Growling at other dogs

[Yogi]

Our newly adopted greyhound growls at other dogs that come near him on walks (he is on a lead). Is it possible to train this behaviour out of him (he's 6 and a half, male) ? If so what's the best way - dog classes?

[pat]

ys it can be trained out of him, what he is doing at the moment is saying to the other dog this is my territory beware, and he is making the other dog feel that he is threatening, imediately talk to your dog in a calm fashion, tell him very firmly no, this is not acceptable, turn him away from the other dog and praise him when he is calm, if you feel that you dont have full control when he is like that then a dog training school is ideal, it will teach you the basics of understanding what your dog is doing and this will make you better at handling him and getting him to know what you expect

[sallyannh]

We've found with ours that it helps if we are relaxed, rather than tensing up when we see another dog coming. It's also helpful if he sees you being friendly with the other owner and making a fuss of their dog (alway check to make sure the other dog is friendly, it won't help reassure him if it bites you!). Have treats on hand to reward him for good behaviour - our word is 'nicely' and if he walks past the other dog without making a fuss he gets a reward.

Mind you, at one stage Darcy was looking at me for a treat as soon as he saw another dog, sort of 'give me a treat or the spaniel gets it'!

Also, if you can, try walking him with someone else and their dog, getting him used to other dogs and not seeing them as a threat.

[sueb]

.......sort of 'give me a treat or the spaniel gets it'!......LOL!!

[Yogi]

Thanks for the tips!

[gazza56]

i have a problem with the growling hound which has occured over the last couple of years. we had a brindle that was a bundle of energy so after a year we decided to get another hound to try and calm her down well it worked, jo came into our lifes such a good natured dog ,friends with everyone ,dog ,cat human . well after about 4 years millie the brindle got quite ill and sadly pass away,we let jo see millie after she had passed as we were told it help the survining dog cope . after about 6 sleepless weeks due to jo crying every night we decided another hound was the answer and into our lifes bounded mollie alice a black bitch 2 years younger than jo.on our first walk out over 1 tree hill mollie with lead and muzzle on jo walking beside us we came across a doberman that we knew it came running up to us for a stroke which sparked behaviour in jo that we had never seen she went to attack the doberman . the doberman run off , well we put it down to her protecting mollie,which fair enough her mothering instints came to the top . BUT 3 years down the the road she is the same with any other dog including other greys. with people she is the most charming dog ,with our cat great but not dogs,anybody got any ideas?

[Ian]

It sounds like protective behaviour to me the mother in laws spaniel does it with people! A bit unfortunate. As a starter for ten it might be worth simply Googling protective behaviour in dogs, as I recall one article I read suggested, quietening the dog down and when it's quiet treat it, but only when it's quiet. I guess trying to reinforce quietness and calmness as being the good thing. Glad to hear Molly Alice is getting on well though, I remember walking her on numerous ocassions at Ockendon. Is she still nervous? At Ockendon she was fine once she got to know you, but would otherwise would be nervous around new people.

Forgot to add, it might be worth considering some time at the Billericay Dog Training School if you're within striking distance of them. Call them first though and explain the problem you're trying to crack.

[gazza56]

thanks for the ideas yes molly is still nervous with strangers but ok when she knows you also what might surprise yoh with her is that indoors she is cat friendly

[funnypoppet]

Lady had always been a bit of a diva and her behaviour became markedly worse after being jumped on by numerous dogs when she first came home. It did get to a point where she would go for other dogs on sight and after several months of avoiding other dogs, crossing road and taking different routes etc, I took a water bottle (with squirty top) with me. A quick squirt in the face with the bottle stopped her. Only had to use three times and she will now ignore all dogs if they ignore her. All this was over four years ago. May be worth considering if behaviour becomes too aggressive.

[Ian]

Jan 29, 2013 19:23:02 GMT gazza56 said:

thanks for the ideas yes molly is still nervous with strangers but ok when she knows you also what might surprise yoh with her is that indoors she is cat friendly

That's interesting about the cats, she had gone home really briefly with a young couple who were cat free, but they had a small gerbil (or similar) pet and unfortunately Molly saw it in it's cage in the room where it was kept and from that moment onwards she spent slot of time trying to get in the room and so unfortunately she came back.

[gazza56]

when i say cat friendly indoors she is but we would never trust her 100% but there again is any dog 100% safe. its taken us nearly 3 years to get to were we are with her its not been easy but boy has it been worth it

[Ian]

Jan 29, 2013 21:04:43 GMT gazza56 said:

when i say cat friendly indoors she is but we would never trust her 100% but there again is any dog 100% safe. its taken us nearly 3 years to get to were we are with her its not been easy but boy has it been worth it

Our Seans fairly scared of cats, he won't walk through door ways if one is sitting in the middle of it, and I've left him tonight on his bed with a cat in the same room on a sofa...he knows very well that cats = claws = pain, and being 100% wimp he steers well clear. It's quite funny to see him around them really since he's above average dog size, so you've got this pretty big Greyhound that won't pass these small cats. So we often have to tell the cats off (not that they understand) for striking at Sean for no reason.

[gazza56]

and that is why we love our greys so much

[sueb]

I've heard a water spray can be very effective in changing unwanted behaviour.

Glad to hear about Mollie Alice- she was in a kennel with Brennan for a while (2 nervous ninnies together!!) I thought she was absolutely stunning.

[sallyannh]

Just a point about water sprays. I use one for Roma as she still goes potty every time she sees a cat/fox/badger etc. She is gradually calming down, by which I mean she doesn't bark hysterically for quite such a long time once I've blasted her several times with it.

However, it depends what you're trying to achieve with your greyhound and other dogs. By squirting him for growling at other dogs you'd be reinforcing the fact that other dogs are a bad thing. It might stop him growling but it's not going to make him any friendlier towards other dogs.

With our two, neither the water spray for Roma and cats nor the positive reinforcement for Darcy and other dogs has been a rapid process, but the change is there. Roma will always want to chase cats and I'll never fully trust Darcy around small dogs, especially off lead ones, but there has been a great improvement.