By Dennis McKeon
Copyright, 2024. The original post can be found here.
There are many things that can happen to a greyhound at the local dog park. Almost all of them are bad. So, while Mister or Miss Needlebeak may have a fine time cavorting, wrestling, and playing catch-me-if-you-can with the local hooligans, doodle-gans and puffballs, there are any number of events that might occur--some of them likely to turn a morning's fun run into a disaster, for any number of the players and their humans.
It would be nice if everyone’s dog who was participating in the revelry at the dog park, were properly muzzled. But they’re not--and so neither should your greyhound be—muzzled, that is. Now, when dogs are allowed to play in animated groups, sans muzzles, it is normal for them to bump and run, to fake mouth-fight with teeth bared, to nip and tug, and even to tackle one another. And we all know which dog in that rough-and-tumble group of rowdies is the most likely to tear, and to require a medical seamstress or seamster. Moreso, should the fun and games become overly animated, and the partygoers overstimulated, to the point of expressing real aggression toward one another.
Even a retired greyhound is capable of galloping at extreme speeds. There is a very fine line between breaking the local speed ordinances, and breaking or fracturing a metatarsal, a metacarpal, a toe, a stopper, or even a hock. Lest we forget, when the now retired greyhound performed as a pro-athlete, it was on a specially formulated, groomed and manicured surface, without stones, twigs, or discards from humans, with no larger physical obstacles on the runways--and with a veterinarian on the premises. None of those safety concerns are the business of the dog park. The stories of greyhounds galloping on ungroomed surfaces, anywhere, even at the dog park, and running into trees, into fences or barriers, or of unsuspecting paws smashing down onto rocks are legion, and not for the faint of heart.
Greyhounds, due to their upbringing within the canine colony and their daily, intensely social opportunities and experiences therein, are the most well-educated and erudite of dog breeds, in matters of canine communications, body language, and pack etiquette. While greyhounds have all earned their canine doctorate degrees in these subjects, there is every likelihood that they will encounter innumerable other dogs at the dog park, who are still at the “baby-talk” stage in their development of these skills. This, very often, can lead to a greyhound being unable to calmly communicate displeasure with the behavior or antics of another, less perceptive dog, who is unable to understand what any other greyhound would instantly grasp. Greyhounds are used to communicating their feelings to those who are equally practiced in the arts of canine interaction, elucidation and comprehension. Most of them do not suffer doggie fools gladly.
Needless to say, there is also the matter of prey drive, and the possibility that the greyhound might decide that fuzzy-wuzzy Mister Smoochipooch is fair game, should he happen to escape from Mommykins’ pup satchel, or otherwise cross paths with our hero or heroine.
So, at the risk of being a real buzzkill, my advice to greyhound adopters is to avoid dog parks--and if possible, find other ways and places to engage your greyhound in healthy exercise and pack activities. For example, arranging group walks and/or play dates with other greyhounds, or other well-mannered and trustworthy canine friends.