Greyhound barking at his reflection

[jh]

Hello, I have just adopted a 6 year old retired greyhound and all is going well apart from one thing... he has never had much exposure to mirrors or reflective surfaces so goes mental when he sees his reflection. Loud barking and growling, bearing teeth, it really has him worked up.

Looking on the internet it seems most dog anxiety towards their reflection is overcome when they are puppies as it just clicks one day. 

Any tips on how I educate my older greyhound that it is all ok? We have had to cover up a lot of relflective surfaces and mirrors as things normally kick off at night time and keep neighbours awake. But I don't want it to remain as a complex and also its quite difficult living with all things covered up.

I've tried sitting down with him with a mirror and he has touched his reflection and checked round the back for the other half and all seems to settle for about a minute. Then all hell will break loose and now the mystery dog is a few inches from him

Help!

Thanks

[kamkay]

Welcome to Gap. No advice to offer I'm afraid. My old dog, Jet, was bemused when he first saw his own reflection when visiting my parents. Initially they covered the mirror, but he eventually decided to ignore the other greyhound in the house.

[greybeard]

Like Kay - no advice really.None of our dogs were bothered by reflective surfaces and all mirrors,apart from upstairs were not at dog height.Ok,when Perry first arrived I did have the occassional fit of moving the living room mirror in case of cobwebs behind,but he wasn't happy with the strange dog staring at him,so stopped.Jem can do stairs and was really suspicious of the intruder in the full-lengh wardrobe mirror,but she normally decides if her brother is downstairs so is she.Sometimes wonder if it's a houndie thing,none of our dogs were bothered by mirrors - Cath.

[gvgeam]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

Is your hound initially calm when he sees his reflection or is it instant reaction? It seems to me that if he's calm on seeing his reflection, then reward him for staying calm but any reaction and you could try and step between him and the 'other' dog - you're protecting him from it and it'll soon go away then (cos he can't see it)! Or alternatively have a cover ready to throw over the mirror when he begins to get agitated. Don't speak to him though until he calms down again or he'll take that as the reward for behaving badly towards it.

Out of interest, what is he like generally around other dogs?

[jh]

He is absolutely fine around other dogs irrespective of breed. Cats don't phase him either and the only thing he has shown any interest so far in was a squirrel in the park.

His reaction is instant to the mystery dog. I have also noticed that he is not remembering the location of the other dog. For example a window during the day is fine but at night, with lights on and not drawing the curtains the mystery dog will appear. Next morning he will not associate the window with the dog so is fine in front of it.

Looking on the internet, most of the articles i have come across are based on puppies and the general consensus is they just understand reflections one day and that is the end of it.

I am going to speak to the dogs trust where I picked him up from to see if they have any advice as well as if they know how he coped when he is was with them as he lived in a perspex cube for 4 months - the mystery dog must have appeared at some point!

Thank you everyone for your advice and interest

[Ted]

Sounds like he does not trust this intruder and is worried it is going to threaten you. He sounds as if he is going in to protect mode, similar to the reaction some dogs have when they are on the lead i.e. barking at other dogs as it considers the other dog/s are a threat to their owner on the other end of the lead.

As the only full length mirror I have is in the bathroom I have never had this problem with any of my previous nor my present dogs.

Your lucky if he is not phased about cats, all my present four hounds, three ex-racing Greyhounds and one ex-Spanish Hunter's Ibizan Hound get very excited if they see cats, squirrels, or any other furries including birds.

[burnsider]

May 28, 2015 8:03:58 GMT -5 jh said:

..... when he is was with them as he lived in a perspex cube for 4 months - the mystery dog must have appeared at some point!.....

Probably not if the light source was always outside of the cube.