Greyhound Socialization and Behavior Issues
Sleeping Dogs. “Let sleeping dogs lie”… There’s a serious reason for this old saying. Many dogs, including greyhounds, can snap when startled from sleep or bothered while in their bed. Don’t become a dog‑bite statistic—make sure that your greyhound is awake before getting too close or touching him while he’s relaxed on his bed. “Eyes open” doesn’t necessarily mean “awake”!
Dog Parks. Do you take your dog to a dog park? Every year we get several calls from adopters that their greyhound was bitten at a dog park, sometimes badly. Or we find out that a greyhound has bitten another dog. While dog parks can be a great place to socialize and exercise your dog, they can be dangerous places. First, many of our greyhounds are not safe with tiny dogs and, unfortunately, many dog parks don’t have separate areas for large and small dogs. Second, many people bring aggressive dogs to dog parks and many people don’t pay attention to what their dog is doing. If you do decide to go to a dog park, please use caution; check out the scene carefully before letting your dog off leash. If a dog or dogs start playing aggressively, take your dog home. Know what to look for when play starts to turn to a fight.
Flexible or other Long Leads. What’s so bad about flexible leads and why do we strongly recommend against using them? If something occurs when your dog is 16 feet away from you, you have no control over the dog and you cannot intervene quickly. Also, at least one greyhound has died from a broken neck when it took off and reached the end of the lead at 40 mph. Please don’t use flexible leads or other long leads and encourage friends that use them to discard them, regardless of the kind of dog they have.