teach dog to play?

[qazqaz]

Hi all, I'm new to this site and I have seen that you all give good advice!! We have adopted a 4 year old ex-racing greyhound and she has settled in very well. The problem is we would like to interact with her more and get her intersted in playing. We have tried various toys/balls/tuggers/kongs but she doesn't seem interested and just looks at us like we are stupid Not sure if this post belong s in behaviour but any advice would be great!!

[tatsxxx11]

Welcome Smokey! We have a few members who are guardians of "greys" and would have, I'm sure, some good suggestions. I understand, that given their backgrounds, the approach taken may be a bit different than that with another type of rescue or new pup. So glad to have you here! Tell us about your girl! What a special thing you've done, giving this girl a loving forever home!

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Hi Smokey and welcome, we all thank you for adopting a greyhound, we do have quite a few members who have them and I'm sure they will catch up on this post. I have two Mini Schnauzers. I was wondering have you tried the little cube toy where you can stick little bits of treats in and teach the dog to roll it for the treats to come out? We would all love to see photos of your girl
whenever you can post them.
Jackie

[carrie]

Hello!
You couldn't of made me happier! A new member from the UK AND a Greyhound?????? Bliss!!!!!

There are things you need to understand about your dog.
She is the best and most wonderful companion you could of chosen....BUT...
She is used to spending 22 and half to 23 hours of her day in a kennel.
She loves people because that is her nature and they feed her and take her to chase the bunny. She does not love people because they have spent time playing with her or getting to know her.
By nature that suits her.
She does not need people.
She is quite happy with her own company - having yours is something that will take time to get used to. She doesn't need to be played with or asked to play because she is still coping with an environment that is totally alien to her. Most pet dogs will, in such a situation, look to the owner for support and guidance. Your bitch has never had this and is coping by herself, within herself, as she always has.
I would suggest that you drop the play issue - she may never get this concept - for the time being. Concentrate on VERY simple commands such as the sit (it is a total myth that Greyhounds can't sit....they are the most natural of breeds and can do anything that any other breed can, physically, it's the motivation that is the stumbling block). This will build your relationship with the dog. Remember the dog has only ever seen the human as a servant of it's needs - food, running, track. Most racing Greyhounds don't even connect the human to these things!
Give your dog a VERY comfortable bed - not yours or one that looks like yours! - Greyhounds that have been kept in kennels will almost certainly look for a bed that is above ground level by about two to three feet - just like in their kennel - just like your bed! Shut the door!
Food is a major incentive to most Greyhounds. Most, as I have said, have no idea that this can come from humans. Avoid rustling paper or polythene bags - keep biscuits in your pocket. (Remember to put out the dogs daily feed and only take titbits from that.) This can be your saviour with a Greyhound. Your main aim is to get the dog to realise that what you say followed by a reaction from the dog equals something to eat. As an early step to bonding it is great to reward with food any reaction to the dogs name - even if she looks at you. As soon as she takes a step towards you when you say her name you only reward for that, not for just looking at you. As soon as she gets the idea and comes to you for the food, you only reward for her coming straight to you.

You are so lucky.
You have an independant animal that can take care of herself and she knows it. Do not worry about play - she will not even realise that you are capable of playing with her!
Please, if you have questions or problems email me, if you are not head over heels in love with this bitch already I will take her!!!!!!
Only half joking there.....any help you want, email me, enjoy your bitch for what she is and let us all know how you are getting on, please. (Photos would be great!)

[carrie]

Just one more thing...you have a grown up dog. There are two ways to get a grown up dog; 1, Get a wolf mix
2, Get an ex racing Greyhound.

Pet dogs have been bred to exhibit and keep the puppy instincts. We could not keep them as pets if they had not been. The wolf will show the behaviour of the wild canid and the sight hounds will show the behaviour of the domestic "grown up".

[TheAntiPam]

Carrie, your information brings up a very good point - What do you do when a dog doesn't do what you expect? In some cases, the behavior is destructive or agressive, and the humans need to use training to change that.

But, what if the behavior isn't "bad", just different. From the description Carrie gave of a greyhound rescue's behavior, it sounds more catlike than doglike. A cat is an independant soul (usually) and even with all the training in the world, will still be a cat. Most cat owners learn not to try to change that independence very much. Its just part of having a cat.

Don't be too worried, Smokey. The independent side to your new fur friend is just part of her. Loving and caring for her will be a learning adventure for both of you. In a way, you have a long lean running machine dog with the heart of a cat. How bad can that be?

Welcome to PetTalk, and we look forward to hearing about and seeing your new doggie!

[3-greys-and-a-mutt]

Welcome to a fellow greyhound addict! (Well, maybe you aren't an addict yet, but you will be!)

Carrie has given some great advice. I would also recommend reading "Adopting the Racing Greyhound" by Cynthia Branigan and "Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies."

As to the toy issue, I know that many greyhounds tend to be pickier about toys. The kong seems to be very successful with many grey owners, as long as they stuff the toy with liverwurst, peanut buter, fat free cream cheese, or the like. My first two greyhounds want nothing to do with the kong, however, and I never bothered to try it on the third.

Basically, in our house, we have two types of toys that get played with: fleece stuffed toys with squeakers in them; and Nylabone brand gum-a-bones.

We have spent lots of money trying to find toys that our greys enjoy, and the above two types seem to be the winners. We used to give them regular hard nylabones, hollow leg bones, and cow hooves as chew toys, but then Boo chipped a tooth, and we learned how bad these hard things can be for our dogs' teeth. That is why we now use gum-a-bones. They have to be nylabone brand, or else they are in bits in hours (the nylabone brand is much more durable!), and it has to be liver or chicken-flavored, or they don't ever pick it up to chew. We have one plain gum-a-bone that has sat around the house, pretty much untouched, for almost a year. The liver-flavored type usually lasts 2 to 4 weeks.

Fleece toys are by far the favorite, and they all have their preferences: Buddy likes big floppy toys he can carry around, Boo likes small round fleece toys like balls, and Paula likes anything with a very noisy squeak that she can squeak for about five minutes straight. However, Paula doesn't usually play with toys - she only gets the mood to pick up a toy a few times per week.

Carrie knows what she's talking about with greyhound behavior: they are used to not needing people for anything. My greys still show very little interest in interactive games, like tug-of-war. They prefer to play with toys on their own. Remember, they are not Retrievers, who will jump in and learn to 'fetch' in about two minutes! My Buddy and Boo will sometimes chase a toy in the yard, but only if it's the right toy (something small and fleece). I don't know if they will ever chase tennis balls or frisbees. And they can never bring the toy all the way back to us - they drop it about five feet away, and then walk up to us to be petted.

Sorry to be so long-winded! Just trying to emphasize that greyhounds (and many other already-adult dogs you might adopt) don't know how to play, so you have to use trial-and-error and try many toys with them until they find something they like. Be prepared to spend lots of money at your local pet store (hopefully, they have a return policy so you can get your money back on toys that are untouched). (Also, remember that your dog is in a new environment and probably very scared.)

And don't ever be afraid to get down on the ground and show your grey how to play! Who cares if you look stupid - your dog will love you for it! Good luck, and keep us updated!

[dogncatluvr]

Hi Smokey, and Welcome!

You've brought another greythound owner out of the woodwork. I just adopted my 22 month old greyhound, Jamey, 2 months ago. He has learned a lot since then, mostly with a lot of patience on my part. i.e. when he was just about to lay down, I would give the command "down" and praise him for doing it. (Sort of like clicker training without the clicker). Now he will lay down when I tell him to. He will come on command too, and we are working on the sit (that's a hard one Carrie!)
Do you know about a UK greyhound club? If you'd like to know, please e-mail me and I will give you the URL (it's at home).

As Carrie says, we'd like to see pictures please!

OK a bit more. Jamey is a social butterfly, for a greyhound. He does like people, and will actively seek them out for a hug. He plays with fleece toys, loves nylabone "bones", and even plays with a tennis ball on a rope...he fetches that. I guess what I'm trying to say is that amongst greyhounds you can find different personalities, different likes and dislikes. Jamey knew how to play when he came to me. But I hear that some never learn, never have an interest.

Happy, Jamey-Greyhound, and his 2 Lab sisters, Bailey and Heidi. Oh, and the 4 kitties too.

[ September 25, 2001: Message edited by: dogncatluvr ]

[qazqaz]

Thanks all, especially Carrie for the great advice. Bebe (said Bee Bee - the name she would initially respond to, strange I know???!!!) our white and brindle greyhound is absolutely brilliant. We have had her now for about 2 months and we are just have in adjust to this breed as one member put it " a cat in a dogs coat". We have lived with Border Collies in the past and so the difference between the breeds character takes a lot of getting used to! If I can ask another question related to this - we have tried getting on the floor with her to play but she raises her hackles along her spine which is different from the ones she raises if she gets bothered by other dogs. I don't think it is aggression but I'm not sure what to make of it.

We will try to get photos of her on the site soon (once we figure out how to do it!) but as yet we haven't managed to capture the famous Greyhound smile!

[Daisy's Mom]

Welcome, Smokey! Everyone has given you the best advice as always, so I will just say, welcome to Pet Talk! You and BeeBee will love it here

[carrie]

Keep trying with the photos!!

Stop getting on the floor with her! You are totally freaking her out. She has no idea that people do that sort of thing!!! Get on the floor on your own with a book or a magazine and leave her alone to look at you, get used to the idea of people on the floor and she will adjust her view of the world at her own pace. It will not be long before she is relaxed about this and she will probably end up joining you, given time. It is important to show her that you on the floor has nothing to do with her so ignore her totally, no eye contact and do not speak to her. Once she learns that it is OK she will be fine. Let her approach you on the floor when she is ready.
Keep us up to date on how she is doing, please.

[shais_mom]

Congratulations on your new furbaby and welcome to the board.
My greyhound Shaianne, crossed to the bridge on 9-13-01. She was my treasure. She wasn't an exracer, she wasn't rescued from a greyhound adoption, I found her at the local humane society. But she still didn't know how to play and if I was on the floor she was in my lap. She was a social butterfly and loved everyone.
She never played like a retreiver or lab, if I tried to play tug a war with her she would let me take it and sit and look at me like "what for did you do that!!!" She loved to play in the snow, she would put her nose in the snow and off she would go when she would stand up she would have snow all over her nose, too bad I never got a picture. She would throw her fleece toys around but that is as far as it went.
She didn't like Kongs unless they were stuffed with something, and unlike Jessica's 3 greys, she wanted nothing to do with nylabones or gumabones. If I threw a ball for her she would look at me like " Yeah and now you go get it."
The one thing she absolutely loved was a treat ball, that you put food or tiny treats in and chase it all over, I had one at my parents and at home. She even stole the cat's treat ball that did that!
Good luck with your new baby, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the plight of those gentle, special creatures.
I tell everyone, if they want a good companion, get a greyhound. They are wonderful spirited dogs.
Check out my pics in my signature.
OH! I think this is a website, I learned so much about greyhounds. www.greyhoundgang.com

[Rottie]

Sometimes my sister and I go over to a German Shepherd breeder's house and just play with and help socialize her dogs. She raises 4 dogs a year for the police dog program, after they leave her kennel they go on for training to become police dogs.

One of the most essential things for potential police dogs is that they HAVE to love to play. That is the dog's whole reason for working, to get their toy.

Some of these dogs we have to teach to play.

One thing we usually start with is first, put them on a leash so they can't run away and just start kicking a tennis ball along the ground with your foot. Most of the dogs will want to chase it.

[ktreva52]

Welcome, welcome, welcome. We are glad you stopped in and posted your topic instead of dumping your new pet because she is not what you expected. You have received some great advice here and now (here it comes, folks) I will add my usual bit: Obedience training.

When you've had the lovely lady for about four months, she should be fairly well settled to the idea that she will no longer be living her life in some cage and chasing bunnies around a track. However, in order to help her bond with you, I suggest obedience work. It will help socialize her to the big wide world and help her learn that you are the leader of her new "pack" (even if it's only you and her) and that you can and will be trusted to do the best thing for her. I would go with a program that encourages using treats and praise instead of "pushme-pullyou" methods which is how I first learned to train. You can use her own dog food for rewards or you can teach her to accept treats. I prefer "Drumstix" by Pounce. Just crumble some into her regular food for a few feedings and then offer her one everytime she does good stuff like going outside to potty. If she likes them (I've only met one or two that didn't), you can use them in training. They're actually cat treats, but you can break them in two and the dogs seem to love them. Since they are cat treats, they're flavor intensive and small bits will still seem wonderful to the dog.

As for playing, well, you've received some very experienced advice there. It may well be that she will never adopt your concept of play, but she may make up her own games or never play at all. Still, offer her toys now and again and she may surprise us all. The Buster Cube or Buster Ball is what most of the folks are talking about that you put treats into and the dog rolls it around on the floor. I even had a JRT that challenged my Cattle Dog mix (who was the Beta bitch in the house -- I am ALPHA) and back her up for the Buster Ball. It was sort of amusing, but nearly a fight and the Buster Ball went to my mother's house. I ought to get one for my current Jack Russell Terrier as she's quite an active child.

Anyway, is there a Greyhound rescue group that you got her from? You could talk to them further, but the best thing at this point is to be patient and see what she does in terms of personal entertainment. We look forward to hearing more about her.