'barging" When Freerunning

[Esty]

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Recently whenever Ros and Grover are running off lead, all they seem to want to do is barge each other and grab at each other's necks, then have stand up fights like a pair of hares! It's not so nasty that they've drawn blood but it doesn't seem like they enjoy it. They are as bad as each other, so it's not a case of one picking on the other. It's really high speed and there have been many heart in mouth moments as one or the other does a forward roll at full speed, legs everywhere and necks at horrible angles. Even if we keep one on the lead, the other will come at him full pelt. They also end up filthy as they skid on their backs across the grass and mud. When they are doing this, they don't seem to see anyone - the normally careful dogs have given me some bruises as they bash into my legs. It doesn't happen so much on actual walks (we always have one on and one off lead on country walks to make sure they stay close) when we are walking somewhere - it mainly happens if we are standing still and they are running around us. If we take a couple of balls it doesn't make much difference - they just both want the same one.

I've wondered whether light muzzles would help, though I don't really want to go out with them muzzled as it looks like they are nasty when they are not. Has anyone else seen this behaviour in their dogs? Please tell me its a phase! R and G are now 6 months old.

 

[Juley]

My younger whippets barge when running, They bash into legs too, my knees will never be the same. I do bellow steady at intervals and stop them if they get too stupid.

 

[meddling]

They're just being whippets I think!

Blue loves to shoulder barge

 

[jinnyfizz]

Sounds like normal whippet behaviour to me :lol:

It does get out of control sometimes and that is when accidents can happen One of mine ran into the iron chassis of a trailer and traumatised his neck but luckily for him it was only a concussion injury. He is a little more careful now

Sorry to have to say, but three of mine are coming up for 2 years old and they are getting worse, not better :sweating:

The others are all a bit younger so I don't see any end in sight at the moment here :unsure:

 

[teachtrinity]

Yep very normal whippet behaviour, my old whippet cross used to do it all the time, especially if she found a willing partner, her best friend was a boxer cos they play rough too. Molly is exactly the same, loves the barging and rough play

 

[J.T.]

My 2 lurchers (both whippet crosses, we think) do this.

Don't want to upset you but Hebe is over 9 & Scrumpy is almost 4 and they still do it.

They grab one another on the neck & also do the hare boxing thing. Scrumpy is actually the worst as she will grab Hebe & push all her weight (13kg :b ) against Hebe (16kg) and poor old Hebe ends up taking a fall. Amazingly there has never been any injury worse than a cut ear flap.

They both obviously enjoy these rough play sessions but it does look quite awful & people have been known to give us a very wide berth when they are in full "fight" mode.

I wouldn't worry too much about it although shin pads may help save your legs from getting bruised :lol:

 

[Django'sPeeps]

It's when they do it to other dogs that it's really embarrassing. Django ran at and shoulder-barged an on-lead staffie-cross when we had all the snow. Lucky for him the poor staffie was just too shocked to move! And the human on the end of the lead was a 15 year old hoodie who was also too shocked to say anything, despite my profuse apologies. Silly Django... he was just lucky that the other dog didn't react, because it was a lot more beefy and muscular than him and had a rather large head! :blink:

 

[~Annie~]

Oh that sounds so familiar! I'm careful to keep Finn in check when he plays with Tyg as Tyg is still only young, but Tyg is usually the instigator even though he ends up the 'loser'. When Finn plays with his whippy x friend Harvey each gives as good as he gets ... and all three love it! On the odd occasions I've removed Tyg from the fray he just wants to dive straight back in. Personally I don't run them together until they've really warmed up as I think that way they are less likely to injure themselves if the play fighting does get a bit rough.

Annie

PS My knees are never going to be the same either ... I'm glad it's not just me!

 

[Noise]

I occassionally get quite worried about this - a friend's whippet's mother (dog's mother - the bitch) died after bumping into her sister at full speed - the death was caused by internal bleeding, they rushed to the vets but couldn't save her, the other whippet though I was absolutely fine. she was a gorgeous girl, at least she left behind some beutiful offsprings.

 

[Django'sPeeps]

I occassionally get quite worried about this - a friend's whippet's mother (dog's mother - the bitch) died after bumping into her sister at full speed - the death was caused by internal bleeding, they rushed to the vets but couldn't save her, the other whippet though I was absolutely fine. she was a gorgeous girl, at least she left behind some beutiful offsprings.

That's awful! They must have collided at such a speed.

I think themetalchicken's advice of not letting them off the lead in an open area until they've already warmed up and done some pavement walking is good. That way their muscles are warm and they are nice and limber, so hopefully it's less likely that they'll hurt themselves.

 

[jazad]

Hi Esty

Huey and Marlo do this all of the time too - oh and sometimes when they are chasing each other Huey will grab onto Marlo's neck so Marlo is dragging him along. Every now and then they do it on lead too - we're walking along nicely and then they start scrapping - usually at the worst possible moment (like when we're crossing the road!)

How are you doing with recall? And "road-sense"? :sweating: We're rubbish!

 

[Noise]

I occassionally get quite worried about this - a friend's whippet's mother (dog's mother - the bitch) died after bumping into her sister at full speed - the death was caused by internal bleeding, they rushed to the vets but couldn't save her, the other whippet though I was absolutely fine. she was a gorgeous girl, at least she left behind some beutiful offsprings.

That's awful! They must have collided at such a speed.

I think themetalchicken's advice of not letting them off the lead in an open area until they've already warmed up and done some pavement walking is good. That way their muscles are warm and they are nice and limber, so hopefully it's less likely that they'll hurt themselves.

well, I suppose it'a freak accident, haven't heard of any other cases that have ended so lethally.

 

[Esty]

Hi Esty
Huey and Marlo do this all of the time too - oh and sometimes when they are chasing each other Huey will grab onto Marlo's neck so Marlo is dragging him along. Every now and then they do it on lead too - we're walking along nicely and then they start scrapping - usually at the worst possible moment (like when we're crossing the road!)

How are you doing with recall? And "road-sense"? :sweating: We're rubbish!

Hi Z

Recall is pretty good but I ALWAYS have treats so they are coming for food really. I have to be quite energetic and shrill (Barbara Woodhouse has nothing on my dog voice!!) to get their attention, then they look at each other as if to say 'shall we go then' and then decide they want the treat. Luckily (touch wood) they've always come back but I think it's because we call them every few minutes when they are running so they are used to coming back ten times before the lead goes back on. They are also very bonded to myself and my younger son ( we are the ones at home most of the time) so even when running they don't go more than about 40 yards away from us. I only have three places where I exercise them off lead - two designated dog exercise parks and we've just discovered a public section of my son's high school playing fields. It's a massive area, very few people use it, has secure fences on three sides and a hilly bit that only leads to more playing fields and a golf course so seems very secure.

Road sense - I just assume they have none so they are never off lead near roads. Whenever we cross I say 'wait' and make them stop, then say 'cross over' and they don't try to move til I say that. It might stop them for a second or two if they got out accidentally.

I'm very reassured that everyone else's whippets are like Ros and Grover and will take the advice to walk them to limber up first - I hadn't thought of that before. Thanks for thre replies!

 

[fallenangel]

all mine do it when playing even the racers but never do it racing i have found timig a good thing I can judge now when its about to happen and a quick wistel to slow them don or distracet them ususaly works the older ones i just shout steady and they stop even my greyhounds will do it and thats realy scarey but a quick steady stops them aswell

 

[k4tie-d]

sounds just like ruby and star,

ruby is more agile, so star is the one who is normally covered in grass stains lol

but they are both as bad as each other, star is usually the one biteing at rubys neck so they both get their fair share,

:b i guess maybe once they get a bit older they may grow out of it, but by that time we will hopfully have another pup so it will probabily start all over again :lol:

 

[Cornish]

Sid and Ben do it too.... well Ben does it to Sid should I say... we let them run together and then we put one on the lead at a time so no one gets hurt.

 

[whippetmad]

My lot do it too,running around in circles :wacko: and then crashing into your legs (w00t)

 

[Eceni]

My old lurcher killed deer this way (back in the days when it was legal) - she'd run up alongside, grab the neck wherever she could reach and shoulder-barge. They'd fall and break their necks. It was stunningly efficient - I didn't believe it first time I saw it....

so there's a long, long evolutionary pressure to do it.

tho' when I was a vet, one of the commonest causes of death in lurchers was a broken neck - where they'd failed in a turn and hit a concrete post out on the fens, or a tree or something... so it's not without its hazards.

e

 

[gogogo]

My lot do it too,running around in circles :wacko: and then crashing into your legs (w00t)

Mine are exactly the same, my physiotherapist asked me where I got my bruises from last week, I told her 'whippets' and she said 'Ive got matching bruises - Patterdales'

 

[elviszippy]

I feel quite relieved! My two whippets barge each other, and grab each others necks and legs when running in a wide open space.. They get on great the rest of the time..So far they have never actually hurt each other but it looks really quite aggressive. other dog owners don't like it and i've been wondering what i should do to stop it. In all other ways they are well trained but they do like to "Play" fight :b