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[jnjsse]

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ello, we've not posted much on here lately, but some of you may know we have a whippet called dylan which we got thru k9 off millie, and lately we've been having serious probs with him gettin aggressive towards other dogs, cats. birds (of all things) he just goes loopy when he see's them, sometimes slips his collar an runs after whatever it is, if we take him ANYWHERE like people houses or gardens he scent marks which does'nt go down too well, we dont know what the answer is, maybe get his bits off? would it sort him out? dog training classes? we try socialising with other dogs on walks and its still the same, we have no trouble with charlie, we are almost at the end of our tether, other than that he such a sweet natured dog which makes it a whole lot worse.

any replies greatly appreciated

 

[whippynit]

ello, we've not posted much on here lately, but some of you may know we have a whippet called dylan which we got thru k9 off millie, and lately we've been having serious probs with him gettin aggressive towards other dogs, cats. birds (of all things) he just goes loopy when he see's them, sometimes slips his collar an runs after whatever it is, if we take him ANYWHERE like people houses or gardens he scent marks which does'nt go down too well, we dont know what the answer is, maybe get his bits off? would it sort him out? dog training classes? we try socialising with other dogs on walks and its still the same, we have no trouble with charlie, we are almost at the end of our tether, other than that he such a sweet natured dog which makes it a whole lot worse.
any replies greatly appreciated

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I suggest chatting to Millie about it first. :thumbsup:

 

[boothros]

There you go Jon, thats a Gosport lad for you! How old is he, has he reached his teenage years yet? If you dont intend to use him for breeding, a bit of castration probably wouldnt go amiss. Dog training classes can never be undertaken too late really, a good safe environment in which he can meet others of his kind, long as you muzzle him or at least warn other owners there may be some aggro. Expect the bird/cat chasing may just be a dominance thing, showing himself how clever he is, but the dog thing may equally be a subdominance thing, "Im scared of that other dog, so ill get it before it gets me!". Praps have a word with the vet as it sounds like his hormones are giving him havoc, poor lad. Good luck & keep us posted.

 

[jnjsse]

excellent advice he was 1 yr at the beginning of may, and where can we get a whippy size muzzle from?

cheers!

 

[Seraphina]

Sounds to me he is just going through the rebelious teens. But is he really aggressive or is he just carrying like a lunatic, but when he actually meets the other dog he plays? My Genevieve is like that, the moment she sees another animal (and their owner) she screetches like a banshee, rears on her hing legs and generelly gives the impression of wanting to kill. In fact it is just her way of greeting :b . Better she knows the person and their dog more excited she gets. She does not do it in the park, as she is off the leash so she just goes and plays.

Taking him to training where he will meet other dogs and gets used to the idea that he has to be nice to them, should help. Castration may help, but as he is experiencing the hormonal surge of puberty, that will subside regardless. :luck: :luck: :luck:

 

[boothros]

excellent advice he was 1 yr at the beginning of may, and where can we get a whippy size muzzle from?cheers!

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Ive been advised that the ones the vets actually use (leather?) can stop biting, but that an ordinary whip racing muzzle wont. Get yourself on the net Jon, & expect loads of folk on here will point you in the right direction.

 

[urchin]

lol sounds like a certain whippie i know (and love!)

i'm doing the Jan Fennel Dog Listener thing with Dij....seems to be having some results but would need to have got further along to be able to recommend it

good luck with however you decide to tackle this :luck:

 

[Tesa]

Yes, yes, yes to training clubs. It will be a big help with socialisation. Can I also suggest you try a Gentle Leader. This will give you easy control over his head and take the tug of war out of some of these meetings. Personally I would try the Gentle Leader before the muzzle. :luck: :luck:

 

[jnjsse]

thanks for replies! whats a gentle leader?

 

[Whippets Rule]

The Gentle Leader is a head collar and a very good one,we use one on our boxer bitch.

Certainly some training classes should definitely be undertaken even just enough to give good control on basic commands.

Also another thing worth checking is his food...our beagle was an absolute lunatic at a similar age and it turned out the food we were giving had too much protien in it. We changed to a different food and within four days his behaviour changed back to a manageable dog.

Personally unless i was going to breed from him i would definitely have him castrated. I realise saying that on here i'm being controversial but that is my opinion and all of my dogs are neutered and very well adjusted and well behaved.

Although his behaviour may be regarded as teenage badness this can be habit forming and unless action is taken,in my opinion this includes neutering,you could well end up with an unmanageable adult dog.

 

[Millie]

Hi Jon,

Definatly sounds like the teenage whippet devil is showing its self. :devil: :devil:

Yes I would use the gentle controller on him, They are brilliant :thumbsup:

Heres the link...

Gentle Controller

Training classes will also help. Wolfie (pictured here recently cuddling a toy monkey) is Dylans brother, he has been going to training since a young pup and I'm sure they are having no problems :thumbsup:

Speak to your vet about castration but remember you have two males and this might upset the pecking order.

Let me know how it goes. :thumbsup:

 

[quintessence]

Excellent training class near you at Titchfield Community Centre held on Wednesday evening and run by The Southampton Dog Training Club., they have some very experienced trainers there and get good results. I think it's either £1 or £2 per evening.

p.s My Sparky has done a lot of the things you mention so never think you're alone.

Good Luck

Jenny

 

[dawn]

Although his behaviour may be regarded as teenage badness this can be habit forming and unless action is taken,in my opinion this includes neutering,you could well end up with an unmanageable adult dog.

I am sorry but having a dog castrated will NOT change his behaviour. With the right training and you been firm with him when he behaves in a way that is not acceptable IMO is the way to handle this, make sure his collar is on tight and then she shouldnt be able to slip it.

You could try a muzzzle, the Mikki muzzles are excellent, this will calm him a little, and he will learn if he behaves he gets to go out with out it.

Dawn

 

[dessie]

Although his behaviour may be regarded as teenage badness this can be habit forming and unless action is taken,in my opinion this includes neutering,you could well end up with an unmanageable adult dog.

I am sorry but having a dog castrated will NOT change his behaviour. With the right training and you been firm with him when he behaves in a way that is not acceptable IMO is the way to handle this, make sure his collar is on tight and then she shouldnt be able to slip it.

You could try a muzzzle, the Mikki muzzles are excellent, this will calm him a little, and he will learn if he behaves he gets to go out with out it.

Dawn

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I totally agree with Dawn about castration, I have a dog who bounces up to others and yodels at them but he doesn't bite, he just a bit of a yob so I have taught him recall and he goes on the lead until he settles. If they are that type of lout, castration will do no good at all. And it is a Whippet thing to run up to other dogs at a million miles an hour and screech to a halt. Mine will do it to both dogs they know and dogs they don't so it is up to you to make the decision to read the situation and recall or not. Gentle Controllers are brilliant can thoroughly recommend them, give you even more control than a Gentle Leader because the part round the neck, which is where the control comes from is like a slip collar rather than static.

I am not a lover of muzzling dogs either. I briefly muzzled TJ to try and break him of eating shit but soon did away with it. Personally I don't think muzzling is an answer to bad behaviour either but socialisation and training is. Not very many dogs actually rush up to others and pick fights, it is usually just noise more than anything and I would certainly NEVER muzzle a dog because it is chasing cats/squirrels etc. That's what Whippets do!

 

[Whippets Rule]

Although his behaviour may be regarded as teenage badness this can be habit forming and unless action is taken,in my opinion this includes neutering,you could well end up with an unmanageable adult dog.

I am sorry but having a dog castrated will NOT change his behaviour. With the right training and you been firm with him when he behaves in a way that is not acceptable IMO is the way to handle this, make sure his collar is on tight and then she shouldnt be able to slip it.

You could try a muzzzle, the Mikki muzzles are excellent, this will calm him a little, and he will learn if he behaves he gets to go out with out it.

Dawn

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Your statement is simply not true....castration does very much alter a dogs behaviour.I have years of experience dealing with behaviour issues in dogs from many different causes and neutering certainly has its place.I have also owned a dog with serious brain damage in whose case removing hormones from the equation very much reduced the severity of his behaviour problems.

However i realise that on this particular forum neutering is considered a satanic ritual among most of the breeders and co.

We are all entitled to our own opinion and these opinions should not be stated as fact,since they are not facts simply different peoples opinions.

I would also have to disagree with dessie. None of my whippet run upto other dogs at a million miles an hour and screech to a halt..But then again my dogs have been trained and are under control.

i will not reply again, as i for one am not prepared to ruin someone elses thread having an unresolvable argument about neutering.To the OP please always seek advice from other sources and remember the majority of what is said on a website is purely opinion and not actual fact.

I hope you resolve the problems you are having with your dog.

 

[dawn]

Where is the proof that castration improves behaviour problems?

The problem might have resolved it self anyway even if the dog had not had his bits chopped.

I would never advise anyone to have a dog castrated to improve behaviour problems, training and patience are the answer NOT mutilating him. (sorry if that sounds a bit strong but that is what it is)

If you had a grumpy husband or partner would you have him castrated to alter his temprement???

The ONLY time we would have any of ours speyed or if we had dogs castrated would be for medical reasons.

 

[dawn]

However i realise that on this particular forum neutering is considered a satanic ritual among most of the breeders and co.
We are all entitled to our own opinion and these opinions should not be stated as fact,since they are not facts simply different peoples opinions.

I think that people who have kept whippets for many years have a great wealth of knowledge to share with those new to the breed and i think there is an awful lot of knowledgeable people post on this board, who speak from experience not just opinion.

 

[Jones]

I don't usually comment in threads like this as they inevitably snowball out of control once neutering gets mentioned, but I just thought I'd share our experiences with Picco :unsure:

Picco is lovely off lead and on the whole doesn't even bother with other dogs when he's having a run and has almost perfect recall o

When he's on lead he's a very different dog and can seem very aggressive towards other dogs up on his hind legs showing his teeth and barking like a loony :b

If we can get the other dog owner to stop and let us get near, then Picco will have a little sniff and then walk away :clown: the problem is most people's reaction to a snarling dog is to run the other way

We did work on it and he has got a lot better and we're probably upto being able to walk past 60-70% of dogs with no problems :thumbsup:

Then about 5 months ago we got him neutered :unsure: it wasn't our idea or choice but thats another story and one I don't want to rake up again

At first it seemed to have had some effect and did lower the tension in the house between Leon and Picco, not that there was much in the first place or ever nasty but they are a lot happier together :huggles: and we now realise there probably was a bit of rivalry between them :unsure:

He did seem a little better at first with other dogs outside but then I probably wouldn't want to start a fight if someone had just lopped my balls off either :b but he soon returned to his normal self no worse but no better either :devil:

There is a downside though he lost almost all his coat from about half way down his body and the rest of his coat suffered too which was heartbreaking to see as its something we've worked so hard to build up since he arrived here it is coming back now but very slowly.

The other downside is that whilst off lead other dogs have started to take an interest in him and have started trying to hump him which has already caused a few incidents as he's not the sort of dog toput up with that :unsure:

I wouldn't say it hasn't changed his character at all as he has become a lot more playfull, not sure if thats good or bad to be honest and a lot more cuddly around us

But the problems he had before are still there and now we have a couple more to contend with I think neutering does help with some problems but its certainly not the cure all that some people make it out to be :unsure:

Cheers

Steve

 

[starswift]

grumpy husband def chop their knackers off (w00t)

 

[jnjsse]

thanks for everybodies replies so far and we're going to look into a few directions this wk!

sorry to start a debate about castration aswell, we're going to book a consultation with our vet to discuss it further with him.

and seraphina when he runs to another dog it does'nt seem like he wants to play as he usually tries rolling it over and pushing it around, luckily its only got that far once and the owner was ok no harm done