Greyhound people, some advice please

TheresaW

TheresaW

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My friends dog was attacked this morning by 5 greyhounds on his morning walk. He was in a bad way when I got to the yard and my friend was on the phone to the emergency vet. I took him to the vets for her as her husband had alread left for work, and she didn't want her kids to see him. (Her daughter has big exam today as well).

The dogs were unmuzzled and loose. Is this allowed? They were being walked by an elderly couple who didn't know what to do. As quick as my friend was pulling one dog off, the others were jumping back in.

I was convinced poor little Tinks was going to die in my car, but thankfully he didn't, and although he has some serious wounds, the vet is pretty confident that none of them are life threatening. He is obviously worried about the shock though.

I spoke to OH when I finally got to work, and he says we need to report it to the police. I will be speaking to my friend at lunchtime after she has spoken to the vet again, and will see if she has or not. Would it be a police matter.
 
Firstly, sorry to he@r this, very distressing for you @ll.

Definitely cont@ct the police & loc@l dog w@rden. If the police w@nt to brush your compl@int off, m@ke @ nuis@nce & insist they investig@te. Mention "wh@t if it h@d been @ child etc:

Wh@t @n elderly couple @re doing with 5 greyhounds, @ll off le@d, is beyond me, hope your friends dog recovers & the owners of the greyhounds @re found & stump up the money for the vets fees.
 
Sorry to hear about this, I really hope the poor dog pulls through. Definately report it to the police, the dogs could have turned on your friend as she tried to intervene.

How many more reports do we have to read about like this before the government clamps down on off lead dogs. I am fed up with hearing about "my dog is fine off lead" (USUALLY - what about the 1 time it is not and either runs into the path of a car or gets into a fight with another", "my dog needs to have free running" (well find a dog park, rent a field with a group of people to use regularly, join a club, but really if you cannot be bothered to exercise your dog sufficiently on a lead then don't have one.) And yes I spent 10 yrs living in an urban enviroment with 4 large breed dogs and spent several hours a day walking them, running with them, taking them to dog parks, groups where we had facilities to free run our dogs. And yes I did work full time. If you have a dog then be responsible for it.

What happend to the lady who was attacked by an off lead GSD the other week?
 
I would contact the police and dog warden.

I think where I am, racing greyhounds need to be walked no more than two at a time, on leads and muzzled, because obviously they will have a propensity to go for fast moving small things and as a group. I think it is a council-by-council thing and it is a big sport over here.

Sounds like this couple are overwhelmed :( hope the wee dog improves.
 
Thanks guys. Will speak to her at lunchtime and tell her to report it if she hasn't already, and will let you know how the little guy is when I hear anything.
 
I'm a longdog lover and I'm shocked, saddened and suprised to hear of this! I do hope the little dog recovers with little if no, ill effects.

I believe that all icenced trainers of greyhounds have to have their dogs muzzled in public places, or they can have their licences revoked, although I maybe wrong, or the laws may of changed. If you have a greyhound as a pet, they do not need to be muzzled as they are considered the same as any other dog and the owner is considered as any owner is of any other breed.

More than 2 dogs whatever the breed, we have always though of as a pack and they will be expected to react as a pack.

It does sound like this pack your discussing, are maybe ex rescue raceing greyhounds. They have to be rehabilitated to live with us and to forget that they are raceing. They will tear around like loons off lead, following each other and if an animal such as a cat jumps into view, they can and will course and kill it.

Most, if not all longdog people would not have more that 2 or 3 off lead at the same time as it's asking for trouble. So yes, you must report this serious incidence to the police ASAP and the owners of the greyhounds IMHO must pay the vets bill.

To be fair, greyhounds are lovely and gentle creatures which are often abused, neglected an eventally at 3 years old PTS simply because their raceing days are over. They make fabulous family pets, but as with raceing horses, they need gentle and sympatetic rehabilitation and retraining.
 
Thanks Ellsbells. I do like dogs, but as we are out of the house for around 11 hours a day during the week, we have cats instead, as they can come and go as they please. I do also have a soft spot for greyhounds, and if we are ever in a position to have a dog, would consider a rescue. I do know what type of dog they are though, and just think I would never let one loose, unmuzzled! My oldest cat Rio is 10 now. When he was about a year old, he went wandering like cats do and ended up in someones garden who had 2 greyhounds. He ended up losing his tail, and had injured one of his back legs. I never blamed the dogs though as Rio shouldn't have gone into their garden.
 
My friend has just rung me. He has had 3 hours of surgery and come through the anaesthetic. He has lost part of lung and has nerve damage to one leg which they don't know whether it will permanent or not. At the moment, it could go either way for him.

She is going to have a tetanus this afternoon, then she is going to the police station.
 
What a dreadful shock for you and your friend, I do hope the dog recovers OK :( There is no requirement for greyhounds to be muzzled or kept on leads, but common sense dictates that a pack of 5 together will behaved just as you have described - my three are bad enough when they race around together, I cannot imagine meeting five of them :o At the end of the day the owner MUST always remember that they are bred to chase, and that is what they will do :(
 
if the original poster had said that there had been 5 ??????? breed of dogs alltogether off the lead i hope the replies would have been the same. greyhounds are not naturally agressive. certainly no more than any other breed of dog.
most dogs regardless of breed type or age wouldve reacted the same to hunt in a pack is natural.
but i do agree they should not have all been loose together or unmuzzled.
 
Personally speaking, of course I would, and the OP specifically asked about greyhounds. They are not naturally aggressive but I don't think even their biggest fan could deny that they have an instinct to chase and catch small fast moving things?

It breaks my heart whenever I hear about a GSD causing injury (like JDChaser's post, as mentioned) but I cannot deny that unsocialised/badly reared/ill trained/ill bred/ill tempered GSDs do of course, have the potential to do a lot more damage than some other breeds.
 
I hope your friends dog makes a full recovery & that the people are traced so they are made to pay the vets bill.

However, there is no law stating that Greyhounds whether racers or ex racers should be muzzled. I do agree that not all 5 of them should of been off the lead. If this old couple wanted this then they should of been in an enclosed area where they couldn't get to any other dogs.
I have 4 Greyhounds, 3 of them ex racers. I will only allow 2 off the lead at any one time.
I don't agree to having them muzzled unless they are aggressive as these dogs would never be able to defend themselves should another dog attack them.

It is unusual for Greyhounds to attack other dogs as they are usually so gentle, i go walking with my 4 along with my mum who has 2 Shih Tzus & they are all best of friends.

XxX
 
Not being a greyhound owner I hadn't looked at this thread until now. I really hope the little dog improves . Greyhounds are no more aggressive than other breeds but they do have that instinct to chase small furries, and I think most greyhound people are aware of this, however any dog owner who lets a number of dogs off lead in a public place is asking for trouble as dogs quickly form a pack. I hope the dogs owner has contacted the police and dog warden now, and they take some action. It shouldn't be too difficult to trace this couple I would imagine.
 
Thankyou everyone. I have no problem with Greyhounds at all, a friend of mine has one. I was just asking if generally they should be muzzled if off the lead as they are type of dog that chase etc, and I don't know.

We have since found out that about a month ago, they ripped a neighbours cat apart. Again, that probably isn't because they are greyhounds, but because they are acting as a pack.

The owner of the dogs finally went to my friends at 7 o'c last night to see if Tinker was ok. She told him that no, he wasn't, and when she asked if his dogs were insured, he asked why, as it was Tinkers fault and he had attacked his dogs. I don't really know what to make of that.

Tinker is still hanging in there. His body temperature is very low, and at the moment, that is the greatest concern. F has said she will let me know later as soon as she hears anything.
 
I hope Tinker has the strength to pull through this. Your friend must be distraught.

From your OP I thought Tinker was on lead when attacked?
 
the Greyhounds owners are blaming Tinker saying that he attacked the greyhounds?

I do hope the little one pulls through. Has she reported it to the police and dog warden?
 
She has been to the police, but she was told it was a dog on dog attack and there isn't much they can do. I hope when she knows one way or another what is going to happen to Tinker, that she will take it further.
 
kickandshout said:
if the original poster had said that there had been 5 ??????? breed of dogs alltogether off the lead i hope the replies would have been the same. greyhounds are not naturally agressive. certainly no more than any other breed of dog.
most dogs regardless of breed type or age wouldve reacted the same to hunt in a pack is natural.
but i do agree they should not have all been loose together or unmuzzled.
Click to expand...

In case you hadnt noticed I am a greyhound owner :p Of course my answer would have been the same regardless of the breed involved, I know greyhounds rather well by now and know perfectly well that they are not naturally aggressive
 
Greyhounds are not naturally aggressive but with any sighthound the instinct to chase small critters is ingrained. The sight of a small furry on a flexi lead running back and too may have just triggered that prey drive unfortunately. The analogy to kiling a cat really does not mean they are automatically dog killers, my friends wonderful, soppy, PAT lab would kill a cat in a second if he could move fast enough to catch one, he goes from model guide dog like behaviour to foaming mouthed vampire at the sight of one.

Not defending their action at all though.

Some years ago a vet colleague had an assortment of dogs, pure breds and mutts from a border terrier up to a lab. I think it was 7 dogs in total, all neutered / spayed. They had lived togther as a pack in harmony for several years with no signs of aggression, not even squabbles over food or attention. The one day out of the blue in front of the owner and another family member the dogs were lazing in the yard when they went from happy pack to frenzied attack on one of the mid sized dogs. It happend so quickly, before they could tear 6 dogs off the victim so much damage had been done the dog died almost instantly. All the others just went back to a relaxed state lolling around like nothing had happend.
 
Greyhounds @re bred to ch@se. Hum@ns h@ve cre@ted the monster & then wonder why @ sighthound does wh@t it does. I love greyhounds & other sighthounds, but they do h@ve the potenti@l to kill @n @nim@l very quickly, be it @ bunny, c@t or dog - they don't differenti@te & from wh@t I h@ve seen of some owners with retired ex-r@cers, they don't re@lise th@t - not you G@zey, btw - either they h@ve been ill-informed, non-informed or n@ivly believe their gentle, loving greyhound isn't c@p@ble of such @trocities.
 
Thanks for saying not me BS :p :D

I was reflecting on this on our walk today - was I wrong letting the three of them off? Should I let them off individually? Then I realised that I have seen the 'red mist' descend on Islay LOTS of times - when she goes into complete 'hunter' mode - but in the two years I have had Flick I have never seen her like that? I wonder if it is because Flick never raced (she didnt grow big enough so was dumped), but even when there have been cats, rabbits or chickens available she will show interest because the others are, not on her own account :confused:

Not sure about Amy yet as I havent had her long enough :D
 
G@zey - some sighthounds/lurchers @re devoid of this instinct. I h@ve @ (greyhound/s@luki type) lurcher who is devoid of @ny sort of ch@se instinct - m@kes life e@sier for me, but @ l@mping or coursing m@n would be seriously cheesed of. Obviously, r@cers h@ve @ degree of ch@se instinct which is nurtured & @re '@ctively' encour@ged to ch@se when young, so when they retire th@t instinct will not dis@ppe@r.
 
My last female was, as someone once said 'a big fat bumble bee without wings' - she was a dote, let the cat climb all over her, was the kindest natured dog I've had, perhaps too soft for my liking, if that was possible.
We also had a Foxhound/Lab x JRT at one stage (I KNOW) and when they were together, N suddenly thought SHE needed to go for sheep and cats too and the pair of them pulled me into a barbed wire fence to get to our goat.
We ended up rehoming Spider to an urban home (my friend's parents) as she was so driven and N went back to her calm self.
 
CC - the @forementioned Lurcher With No Instinct, copies the others if ch@sing but its quite cle@r she h@s no ide@ wh@ts h@ppening & whether she is doing the correct thing or not:D
 
Reminds me of the memorable time when Islay nearly caught a cat - I was living on a housing estate, and she chased the wretched thing all across three people's front gardens :eek::o:o:o

Flick followed and made tentative motions at copying, but didnt have a clue why or what she was meant to do if she did catch up with the cat :D Thinking about it, Flick has never even caught a rabbit....:)
 
BS I never let either of them get as far as catching anything but N, as you alluded to, had her usual bouncy, vacant look :p , whereas Spider was locked on and in the zone. But N had the potential to do much more damage, being the size of a small heifer.
 
TBH my money would have been on the goat, God rest her soul.....Bella went for her one day, goat stamped her foot and lowered her horns, and I found a dog hiding behind my legs :o


TW, any news on Tinker tonight?
 
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