Greyhound giving other breed hard time

[KRMitch]

I have a 3 year old retired racer. She is very laid back, and been home for 9 months now. She's great with other dogs if they have good manners. Any puppish or overexcited behaviour from a stranger gets a growl, which I'm ok with.

My grey is very growly when chasing and playing which I know is normal rough grey play,  however I have never seen her nip or purposefully lunge into another dog. Just growls as she blasts past. I think it raises a few eyebrows with other owners and I can see how they would this disconcerting. She’ll happily mix around dogs and owners when they return back and it only seems to be on the chase. 

This evening we went to a booked enclosed dog run with one other grey we have met and know well, but in addition a friend with a large white german shepherd we hadnt met. We did introductions on the lead, the new gal was a little nervous but generally good behaviours all round and no surprises for us.

When the german shepherds confidence was up and they started running around to play, my girl would give chase with her usual growls. I think the GS was worried by this, and maybe started to show nervous body language? Because this is where things started to escalate where they never have done in the past.

My grey started barking at her full force, circling round after her sprint and nipping and barking again. When the otber grey seen this happening, they also came to bark and growl and essentially this poor GS is being tagteamed by two barky growly greys. It happened vice versa also, if the other grey started it, mine would run up to get involved in much the same way.

However, when there was no running/ chase involved and dogs are sniffing around the humans, both greys were perfectly calm and friendly with the GS even after the above had happened, which makes me think prey or chase drive is also involved to some extent?

The whole thing has made me really anxious, would it possibly be because my grey is reading off the GS's nervous behaviour and its escalting in that way? I feel embarrassed and really annoyed at myself. I thought I knew my girl well enough at this point,and had taken all the right precautions

Just wondering if anyone else has experience of this, and has any words of wisdom?

[1Moregrey]

I considered my male as a referee he was not aggressive in any fashion.  That being said if you were not playing greyhound games he did not understand or like that kind of play.  He would look like a cutting horse cutting cattle and separate the “non grey” player who was not “playing right”.  
For him I always thought he was saying you are not playing right we run down turn and come back.  No need to play that roughly.

Once the non grey would stop jumping up or other dog play.  They got along fine he just wanted to give time outs for bad play styles.

Lots of barking and moving to the side, then when all was calm play would resume. He was the controller of fun.  I miss that special boy.

 

[BatterseaBrindl]

Greyhounds are bred to chase and, with that, often comes with playful nipping. 

Other dogs may not be used to this and of course they're going to react, possibly in a negative way. 

And even if the other dog is 'only playing', the Greyhound is the one that ends up with an injury due to their very thin skin.

My Greys only play with other dogs if ALL dogs are muzzled.   Not because any of them are aggressive, but because I do not want my Greys injured.

[HeyRunDog]

Guinness when meeting other dogs especially for the first time will bark and bounce around on the end of his lead but with his tail wagging and after a couple of minutes he calms down. If we see the same dog again he greets them with lessening enthusiasm until on subsequent meetings he ignores them. It's as if he's inviting them to play and when he learns he's not allowed to he doesn't bother.

The usual advice is only let greyhounds off their lead in a secure area as their recall isn't the greatest verging on non existent if they get distracted. Only let them play with other muzzled greyhounds as they can play rough and have been known to gang up on other breeds. Be careful if there are squirrels or rabbits in the secure area. Grace has lost a claw chasing a rabbit which hasn't grown back and before I adopted Guinness he chased a squirrel up a tree and badly ripped apart his shoulder muscle needing several months of physio and medication.

[greysmom]

Everything you describe is actually very normal behavior for greyhounds.  

What would have helped was if the GS owner would have removed that dog from the situation and let the two GHs play on their own.  It might be fine for one greyhound to play with another breed dog on their own.  But once you add a buddy into the mix they tend to gang up on the "other guy."  It doesn't matter that all the dogs involved are "normally" well behaved, or that they know each other, or that they're fine together on leash.  Once you change the dynamics into a pack vs single situation, all bets are off.  

I understand your anxiety when a play session gets more rambunctious than you're comfortable with.  Playtime in my yard, between all greyhounds, often sounds like WW3 - growling, barking, snarling, lunging, biting, and yes, lots of running.  And we all wear muzzles, no exceptions (because each nip means anesthesia and stitches at the vet at $500 a pop).  But it's important to understand dog body language AND their "play language" and learn to evaluate the situation accurately.  Sometimes, you just have to bite the side of your cheek and let them go at it.  Sometimes your dog needs a time out by your side until the adrenalin in the group cools off.  Sometimes your dog just needs to be removed from the situation all together.  It depends on the dog.  It depends on you.  It depends on the other dogs in the group.  

The most important thing to remember is that YOU are the one that needs to advocate for the safety of your dog.  Even if you're unsure about what's going on.  If it feels unsafe to you, remove your dog from the action until it feels less volatile.

[Apollo_the_Grey]

Lots of great advice here.

My .02 cents:    When I noticed things getting ramped up during dog interactions, anything that didn't "feel right" to me, I would just walk through, or towards the dogs and make myself the center of attention.  Point being: break things up before they start.  If you can't have breed only or sighthound only interactions, they have to be monitored a bit more carefully.   

[Scoutsmom]

I would like to point out that when the GS became nervous, that made him seem like prey to the pack of greyhounds (2 hounds can be a pack).  At that point I would have stopped the play and removed one of the dogs -- it doesn't matter which one.  Without doing that, it could easily have escalated, and someone ended up with a traumatized dog and costly vet bills to pay.  It doesn't matter what breed the nervous dog is:  I have seen a nervous grey turn into prey for a "pack" of greyhounds.