Quote:
Originally Posted by yorkieusa  Italian Greyhounds: What's Good About 'Em? What's Bad About 'Em?
I looked them up and read a bit about them.
A few excerpts:
But if this breed sounds like the perfect couch potato . . . he isn't! In between his placid snuggles, Italian Greyhounds will suddenly explode into a burst of vigorous running and leaping, tearing pell-mell around the house or yard, darting and zigzagging at breakneck speeds and literally bouncing off the walls, fence, sofa, or beds.
Perching themselves up high on the back of your sofa to better see out the window, young Italian Greyhounds are notorious for breaking their long fragile legs as they launch themselves fearlessly into space and crash to the floor. Their spurts of reckless abandon can be nerve-wracking to live with!
The same is true outdoors. A yard that hopes to contain an Italian Greyhound should have a high (at least six-foot fence), because this racy, agile breed is a fantastic jumper. Off-leash walks would be foolish for a similar reason: he can be out of sight in seconds.
Polite (often a bit aloof) with strangers, there is potential for timidity, so he should be socialized early and thoroughly.
The Italian Greyhound is amiable with other dogs and cats, but some have a high prey drive and will run squeaky creatures into the ground. |
This is a VERY apt description of young IGs. They do settle down (mature) as they get older and become more "couch potato" like.
I have six IGs at this time. Four are seniors, 14 yrs and older, one is 8 yrs, and the other is a puppy, she just turned a year old. And honestly, she drives me crazy with her energy and exuberance. The perfect IG for me is 2 yrs or older
.
My YT is 3 years old and I got her at nine months. I had seven IGs at that time. All of them basically hated Lizzy, backed down from Liz when she gets snippy, and ignore her, with the exception of Opal, 15 yrs old. Lizzy is a resource guarder and if she gets snippy with Opal, Opal will correct her. I do step in, usually when Liz is on her back and the noise is pretty ferocious. Neither has hurt the other. Opal is 11 pounds and Liz is 6, btw. I have noticed Opal checking herself when around Liz sometimes. IGs just are not aggressive dogs, in general.
With the IG puppy I have now, things are a little different. The puppy is very high energy and CAN NOT be left to her own devices. If I am busy and can't watch her, I will crate her. She is also HUGE, I mean HUGE, more like a small whippet than an IG. She was turned over to me by some people with a yorkie, who purchased her from a Petland. She is from a puppymill, no doubt in my mind. Basically there are two problems I am having where Liz and the other dogs are concerned. She won't lay off and keeps trying to engage them in play. Liz does play with her, as does my eight year old IG, but she keeps trying to play when they've had enough. The seniors aren't interested, period. The puppy and Liz play tug a lot as each thinks all the toys are theirs and whatever another dog has is better than what they have. Liz is also bad about guarding me and only favors my tiny, 8 lb IG. If any of the other IGs or cats gets on my lap or tries to lay in the chair with me, Liz will try to run them off. Lately, the puppy has been challenging this.
I see these problems as pretty much normal, dog kind of things. It's dominance issues right now. The energy level of IG puppies might drive a lot of people crazy, it does me. The reason I've kept this puppy is I really believe she is going to be a great agility IG and I am 99 percent sure she will lure course. I like her personality, she is very outgoing and VERY food motivated, as most IGs are. None of my other IGs seems to have the drive to lure course, I've tried. The puppy has caught a bird, but doesn't show any more prey drive than Liz. The thing is, if chasing a rabbit or even a cat running from her, I think she is more likely to chase longer than a YT. It is a matter of ability. Liz is pretty ferocious, way tougher thinking than an IG, IMO, and more tenacious in many ways. Just terrier kind of tough, which an IG isn't. They are more a small sighthound. Liz will snap at large dogs that approach her, the puppy rolls onto her back. She is very submissive.
IGs are velcro dogs. They are generally aloof with strangers, not scared. An good example of this is an IG I use to take to work on the days she had chemo. She was never interested in approaching my coworkers, but if they called her to them, she would go to them and let them pet her.
They are kamikaze puppies. And a higher percentage of IG puppies vs other breeds suffer leg breaks, just looking at them you can see why. If my puppy wasn't as large and big boned
, I would take an insurance policy on her for a couple years.
I really don't see problems with have an IG and a yorkie together. The yorkie, in most cases will be the more dominant dog. However, the caveat to that is wait to get a puppy from a reputable breeder, don't get one younger than 12 wks so it has learned bite inhibition from Mom and litter mates as well as good ole' dog etiquette. NEVER get an IG puppy during the winter, unless you live in FL or you're puppy pad training exclusively. They are cold intolerant, period. Your housetraining efforts will be more successful during the warmer months. And they are hard to housetrain, like many of the toy breeds.
IGs are scary smart, but not uber biddable. Mine learn fast, but think "no" means not while I'm looking. They can not be trusted with food and will use their brains to get at it no matter what. I have found IGs on the counter that used a step stool to get up there. Also, a foster climbed over the bar to get on the counter using a chair. I've had countless items snatched off the counter from IGs who jump up and down, or boing, to get it. It's a riot to see them try to steal something from each other! I've seen them offer other toys and pretend to have to go out, to distract the other dog into giving it up.
I have a four foot fence picket fence and have only had one IG foster who went over it. Not even the giant goes over it.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM me. The Italian Greyhound Club of America has a great website at
www.italiangreyhound.org. Another good site is Karen Thayne's, my Opal's breeder at
www.italian-greyhound.net. She has pictures of my Opal and Gracie under agility on the site too.