Chasing And Grabbing

[michael darrington]

Hi everybody , its been a while since i have been on here to discuss Eddy my whippet who is 10 months old now.

Eddy is the perfect dog in all ways apart from one.

When i let him off his lead to run in the park he does like to chase and be chased by other dogs ( whatever their breed , size and temperament ).

The only problem is he likes to grab hold of the side of the face of the dog he is chasing. He refuses to let go unless the other dog " turns " on him.

I think he is quite lucky so far that he hasnt been seriously attacked.

Its got to the stage that i am a little reluctant to let him off his lead in the park .

I know some dog owners in the park are very understanding and just laugh it off , others understandably do not see anything remotely amusing when their dog is trying to fetch a ball and Eddy is hanging off the their dogs face.

Is this common with Whippets ?

Is there anyway to stop it ?

 

[FeeFee]

I've had lurchers who do this. They aren't being aggressive, it's rough play probably with an element of 'coursing' the other dog, but it is very dangerous behaviour; it's so easy for it to go wrong and for the other dog to end up getting ripped. Also a lot of dogs wouldn't tolerate this at all and your dog could get badly bitten.

It's a hard one to tackle, but perhaps you could muzzle him when he's running free with other dogs for now to prevent any chance of injury? Other than that I'm afraid I'd be keeping him on lead in places where dogs are running and concentrate on socialising him in calmer situations where he's not going to be triggered to run and grab. Also work really, really hard on recall so that you are confident you can bring him back immediately if things start getting out of hand.

A good training class might help with socialisation and teach him a bit more self-control around other dogs? He's just at that teenage stage where he could probably benefit a lot from some formal training with other dogs around, and I bet he'd enjoy it too.

Good luck with him, I hope you manage to sort things out :luck:

 

[michael darrington]

I've had lurchers who do this. They aren't being aggressive, it's rough play probably with an element of 'coursing' the other dog, but it is very dangerous behaviour; it's so easy for it to go wrong and for the other dog to end up getting ripped. Also a lot of dogs wouldn't tolerate this at all and your dog could get badly bitten.
It's a hard one to tackle, but perhaps you could muzzle him when he's running free with other dogs for now to prevent any chance of injury? Other than that I'm afraid I'd be keeping him on lead in places where dogs are running and concentrate on socialising him in calmer situations where he's not going to be triggered to run and grab. Also work really, really hard on recall so that you are confident you can bring him back immediately if things start getting out of hand.

A good training class might help with socialisation and teach him a bit more self-control around other dogs? He's just at that teenage stage where he could probably benefit a lot from some formal training with other dogs around, and I bet he'd enjoy it too.

Good luck with him, I hope you manage to sort things out :luck:

He also does it with my 2 labradors when they are playing indoors .

Unfortunatley they dont reprimand him . They sulk and put up with it.

I have been told that a remote spray collar might work.

Does anybody think this might be a good idea ? I dont want to be cruel to him or make the situation any worse.

 

[michael darrington]

I've had lurchers who do this. They aren't being aggressive, it's rough play probably with an element of 'coursing' the other dog, but it is very dangerous behaviour; it's so easy for it to go wrong and for the other dog to end up getting ripped. Also a lot of dogs wouldn't tolerate this at all and your dog could get badly bitten.
It's a hard one to tackle, but perhaps you could muzzle him when he's running free with other dogs for now to prevent any chance of injury? Other than that I'm afraid I'd be keeping him on lead in places where dogs are running and concentrate on socialising him in calmer situations where he's not going to be triggered to run and grab. Also work really, really hard on recall so that you are confident you can bring him back immediately if things start getting out of hand.

A good training class might help with socialisation and teach him a bit more self-control around other dogs? He's just at that teenage stage where he could probably benefit a lot from some formal training with other dogs around, and I bet he'd enjoy it too.

Good luck with him, I hope you manage to sort things out :luck:

He also does it with my 2 labradors when they are playing indoors .

Unfortunatley they dont reprimand him . They sulk and put up with it.

I have been told that a remote spray collar might work.

Does anybody think this might be a good idea ? I dont want to be cruel to him or make the situation any worse.

Attatched some pix so you can all see what he now looks like at 10 months old.

 

[Noise]

he looks as if butter wouldn't melt :b Eskil likes to chase other dogs too, I don't let him off with small dogs insight.

 

[whippetfan]

Stopping the behaviour would be challenging. I honestly don't know how you'd tackle it without the use of a remote aversive device like an e-collar. You'd probably have difficulty stopping the latching on without shutting down his prey drive altogether.

Managing it on the other hand is a piece of cake. Fit him with a light wire Whippet muzzle for his runs in the park.

 

[FeeFee]

He's a handsome boy :wub: :wub:

I'd be very, very wary of using aversives like spray collar - or even worse an e-collar - in this situation. You could so easily end up conditioning him to be afraid of other dogs or even aggressive towards them rather than stopping the behaviour you are trying to control.

Definitely a muzzle for now, I agree. You might find your Labs - and other dogs - get less tolerant in a few months' time, at the moment they are cutting him some slack as an adolescent, but once he's fully mature he won't get the same amount of leeway.