Socialising greyhounds

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stacey_lou

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Hey

Just a quick greyhound question, how long did it take you to socialise your hounds with other dogs after rehoming?

Ours do not like other dogs at all,we have looked into introduction classes but wondered what other routes people took.c

Thank you
 
Not long (weeks), but then we let all our x racing greys run together and with other dogs (so different set up) they are actually hilarious to watch and very playful given the opportunity to socialise frequently and freely (off lead) alot depends on the set up and opportunity to mix with other well socialised dogs.
 
The greyhounds I meet are all quite aloof and not keen to interact outside their own circle. I met one on the beach on Monday and I put mine on the lead judging on it's body language and the fact that mine is a bit boisterous and annoying and greyhounds are quite delicate (I let him play with a Lakeland Terrier further up the beach who is fit to box his ears :p)

Anyway after that rambling, you've not had them long, they were probably kennelled and used to their own company, I would take it slowly and not force them into interaction and as mentioned, find some well-behaved dogs to socialise with and prepare yourself for the fact that they may not end up gambolling around happily with every dog they meet.
 
We luckily have a dog fenced of area in the near by forest where we let the, run in muzzles when empty Nd they love it but if on a lead and see another dog the dog lunges at them depending on the dog.

In there the other day 2 people came in with 2 greys each and all 6of them had a run around was lovely.

Have looked at the local dog crèche and they have offered us an introduction day free of charge and they could go there once a week and they would help them socialise so we thought that would only be good for them
 
We just took Boots everywhere with us regardless of if there were dogs, if we weren't sure we'd pop his muzzle on, as we got used to him and he to other dogs it was put in the 'just in case pile' quickly!

There is a GSD on your yard who is brill with other dogs so I am sure she has helped the situation, I think taking him to a county show after a couple of weeks might have accelarated his social skills too - he coped brilliantly :D Just to add he is not allowed off lead as he has zero recall at present and a love of chasing fluffy running things and cats (cat on the yard which belongs to YO so its a no go there too).

We were given the advice of just get on with life and take him with you if you can, seems to have worked too well as he LOVES going somewhere, anywhere :D
 
We've never muzzled any of ours and we've had pairs of them for over 30 years.

Get out here off lead, enjoy your dog and you'll find they love to play. The plus side of owning a longdog is that if they do meet an aggressive dog while out, they can out run anything!

They also recognise other long dogs and will seek them out for a razz round.
 
Thank you,

where we live we are spoilt for walks, we have 4 forests on our door steps, river walks, miles and miles of country side and beaches.

We take them out atleast twice a day every day and love yard visits.

I know its going to take time was just wondering how other people had gotton on.

There is a lovely local charity dog show/fun day in July so for fun we are going to enter that and go along, the charity where they came from will be there too so would be nice for them to see their progress
 
I never ever muzzled any of mine either. Just took them everywhere and let them be dogs. They are so easy and I've never ever had a problem with them. Good luck with yours. Are there any recent pictures?
 
We only muzzled Boots for the first week or so on advice of the RGT trust we got him from as he had a dominant streak with females and until he got out of the habit of thinking JRT's were rabbits!
 
Suelin said:
I never ever muzzled any of mine either. Just took them everywhere and let them be dogs. They are so easy and I've never ever had a problem with them. Good luck with yours. Are there any recent pictures?
Click to expand...

Not on the iPad no, I'll take some this weekend as I am off on Saturday all day.
 
Depends on the greyhound :) I've had sighthounds for 25 years now :eek: In that time the 5 bitches I have had have never been muzzled and have always been fine with other dogs of any breed.

Of the 3 dogs I have had, 2 have been fine with other breeds (they were lurchers) but the one greyhound dog I currently have is definitely not fine with dogs of other breeds even after a year of ownership, so he is always muzzled just in case when he is walked. It has nothing to do with his sex, it is just that he was truly institutionalised when I got him straight from the track; he is quite speshul generally :p
 
Mine is friendly with all the other dogs he's met though he does prefer people, I only use his muzzle to stop him chewing, I don't think he knows what aggression is.
 
It depends on the greyhound. Some are friendly and get along with other dogs from the starts, some can unfortunately never be trusted with other dogs. If you have any concerns at all, it's best to keep the dog muzzled and on lead when around other dogs, as a lot of damage can be done very quickly.

I have 2 greyhounds, and both are quite different. Both have to stay on lead though, unless we're in a fenced in area.

Lela is 8, and we've had her for nearly 5 years. She is quite bossy with other dogs, and can be very full on, but she actually has good social skills. We took her to lots of training classes (general obedience, trick training, and we did agility for a few years). This was a good opportunity for her to be near other dogs in a controlled and safe environment. You would have to make sure the classes cater for greyhounds though, and the instructors have some knowledge of how to deal with greyhounds, as they are often quite different to other dogs. Key is to look for a quiet class, were the greyhound can slowly get used to being around other dogs, without getting too worked up.

Sammy is 6, and we've had him for 2 years. He is a totally different character to Lela. He is not bossy at all, and in fact quite shy with other dogs. However, he can not be trusted with other dogs (especially small fluffy ones) at all. If he sees something move fast, his instinct kicks in and he will very quickly try to grab whatever is moving. He does then not treat the other dog like a dog, but like a prey animal. He will try to grab an ear or tail and lift the dog up. Unfortunately, because he was such a docile and non-dominant dog, we took the muzzle off too soon when we first had him, and he had an incident with a bearded collie, who he lifted up by his tail. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, and we make sure he wears his muzzle at all times when out for a walk now. Sammy has been to professional trainers and socialisation classes, and we've been advised that we will probably never lose or be able to control his chase instincts, so we manage him carefully (always keep him on lead and muzzled when around other dogs).
 
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