Nippy Saluki

[Jen593]

Morning I go walking with my friend & her saluki/lurcher (rescue pup). She’s mostly lovely and friendly, but very territorial of her sofa and very nervous and aggressive to middle aged men and dogs she doesn’t know in her house. When we walk her we take her away from the footpaths so she can run (like the wind!) in the rough. She does a play bow to every dog she sees and has spot-on recall every time...apart from if a runner gets too close - which my friend attempts & seeks to avoid but this obviously doesn’t always pan out. She will chase, jump, bark and go to nip at their hands. For me (a non dog owner) and the runners, it’s quite alarming and I’ve stressed this to my friend as I’m worried if she goes for someone and gets them, the consequences may be dire for all involved. My friend says she’s only playing (I have no idea on this) and won’t hurt them but a runner shouted the other day that the dog should be kept on a lead & I see their point. It’s also sad to keep a dog with that much energy on a lead. I think she actually doesn’t know what to do about this or how to train her out of doing it, and as I say I don’t own dogs do have no idea what to advise apart from training school..?Could anyone please offer any advice on this particular behaviour/situation that is a little more clued up than me?! Thanks in advance.

 

[JoanneF]

You are right to be concerned. The dog doesn't even need to actually do anything, just making someone fear that she might is enough to fall foul of the Dangerous Dogs Act.

So yes, your friend should keep her on a lead. For running free, there are secure fields that can be hired.

The dog can probably be trained, but your friend would need to be committed to spending a bit more work on recall.

 

[JudyN]

If she's young, it might not be too difficult to train the runner chasing out of her. But until that time, she absolutely does need to be managed. It's simply not acceptable for a runner to be subjected to a dog jumping up and nipping them - I have a friend who is a runner and has a dog phobia and this would absolutely ruin her day. As Joanne says, the owner needs to find an enclosed field for the dog to have some off-lead time. This site might help, or she could ask on a local Facebook community group or similar: The Original Listings Site for Enclosed Dog Walking Fields in the UK

There are things that can be done about the territorial sofa behaviour, and about not liking certain people and dogs come into the house - ask again if you'd like more info for these if you think your friend would be willing to try them.

 

[Rinkydinkydo]

The wonderful world of lurchers, your friend is right in a way,she is only playing. When lurchers or sighthounds are together this is how they play. When you watch them they will be running side by side trying to nip each other. At some point they will look like they are going to murder each other,then they are off at full speed chasing each other again until one gets fed up. So in my eyes her behaviour is perfectly normal, the problem is she's never been taught the boundaries regarding people.