking garage.  He did really well.

[Moo]

Tail wag: only for important things like walks or getting in the car. 

Prey drive: squirrels, no. Rabbits, YES. What the difference is I'll never know, they're both fluffy and grey, but Rumble is definitely a bunny boy. 

Zoomies: He doesn't tend to do them indoors other than to run inside after pee and poo to tell my aunt "I HAD A POOOO".  He's such a weirdo. He does however have his frisky freak outs which tend to start with a weird sort of bum biting, where he tries to attack his own arse and goes around in circles, then he'll quickly look around for the nearest thing to rag and fling (usually a blanket), and after that just sort of go into a heavy breathing derp mode where he wants fussing. I bought him his own furry cushion for Christmas so he could feel "naughty", as 9/10 he wants to rag our stuff, not his. 

Sleep: Yep, you got yourself a classic doofus. Rumble hasn't got many teeth left, so his ham escapes are pretty chronic and daily.