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Hi i have 2 lovely greyhounds who i have had for three years now. I would love to be able to let them off the lead but i am worried they will not come back i do however put the on a very long lunge lead so they get to go off a bit.I know it is always better to be safe then sorry with dogs and they are very good with other dogs when we meet them at the park.I wonder if anyone could give me some advice on how you go about getting the courage to let them go.To watch a greyound run is a amazing site and i would like to give mine that pleasure. [/i]
you need to start by teaching them to COME ( if you have not already) if there fine with other dogs thats great mine is not. Now teaching them to Come put the dogs or one of them and run in the dircetion you want them to go in them praise them do this alot the praise can be anything toy ,treat,pet, anything so they see the word come as i get more food a good thing not as a bad also whent he dogs have learnt the command to COME and are of the lead playing with other dogs if you call them back DONT put them on the lead because they will see the word COME not come and get a treat but the end of there fun! also theres a website http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/L ... 1Come.html all 1 word and you will have to copy and paste i think if not its in the forum Methods under Dog help gook luck and if you could let me no how ther doing it would be great !
lauren
Loz - sorry that wasnt really very clear - you need to add paragraphs to posts to make them easier to read. Often if its a complicated problem I write it out in Word first and then copy and paste it when it looks better.
Or if I'm in a rush, I go back and use the 'edit' button on the post to tidy it up.
Mazz-
How well do you know your greyhounds? And how bonded to you are they.
Id see what their recall is like round the house and garden first, if its weak, use a NEW recall command and make a point of giving a small tasty treat every time you use that command.
At first, start off using it where the dog CANNOT fail to comply, so use it when you are stood next to the dog. Next, use it when the dog sees you have a treat, then when the dogs a few feet away etc etc.
Work up to being able to call the dogs from any room in the house and from the garden and have them come straight away.
If they can do this, then its time to take them out.
Take them individually at first, on a long lead (training lead, not a flexi), attached to a safe harness NOT their collar, as its easy to cause injury with a long lead on a collar....
Practice calling the dog back from a small distance, then further and further, alternate distances, reward well but vary the rewards, sometimes soemthing fantastic, sometimes something a bit boring.
ALWAYS keep your dog guessing, when your dogs have the hang of coming to call on the long lead, you need to add in something new so call your dog then TURN AROUND AND RUN...., call your dog and duck down behind a tree....
The idea is that a/ you are IMMENSELY rewarding and b/ you have to be watched like a HAWK or you'll vanish suddenly!
When you get BOTH dogs to the stage where you say the recall command and they come running, then its time to work on them together, so youll probably need to be good at juggling two long leads, or get help here!
Go back a few stages, its much easier to set them up to succeed, if you make it too hard and they fail then you'll make it harder in the long run.
Then when BOTH dogs will come to you every time in the house garden and when out on long leads, its time to think about letting one at a time off in a secure enclosed environment - tennis courts are good for this!
Do this first time AFTER the dogs normal walk so they are already slightly de-bounced, and have really tasty treats, perhaps squeaky toys to get their attention. Again, one dog at a time off lead, practice the recall only when you think theres a very good chance the dog will listen, so dont bother if the dog is fixated on something else, or is bouncing around like a loony.
You should then be able to work up to having both dogs off lead in a secure place. When that happens you can consider letting them off lead singly in a more open space.
This is where knowing your dog comes in very important. YOu MUST be able to read their body language.
There is a split second where you can give a command between a dog seeing something to chase, and the dog deciding to definately chase it. Once the dogs decided hes going, you wont call him off, more than likely he'll ignore you, so you absolutely cannot do this if you are walking around talking to your friends or generally are not paying attention.
DONT be surprised if your dog goes quite a long way from you, greyhounds will run in a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig loop - they also tend to expect you to be where you where when they left - this is a normal sighthound trait, it just isnt a concept they can grasp, that you might MOVE.
Keep them on their toes once off the lead, dont stand around and let them get bored or they may find more fun in hunting other peoples dogs (even in play they can do damage).
thanks for the good tips.They both come from anywhere in the house and garden so i guess that's a good thing . i do take them out on their lunge leads and my girl is quite good but my boy is a bit iffy. So i feel that my girl will be off the lead first.Now the big question do i muzzle her when i let her off or not my hubby says no cause she cant defend herself and i say yes just incase she goes for something.Who's right.I have been looking at safe places to let her off and think i have found somewhere called spade oak in Marlow it has indival fields that are fenched off and you access the next field through a gate.There is quite a few down walkers there as it is a lovely walk do yu think this will be better then a park where it is not fenced in????
Personally, I reckon if a greyhound is going to chase something and mean business, hes gonna do it with or without a muzzle on. It will ONLY stop biting, it will not stop them bashing something to death with their heads, tripping a running animal and injuring it that way etc.
Dogs who have disappeared with muzzles on have starved to death or got caught up attempting to remove the muzzle.
Id say, pick a time when its unlikly there will be other dogs there.
There may be rabbits or hare, if you SEE them, make a lot of noise and they should scarper (well hare wont, rabbits will). The main danger with hare is aside from the illegality of purposefully hunting them (which you arent it would be an accident) is that they absolutely CAN knacker out an unfit dog which yours will be (fit, but not coursing fit!), and dogs have died of exhaustion after coursing hare when not fit.
Thats not hugely likely if people walk dogs t here though, so id give it a go there. DO absolutely be prepared though if your dog catches a rabbit, to kill it quickly if the dog hasnt done so already. Its cruel to leave them injured for any length of time (and that in my opinion includes the length of time it takes for you to get it to a vet).
Take plenty of treats and favourite squeaky toys and avoid popular dog walking times and head there for some practice on the long lead first and then when the dogs are already tired, try a short off lead attempt.
Good luck, there is NOTHING like seeing sighthounds run!
Hi i did take the dogs to spade oak but the field was very water logged so will try again next week .I bought Ruby a new squeaky toy to get her attention when she goes off the lead i am not sure if this will hype her up or be a good thing what do you think ???
Oooh..... nip back up there before it gets dried out (as long as its not icy or dangerous).... if her first time off lead means getting paddypaws wet and she cant run at full speed..... thats probably a good thing!
I think a squeaky toy can only be a good thing, unless you KNOW it makes her look for something else to bite at - for most dogs they want the toy you have and direct their attention on you/the toy.
Hi i have another question. My hubby took the greyhounds out for their evening walk last night and whilst walking he realised he had the boys collars on to tight.So he stopped to put it right and the dog bolted as soon as he felt the collar loose.They were over a field and not on the road.My hubby done the walking away and calling him and then the crouching down and calling but Beau was having none of it. after a while the dog cornered himself after going into a keep fit hall i might add.We have to go through a sports center to get to the field.!!!! So what did my hubby do wrong??? HELP ...
So is it still worth letting him off in a fenced in field ????
We took Ruby to spade oak and let her off the lead i felt very nervous believe me but it all went well and she was really good the squeaky toy worked a treat and she ran after it and brought it back to us.It was amazing to watch her running around i will email you some pics if you give me a address.
Yep, take him to a secure area, preferably when he is both tired and hungry - as opposed to nicely fed and full of the joys of spring - let him off and just let him run his energy off.
Theres no point trying to get a dog back who is still going 'woooooooooo' and gallopping around.
Use the squeaky toy, be 'interesting' w hen you do want him back and if you can, get him back clip on the lead....... then unclip it again and send him off again.
This should give him the idea that coming back DOESNT mean the end of the walk.
Take some really tasty treats as well as a favourite toy and just be calm!
I find it hard to believe that anyone would let their greyhound off lead in an unfenced area. These dogs are bred to chase and no matter how well you think you may have trained them to 'come' if they catch sight of something moving that looks interesting they will run....and run....and because of their speed be too far away to even hear you call. Owning a greyhound comes with certain responsibilitiies...if you dont have a safe secure place to let them off lead..then DONT. Check out some of the greyhound websites and you will read some sad stories of greys that have been trained to come and have always done what they're told...until that one time when something catches their eye and they run out on the road !!!
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