This should be a no brainer, but I need to know for sure.

I have recently adopted 2 greyhounds, one is my best friend right off,
but the other one growls when I pet him. he is fine with my wife. he
also jumped up and growled at my 2.5 year old son when he leaned into
him while he was nearing sleep. not deep asleep, mind you..


I think this is a sign of things to come, and I need to get rid of the
dog. the other dog is perfect, and I trust him.

not sure what to do...
DAVE

Howdy Dave,
Call the adoption agency and tell them the situation and that you want
to return the dog.

Frank X. Morris
http://community.webtv.net/Sulkhalil/SalukiCornerChime

Howdy Dave,
Call the adoption agency and tell them the situation and that you want
to return the dog.

Frank X. Morris
http://community.webtv.net/Sulkhalil/SalukiCornerChime

Howdy Dave,
Call the adoption agency and tell them the situation and that you want
to return the dog.

Frank X. Morris
http://community.webtv.net/Sulkhalil/SalukiCornerChime

Howdy Dave,
Call the adoption agency and tell them the situation and that you want
to return the dog.

Frank X. Morris
http://community.webtv.net/Sulkhalil/SalukiCornerChime

Howdy Dave,
Call the adoption agency and tell them the situation and that you want
to return the dog.

Frank X. Morris
http://community.webtv.net/Sulkhalil/SalukiCornerChime

Howdy Dave,
Call the adoption agency and tell them the situation and that you want
to return the dog.

Frank X. Morris
http://community.webtv.net/Sulkhalil/SalukiCornerChime

On 15 Aug 2004 20:01:09 -0700, (dave) wrote:

This should be a no brainer, but I need to know for sure.

I have recently adopted 2 greyhounds, one is my best friend right off,
but the other one growls when I pet him. he is fine with my wife. he
also jumped up and growled at my 2.5 year old son when he leaned into
him while he was nearing sleep. not deep asleep, mind you..

You adopted two dogs at once, with a 2.5 year-old child in the home?
Have you had dogs before? This is exactly why many groups don't adopt
to families with children under 5 or 6 unless they have dog
experience. 1) racing Greyhounds live in crates and can have space
aggression issues which are usually temporary and resolve on their own
as the dog adjusts to living in a home. Train your 2.5 year-old son
never to lean on or hug the dog, at least not until you've had him
long enough to know the dog will accept it. 2) Racing Greyhounds
sleep - - a lot - - because there's nothing else to do. They
sometimes sleep with their eyes open. Train your son not to approach
the dogs without calling their names and seeing them respond. 3)
Since your son is only 2.5, it is your job to know what is and isn't
appropriate behavior around dogs, and ex-racers in particular. If you
adopted the dogs from an adoption group, contact the group for
assistance. If not, to some internet research - - there's something
like 250 Greyhound adoption groups in the US and most have web sites
with a lot of valuable information on them. Read "Adopting the Racing
Greyhound" by Cynthia Branigan, third edition, and "Childproofing Your
Dog" by Brian Kilcommons. Never leave the dogs and child
unsupervised, and monitor and control the child's behavior.

I think this is a sign of things to come, and I need to get rid of the
dog. the other dog is perfect, and I trust him.

It may or may not be a sign of things to come, depending on how you
respond to it. A dog growling at a child does *not* mean the dog is
preparing to rip off the child's face and must immediately be put down
or rehomed where it won't ever have contact with children (ie, on
Mars). What it means is that the child is doing something annoying to
the dog, which may only be approaching the dog when the dog wants to
be left alone, and since the dog cannot say "please leave me alone" in
English, he says it in dog - - he growls. IOW, the dog is warning the
child to leave him alone. Now, I don't allow my dogs to growl at me
or other people whenever they feel like it. However, these dogs are
in a new environment; they may never have been in a home before,
depending on whether or not they were fostered, and if they've ever
seen toddlers before, it was only briefly. Get some help from your
adoption group, or find a trainer in your area that has experience
with ex-racers. If you're not willing/able to work on this, do both
the dog and the child a favor and take him back.

Mustang Sally

On 15 Aug 2004 20:01:09 -0700, (dave) wrote:

This should be a no brainer, but I need to know for sure.

I have recently adopted 2 greyhounds, one is my best friend right off,
but the other one growls when I pet him. he is fine with my wife. he
also jumped up and growled at my 2.5 year old son when he leaned into
him while he was nearing sleep. not deep asleep, mind you..

You adopted two dogs at once, with a 2.5 year-old child in the home?
Have you had dogs before? This is exactly why many groups don't adopt
to families with children under 5 or 6 unless they have dog
experience. 1) racing Greyhounds live in crates and can have space
aggression issues which are usually temporary and resolve on their own
as the dog adjusts to living in a home. Train your 2.5 year-old son
never to lean on or hug the dog, at least not until you've had him
long enough to know the dog will accept it. 2) Racing Greyhounds
sleep - - a lot - - because there's nothing else to do. They
sometimes sleep with their eyes open. Train your son not to approach
the dogs without calling their names and seeing them respond. 3)
Since your son is only 2.5, it is your job to know what is and isn't
appropriate behavior around dogs, and ex-racers in particular. If you
adopted the dogs from an adoption group, contact the group for
assistance. If not, to some internet research - - there's something
like 250 Greyhound adoption groups in the US and most have web sites
with a lot of valuable information on them. Read "Adopting the Racing
Greyhound" by Cynthia Branigan, third edition, and "Childproofing Your
Dog" by Brian Kilcommons. Never leave the dogs and child
unsupervised, and monitor and control the child's behavior.

I think this is a sign of things to come, and I need to get rid of the
dog. the other dog is perfect, and I trust him.

It may or may not be a sign of things to come, depending on how you
respond to it. A dog growling at a child does *not* mean the dog is
preparing to rip off the child's face and must immediately be put down
or rehomed where it won't ever have contact with children (ie, on
Mars). What it means is that the child is doing something annoying to
the dog, which may only be approaching the dog when the dog wants to
be left alone, and since the dog cannot say "please leave me alone" in
English, he says it in dog - - he growls. IOW, the dog is warning the
child to leave him alone. Now, I don't allow my dogs to growl at me
or other people whenever they feel like it. However, these dogs are
in a new environment; they may never have been in a home before,
depending on whether or not they were fostered, and if they've ever
seen toddlers before, it was only briefly. Get some help from your
adoption group, or find a trainer in your area that has experience
with ex-racers. If you're not willing/able to work on this, do both
the dog and the child a favor and take him back.

Mustang Sally

On 15 Aug 2004 20:01:09 -0700, (dave) wrote:

This should be a no brainer, but I need to know for sure.

I have recently adopted 2 greyhounds, one is my best friend right off,
but the other one growls when I pet him. he is fine with my wife. he
also jumped up and growled at my 2.5 year old son when he leaned into
him while he was nearing sleep. not deep asleep, mind you..

You adopted two dogs at once, with a 2.5 year-old child in the home?
Have you had dogs before? This is exactly why many groups don't adopt
to families with children under 5 or 6 unless they have dog
experience. 1) racing Greyhounds live in crates and can have space
aggression issues which are usually temporary and resolve on their own
as the dog adjusts to living in a home. Train your 2.5 year-old son
never to lean on or hug the dog, at least not until you've had him
long enough to know the dog will accept it. 2) Racing Greyhounds
sleep - - a lot - - because there's nothing else to do. They
sometimes sleep with their eyes open. Train your son not to approach
the dogs without calling their names and seeing them respond. 3)
Since your son is only 2.5, it is your job to know what is and isn't
appropriate behavior around dogs, and ex-racers in particular. If you
adopted the dogs from an adoption group, contact the group for
assistance. If not, to some internet research - - there's something
like 250 Greyhound adoption groups in the US and most have web sites
with a lot of valuable information on them. Read "Adopting the Racing
Greyhound" by Cynthia Branigan, third edition, and "Childproofing Your
Dog" by Brian Kilcommons. Never leave the dogs and child
unsupervised, and monitor and control the child's behavior.

I think this is a sign of things to come, and I need to get rid of the
dog. the other dog is perfect, and I trust him.

It may or may not be a sign of things to come, depending on how you
respond to it. A dog growling at a child does *not* mean the dog is
preparing to rip off the child's face and must immediately be put down
or rehomed where it won't ever have contact with children (ie, on
Mars). What it means is that the child is doing something annoying to
the dog, which may only be approaching the dog when the dog wants to
be left alone, and since the dog cannot say "please leave me alone" in
English, he says it in dog - - he growls. IOW, the dog is warning the
child to leave him alone. Now, I don't allow my dogs to growl at me
or other people whenever they feel like it. However, these dogs are
in a new environment; they may never have been in a home before,
depending on whether or not they were fostered, and if they've ever
seen toddlers before, it was only briefly. Get some help from your
adoption group, or find a trainer in your area that has experience
with ex-racers. If you're not willing/able to work on this, do both
the dog and the child a favor and take him back.

Mustang Sally