As today is a slow day and there are no more transports going on until Sat I figured I would expand a bit about what I chatted about yesterday. Shy dogs.
Above is 2 photos of retired from track racing Fishdoggies. Photos complements of Lindsey Lobree The brindle girl in the photo is Willow owned by Jennifer Ng, and the white and brindle girl is Addie owned by Karen (sorry don't know Karen's last name)
Looking at these photos you would never believe that Willow was a SUPER SHY girl while in the racing kennel. No joke, I visited with Willow a few times while she was in our kennel and this girl I questioned if she would ever adjust to pet life. Everything just seemed to freak her out.
Now there are all sorts of reasons that greyhounds are shy or spooky. Some of it comes from breeding, some can come from lack of socialization as young pups and some you just can't explain why. I do believe that your TRUE spooks come from breeding. Something that no matter how hard you work with socializing them that they will never overcome their certain fears. And while these hounds may not make wonderful Meet and Greet hounds they still can make wonderful pets.
But back to Willow. Willow I feel her shyness was strictly due to lack of handling as a young pup. But since Willow moved to retired pet life and Jennifer adopted her she has BLOSSOMED into such an amazing hound.
In the photos above really show how far she has come. Willow is actually ranked 4th on the ASFC, American Sighthound Field Association. Also to brag on the Fishdoggies a bit there is another Fishdoggie on the list. Ranked #9 is Susan in Charge
Where am I going with all of this? Shy/spooky/reserved hounds are not always that way when they figure out home life, when they are socialized and shown what the outside world is all about.
Don't turn up your nose at a hound just because they are a bit shy at first meeting, because you never know what they will blossom into.
Willow is a story that I love to share as I wasn't sure how she would take to home life. Then I heard Jennifer was thinking about coursing her and honestly I thought she was out of her mind LOL
These are the cases I love to be proven wrong
That's my girl! Anyone who meets her now is surprised when I tell them she used to be shy at the track. She does have the occasional quirk, and the only thing I have to be careful about is not to let strange men come up to her too quickly when she is lying down. At meet and greets and other public events, Willow even approaches strangers (including men) for attention.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I can't take credit for much of Willow's progress. Her foster homes with Greyhound Crossroads (GC) did a lot of work with her. She was even better than what Heather described when she first came to the group, and I believe the folks at Heather's kennel helped her along also during the waiting period before GC had room for her.
And finally, to brag a little more on my girl. In the 2008 year-end national standings for greyhounds, Willow was #4 in AKC lure coursing and #5 in LGRA straight racing! I'm very proud of her, but the most important thing is that she LOVES running.