My Greyhound Hates Small Animals?
October 29, 2009 by admin
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
I have the sweetest and most gentle greyhound ever. But when he sees a small dog or any small animal he goes NUTS and turns into a ferocious and vicious dog. He even bit me one time because I was trying to pull him away from this other small dog. Does anyone know the best way to train him without taking him to a dog trainer? It’s to the point where I can’t even take him to get him groomed because he grabbed a cat once while they were taking him back to get washed. Thank God the cat’s ok. It clawed his face pretty good though. Any suggestions?
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There is not much you can do. Was he a race track rescue? Grey hounds are very prey driven so they cannot help themselves when it comes to chasing and killing small things. the incident at the groomers was the groomers fault your dog should have never been able to get close to the cat. It is pretty much impossible to train them not to chase and kill small things.
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Since he is a rescued racer there really is nothing much you can do. Race track dogs are trained to chase after and try to kill small things starting at a very young age. This is extremely hard to train out of them and they can never be trusted around small animals.
You can’t train out his instinct! He’s a SIGHT HOUND! He’s ALL about small animal prey drive! That’s what he’s FOR! It’s like getting a herding dog, and not expecting him to be movement oriented! Greyhounds quite often don’t get to hang out in situations where other dogs are present. And let go of your dream for owning bunnies! The nicest thing about the greyhound, is they’re exercise requirements are easy to meet with walks, and some romping in a fully fenced yard.
When your dog is outside, keep a soft muzzle on him to protect other animals.
Since you KNOW he reacts like this, by keeping him from grabbing and potentially killing someone else’s pet, AND keep him under control, you’ll avoid lawsuits by distraught owners who have had their pets savaged by him.
He likely also need more basic obedience training in the sit/stay category.
Your greyhound has been bred for thousands of years to chase and kill small animals. He is hard wired for this. The only chance you may have is a trainer experienced in this. But, you may have to resign yourself to it and make sure he has no opportunity or access to small animals. This may include a muzzle in public.
I would go to a positive trainer and ask for help . Since the trainer can see as soon as the dogs ‘goes nuts’ and exactly what is triggering the behaviour and at what distance it occurs, the trainer will be able to help you much much better than we ever could.
Good luck!
Greyhounds are bred to chase small animals, so it’s a tough instinct to break. You’ll probably need professional behavioral help on that one.
Greyhounds are bred to chase and kill small animals.
I wish I had a a greyhound.
greyHOUND
sightHOUND
why don’t you consult a trainer? it would really help you.