Rescue lurcher play - normal?

[MumEra]

Hi all

I posted a few weeks ago about being matched with a rescue lurcher, I already have a spaniel.

Well we have had her home with us for a few days now and she is really lovely, her and my other dog are already starting to snuggle up with each other and she is really great around my daughter.

But there is just one thing that concerns me and that is her style of play, which is very full on and quite rough. I’m sure she is playing as she exposes her tummy, play bows etc and will stop when told but frankly I’m worried it’s frightening my spaniel. He goes back for more than seems alarmed when it gets rough quite quickly and backs off.

Im starting to fear that she will hurt him or worse or that he will become afraid of her.

Does anyone have any experience of how to deal with this?

Sighthounds play very roughly in my experience. Some dogs are fine with it but it can be scary to others, so you'll need to monitor and remove the lurcher if you can see your spaniel getting uncomfortable.

I wouldn't rely on the spaniel removing himself or telling the lurcher off.

This is quite a normal type of play for sight hounds. What's your lurcher's background? If she's only been around other lurchers, greyhounds etc, she's probably never learnt to be more gentle with other dogs. I'm not sure what the solution is, I'm afraid, other than you having to break up their play when it's getting too rough.

You need to intervene the moment you think it will escalate (I.e before). Don’t wait for it to get too bad. Dogs wind themselves up so if you watch carefully, you’ll start to spot signs she’s getting a bit wild. For example, for my Dalmatian it’s when she barks. She NEVER barks. But if she’s playing and she barks, I know it’s time to intervene before she gets put in her place.

It takes time to learn their tricks but you can learn them if you pay attention and be ready to move before the lurches gets a bit OTT.

At this stage I’d try and intervene quickly - after a minute or two. Don’t let it get to that stage where one dog backs away. You don’t need to intervene forcefully. Does she like food? Does she like toys? Find something that’s more high value than the playtime and divert her.

TBH I wouldn’t be worried about your spaniel being hurt - even my girl (10KG) is a robust beast and will merrily pounce and play with both my other dogs (and win…). BUT if yours has been an only dog it’s whole life it probably is overwhelmed so you need to intervene just to show support to him (if that makes sense) but also to let your lurcher know that some behaviour isn’t acceptable.

As others have said - sighthounds play very roughly and can easily overwhelm other breeds - this is part of the reason I run walks in my area just for sighthounds - my two look and sound like they're about to kill each other half the time - I know when it's tipping over as one of mine will start snarling a bit more intensely and that's when I tell them enough.

I think you need to be led by your spaniel and distract your lurcher as soon as it becomes apparent it's getting too much. Might also be helpful to find someone else local with a sight hound for him to have a play with! Mine very rarely hurt each other if it helps and as soon as one squeals they stop but I've seen it totally throw other breeds.

Terriers and sighthounds play rough and noisy. It can cause injuries in dogs that are not used to it. You will need to intervene before it becomes a problem.

When the spaniel backs off, does the lurcher let him?

If so tbh, I’d leave them to it, if the lurcher keeps going then you want to be interrupting them.

Thanks for the comments, they are much appreciated!! She will back off when told, especially for treats (seems food obsessed!), and will let him back off but the trouble with him is that he will back off, she will settle and then he will immediately go back over and initiate it again, til she gets too rough and he backs off again, and so on.

He LOVES a play but he’s definitely not used to her style and I don’t want him to get injured.

We will work on intervening and rewarding gentle play. We do actually know someone else with an on lead rescue lurcher, they met briefly on a walk yesterday and although she barked at him initially they then had a good sniff and tails wagging so perhaps we could hire a secure field for the two of them to go at it.

You may need some temporary separation in place. Babydan do good systems, you can pick then up second hand and resell them easily.

Yes defo hire a secure field! She needs to be let off lead and have a good whizz around regularly. I fostered a rescue lurcher(god I loved her !) and we would go twice a week to a secure field. To watch her have total freedom to race around was incredible and the speed was mind blowing!!! Just out of this world to watch!

Secure field with another sighthound is a great idea but make sure they're both muzzled, as sighthounds combine playing rough with being easily damaged!

An update if anyone is interested! They seem to be finding their level now, almost as if the novelty of each other has worn off and although they still have a few playful episodes a day they seem to be rubbing along quite nicely and reading each other cues when it comes to playtime. I’m very proud of them both.

We took them both to a secure field today so she could stretch her legs and they had a ball. They both just seemed to instinctively know when the other wanted to pause, and it was lovely to watch her run and play.

Sighthounds have a particular favourite play called "bitey face" it can look very alarming when you first see it and not so easy for a dog who doesn't have a long pointy snoot. http://greydogtales.com/blog/lurcher-for-beginners-9-bitey-face/

Absolutely loved this video and write up! 'Bitey face' is fairly common in many young dogs, and it's amazing how many people you meet out and about who think it's aggression 🙄

Aww so pleased they're finding their rhythm. I have a lurcher x and she loves a bitey face run like the wind session with similar dogs, but I've always been impressed at how she adjusts her play to different dogs (eg on meeting a fiesty dachshund puppy, who loved bitey face, she played from a lying down position). For what it's worth, some of her best friends are spaniels and they play great together :)

Without pics are we just expected to believe you have a gorgeous lurcher op??