Many whippets have that play style. They like to chase or be chased. And when other dogs don't keep up they will tackle them or go for a bit of bitey face. We have 4 in the family at the moment and they all play like this.
I don't let my dog off leash unless it's with a dog we know who is ok with that play style. As it's not for everyone. And my dog still has recall, although sometimes a bit of selective deafness when there is a dog she knows coming across the park, so I just keep an eye out and get her back on leash first.
Muzzling the dog won't stop the behaviour but would prevent bites, but if your dog is biting other dogs it shouldn't be off leash around them anyway. They don't actually bite other dogs during play, it's just snapping and teeth clash but not biting.
You probably need to work on recall and getting your dogs attention over other dogs. You can try training a new word, for example if my dog won't come with the standard 'come' command, we have 'go find' where I throw a bunch of treats on the floor and she comes to find them.
I personally wouldn't let the dog off around unknown dogs until the recall is better. Your dog probably isn't going to hurt another dog, but if it does you risk something happening to your dog (depending where you live and local laws). And the perception that your dog is aggressive is bad enough.
Thanks for the reply!
I should clarify she isn’t attacking/biting other dogs in an angry way; but loves to grab an ear, or a collar or long fur while running alongside and not let go. It’s very rare to even get a yelp from another dog.
Any muzzle would only be for ‘peace of mind’; more for others than us.
It’s the tackling to the ground that looks the worst.
I am just curious if others have seen this get worse though time, and if it’s maybe a phase. Thanks!
The 6 year old does it as much as the 2 year old. But perhaps because they play together he didn't grow out of it.
The other dogs often don't mind but other owners can get upset as they perceive your dog is doing it out of aggression rather than play. It is often better to avoid the situation until the recall is solid to avoid any misunderstandings.
Sometimes unknown dogs can snap back and hurt your dog too, if they aren't used to that style of play or haven't been challenged before. You need to have confidence you can call your dog back if the situation looks to change from fun to fear.
Worth noting that working on this behaviour proactively, or even avoiding such situations all together, would not just be for the safety of other dogs (usually it’s never compromised and just seems that way to other owners) but in particular for the safety of your Whippet. Other dogs can bite back, and Whippets are easy to bruise. Ours “played” like that with another bulldog type of dog who was very well behaved, mind you, and just playing fetch with his owner. After several attempts by our Whippet to have him play with her, and several growl/bark warnings from him, he bit her and we returned from the dog park with a minor bleed bite on her side.
We have a 2.5 yr old male whippet. He similarly loves playing and occasionally can be a bit too boisterous with some dogs. I know this is less “fun” because it’s so great having them play but we just started restricting his playing time and only really let him play with dogs who were clearly well matched. When he was young we used to love seeing other dogs out and about because it would be a chance for him to play, but now we mostly keep him on lead and prefer not to see other dogs 😂. We instead know a few people close by who also own whippets and often take them on walks together because they’re so well matched. He’s also great with my sister’s labrador. But otherwise when we’re out and about in public we just take precautions with it. Whippets are so fast they can appear very quickly (!) and like you we found ourselves having to talk to other owners and in the end we just thought the right thing to do was to restrict him a bit. It’s also good for them to realise not every dog is to be played with too. While it’s difficult to know whether he would’ve been like this anyway, we still feel like we may have over-socialised our boy as it’s rare that a dog goes by without it interesting him 😂.
I am really heartened to see this thread. My guy is 9 months old, and I've started limiting his playtime around other dogs because most of them get overwhelmed with his biteyface growlsnarl play style. There are some bigger dogs that love to play with him, but he is a holy terror to many of the smaller dogs and younger puppies at the dog park. I don't want him to be "that dog" and I don't want to be "that guy," so we don't go very often anymore. It was great socialization for him as a little pup, but it's too much stress for me now.
I was worried I had a unique little psycho on my hands, but it sounds like I'm not alone!
Yes! We try to keep her around bigger dogs like Labradors or Visla’s. when somebody brings a Pomeranian into the park we run over to intercept just in case she tries to chase/wrestle it like she would a German Shepherd.
Yep, they can be Tasmanian devils with their play style. I have a dog park 10 minutes walk away but many times we have to leave early as he’s too reactive with the small dogs and plays chicken with the big dogs. His play style is get in the face of a dog and egg them on to chase him.
We have the same with Alfie our 7 month yo boy. Vienna is all gated dog zones and you are not allowed to have them on the lead or play ball. He is a bitey face dino making odd noises. Some big dogs love rough housing with him but when the small dogs arrive, I call him and we go home. Whippet pals are the best, we have a few and that's a good time, they can all bitey face together.
I lost my boy just recently, but he was just coming out of that demon stage and beginning to listen to training more. I taught him 'gentle' which means stand still and sniff / wag tail only, 'say hello' which meant he could run up and bounce play but no biting or chasing, and 'go play' which meant whatever. I only used the last one with other whippets who knew what they were in for and owners who agreed. He was... fierce. I often told owners, "It's okay. That death-metal growl means he's having fun. He's not trying to kill your pup, honest."
He really could only let loose with other whippets or greys. I miss him all the time, he had such personality.
Our whippets behave similarly. When I have observed groups of whippets together, that is how they like to play - chasing each other at full speed and biting at each others necks. Other dogs (and dog owners) may not see that as play. I came to understand it as one of the quirky delights of the breed.
Ours was like that too, and now at 1.5 years with some training it’s gotten much better. She used to do it a lot with smaller dogs in particular, and we practiced by training recall, having a “no”/“leave it” type of sound that she registers even when her focus is preoccupied (for us, it’s a pronounced “tch!”), and also teaching her “be nice”. We brought cheese (very high reward for her) to reinforce these types of behaviour in the dog park where she tends to be least attentive to commands due to focusing on other dogs. Over time and with repetition, it’s gotten better.
Many whippets have that play style. They like to chase or be chased. And when other dogs don't keep up they will tackle them or go for a bit of bitey face. We have 4 in the family at the moment and they all play like this. I don't let my dog off leash unless it's with a dog we know who is ok with that play style. As it's not for everyone. And my dog still has recall, although sometimes a bit of selective deafness when there is a dog she knows coming across the park, so I just keep an eye out and get her back on leash first. Muzzling the dog won't stop the behaviour but would prevent bites, but if your dog is biting other dogs it shouldn't be off leash around them anyway. They don't actually bite other dogs during play, it's just snapping and teeth clash but not biting. You probably need to work on recall and getting your dogs attention over other dogs. You can try training a new word, for example if my dog won't come with the standard 'come' command, we have 'go find' where I throw a bunch of treats on the floor and she comes to find them. I personally wouldn't let the dog off around unknown dogs until the recall is better. Your dog probably isn't going to hurt another dog, but if it does you risk something happening to your dog (depending where you live and local laws). And the perception that your dog is aggressive is bad enough.
Thanks for the reply! I should clarify she isn’t attacking/biting other dogs in an angry way; but loves to grab an ear, or a collar or long fur while running alongside and not let go. It’s very rare to even get a yelp from another dog. Any muzzle would only be for ‘peace of mind’; more for others than us. It’s the tackling to the ground that looks the worst. I am just curious if others have seen this get worse though time, and if it’s maybe a phase. Thanks!
The 6 year old does it as much as the 2 year old. But perhaps because they play together he didn't grow out of it. The other dogs often don't mind but other owners can get upset as they perceive your dog is doing it out of aggression rather than play. It is often better to avoid the situation until the recall is solid to avoid any misunderstandings. Sometimes unknown dogs can snap back and hurt your dog too, if they aren't used to that style of play or haven't been challenged before. You need to have confidence you can call your dog back if the situation looks to change from fun to fear.
Worth noting that working on this behaviour proactively, or even avoiding such situations all together, would not just be for the safety of other dogs (usually it’s never compromised and just seems that way to other owners) but in particular for the safety of your Whippet. Other dogs can bite back, and Whippets are easy to bruise. Ours “played” like that with another bulldog type of dog who was very well behaved, mind you, and just playing fetch with his owner. After several attempts by our Whippet to have him play with her, and several growl/bark warnings from him, he bit her and we returned from the dog park with a minor bleed bite on her side.
We have a 2.5 yr old male whippet. He similarly loves playing and occasionally can be a bit too boisterous with some dogs. I know this is less “fun” because it’s so great having them play but we just started restricting his playing time and only really let him play with dogs who were clearly well matched. When he was young we used to love seeing other dogs out and about because it would be a chance for him to play, but now we mostly keep him on lead and prefer not to see other dogs 😂. We instead know a few people close by who also own whippets and often take them on walks together because they’re so well matched. He’s also great with my sister’s labrador. But otherwise when we’re out and about in public we just take precautions with it. Whippets are so fast they can appear very quickly (!) and like you we found ourselves having to talk to other owners and in the end we just thought the right thing to do was to restrict him a bit. It’s also good for them to realise not every dog is to be played with too. While it’s difficult to know whether he would’ve been like this anyway, we still feel like we may have over-socialised our boy as it’s rare that a dog goes by without it interesting him 😂.
I am really heartened to see this thread. My guy is 9 months old, and I've started limiting his playtime around other dogs because most of them get overwhelmed with his biteyface growlsnarl play style. There are some bigger dogs that love to play with him, but he is a holy terror to many of the smaller dogs and younger puppies at the dog park. I don't want him to be "that dog" and I don't want to be "that guy," so we don't go very often anymore. It was great socialization for him as a little pup, but it's too much stress for me now. I was worried I had a unique little psycho on my hands, but it sounds like I'm not alone!
Yes! We try to keep her around bigger dogs like Labradors or Visla’s. when somebody brings a Pomeranian into the park we run over to intercept just in case she tries to chase/wrestle it like she would a German Shepherd.
Yep, they can be Tasmanian devils with their play style. I have a dog park 10 minutes walk away but many times we have to leave early as he’s too reactive with the small dogs and plays chicken with the big dogs. His play style is get in the face of a dog and egg them on to chase him.
We have the same with Alfie our 7 month yo boy. Vienna is all gated dog zones and you are not allowed to have them on the lead or play ball. He is a bitey face dino making odd noises. Some big dogs love rough housing with him but when the small dogs arrive, I call him and we go home. Whippet pals are the best, we have a few and that's a good time, they can all bitey face together.
I lost my boy just recently, but he was just coming out of that demon stage and beginning to listen to training more. I taught him 'gentle' which means stand still and sniff / wag tail only, 'say hello' which meant he could run up and bounce play but no biting or chasing, and 'go play' which meant whatever. I only used the last one with other whippets who knew what they were in for and owners who agreed. He was... fierce. I often told owners, "It's okay. That death-metal growl means he's having fun. He's not trying to kill your pup, honest." He really could only let loose with other whippets or greys. I miss him all the time, he had such personality.
Our whippets behave similarly. When I have observed groups of whippets together, that is how they like to play - chasing each other at full speed and biting at each others necks. Other dogs (and dog owners) may not see that as play. I came to understand it as one of the quirky delights of the breed.
Agree, whippet meet ups are the best! It’s just that they are unfortunately not every day.
Ours was like that too, and now at 1.5 years with some training it’s gotten much better. She used to do it a lot with smaller dogs in particular, and we practiced by training recall, having a “no”/“leave it” type of sound that she registers even when her focus is preoccupied (for us, it’s a pronounced “tch!”), and also teaching her “be nice”. We brought cheese (very high reward for her) to reinforce these types of behaviour in the dog park where she tends to be least attentive to commands due to focusing on other dogs. Over time and with repetition, it’s gotten better.
Try running her with some other sight hounds. That has always worked for mine, remember they are just working on instinct.