A friend of mine has adopted a three year old ex racing greyhound bitch and as asked me about the possibility of teaching the dog some obedience. She wants the dog to do the basic recall, sit, down and stay.How easy is it to train greyhounds? I have no experience with the breed so any advice on training would be great. I clicker train my own dogs,would this work for the greyhound?
She also mentioned letting the dog off its lead in future but I am not sure as no matter how strong the recall if the dog was distracted by a small animal it would possibly let its instincts take over and keep running. Any advice would be most welcome.
Thanks,  Mark S

We've had a few greyhounds at our classes :)

One of them was very bemused and refused all food etc and was very quiet but after the 3rd week did start to respond. He was an ex Irish racer.His owner was very good and attempted training in between sessions. The other two had been with their owners some time and were very responsive IMO. Again the owners were stars and did put in lots of work with them (clicker).

Some greys are not very happy about some of the obedience postions, it's to do with their muscles esp. from ex racing greys, so you may find that it is best to suggest using a blanket for them, or else simply teaching a Wait rather than a Sit or a Down. For a sit, they often sit with their forelegs pushed out a bit. I personally would see how the dog was and if it seemed uncomfortable with any position accommodate the dog somehow.

I believe usually if the dog comes from a rescue they will help with assessing for chase instincts with small animals. The people i know all did let their dogs off but in a controlled area ie  not near roads etc :)

If you visit www.dogpages.co.uk there are plenty of experienced greyhound owners who could tell you much more than me :)

Lindsay
X

Thanks Lyndsay, will do, thanks for the advice.
Regards, Mark

Hi Mark :)  Clicker training will work on any breed of any age and I cant speak highly enough of this technique.  Personnally I would recommend your friend get into clicker training and train the dog (with a good trainer) the same way as any other dog/breed.  The dog's recalls would need to be assessed as with any dog learning the recall - I can sympathise with anyone teaching a sight hound a recall mind you :rolleyes:  The other thing to remember is toy training, which, of course can be used with a clicker!  If the dog isn't that food orientated he can be rewarded with a tuggy game and that special toy ;) 
Sarah