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Post by penrep on Jan 21, 2007 22:56:45 GMT -5
Hello.....Our family today purchased our first little girl, a Red who has yet to be named. I read your emails and I am concerned about the biting of the Greyhounds....I had checked into the breed with research and also with the kennel we purchased her from and most stated that they are not aggressive or bite....I have a 6 year old little girl and a 12 year old boy who are used to having pets around but I am very concerned about "biting".....is this something that I should be worried about? Is there instances of greyhounds mauling small children? and this "startling" awake, do they often snap....I understand that they would be sorry but its too late after a face is bitten....someone relieve my worries please!
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Post by samrob on Jan 22, 2007 8:38:40 GMT -5
Are you using a crate? Neither of our two greys have any sort of sleep agression(we actually move them to make room for us on the bed too!), but you have to get to know your individual dog. If she knows she can sleep in a safe place, everyone will be happy. I would suggest putting the pup's bed in a quiet area out of the "traffic" in the house. At least til you know your pup better.
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Post by tara on Jan 22, 2007 11:45:39 GMT -5
I have never heard of a grey mauling a person. Some nip when sleeping and are startled. We purposely made Ty get used to our touching him while asleep that way if someone who doesn't know/too young to understand the rule touches him no accidents. However not all greys are as tolerant as Ty and we didn't just start out doing this as with any training it was baby steps. Praised for good behaviour and let know who was alpha (with VOG) when showing unacceptable behaviour. The great thing about these dogs is they are extremely intelligent. Ty learned to not be possessive from one time being told "NO" in the VOG. They are really docile dogs. Tyson also liked to "mouth" when playing. However we have friends with small children who mistake this as "biting", so he knows mouthing is only allowed with dad when they are playing, no one else. You have to decide what behaviour is acceptable to you and train accordingly I think. Just my humble opinion
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meganm
Junior Grey Lover
Puppy Love
Posts: 292
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Post by meganm on Jan 22, 2007 12:05:07 GMT -5
Your kids may be used to pets, but your new dog is most not likely familiar with children. Take it slow and make sure your kids follow the rules at all times like not startling the dog when it is sleeping and not giving hugs until they know each other better and you should be fine. Good luck and congrats on your new pup!
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Post by jiffer on Jan 22, 2007 13:09:25 GMT -5
As others have mentioned, with any new dog, it will take them time to become accustomed to living with children. Children can pinch, pet or pull too hard, they can accidentally trip and land on the dog. There are lots of things that Greyhounds have never had to deal with. All of their lives, if they were laying down or asleep, no one was near them so even that is a new experience.
There are some greyt books out there about dogs and kids... one that comes highly recommended is Childproofing your Dog. Supervision is key and reinforcing that your children are above the dog in the pack order. This can be as easy as having your child feed the dog.
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karen
Junior Grey Lover
[red]Tiger and Fiona's Mom[/red]
Posts: 226
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Post by karen on Jan 22, 2007 14:48:37 GMT -5
Tiger, our first grey, used to snarl and snap at my husband whenever he would get out of bed in the middle of the night. Tiger slept on the floor beside our bed. I think hubby may have stepped on him or had brushed him and startled him awake. Hubby become much more careful when getting in and out of bed.
Our new pup, Fiona, sleeps with us and gets very upset when distrurbed. She has snapped at both my huband and myself. We now know to say something to her before trying to move her over.
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Post by iconsmum on Jan 26, 2007 22:42:42 GMT -5
IMHO - 8 dogs later - all kinds of breeds, large mostly, I absolutely never let a dog on my bed for any reason- it's much more meaningful to the dog than we realize -it means warm snuggles to the person and dominance to the dog. In effect, you're telling the dog that he/she reigns and those teeth are big and the world is litigious and I want my dogs for ever
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ceedee
Junior Grey Lover
Posts: 187
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Post by ceedee on Jan 26, 2007 23:39:23 GMT -5
We owned a biter once - an Old English Sheepdog - who bit me, my children and visiting children. After she died, I did a lot of research on dog breeds and discovered that the greyhound was totally opposite to the OESD in both appearance and personality. We adopted a greyhound puppy and he brought nothing but joy to our lives. My youngest was three years old at the time and, as you can imagine, there was a lot of tugging and pinching, and pulling going on, but never did Domino display any aggression - no growling ever. I don't think he knew he had teeth! I understand how you feel with your kids because I never got over the fear of being bitten by a dog. Our second grey, Dash, has a kind and gentle personality and has never growled, snarled, even when awakened. But I always watch when visiting little children come over and I would never leave them alone together unsupervised. Hugs make me very nervous because I have known dogs (non greyhounds) to bite when children have thrown their arms around their necks. The muzzle is a great tool, and one that greyhounds are very accustomed to. I would muzzle your dog and have the children wake up the dog, hug it, lie down beside it, snuggle with it - all the ways that children interact with dogs, and test the reaction from the dog. This might make you feel more reassured. p.s. My husband said many, many years ago - no dogs in bedroom. So like iconsmum, we have never had dogs sleep with us. They still love us just the same!
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Post by jiffer on Jan 29, 2007 9:30:47 GMT -5
IMHO - 8 dogs later - all kinds of breeds, large mostly, I absolutely never let a dog on my bed for any reason- it's much more meaningful to the dog than we realize -it means warm snuggles to the person and dominance to the dog. In effect, you're telling the dog that he/she reigns and those teeth are big and the world is litigious and I want my dogs for ever This is true for certain personalities. Icarus has slept in the bed with us since the second month we had him. Atlas will get in bed with us when he's cold. If Icarus decides to sleep in the spare room, Echo will take his place on the bed (she's second in command). We don't restrict furniture either. Icarus is our dog pack leader, though heaven knows why, and he has never challenged Rene or I for a shift in pack status. He knows the rules and any challenge to those rules means you are on the floor. I do a lot of work on each dog that comes into our house to enforce the pack status. People always first! It takes some time but they do get used to this. If they don't respect my rules, then they don't get the privileges. There's a handy tool out there called NILIF k9deb.com/nilif.htm I have had a lot of success with it. Just wanted to add: as rprovost saw the other evening, my dogs also respect the wishes of other people's houses. Echo didn't attempt to get up on their couch. At their grandparent's house, they know they aren't allowed in the living room. It's all in setting boundaries.
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