From: dgm@garnet.berkeley.edu (D.G. Meads)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: More about my rescued greyhounds...
Date: 12 Nov 1992 00:10:13 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.berkeley.edu

I sent the following email to Mary eariler today and thought I would go
ahead and add to the flurry of posts I've already made on the subject
of racing and the wierd dogs I have living in my house.  :)

It's pretty long...warning.
-----------
To: A1.MHH@ISUMVS.IASTATE.EDU

Hi Mary,

About the live lure thing...I think it is used because dogs have a history
of being predators and by re-instilling or reinterating that instinct you
have an animal that will DO ANYTHING, no matter their diet, injuries etc
to get that prey.  The horror stories about small animals being wounded and 
then placed in a fenced area with muzzled dogs are numerous.  By keeping
the dogs muzzled, you can still achieve the frenzy of a pack and re-use
the poor creature for additional dogs' training.  Maybe the lure is so
important because there HAS to be a base motivation for running.  Here it 
the natural predator instincts that dogs possess and in horse racing I
guess it is mostly the human with a stick on their back (well training too!)

Unfortunately, in one of my hounds they did an exceptional job at highlighting
this predator instinct.  Tyre (my silent killer as I affectionately call him)
(and no, he has come close but never killed while I have had him!) is a great
example for seeing that wierd look in their eyes and the jaws just start
snapping.  I've seen Tyre do this predator, chasing thing with dogs at the dog
park and the people there don't understand why I'm freaking out and running
around trying to put him on a leash.  This one lady said oh he's just playing...yeah right!  He's intent on catching your little mutt and I'm not going to be
responsible for it getting mangled!
...safe to say we don't go to the dog park anymore!

But the other one, Sidon, was probably treated really awful.  He's the more
submissive of the two, clingy, has an oral fixation and he's also sort of a
scavenger (probably served him at the track to survive). 
I have to be very careful when reprimanding him, he just freezes, becomes rigid
and gets this really frightened look in his eyes and never seems to learn NOT 
to do what he's being yelled at for. (I refuse to believe he's stupid! :)  ) 
So his punishment differs greatly from the other.  Example:  after
many reprimands about digging in a palm tree planter in my house I finally
decided to put the fireplace screen around the base.  It works!  They aren't
very good with their paws (holding rawhides for chewing has improved their
flexibility though!) and Sidon seems content to let the thin wire mesh keep
him away from his precious dirt!   Sidon will chase the dogs at the dogs park
but his mouth isn't as "snappy" and  since he doesn't get that crazed look in
his eye and has never bitten one,  he's allowed off-leash there...sometimes!
But he did do a number on one of my stuffed animals, so maybe he was trained
with fake lures!

They are really strange dogs.  Have you ever seen a dog that is clumsy?  Doesn't
know where they begin and end?  My dogs are constantly getting little nicks 
and cuts, from just being in the house. My theory is that when you are raised
on cement, kept on a track or other flat smooth surface, you don't really learn
how to jump, climb or watch for irregularities in the terrain.  So they are
kind of funny.  Teaching them to climb the stairs took weeks.  But as with
most animals you can always motivate them with food ( smile! I put their food
dishes at the bottom of the stairs and they eventually got the hang of it!)

Anyway, I seem to have gotten off the subject!   As you can tell I can go
on, and on and on about my babies!  I guess most of us will if given the
chance.

I'm really not against racing dogs,  it's just the killing and lousy treatment
that bugs me.  Humans need to be trained!!!  Sometimes when I start thinking
about all the greyhounds that are destroyed and how happy they could have made
some human if just given the chance of a home and plenty of love and attention,
(like mine have done for me) I WANT TO SCREAM and then after I get over wanting
to scream or actually screaming I just hope that kharma takes care of things
like this!

Bye!

Debbie Meads
Tyre & Sidon (also know as Killer T and Psilocybin)