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Location: Glasgow, UK
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 34
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Greyhound distressed at dogs behind fences
Hello. This is my first post on this forum. I have had Noodles, a 4 year old retired greyhound for almost a year. He is a great dog, he is friendly to dogs and humans (although not small furrys) and his general training is going very well.
Recently he has started to get very wound up (i think afraid) when we walk at night past gardens with dogs behind fences. It seems to be getting worse
He was attacked a couple of months ago (late at night) and ended up with quite a bad bite at the top of his front leg which luckily has just about healed now. He was on the lead and the other dog was off. It was quite traumatic for both of us, but he seems to have got over it well apart from the 'dogs behind fences' thing starting, I am not sure if it is linked. There was one particular place where it started (well away from where he was attacked) and the dogs behind the fence bark and growl and are generally intimidating to anyone (with or with out a dog) walking past, he is very reluctant to walk down that street at all now. He even reacts to dogs that are not being threatening now.
I thought it may be me anticipating his response making it worse, but sometimes we will walk past a garden where I am not aware of a dog until Noodles gets upset.
He generally shoots forwards or backwards (away from the dog / garden) with a lot of force (enough to make my shoulder hurt for a few days the first time it happened) and barks, growls and whines which is very unusual for him. It doesnt seem to happen when he can see the dog clearly, or during the day, only when there is a high fence or hedge.
I have tried having treats ready, but once he has noticed the other dog, he takes no notice.
I have modified my route to take account of all the known gardens, but I would like to address this problem in case it develops into something worse. Other than this, he is a happy, well adjusted dog. I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas.