Why Does My Whippet...

[Kells]

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Hi This might sound like a stupid question but I thought I would ask just incase anyone experiences the same thing! I have an adolescent whippet, George, and he's my first whippet, and he's absolutely brilliant, he's really got me hooked on whippets :wub: . The only thing is when I let him off the lead for a run he'll run to the other side of the field and then run straight back to me at full breakneck speed and doesn't turn to avoid me until the very last second (sometimes he doesnt avoid me at all and just runs into me which is extremely painful to say the least!!) My heart is in my throat every time he does this but of course he thinks it's great fun lol I had a lurcher when I was younger and she never did this, and my granny has a whippet but she's very docile and doesn't do it either, so I was just wondering if anyone elses dog does it and if so how can i get him to stop?!

Thanks!!

 

[oakmoorehill]

William my greyhound does it but if I stand my ground he will turn away at the last second My son Ben plays bull fighting with him they dare each other to move first

The only thing I do is if there are any kids playing nearby when I free run him I tell them to stand still if he comes towards them although most of them know him now anyway and join in the game he was 'playing' hide nd seek with them the other day not that they appreciated it he was telling them were they were all hiding

I let him carry on as one of the kids has been bullying Ben at school and he was a bit wary of William I know I shouldn't have but ...... no ones doing anything to stop him even the school

By the way if you read an earlier post of mine you will see William ran into a tree so he doesn't always turn in time

 

[EJW]

Hi    This might sound like a stupid question but I thought I would ask just incase anyone experiences the same thing! I have an adolescent whippet, George, and he's my first whippet, and he's absolutely brilliant, he's really got me hooked on whippets  :wub: . The only thing is when I let him off the lead for a run he'll run to the other side of the field and then run straight back to me at full breakneck speed and doesn't turn to avoid me until the very last second (sometimes he doesnt avoid me at all and just runs into me which is extremely painful to say the least!!) My heart is in my throat every time he does this but of course he thinks it's great fun lol Iwondering if anyone elses dog does it and if so how can i get him to stop?!
Thanks!!

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(w00t) I have 4 Whippets & only my 4 year old fawn girl does this! Fortunately she only does it to me & as long as I don't move she swerves at the very last minute. & yes she thinks it's hilarious :blink:

 

[wild whippies]

All mine do it, and yip as tempting as it is to duck out the way, your best bet is to stay stock still. :lol:

 

[gilliwigs]

Yes, our old whippet used to do that too and obviously really enjoyed it! We soon learnt to stand our ground and warn anyone else about it but we didn't bother trying to stop him doing it. We thought it was just him but obviously it must be one of those quirky whippet traits! :clown: Our present whippet doesn't do it - he runs pretty close to you but definitely not straight at you!

 

[Seraphina]

Yes, mine do it as well and I read somewhere to stand still, i do not remeber the exact reason why; but apparently at the speed it is difficult for them to judge correctly (???) when you move and are more likely to hit you. Have to say since i stoped trying to get out of their way nobody has crushed into me .

:luck: Lida

 

[*Lesley*]

I think a lot of it is excitment mine do it because they just go into their own world of mad dash (w00t) and can't always put the brakes on when they need to

OH was once videoing them in the woods when we were watching it back I was in fits because at one point you can here a loud thud OH groans and camera goes down towards the floor one of them had run straight into him :lol: dogs were fine but OH nearly ended up on his backside

 

[Karen]

They all do it to some extent but it can, A, really hurt you and worse, B, kill your dog.

I would make every effort to stop them doing this, I think it is a range finding thing, they think sometimes you are father away than you are. Sometimes its a dominance thing, they LIKE barging into each other!

I would take an empty carrier bag in your pocket and when the dog runs at you lean forward and swish it around at his face level, he should stop at the bag instead of your legs.

If he continues to do it, its a dominance thing, put something IN the bag, nothing hard, a soft ball or tennis ball, if you dont want to carry much then the lead will probably be enough. Swing the bag around in front of you so it hits him in the face area as he gets to your legs. He will soon learn that he cant see where hes going and hes likely to get his ears biffed.

I suspect your dog is in the first case. You still need to stand still though!

 

[JAX]

My gang do this too ,and so did my Greyhounds ,

Many years ago . 2 of my GH were running loose and id lost sight of them only for them to come up behind me and completley floor me (w00t) I went so high in the air that i actually came down on my shoulders and neck . I was winded for a while and a couple watching, came over to see if I was ok :b Needless to say Bonnie and Barty were fine , still chasing round the field . Ive been knocked over one more than one occasion . but that was by far the `best ` :lol:

Karen is right in what she says though , it can be most dangerous for the dogs too and should be avoided at all costs :blink:

But always stand still . you just MIGHT be going the way the dog is

 

[Kells]

lol I'm glad there are other whippets out there who do it too and that George isn't just a maniac :sweating: He ran into me the other day and I had to lay down on the grass with the pain! of course I am now left with a lovely bruise on my knee :rant: I do actually stand still when he runs at me but he still crashes a lot, maybe he hasn't got great eyesight :blink: I think I'll try the plastic bag thing this evening and see if it makes a difference, thanks for your help!

 

[Karen]

One of our Greyhounds ran into a girls legs and broke her neck (the dog)

My Baldry Greyhound did just the same to me as happened to Jax, greyhounds dont do it on purpose they are too dim to work anything wicked out.

 

[JAX]

Ill tel you a real funny story .

Many years ago , when I worked at the local dog track ,I used to `do the hare IE catch the metal/covered `hair as it was ejected off the rails after a race . The aim , was to catch the metal hare and throw a material one for the dogs to bounce on , well one day i noticed that in the race was a dog who was a really wide runner , and as he would be coming `my` way after the race i thought id better move nearer the rail as to avoid him .

Well I avoided `Brindley ` but what i didnt do was get out of the way of a huge black dog called TAR LAKE` (w00t) He went between my legs and carrried me several feet ON HIS BACK before I fell off onto the `luckily` stopped hare rail (w00t)

Ok, so at the time i was a slip of a thing and weighed about 7 stones 8) . I couldnt get up for laughing and several of the `regulars` came onto the track to check I was ok . but i cant remeber Tar Lake ever running again

Another time one of the other kennel maids was doing the job and the dog seriously damaged her knee ( not the dogs )

 

[~elizabeth~]

Yup, ours as well. Usually there's a lab in pursuit, I always thought the point of the game was to get the lab to knock us over, like form of human skittles. Lab crashes hurt even more ! :- "

 

[Kells]

Ill tel you a real funny story .
Many years ago , when I worked at the local dog track ,I used to `do the hare IE catch the metal/covered `hair as it was ejected off the rails after a race . The aim , was to catch the metal hare and throw a material one for the dogs to bounce on , well one day i noticed that in the race was a dog who was a really wide runner  , and  as he would be coming `my` way after the race i thought id better move nearer the rail as to avoid him .

Well I avoided `Brindley ` but what i didnt do was get out of the way of a huge black dog called TAR LAKE`  (w00t)   He went between my legs    and carrried me several feet ON HIS BACK before I fell off onto the `luckily` stopped hare rail  (w00t)

Ok, so at the time i was a slip of a thing and weighed about 7 stones  8)   . I couldnt get up for laughing and several of the `regulars` came onto the track to check I was ok . but i cant remeber Tar Lake ever running again     

Another time one of the other kennel maids was doing the job and the dog seriously damaged her knee ( not the dogs )

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lol thats hilarious (w00t) you're lucky you weren't hurt

I didn't get to try the plastic bag trick yet as the OH has taken George out for his run before I have got home from work, although he's standing with his nose pressed against the window now (the dog not the OH lol) so I had better go walk him or he'll do his "racing round the house at a hundred miles an hour" routine lol

 

[kirislin]

Yep my maniacs do it too. When I see them coming if I think they might crash into me I bend forward & wave the dog leashes in front of my legs while yelling at them to LOOK OUT!! 99% of the time they veer off at the last second. People might think I'm nuts but it works so I dont care.

Linda