My Dog Is Called Skye

[skyedog]

hello i have a 7 year old grayhound we have had her for about 3 years now, she used to be a racer before we got her and is still very fast but she stoped because when she would go around the bends it was puting to much presure on her left leg so before she broke it she stoped. but she is in perfect health now. she is a perfect family pet and great with children quite shy around new people but soon gets used to them. she loves Squeaky toys and goes bonkers for them and in our family she is a very special member all of us love her very much. but the only problem is that whenever we go out for walks and she see's a cat or a dog her attitude imidately changes for a shy and Quite to crazy she jumps in the air barking and pulling so we can't just enjoy a nice calm walk. but when she is doing this she always wagging her tail she has been around other dogs before like my friends and she is fine when she is next to him and playing but when they are of the lead if he trys to move she will chase him and bark and round him up, i dont think she would ever harm another dog but if they are accross the road and she cant get to them she goes crazy! wewould just like her to be calm when she see's other dog. and the other thing is that is starting to wee on the floor in the morning now, when we first got her she did that because she didn't know anythink different but she stoped for a while but is beginning to do it again? we always make shore she has a wee before she goes to bed but that doesn't seem to make any difference? we just dont know what to do with her???? if anyone could help that would be great

 

[Dogster]

WELCOME!!!! And OMG, I LOVE your greyhound!!!! What a BEAUTIFUL dog!!!!! (I'm amazed by running dogs, lol) It's GREAT that you rescued her!!!!! I don't have any suggestions for her craziness on walks.
For peeing in the morning, I suggest you take Skye out before she wakes up, so she won't pee in the house. It also trains her not to go in the house. I hope this helps!!!!

 

[skyedog]

ahaa same i have always loved running dogs myself and we take her to the medow where we have never seen anyone there before and there it a big patch of grass that looks like a ring type thing and she loves boming around it . and thankyou i will start trying to do that.

 

[Dogster]

Shivon loves running also. I don't trust her off leash, so I take her to the dog park. I LOVE Skye's eyes. Wow, beautiful!!!!

 

[skyedog]

awh! we started letting skye of the lead and she was really good but once she ran off but not far and we soon got her back but after that she only stays by our side unless we are at the track/ring because she is scared that if she runs of she will get lost. awh thats nice i don't think we have a dog park near us and ahaa thankyou her eyes are massive :o and what breed is shivon??

 

[Dogster]

Shivon is a whippet/lab mix. (whippet first 'cause she looks and acts more like a whippet)
It's good that you can let Skye off leash. I need to work on Shivon's recall. A LOT.

 

[skyedog]

awh thats so cool and yeahh the recall can be one of the hardest things! i know that skye used to just look at me the leg it back of! and i saw the video you put up of shivon she is amazing and really cute!

 

[Dogster]

THANK YOU!!!! If I EVER let her off leash and try to call her back (wether it's a dog park, or regular park), she will just stare at me as if she was saying " You're kidding me, right??? I'm not com-ing...." That is why I don't call her in a park. We're working at it though, and she is improving.

 

[skyedog]

awh yeah skye is to scared to not come back now if we are ever out of sight she we come boming after us so she doesn't get left behind

 

[tigerlily46514]

WELCOME!!! YOUR DOG IS LOVELY!! JUST LOVELY!!! I'd love seeing more pictures of him, too!!

The barking at dogs, i don't think your dog sounds "dog-aggressive" but maybe just has a bad habit of barking at dogs. Can't really evaluate a dog via online, but it doesn't really sound like Skye is "dog-aggressive" like my dog is, from what you have written so far..

You CAN solve this habitual barking at dogs, though. There's no "instant" fix that i know of, but it can be done-------teaching you dog you want him to be calm when he sees other dogs.
It takes a lil while, okay? Your goal is to reward Skye for calmly observing unknown dogs, at whatever distance that takes for your particular dog to be able to do that,
and then,
each week, shortening the distance. Also, be aware, once Skye HAS gone off at a dog, most dogs get chockful of burst of adrenaline, which takes a lil while to dissipate again, so for next 20 or 30 minutes, is a good chance Skye will RE-react to seeing a dog. So don't feel like a failure if you fail to keep Skye calm in that first 30 minutes AFTER Skye has already "lost it" on some dog.


This thread (link below) is on dog-aggressive dogs, so most of this is useless to you, but DO read over "REPLY #4" (find it in lower right hand corner of each post)http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/7-things-that-helped-my-dog-aggressive-dog.4413/
which has first lines "General Desensitization to Dogs". Might help you.

You should also scroll up to top post on that thread, and read the part that says "Thirdly ---use dog language" as well. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

IN the meantime, you do want to interrupt Skye from barking, every moment Skye spends barking away at other dogs is helping to re-enforce that unwanted behavior, that wrong loop in his lil doggie brain.

Each time Skye barks-------- do the cue "Let's Go"

Teach this cue like you taught "sit" or any other cue. You don't TEACH the cue while Skye is upset, but do teach Skye that "Let's Go" means: "i am going to follow Mom away in another direction away from this dog NOW."
THEN, when you DO need Skye to suddenly change directions, there will be a better chance that Skye will be able to do this cue, even when Skye is overly excited.

 

[tigerlily46514]

Also, besides interrupting each bark,
you will want to work on teaching Skye to be calm while observing dogs.

Starting at whatever distance Skye requires to be calm, you stop there. If it is 100 feet away, it is 100 feet away.
stop there, and reward Skye for looking AT the dog calmly. then you leave.

each week, shortening the distance, as Skye develops the ability to stay calm when he sees dogs.

It helps if you TELL Skye to calm down, too. I make Buddy sit (just to make sure Buddy will follow my commands, to check he is not too far gone already-if he's too far gone, we back up)
then i tell Buddy to "look at me" <------also taught as a cue, like any other cue, when Buddy is already calm, in his own house, and then advancing that along to outdoor practice, etc etc. Sadly, most ppl try to TEACH this "look at me" cue to a dog who is already outa his mind. that is NOT when you TEACH it, that is when you USE it.

Then, once Buddy looks at me, then i give him calming signals, like a SLOW BLINK, and a YAWN. Skye will know what you said, he will, that's HIS language.

After Buddy watches my "calming signals" he is free to look whereever he wants to, to get treats for looking calmly at the other dog. I started far far away, and slowly shortened the distance. I did NOT start at 10 feet away, i had to start at 400 feet away for *my* dog.

Here is video on doggie language, so you can tell Skye to "calm down" in HIS language.

 

[tigerlily46514]

You will want to practice sit/"look at me" randomly on walks, every walk,
or else,
Skye will interpret sit/"look at me" as an alarm, and will begin to stare around for dogs--------------- so do ask Skye all the time, to sit/"look at me" so you will have some way to give Skye calming signals on a walk, when you do advance that far.

You do not have to give the calming signals, i only use those for an oncoming dog, but do get Skye to become most excellent to be able to sit/"look at me" on walks, whenever he is asked to. Never stop practicing this. If you use this ONLY for oncoming dogs,
Skye will quickly notice that, and instead of looking at you, he will scan the horizon for dogs and NOT pay att'n to YOU.

so do keep Skye confused, so he never knows if you are asking for a sit/"look at me" randomly, or if it is a dog coming along.

GOOD LUCK.

 

[tigerlily46514]

You can also use "look at me" nonstop, as a way to prevent Skye from focusing on other dog/to prevent a reaction, too. You can speed-feed treats for this.
Jsut to keep Skye from having any chance to feed that loop in his lil doggie mind. this does nothing to improve Skye's inner attitude, but, it DOES prevent reactions.

and you DO want to prevent all reactions that you can.

It's easier to do that if Skye's back is to the oncoming dog, and you squat down, to help keep Skye's att'n on you, nonstop, so he won't peek over your shoulder and bark away. Overtime, as Skye gets better at that, you can begin to have Skye's side to the dog, and, overtime, have Skye facing the dog, calmly watching the dog go by, and getting treat,treat, treat, treat.

^THAT does help change Skye's inner attitude, getting rewarded for calmly looking AT the other dog go by. (looking at YOU while dogs go by, doesn't teach him anything, really, but it does prevent reactions,------- which is also great goal)


SO THERE'S LOTS OF TOOLS, LOTS OF WAYS TO APPROACH THE WHOLE "I bark at dogs" thing. good luck!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

So you want to learn how to do 3 things:

~interrupt all bark-a-thons that you can ("Let's Go)

~you want to prevent all bark-a-thons that you can (by giving calming signals fro approaching dogs (kinda advanced), OR by using the nonstop "look at me" to prevent his focus on dogs he is getting honked off about)

and

you want to begin working on general desensitization to dogs, (that subthreshold work, where you reward calm behaviors while he calmly looks at dogs, to help change his inner attitude)

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!! Keep us posted how it's going, and don't give up on your dog!!

 

[skyedog]

ahaa thankyou for all the good info! will defo try them! it's has been very helpfull

 

[Dogster]

Tigerlily, you are a wealth of knowledge. (is that the right terminology, lol)