Toys/chews/enrichment - feeling lost!

[I'm Dun]

My whippet runs every day or hes an absolute nightmare. Doesnt have to be for long, but he has to be able to run. He does sniff things and enjoy his walk but running is what he lives for. He runs for the sheer joy of running. In your shoes I'd make it an absolute priority. Its all well and good playing with toys and feeding them in slow feeders etc but they have been bred for hundreds of years to run, its a part of their genetic make up.

 

[druid]

Can you jog? Contemplate Canicross for "safe" on leash running

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Can you jog? Contemplate Canicross for "safe" on leash running

I can't but OH can, and does little bursts with her. Obviously nowhere near her full capacity for running but she does enjoy it and you can tell when they've done it because she absolutely plops herself straight down for a nap when they get home! I'll look into canicross, not heard of it before

A bit of progress (if we ignore my favourite mittens getting a few new holes in them...) today with playing with her second favourite toy. The trick seemed to be...sardines! She would sell her soul for them. It's made me learn how much I underestimated her toy:food value ratio before, so that probably contributed to the grumbling emerging. Lesson learned though and we had fun. She loved the sardine so much she recalled away from her toy at the other end of the garden at full speed so got in a little running too

 

[druid]

There's some good Canicross groups on facebook if you're on there and a few people on here do it also. a good kit set up (belt/harness and bungee line) are essential! It's a great way to stimulate and tire out a dog and they seem to enjoy having a job. Mine beg for the harness to be put on when they see it

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Little update as the suggestions in the thread have been really helpful and appreciated. Picked up some treats yesterday - turkey pate for training and some chewy things (braids and beef tails) for ending play/winding down.

Headed over to secure field - first time off lead in outdoor space. It was fab! Ivy wasn't particularly doing wild zoomies, more trotting around like a show pony a lot of the time but she certainly enjoyed kicking up the pace for recall which was brilliant. OH and I could call her to and from each other from the opposite end of the field so she got lots of running in. It really is amazing to watch how she can shift!

One of her toys has lost a bit of value, I think because he's been de-squeaked, so we just brought this one out. She is much, much happier to leave it in favour of the turkey pate so she's already away from it when I pick it up and then as soon as I pick it up she gets the treat and praise, and the toy back again. Hopefully this helped her relax with it a bit and by the end she was even bringing the toy over to us instead of trotting off with it every time. I still think we ought to leave tug until we're better established with who does what around toys.

 

[SusieT]

Trading up is definitely the way forward to avoid any aggression - 'expecting' them to drop on command or forcing it is the way to force a bite or scaling up aggression. A 'thank you' and swap is much more effective at making dogs keen to bring things to you (i.e. easier to retrieve something dangerous) and minimise stress all round.

Hire an off lead field if you don't trust her recall as she probably needs a good run or more on lead exercise- 90min on lead isn't that much unfortunately. food dispensers, frozen kongs, scent work, hoopers, all good ideas

 

[FinnishLapphund]

What a lovely update I'm glad to hear the suggestions you got have helped, and things are improving.

As have already been mentioned, there are individual differences, and not all Greyhounds are that interested in running just for the sake of running. Sounds like Ivy prefers to save her energy for when she really thinks it is worth the effort for her to run.

Hope it continues onwards and upwards with the training, in whichever speed you, and Ivy, are comfortable with.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Ivy definitely needs a motivation to run, thankfully this includes recall on the long line for delicious treats so we've been doing more long line walking this week. It's nice to get her more space to sniff around, and moving about more with recall and the odd kibble thrown out to chase/sniff out.

Definite change with the toys dynamic thanks to a combination of the tips on this thread. I really liked the 'thank you' idea so have ditched 'leave' because I think I probably created a negative association with this which wasn't helpful.

I think Ivy is starting to enjoy playing a game with me and her toy rather than just bogging off with the toy to destroy it (though fox is down another leg and an ear now, poor fox). She'll run triumphantly round with it, throw and shake it about, then trot over and drop it nearish to me, ready for me to pick up and then the wild flinging of kibble for a patio sniffari before the toy gets thrown out again. Happy hound.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I've been spending time with a really good trainer this week and we've been doing 'food circuits' - chuck quite obvious/bright coloured food to your side, run in the other direction, use a word to call her (we were just using pup-pup as I don't want to devalue her name), as the dog is on her way back, chuck some food to the other side, sometimes call her back and feed from me. We've also done restrained recalls between the two of us. Trainer had spotted that she's a really athletic dog, built to run, I haven't really been giving her an outlet and she'd been directing her energy into stupid stuff like eyeballing other dogs/birds/leaves etc. We kept her on the long line as she has the tendency to be too free and run off. She does have a great emergency down though (as does her father who was also a bit free in the head ) I can see a difference in her engagement in a week. I had been concentrating on fancy-prancy stuff rather than our actual relationship.
Because she is foodie I can also ask her to drop a ball and then dump a load of food all over the floor so bringing things over and sharing them with me gives her no cause for concern.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I was mulling this thread over. I think I didn't make myself clear enough when I said that I don't swap and explained about the Rottweiler. With her, we actually offered her the swap, so that she would give us her object back.
What we do now is remove something that they should not have e.g a slipper and then give a toy as a reward/distraction.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I've been spending time with a really good trainer this week and we've been doing 'food circuits' - chuck quite obvious/bright coloured food to your side, run in the other direction, use a word to call her (we were just using pup-pup as I don't want to devalue her name), as the dog is on her way back, chuck some food to the other side, sometimes call her back and feed from me. We've also done restrained recalls between the two of us. Trainer had spotted that she's a really athletic dog, built to run, I haven't really been giving her an outlet and she'd been directing her energy into stupid stuff like eyeballing other dogs/birds/leaves etc. We kept her on the long line as she has the tendency to be too free and run off. She does have a great emergency down though (as does her father who was also a bit free in the head ) I can see a difference in her engagement in a week. I had been concentrating on fancy-prancy stuff rather than our actual relationship.
Because she is foodie I can also ask her to drop a ball and then dump a load of food all over the floor so bringing things over and sharing them with me gives her no cause for concern.

Sounds fun! I've been thinking of training class or 1:1, not because we have any problems as such but would be great to teach Ivy some things, have some games we can play with her etc and some tips for walking to help our confidence and relationship. I like training her, I don't know particularly what I'm doing but we have a few things she now knows and I like watching her be really engaged with it/trying to work out what she needs to do.

I was mulling this thread over. I think I didn't make myself clear enough when I said that I don't swap and explained about the Rottweiler. With her, we actually offered her the swap, so that she would give us her object back.
What we do now is remove something that they should not have e.g a slipper and then give a toy as a reward/distraction.

I think you made a good point though, there may not always be something to swap to hand (for your hand!) I think we were partly getting in a pickle because she can't be given her favourite toys to be left with as she destroys them. I could do with getting another Kong so there's always one ready to go as that's the only thing she can have that's hers to keep. The semi-long lasting chews work quite well too because she finishes them off before she gets bored of them but aren't instantly snuffled down like a treat.

I've just made a flirt pole from my schooling whip, a piece of string, and an old sock (budget option!) and she LOVES it! Unfortunately the grass area in our garden is a little small so I think we need to be super careful/save it for when we go to the secure field as I'm a bit worried injury could occur in her enthusiasm.

 

[CorvusCorax]

A fresh pair of eyes really help. My regular trainer keeps grumbling 'I told you that...I told you that months ago...' ?

 

[some show]

I'd also recommend having a go with a clicker just for fun if you find she likes learning new things! I taught Joe a few things with one (not many because greyhounds aren't the most biddable and quickly get bored!) - sit, down, wait, leave it, 'on your bed', touch...and we play the '101 things to do with a cardboard box' game too. You can really see the cogs turning in his head. I read Karen Pryor's books about clicker training, and also really like kikopup videos on youtube, they're short and easy to pick up quick ideas.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Definitely interested in some clicker training or similar, I think Ivy would be quite good at it. Currently working on settling down on a blanket (part of her 'pub dog' training ) and it could help with that.

 

[some show]

Yay, pub dog training! I used this vid by kikopup to teach Joe to go to his bed and also to a mat - she's got good ones on teaching a calm 'settle' as well. The main thing I find with clicker'ing is that greyhounds tend to be more sparing in their movements than 'normal'(!) dogs so they don't bounce from one place to the other as fast, so it's not quite as easy or quick to get them to shift off the bed/mat so you can repeat the training! Even so, Joe picked up 'on your bed' really quickly, within a couple of short sessions if I remember rightly. But he does LOVE food.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Excellent I'll check these videos out! Ivy sort of has 'go to bed' but sometimes it's 'plop yourself down on the kitchen rug nearish the bed and look hopeful for a treat' instead or simply 'plop yourself down on the nearest available comfy bit of floor'

Pub dog training has gone fairly well and she seems to settle herself reasonably quickly anyway (reinforced with a mini cheddar or morsel of cheesy chip!) but would be nice to have it trained for times it might be trickier for her to settle on her own.

 

[some show]

She sounds like a really clever girl!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

On the subject of working out treat:toy:random objects she take a shine to but don't belong to her ratios...



She is not a boisterous, in your face dog at all but boy she was happy to get stuck in clambering over me to try to get some apple this evening. Apple!?! I know what I'll be reaching for next time she comes storming down the garden triumphantly wanging my slipper around! ??

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Further pupdate, because I can't help myself. Sorry not sorry!

We finally got around to trying out a ball with Ivy, and the answer is a definite 'yes!' to the ball...

(I think there's something weird going on with the video but hopefully it works)

She pretty consistently brings it back and drops it at our feet as well. I'm aware to not overdo it with the full on throwing (think I read somewhere not good for their joints stopping to pick it up at speed? might have made it up!) but she equally enjoys it being rolled along the ground.

Also check out her unexpected jumping skills...

OH is persuading her along this time but the first time he was hopping from log to log and she just bounced down the line of logs pretty much unprompted, we were shocked!

We're getting the hang of long line walking too so loving a nice bimble along with her where she can sniff to her heart's content, seemingly more and more - less time walking 'on a mission' and on alert and more time chilling out following her snoot - maybe she is relaxing more on the walks?

At home enrichment is getting better too. Kibble sniffaris indoors and out, freezing kongs and lickmats is a revelation, and working on bits of training.

 

[some show]

She looks fab SPD! I'm so jealous of her jumping skills, Joe's rubbish at jumping - stiles are the bane of my life!

Glad you're having fun!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

She looks fab SPD! I'm so jealous of her jumping skills, Joe's rubbish at jumping - stiles are the bane of my life!

Glad you're having fun!

Stiles are the worst! Even the ones with dog gates round by us are no help because Ivy finds it tricky to duck down under them. I carried her over 2 by myself once, both with two steps. Ivy is small as greys go but never again!

The jumping was unexpected, I think she just loves running around with OH so much. Watching the pair of them bound across the field is so funny.

There's another secure field we're planning to go to that has a few proper agility jumps in so that will be fun to try. Something a bit different for her anyway. I've been at uni all afternoon and OH has kept me updated that Ivy's been snoozing all afternoon (usually she turns into a bit of a monkey at 3pm, almost exactly, every day, for reasons we have not yet worked out).

 

[some show]

I've been at uni all afternoon and OH has kept me updated that Ivy's been snoozing all afternoon (usually she turns into a bit of a monkey at 3pm, almost exactly, every day, for reasons we have not yet worked out).

Joe usually gets his tea at about 4:30 and will wake up and start moaning about it or attention seeking every day at 3:30 without fail, unless he's absolutely zonked out!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Joe usually gets his tea at about 4:30 and will wake up and start moaning about it or attention seeking every day at 3:30 without fail, unless he's absolutely zonked out!

I'd suspected she was bored but more and more I think it might be food related! She does settle right down after a meal. I'm just worried about moving dinner earlier in case she's then really hungry in the morning. We tried two smaller meals in the evening but that didn't seem to help. I'm still on a bit of a mission with her food. We'll get there eventually!

 

[some show]

Totally understand! I ignore Joe (as much as I can, they can be so persistent) and make him wait for the same reason. He has breakfast, tea and a small meal just before bed as well because he's one of those sicky dogs that'll throw up bile at 5am if he gets empty, so we play 'find the kibble' around the house. Means he gets his supper and gets to do something fulfilling but has to utilise his brain a bit before bed!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Popping back for another pupdate on our toys/chews/enrichment situation as we found a couple of things yesterday and I'm genuinely amazed at how they're holding up.

I picked up this thing on recommendation from this thread: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Starmark-Treat-Dispenser-Chew-Large/dp/B0009YD8NS It's soft/squashy and I thought a bit of a risk tbh given Ivy's track record of chewing power! She's had a really good go at it and not a single mark made - I'm super impressed!

Also this thing: https://www.kongcompany.com/dog/collections/wubba-dog-toys/wubba-comet because she seems to be losing a bit of interest in her ball (already!) and this looked more fun. The tails have taken a bit of a hit but again no marks on the 'body' of it.

We're making progress with 'leave it' but have had a couple of growly/snappy moments when she had pinched something that wasn't hers. It's a work in progress but I think practicing with the toys in a controlled way and high value treats so she's looking for the 'good thing' rather than panicking about losing whatever she has will help these situations when we need to retrieve something from her. It's also getting us in the habit of not going 'ahh she has that thing!' because I think that worries her even more.

The ostrich bone and yak milk have been reinvigorated by soaking to soften them a bit, this got her started on them and now she's having some good chew sessions with those. She's also now had her first pig's ear and a poultry foot of some description.

It's been a bit tricky recently with crap weather, me and OH being ill, and mud everywhere so the secure field not being much use (Ivy doesn't really 'do' mud so the last time we went she just wanted to potter about with me rather than run) so we've all been a bit fed up I think. We're looking forward to the lighter evenings and better walks ahead!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

We're making progress with 'leave it' but have had a couple of growly/snappy moments when she had pinched something that wasn't hers. It's a work in progress but I think practicing with the toys in a controlled way and high value treats so she's looking for the 'good thing' rather than panicking about losing whatever she has will help these situations when we need to retrieve something from her. It's also getting us in the habit of not going 'ahh she has that thing!' because I think that worries her even more.

Weeeell I cocked up pretty spectacularly on this one today didn't I?

Someone (me) forgot to put the butter away after breakfast. I'm actually kind of impressed that I managed to have my shower and it wasn't until I went upstairs to get dressed that Ivy went for it. I didn't fancy standing by to watch her polish off the whole lot but when even waving a pizzle under her snoot and having chucked literally her whole day's worth of kibble over the kitchen floor wasn't working I knew I was in trouble! She has growled and snapped at me before, a warning only but I really do not want to be the one to escalate things. I managed to get a lead on her to lead her out of the crate and into another room so I could clear up the chaos.

Not my best dog-owner moment. Super cross with myself. She is such a lovely dog and Greyhounds are always said to be so gentle so I worry a lot about messing her up in some way even though I'm doing my best to read up, watch videos, learn as quickly as I can.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Happy progress pic ? I brought out the croc toy having avoided soft toys for a while. I just did less than an hour of pretending her toy is boring and she's gone from taking it down the garden intent on destruction to me being able to go and bring it in and to be able to pick it up with no grumbles. Mr croc lives to see another day...

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Further update...perhaps realistically not that many more days for Mr croc but still. Some progress!

 

[CMcC]

all my lurchers love a plastic bottle to play with. An empty small Coke bottle with the top taken off. Had one who loved a lager can.