dog is extremely aggressive to all other dogs EXCEPT ones of his own breed

[samuelsky70]

my whippet (9 1/2 y/o) is extremely reactive to all dogs except for other whippets, greyhounds and italian greyhounds. whenever he is taken on walk and sees another dog, even at a large distance, he will go absolutely psycho. he barks and growls like crazy, pulls extremely hard and even stands on his hind legs. he is normal and friendly with his own breed. he isn’t allowed off leash at dog parks. he was completely normal until around 2y/o when this behaviour started randomly. he’s never had a traumatic experience involving other dogs, and was very socialised with all breeds. ive never heard of anyone else with this same issue. does anyone else deal with this?

 

[monk58]

@samuelsky70 Yeah sighthounds do get on with and can read and trust another sighthound in most cases... I have a whippet and it almost like they read each other well

There doesn't need to be a specific incident... some dogs just develop dog selectivity and fear towards other dogs

I would read up on BAT and try and walk him below threshold. Whippets don't show fear particularly well (tucked folded ears, tail down anyway and not really hackle raisers) it may be he is very uncomfortable long before he starts to react...

I would keep my distance and counter condition with a high value reward and see if you can gradually get him to relax

 

[omaheart]

@samuelsky70 Hi, from my experience, it could be triggered by anything (quite literally) and more often than not its quite surprising as well! As such, a good starting point is exploring what triggers it, because that largely influences what you do. Speaking to a behaviourist is the best bet - because more often than not, it could be extremely personalised to what your dog has been through in the past.

However, a more quicker solution could be taking this free questionnaire that Compawnion, an online dog training app offers. It's been built by certified dog behaviourists and its free so might be worth exploring!

Here's a link: https://www.compawnion.co.uk

 

[booboo222]

@samuelsky70 This is exceptionally common in ex-racing greyhounds, but primarily is caused by the severe lack of appropriate early socialisation (it's so rare that they get introduced to other breeds during their time in industry). That being said, I have heard many people comment that their companion animal raised sighthound has a strong preference for other sighthounds and generally ignores other breeds at the dog park, they have a very particular communication and play style which isn't always compatible with say staffies who love a bit of rough and tumble.

Have you tried using a calm whippet companion as a support dog? Due to their nature as collaborative hunters, social learning is often super successful with whips and greys, the more often you can go for walks with dogs they like and trust, and they can observe the helper dogs being social and confident, they will model behaviour off the other dogs it works a treat with our fosters.