Some advice please - anyone have any ideas?

[jonesmc]

I'm in a bit of a pickle and need some advice. If anyone can help, I would be most grateful.

We have had Jaffa now coming upto 3 months and he has been the most wonderful, kind, soft, dopey dog we could have ever wished for BUT a couple of days ago, he went to bite my 9 year old son and he actually caught him on the head and made a small red mark.

Jaffa was on the sofa and Brandon was giving him a cuddle round his neck (he's done this hundreds of times) and suddenly Jaffa just turned on him, really snarling and bit him. No warning whatsoever. Brandon was really upset and frightened.

I thought that maybe Jaffa had fallen asleep and then woken up suddenly not knowing where he was and just reacted so I told Brandon to always make sure he was awake when he was with him and to not go near him when he is asleep.

Then, this evening I'd not long let Jaffa out of the kitchen and he went to see Brandon in the conservatory. They were both standing near the settee and Brandon put one leg up onto the settee to get on. Jaffa then jumped up, snarling and bit Brandon on his collar bone, again making a mark. If Brandon hadn't moved quickely enough he would have bitten him on the face.

What's going on???

Brandon walks him, feeds him under my supervision, plays with him and loves him to death.

The only thing that was different today was that I let Jaffa have a sleep on my bed for an hour, which I have never let him do before. Have I caused this???

I just don't know what to do........ really upset at the moment

[Letty's Mum]

Please don't worry, this can be sorted, and some more experienced peeps will be along with plenty of good advice, I'm sure

For starters though, Jaffa obviously thinks he rates equal or higher than Brandon. Certainly no sofa and no bed for now.

Hope it's sorted soon

Helen x

[sassbu]

Bless you for remaining calm about this and logical. Again I don't have experience of this, not much use I know but just wanted to offer a big and am sure too that others will be along soon to help you with this.

Sarah x

[jonesmc]

Thanks Sarah and Helen for the Need them at the moment.

It's all just so out of character and what's upsetting is that Brandon actually said he wanted Jaffa to go back to the RGT because he is so frightened of him at the moment. Of course, this isn't what I want to do in a million years as Jaffa already has a place in my heart.

Jaffa's in the kitchen tonight with his muzzle on and that's where he will stay tonight - no settee for him although he does have his dog bed and comfy quilt.

We'll see what tomorrow brings

[just jackie]

Not an expert in these matters, and I am sure someone with more experience will be along soon to help, but in the meantime I just wanted to say well done for not over reacting.

For what it's worth I think keeping Jaffa off the furniture and 'demoting' him is certainly a good move. It takes the hounds a while to 'feel their feet', some longer than others, and it sounds very much like Jaffa is beginning to get some big ideas. Good to nip it in the bud quickly and show him that his bad behaviour is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

I have said this to one or two people previously, but I firmly believe that if you adopt a similar approach to your hound as you do to raising your children you can't go far wrong. They will 'try it on' and push the boundaries if you let them.

Jackie
x

[julies]

Hiya

Difficult to really comment without seeing the situation but from experience ...if he were mine I'd take him to a good Chiropractor and have his neck and shoulders checked out ..we had a similar situation with an ex-racer here who had been returned twice for biting/snarling, when he did in in his third home luckily his new owner took my advice - he was very badly tweaked in his neck, back and pelvis and after a couple of sessions with a McTimoney chiropractor the dog was absolutely fine and has never threatened anything like it again. Google McTimoney for a local one and tell your vet you've been advised to have this checked by greyhound people ...vets don't always agree with chiros like human doctors don't rate osteopaths etc. but you'll need a vet referral. A friends mother leant over a collie belonging to a friend- it jumped up and savaged her face ... turned out the dog had a tumour in its spine and lifting its head hurt but (being a dog) its logic was that the person had caused the pain so it reacted ....

Once you've crossed off pain then I'd also not allow him on the furniture, I'd continue to have Brandon put the food dish down - teach Jaffa to 'wait' for it then Brandon can tell him to eat BUT greyhounds aren't used to children- in racing they often have nothing to do with children so it might be that Jaffa's now confident enough to tell Brandon that he doesn't like being cuddled -most dogs learn to tolerate it ... see Turid Rugaaas' Book about Calming Signals which has great picturs of dogs' body language .. then you can see Jaffa's signals before theres a problem.

Have you got a greyhound crate? It'd be worth trying one to see if Jaffa is trying to get some 'time out' .. with a crate he can choose to be on his own- and when he's in there it's his plpace so no one goes in or strokes/cuddles him .. if you want him then call him to you with a nice treat like liver etc:). Buy one from Ebay or Amazon as they're cheapest there but get a big one ...they're also useful if you need to contain Jaffa when visitors are about ..

Again in my experience greyhounds (and dogs) aren't trying to rule the world - they just want an easy life but like us - they can test the boundaries and can 'shout' when things hurt ...

Julie x

[hollysmum]

Some good advise there from Julies. Get your lad completely checked out by the vet. In the meantime a muzzle is a good idea, complete supervision and also a safe place for your dog to be in, behind a baby gate or in a crate where he can have some time out. Also, don't allow him on the sofa etc again just yet.

He could be in pain, may never had experience of children, be pushing his bounderies and/or finding his feet.

Let us know how you get on. And, well done by the way for looking at this logically and getting advise, I hope your son can learn to love Jaffa again.

[Deleted]

I can only agree with what has already been advised here. All I would add is that when Jaffa is with you in the front room etc, it would be a good idea to attach a longish lead so that if he goes to get on the couch, you have an easy way to keep him off without having to get too close or grab at him.

Good luck, hopefully he will soon learn the rules in his new house - especially if you can also establish a place such a crate where he knows he can go when he needs to and guarantee he'll be left in peace.

for Brandon too - that must have been pretty scary for him.

[jonesmc]

Thanks for all your advice guys. Thought I'd give you a quick update. Brandon loves Jaffa again and has forgiven him - yeah

It was all probably my fault as looking back I was probably being a bit slack with the rules and Jaffa was getting confused, bless him. I hadn't previously let him upstairs and on that day, I did.

I have gently squeezed him all over to check for any hot spots of pain but he didn't react at all, he literally lets me touch him anywhere, so that's good news for starters. Thanks Julie for the info, I have saved it in my favourites in case we do have to go down that route.

Jaffa doesn't have a crate but he does have an area of the kitchen which is gated off (he can still see us) which he can retreat to at any time as the kids aren't allowed in there but if I'm honest he chooses to spend time wherever I am.

As for the sofa, it's a difficult one cus I so enjoy his cuddles and he does to. So I've decided that he is only allowed on the sofa when the kids have gone to bed which is what I had previously been doing - as I said before I think I've just been confusing him.

Happy to report that both Brandon and Jaffa are now both happy.

On a slightly different note, we're taking the kids and the dogs to the beach next week. Anything I need to know......... I've been to the beach before with my other dog but I know greyhounds have their little quirks

[Deleted]

Glad it's working out for you all.

As for the beach - if Jaffa's an off-leader the only advice I can give is ... Stand Well Back! ;D When they get some nice firm sand under their toes they don't like to waste it - he'll have a fab time and you'll love watching him.

[kamkay]

" Greyhounds have their little quirks" where on earth have you got that idea from? !!

Glad things are a bit less stressful for you all.

[julies]

Glad things have settled down Enjoy your beach hols ... mine always go doolllaly and eventually fall in LOL

J xx

[hollysmum]

Glad things are ok, keep the routine and rules in place, dogs prefer to know where the are and what is expected of them.

In respect fo the beach, just be careful of any small dogs which may be about that he may chase, keep lots of treats handy for recall, and enjoy!

[jonesmc]

Thanks guys. I'll take some pictures of his 'first' beach experience and post them online when I return.

x