Prey drive or excitement/nerves?

[Katt13]

Our grey is about 10~ days off the track now. He has met a few other dogs while on walks (the muzzle tends to scare most all people and their dogs away, so it’s hard to find those willing to meet him!) 

When he spots a dog of any size from across the street, he whines and whimpers quickly. He’ll keep walking but the whimpering will last for a bit and then he’s fine. When meeting a medium size dog (chonky beagle) on leash w/ a muzzle he was wagging his tail a lot, sniffed and then was uninterested. 

 

Today he met a small-medium sized husky on our walk. Our grey was leashed w/ his muzzle, the husky was very docile and calm. Our grey lunged (i think) at the husky and growled. The owner knew about greyhounds and was nice enough to let him approach again. Our grey then sniffed the dog and wagged his tail and was fine. 

 

It’s very hard for me to decide if that’s prey-drive or just him seeing a husky for the first time? I know he’s probably anxious and overstimulated from a new environment - but I know prey-drive isn’t something you can really train out of. Just not sure if this is prey-drive or excitement/nerves. Would love some advice 

[macoduck]

Katt13, are you in the US, UK, or Australia? Muzzle requirements vary by country.  

Wearing a muzzle on walks is discouraged. It can immediately identify the greyhound as being aggressive (in the eyes of people), even when they are not. If a snap happens, the greyhound will get the blame when they aren't guilty. 

It was a very good idea to use a barrier at the door to prevent escape.

Your boy is so recently off the track too. Remember, he has only lived with other greyhounds his entire life. The 4 legged creatures he meets on walks are alien to him.  I would walk him without the muzzle and not let him sniff or be sniffed by other dogs, keeping at least 10 feet apart. Otherwise, with a new, unneutered boy you may be asking for trouble. Even after his surgery it could take a few months for his hormones to settle down.

I posted 2 links in the Everything Else Greyhound section. Here's a link to it.

One link is everything you need to know about actions to take when your dog escapes. The other is basic info for new adopters.

https://forum.greytalk.com/topic/328609-practical-information-for-new-adopters-and-a-refresher-for-others/

Relax and enjoy him learning his new world.

 

[Time4ANap]

I'd say exactly what Ducky said above. He is in a whole new world and needs lots more time to adjust to it. Whenever I've had a new dog and someone wanted their dog to say Hi, I would simply explain that the dog was brand new to me and I don't know how he or she is with other dogs. I would ask them to stand there for a bit and just talk without the dogs making contact so that he/she could get used to new people and new dogs without putting them under too much stress. Most people are understanding and more than willing to help. After all, dog people love to talk about their dogs. Once your boy has seen the same people and dogs a few times an introduction will come more naturally, but give him all the time he needs to be comfortable and just remember that everything in his world is brand new to him at this time. He doesn't always know what is expected of him yet in a given situation. Good luck! 

[LBass]

All of the advice above seems wise to me.  I'll just add that I learned with my wonderful female hound, MoMo, that it was best not to introduce her to other dogs while on leash.  She inevitably sniffed then and then snarked (a growl and slight lunge).  There was never any attack involved, but she was rude and bossy and that was unpleasant for the dog on the receiving end and for both sets of humans.  She did far better meeting other dogs (in her case, Greyhounds only) off leash.  Even then, she had no hesitation in telling off dogs she found rude or annoying. On the other hand, her snarky behavior was not prey drive or real physical aggression.  It seemed more a dominance, do-you-know-who-I-am behavior.  Her puppy nickname was MoMo Meany Pants and she earned that moniker by being a bossy little stinker within her birth litter.  You may find that your hound is just not that interested in making friends with other dogs and that's OK, but then becomes the human's responsibility to manage.

Interestingly, she met 2 of her litter mates as adults.  With one, she was absolutely thrilled and delighted to say hello.  She wagged and pulled to get over to greet him.  With the other, she snarked just as if  he'd been a stranger.

[Jerilyn]

He's so newly retired, everything is a new experience. I'm with Don in not letting him meet dogs on walks just yet. Take some time to get to know him and what he likes and dislikes and how he reacts. I would not consider this aggression or prey drive at this time.

My Wiki ignores 95% of other dogs, 4% she wants to say hi to (usually other sighthounds), and the final 1% she growls at. I don't want that growl to escalate because most other dogs don't understand that warning and back off so unless she is clearly happy to meet a dog I just tell them that she's a bit unpredictable. Most people understand, and often as we are talking across the street I can tell Wiki is fine so we might do a quick sniff hello if the other dog is also calm.

It's your job to protect your dog. Once he learns that you will, he'll become more relaxed. Until that time you've got to advocate for him and yourself.

[greysmom]

Most people seem to think every dog likes every other dog and there should be no issues meeting any strange dog at any time, anywhere.  That's certainly not true.  It doesn't really have anything to do with aggression or prey drive.  It's about trust and being comfortable and relaxed.

If you've never heard about "leash reactivity" now is the time to do your research.  There are numerous threads here about it to give you a start.  There's also a wonderful training booklet by Patricia McConnell called "Feisty Fido."  It can give you some tools to help your dog be more comfortable meeting other dogs.  

If you're walking in a muzzle due to these incidents, I will say that it's probably not helping.  The more a human tries to put obstacles between dogs, the less useful they are.  Greyhounds are used to wearing them around other greyhounds, but not around other dogs.  Greyhounds - especially newly retired ones - often don't recognize other breeds as dogs, and can become anxious upon being introduced to them and act out of that fear. 

So be your dogs advocate and protect him during this critical phase of settling into adopted life.  Take off the muzzle (if you legally can), and use distance and positive reinforcement to let him know things are going to be OK.

[Apollo_the_Grey]

On 12/29/2022 at 1:25 PM, Katt13 said:

Our grey is about 10~ days off the track now. He has met a few other dogs while on walks (the muzzle tends to scare most all people and their dogs away, so it’s hard to find those willing to meet him!) 

When he spots a dog of any size from across the street, he whines and whimpers quickly. He’ll keep walking but the whimpering will last for a bit and then he’s fine. When meeting a medium size dog (chonky beagle) on leash w/ a muzzle he was wagging his tail a lot, sniffed and then was uninterested. 

 

Today he met a small-medium sized husky on our walk. Our grey was leashed w/ his muzzle, the husky was very docile and calm. Our grey lunged (i think) at the husky and growled. The owner knew about greyhounds and was nice enough to let him approach again. Our grey then sniffed the dog and wagged his tail and was fine. 

 

It’s very hard for me to decide if that’s prey-drive or just him seeing a husky for the first time? I know he’s probably anxious and overstimulated from a new environment - but I know prey-drive isn’t something you can really train out of. Just not sure if this is prey-drive or excitement/nerves. Would love some advice 

Congrats on your new family member.

 

I was in your shoes about a year ago.  Lucky for me, Apollo was the shy, almost a spook kind of grey.  Everything was new to him.  I read some articles, did some research and started with short walks...100 yards from the condo, stand, sniff, do your business, go back in.  Then 200 yards...then down the street, then around the block and so on.  EVERYTHING is overwhelming to your new friend.   My boy froze when he saw other breeds of dogs.  He was terrified of the shih-tzus and the king cavaliers, and poodles.  He stared at an airplane while it flew across the sky (we're on the flight path to Dulles Airport.)  He doesn't like motorcycles or loud cars/trucks.  He's still nervous around non-family members and is generally not too accepting of strangers touching him.   We humans have this big wonderful brain that processes all these sights and sounds and filters out the normal, but points out the abnormal.. or what our brain thinks is important.  Your boy will get there soon, but right now he's got a thousand data points screaming at him in his ears, in his eyes, in his feet, and in his nose.  He's not sure what to filter out and what to worry about.  That comes with time.

Point is...slow everything down.  If he wants to smell a bush for 10 minutes, or just stare down the street; you should let him experience that as well.  He has a lot of processing to do and he'll get it done with your help.   Just don't push him too hard too fast.  

If your doggo is super food motivated, try carrying some high value treats on your walks...and when he notices another dog, hand him a little treat so that he associates other dogs with good things.  If he starts to whimper, get his attention and when he turns to look at you...reward.   That way you are redirecting the whimpering and whining into looking at you, the leader.   

Something else you can do, which seems rather trivial is to put yourself between him and the other dog.  As the leader, you're putting yourself between him and what he could see as a threat, or something scary.  You've let him know that you got this, and he doesn't have to worry about it.  I used this approach with my Pharaoh Hounds and it actually paid off in a few situations, the scariest of which was a 120lb pit mix that pulled his owner off her feet to come running toward me and my doggos.  I actually dropped their leads and controlled the other dog until the owner was able to come around.  My doggos stood about 10 feet away, and I swear I could hear them saying "you better have this dad, you better have this!"  I did.  And I persuaded the owner of the pit mix to find a good positive + trainer, instead of the dominance training she was attempting to use.  And her doggo never pulled her down again after she switched training methods.

Sorry for the long winded response.

 

[Shannon]

On 1/3/2023 at 10:37 PM, Apollo_the_Grey said:

try carrying some high value treats on your walks...and when he notices another dog, hand him a little treat so that he associates other dogs with good things.  If he starts to whimper, get his attention and when he turns to look at you...reward. 

On 1/3/2023 at 10:37 PM, Apollo_the_Grey said:

Something else you can do, which seems rather trivial is to put yourself between him and the other dog. 

 I agree!  If every single person walking a dog would just make the small effort do these two very basic things, there would  be a lot less staring, lunging/pulling and snarking between dogs out on walks in the neighborhood. 
 

 

[Greysfriend]

I got my grey 2 months ago, he has been off the track for a while (8months waiting for a place to the shelter, and then again 8 months to get adopted, it's a black dog and apparently it's common).

For me he is totally different in walks, when he sees a big dogs he whines and looks scared, he freezes often. Since we started avoiding big dogs he mostly ignores them but still whines sometimes. Same for most medium dogs.

For small dogs he gets crazy and wants to play with them (which he is a bit too excited to be able to let do ). One time a lady asked me if she could come slowly closer and we did it step by step but Rocket try to "touch" the smaller dog with his paw (it was quite gentle no harm intended) and the other dog got scared.

For other greyhound my dog seems to not care for them and ignore most of the ones we see (which a lot of them are lurcher or whippet), and even yesterday while I was speaking with a whippet owner, he started whining and shaking and clearly wanted to get away (even if the whippet did not approach him he was just showing playing behavior), we stayed at safe distance but he just wanted to get away.

I attributed it to maybe bad experience with previous big littermates?

Just to say I think all of them have their personality and I suppose we also need to be aware and adjust!

Anyway good luck with your grey! Hope all is going well!