One tenet of being a responsible pet parent is learning about your dog’s quirks, both positive and negative, and knowing how to mitigate any potential challenges that may come your way. Overall, greyhounds tend to have mainly positive quirks. You may have heard some rumors about how stubborn greyhounds can be, but are greyhounds stubborn, or is that a misinterpretation of their behavior?
Greyhounds do have the tendency to be stubborn in some respects. Thankfully, this can be dealt with through some basic understanding of their tendencies to be stubborn. Furthermore, knowing why greyhounds can be stubborn can help you implement some strategies to deal with this tendency in a calm and reasonable manner.
Greyhounds are not stubborn for the sake of making things difficult. Take the time to get to know your greyhound to see if you can help them adopt a more easy-going temperament. Furthermore, greyhounds will only respond to certain types of training and are often misunderstood in their behaviors and tendencies.
Are Greyhounds Stubborn?
A greyhound can be stubborn when it comes to managing their behavior and implementing training. As with all dogs, however, this shouldn’t be a deterrent for bringing one home; this should just help guide when and how you train and socialize them.
If you are able to learn as much as possible about your greyhound’s life prior to their adoption, this is crucial. This can help you to understand why they might be more or less stubborn than other dogs. Additionally, this can also help you understand what kinds of training you’ll have to implement for them.
Greyhounds are also not high-energy, hyper dogs. They can be playful, but this is typically in smaller spurts. Thus, when they run out of energy, the last thing they are going to want to do is try to learn new commands. Despite how they’ve been bred, greyhounds are not dogs you should be trying to make work for you.
Why Greyhounds May Act Stubborn
Greyhounds are pretty headstrong dogs. When a greyhound doesn’t want to do something, it can be difficult to train them or modify their behavior at that moment. When it comes to training and socializing a greyhound, slow and steady is always the best approach.
A greyhound is also a more independent dog than some other breeds. They enjoy having their alone time occasionally, and won’t want to be disturbed when they need time to unwind on their own. Thus, they aren’t going to want you in their space trying to train them all day, every day.
If you happen to adopt a greyhound who was once a racing horse, you should be aware that their stubbornness may be due to a misunderstanding of being domesticated. Thus, you will have to be more patient with their training. It’ll take time for them to adapt to a life outside of work, and they won’t understand the concept of domesticated life.
A greyhound may also appear to be stubborn because they are feeling anxious. Greyhounds might be anxious when they are adapting to a new environment. Additionally, greyhounds can develop separation anxiety once they’ve bonded with you and you leave them home a lot.
Greyhound Stubbornness During Walks
Greyhounds have a tendency to become overwhelmed by stimuli when they are out for walks, which can cause them to retreat or suddenly freeze up. This is one individual quirk of adopting a greyhound that you will have to work on with them. Exposing them to walks at a gradual pace early on can help them feel more secure when they are out in public.
As mentioned, greyhounds that were once racers won’t be used to being on a leash. This might lead to them being wary of a leash at first. You’ll have to slowly get them used to be on a leash with patience and rewards for doing a good job.
Greyhounds also are not dogs that need a ton of exercise. They are pretty limber as it is. Despite being bred as racing dogs at one point, they do not need to run excessively or for long periods of time. Greyhounds should only need one walk a day.
Having some toys at home will also help keep your greyhound active in a manner that is more fun for them. Consider having a couple of balls that you can throw for them to play fetch with, as well as some rope toys you can wave around for them.
Are Greyhounds Lazy?
Some greyhound pet parents might think their greyhound is being stubborn because they are lazy. Funnily enough, that is partially true. Greyhounds love being able to just hang out and relax. They are also big fans of sleeping.
Finding the balance between letting your greyhound lounge around but ensuring they get proper exercise for a healthy life can be a challenge. When you get your greyhound acclimated to being on a leash and feeling comfortable in their outdoor environment, you should be encouraging them to go on one walk a day. This walk doesn’t have to be very long.
Outside of their daily exercise needs, having some soft surfaces for your greyhound to cuddle onto and stay warm is very important. These are not dogs you want to relegate to staying off of the couch. They are going to crave your warmth, and they are going to want to cuddle when in the mood.
How Stubbornness Can Impact Training
Some dog parents might become impatient when their dog isn’t responding to commands or training right away. This approach will not work with your greyhound. You have to be able to reserve your emotions when you are trying to train your greyhound. They will not respond to or appreciate raised voices, punishment, or forceful training.
You will also have to accept that training a greyhound could take some time. They aren’t going to absorb any information when they aren’t in the mood to be trained. Greyhounds are very sensitive dogs and that needs to be respected and accommodated.
The best approach to training greyhounds includes a calm, gentle tone of voice, excited praise when they follow commands, and food-related rewards. They are much more likely to want to please you when they know you respect their boundaries. Once this mutual respect is established, your very intelligent greyhound is likely to pick up commands and stick with them pretty quickly.
There are some behaviors that are nearly impossible to train out of a greyhound, despite how hard you try. For instance, greyhounds have a natural desire to chase after what they perceive as prey. This is why training them to get used to a leash is so very important. Greyhounds should never be let off their leash in public.
Stubbornness In Older Greyhounds
You will want to try to train and socialize your greyhound to their new way of life once you bring them home. Waiting for a long time won’t do you or them any good. With older greyhounds or retired racing greyhounds, their confusion may be misunderstood as being stubborn.
On the other hand, they might be stubborn initially when it comes to learning a new way of life because they are overwhelmed by all the differences. They are going to have to unlearn their trainer’s commands and routines and start to learn yours. This can take time. Don’t be afraid to consult professionals to learn some strategies for making this transition easier on your greyhound.
Positive Feedback To Reduce Stubborn Behavior
As mentioned, punishment is not the way to train your greyhound to be less stubborn. Instead, you want to use positive feedback and reinforcement of good behavior. Giving productive feedback that is nice in nature will make it easier for your greyhound to understand what is expected of them.
You also want to make sure you are dependable in the way that you implement training and rewards for your greyhound. They will learn that they can trust you and rely on you to look out for their best interests. They will also understand just how much you love them in the way that you praise them for a job well done.
Believe it or not, a greyhound’s sensitive nature can also make them more reactive to the emotions and temperament of humans in the household. They can become overwhelmed by negative emotions, even if it’s not directed at them.
Final Thoughts
Are greyhounds stubborn? They definitely can be, but this is because they are a self-assured dog. They also have some behavioral tendencies depending on their background that can be misconstrued as being stubborn. Being able to differentiate their behaviors as either stubborn or something else is important to make sure you develop trust and understanding between you and your greyhound.
When your greyhound overcomes their stubborn tendencies and adapts to their new home, these sweet dogs will become such kind companions that bring you constant joy and affection. When they know they are safe to relax, they’ll love nothing more than hanging out with you on the couch after a full day.