My friend, Jennifer Ng wrote this post, and I think everyone needs to be aware of this: (thanks Jennifer for writing it...) I debated whether to even post about this, but I thought Id share in case someone can learn from the experience. Some of you know that a few weeks ago, a greyhound I was fostering went after my 10-month-old whippet puppy Terra. I was able to intervene, and although she sustained several bites, it wasnt nearly as bad as it could have been, and shes doing well now. The detail I hadnt shared with most is that the attack triggered my own greyhounds to join in, and unfortunately, none of the dogs were muzzled (which Ill explain later). First a little background...I have 3 greyhounds, 2 whippets, and a whippet mix. I also occasionally foster for my greyhound group. My dogs all get along well, and I feel I know them well enough that I typically dont muzzle for regular turnouts to potty. (For those not familiar with retired racing greyhounds, theyre used to wearing basket muzzles for group turnouts at the track as a precaution because of their thin skin, and many greyhound adopters continue to use them at home with multiple dogs.) Im careful about muzzling when turning out a new foster with my crew, but on this particular evening, no one was muzzled because I had the foster on leash. He had just been neutered a week prior and had been sick with a high fever just 3-4 days earlier. One of my greyhounds, Willow, and Terra were playing chase in the yard, and when Willow got a little too close for comfort, Terra yelped. Not unusual, and my dogs just ignore her when she does this. The foster was peeing, and hed seen my dogs run and play before with little interest, so I wasnt paying as close attention as I should have. When Terra yelped, it triggered his prey instinct, and before I realized what was happening, he immediately bolted after her and pulled the leash out of my hands. It wasnt a playful game of chase, he was in full prey mode. The fosters intense reaction, and the puppys continued screaming got the other greyhounds attention, triggering their pack/prey instinct, and I suddenly had 4 greyhounds going after my whippet. Ill spare you all the details, but I managed to break it up and get Terra away from the greyhounds, although I did get bitten several times and hurt my knee in the process. This was probably the most traumatic experience Ive had with my dogs, but I dont blame them at all and understand that it was purely instinctive behavior. From an emotional standpoint it was a horrific experience - I knew that if I couldnt stop it, they would kill my whippet puppy, but I stayed relatively calm and was determined that I wouldnt let that happen. So what did I take away from this experience? I feel that Im one who treats my dogs as dogs and understand their nature and instincts pretty well, and this experience only reiterated that. All of my dogs still get along very well, but it brought home the point that all it takes is an outside influence, like the fosters reaction, to throw off that balance. I know that 2 of my greyhounds have a high prey drive for wildlife outside. Theyve killed a couple rabbits in the yard, but they have always been able to discriminate between prey and my smaller dogs and cats. I consider them to be about as completely safe as a greyhound can be with my smaller pets inside. And when I used to have a cat who was allowed outside supervised, my 2 older greyhounds didnt even show any interest in chasing her when she ran across the yard. But we sometimes hear stories about how dogs who get injured and scream, or dogs who have seizures, are attacked by the rest of the pack, and I believe this incident was similar. When that pack/prey instinct kicked in, they didnt realize that they were attacking their sister who theyd been so gentle about playing with for the previous 5 months. Im also one who tends to be a bit paranoid about something happening when Im not there. So I crate my dogs when Im not home, and I almost always supervise when my dogs are outside in the yard. This will obviously continue, and Ill be sure not to let my guard down again when I have a foster, or if theres anything new or different that could change the dynamics within my pack. Finally, its made me even more cautious about considering dog parks. As a rule, I rarely ever take my crew to dog parks, but I have on special occasions in the past. Every year when we go to Beach Bound Hounds in Myrtle Beach, SC, Ive taken my dogs to the awesome 11 acre dog park there in the mornings before most other people show up. This incident has made me really consider what could potentially happen in that type of environment. You never know what might happen in a public dog park, and while my dogs probably wouldnt initiate a serious attack, I now know that at least a couple of them wouldnt hesitate to join in if a prey/chase ensued.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 19:46:12 +0000
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