Greyhound owners - advice please

[mrsbloggett]

Advice needed from greyhound owners please......

We've had our rehomed greyhound, Mel, for four months now. When we got her she was the scaredy, timid sort, but is gradually coming out of her shell. She's still abit nervous of hubby occassionally, as he lived away when we first got her, but now he's moved home she's much improving.

She's pretty good off lead, if there's nothing to distract her she walks to heel and if she does chase anything she comes back on the blow of a whistle. Until yesterday...........

We took her for a walk along a nearby beauty spot, she was off lead and happily walking along side us. All of a sudden she turned tail and started running back from where we came. I whistled and called her, but she just ran off in what appeared to be a panic. Thankfully there was a gate to stop her running too far and when I eventually caught up with her she reacted like she didn't know me.

Has anyone any advice to offer? I am so lucky the gate was to there to stop her going any further, but I dread her bolting onto a road. I'm not sure if obedience is the issue as she was just like a horse bolting in true fashion - she appeared to be unable to reason.

 

[BigRed]

If she is an ex track dog, then you are doing VERY well to have trained her to this standard, because this will all be very new to her. Don't be so hard on yourself, or her, just tell her what a good dog she is when you get back to her, she was probably worried she was going to be told off. It can take a long time to get it into a dog, especially a rescue/rehomed running dog, that they should come back and not chase things.

 

[mrsbloggett]

Yes, Mel is an ex-track dog and I'm really proud of how she has come on in such a relative short time, but yesterdays reaction was scary.

I could have understood it if she was chasing something, but she wasn't - she was just fleeing in the opposite direction of where we were. She normally looks to me for comfort in unusual / scary situations and until yesterday would hate for me to be out of her sight. Its a good job I could corner her by the gate, because I certainly wouldn't have been able to catch her otherwise, its like she didn't recognise me. After I got her back on the lead she pulled like mad trying to get away from me.

I didn't get mad with her - I know with a sensitive dog its the worst thing you can do.

 

[Acolyte]

How very scarey for you! I have only had one ex-racer who has bolted to that extreme - we let her off the lead and she shot through a hedge, across a road, and over three fields before she got stuck in a hedge line and we could catch up. I must be entirely honest and say in her case we never let her off the lead again after taking advice from our rescue organisation - she was a confirmed hunter and would just take off every time, however well she had accustomed herself to being with us, the rescue org said sometimes they are just like that..

At the same time all my other rescue greyhounds have bolted in the way you describe at some time or other, including the 'not knowing you' bit afterwards. I have gone back to basics with them (including rewards for my latest one, who is a bit manic) and they have not done it again

I must have got my latest greyhound at more or less the same time as you got Mel - the beginning of May for mine - and she has been going off the lead for about a month now with (so far!) no problems

I am now touching wood frantically.....

 

[Oneofthepack]

How frightening! Could anything have spooked her that she might have associated with you perhaps?