Now I love Wisp to pieces but oh my dear lord does she test my patience.

"No" or "come here" or "leave it" or "stop it" are all words / phrases which appear to be unrecognisable and cannot be understood by such a greyhound.

She jumps on the bunkers, rakes through bins, piddles in the flat when she decides she wants to, climbed over the sofas to eat my cereal, roams in my bedroom and bathroom before walks and doesn't come when asked, wanders round the garden and ignore my calls to come in... To name but a few!

She is VERY bossy with Eddie. By which I mean will push in front of him to get through doors and put her bum in his face walking up the stairs.

This doesn't annoy me as much as her ability to completely ignore everything I say.

Does anyone have any ideas how to train the untrainable?

She is a lovely dog, so affectionate and loving but seriously she's either deaf or totally stubborn!

P.S I still love her more than words!

Lol i know what you mean. Im trying all the time with lucy, love the girl more than life itself but dont touch just does not come into it. She bounces off our sofa if you have something in your hand she wants. Im trying with small treats and on a 1 to 1 (as have 4 in total) i shut the other 3 out the room. Everytime she goes near something she shouldnt like dragging a black bag out the kitchen i say leave come and she comes for a tiny treat. Getting there slow but sure, keep going.it will eventually fall into place x

Hi,
Guess what parents used to do when dealing with unruly kids? A light slap in the bum when needed would not hurt her much...Obviously nowadays everything like that is forbidden resulting in a total lack of discipline and respect for others (ask some teachers (i.e. Steve) they will tell how it is to work in a school nowadays).
I know that what I have said above might be controversial again but I have noticed that some parents are intimidated by their kids to say the least! It was unthinkable when I was a kid! I used to be a teacher over a few years as well but then kids were not spoilt to extremes yet...
I think Wisp is still a puppy and she needs a firmer hand from time to time.
One may say I am still very old-fashioned!

A smack on the bum will no good whatsoever - I've tried that (and several million other things) with Dilly and it turns into a game or battle of wits! My only solace is (please god) that someday she might just be half as good as Annie (who is now nearly 13 by the way so we could have a long wait) but we may just have to keep loving her the way she is. Welcome to the adorable but unruly club.
P.S. totally out of character this morning, Mikey ate Garys corn flakes when he left the bowl unattended for a millisecond!

if not a smack on the bum so maybe a stern voice when she misbehaves? Different methods for different dogs I suppose...
Anyway that is the right of puppyhood to misbehave at times...
The thing is you must be consistent every time...

I used to have 2 siamese cats which are famous (notorious) for their stubborness and noseyness...I made them quite well behaved except for their sorting my guests' bags up...I gave in in the end and asked my friends to put their bags into the cupboard in the corridor to save the content of the bags...

Teaching your dog to wait is a good start. My dogs have to wait to go through door ways, for their food, to get into the car etc..
Keep calm and rembember the release word from the command. Mine is OK. So if you say stay to your dog you have to say OK when he/she is allowed to go. Timing is important too and you need to address the issues in the first few seconds or the dog doesn't have a clue why you are annoyed. You don't need to speak but sometimes an EH EH when they look like they are about to move and just use your leg as a barrier to stop your dog you don't even have to touch. Wait until you have eye contact (yes this can take a while) but Greyhounds are no more stubborn than other breed of dogs. Banjo was very greedy when he came (Billy in kennels) but now he waits until the other dogs get a head start with their food before he's allowed to start. WAIT, OK coupled up with a treat will have a desirable outcome for the dog which will encourage him to repeat the good behaviour. On the other hand the dog is getting our attention through bad behaviour so will continue to repeat. I had to follow Banjo around and many EH EH could be heard from our house before he got the message. He piddled (which was a small waterfall), stole food and items which were on the worktops! Banjo is now doing just great and we love him to bits.

When I got my first greyhound 12 years ago, the rescue organisation recommended adopting the methods described in the book "The dog listener". Basically they are ways of establishing that you are the alpha dog in the pack, not your dog. They include things like always walking past the dog when you enter the house, ignore any jumping up or unruly behaviour and then when he has calmed down call him to you for a pat and a "Good boy". Also always walking in front of the dog through doorways. I have found these techniques worked a treat with both my greyhounds.

What Sheila advises worked very well for me in the past. If necessary you ignore them for ten or fifteen minutes. You don't call them over for a fuss until they've relaxed and stopped being demanding.

Not letting the dog demand affection and ignoring them if they came to me and nudged me for a fuss was important too. Calling them over and petting them when it suited me showed them who was leader.

It's worth trying these things and being consistent. once they regard you as the leader it should be easier to deal with some of the bad behaviour.

I've shamelessly used titbits to get the dog to come to me. It depends how food orientated they are, but most are, I think!

Maybe you can shut the doors of all the other rooms so she can't go walkabout when you're trying to put the lead on.

Well I guess I'm going to be a bit controversial here, but to me ignoring your dogs when you come home is to establish yourself as leader of the pack makes no sense at all. The only 'Managers' I've ever worked with who ignored their 'pack' (staff) were quickly acknowledged by their 'pack' to be arrogant [insert appropriate expletive]s!!!!

Maybe I've been very lucky, but I've never ignored any of my dogs when I get home and I've not really had any major discipline problems with any of them.

For what it's worth, my parents use a water spray to correct their dogs if they feel the need. Certainly worth considering if you don't agree with hitting your dog. Believe it or not, I find a stern look and a firm raised voice usually does the trick, but maybe it just comes as second nature after years of trying to tame teenagers using the same techniques

Anyway, have a read of this for an alternative viewpoint of being 'pack leader'. And then have a look at this on the same topic, and in particular the part about greeting rituals.

Yes, Steve, I know theories about pack leader and dominance have been discredited but I can only say what worked for me!

I take it that Eddie is listening to you. Our Jess is bonkers too but listens quite well. I have found that she does copy Floyd, he is very obedient and we never had a problem with him. When we got her it was completely different matter but over the time I can say she learned to be obedient like him. I would keep the commands short like "in", "wait", "no" etc. and would not bother with sentences or longer commands. They also understand that when I click my fingers they have to come in from the garden or when I click with my tongue that means we will cross the road. I am not very good at teaching anybody anything as I have no patience (my husband does homework with our son) but they picked up the commands really quick and well. Having other dog definitely helped her. I remember Celia telling me that you have to establish yourself as alfa in the pack as somebody else already mentioned.
Jess bosses Floyd quite a bit too but I think that's how it works when you have male and female, he is laid back and it does not bother him. It bothers me more sometimes, feel a bit sorry for him.

It seems that girls are more unruly than boys...
To be honest I noticed that in the kennels as well. Male dogs usually walk better than nosey female ones...

As a teacher I could go into a classroom containing unruly children, say a sentence, and get a desired response.

Another teacher could go into the same class, say the exact same sentence, and get derision.

It's about meaning what you say, and acting appropriately if you dont get the desired response.

I would agree with the person above who said that he wouldn't ignore his hounds, dog psychology or not, I am inclined to think that that's a bit cruel.

In terms of acting appropriately, I suppose every hound is different and what you have to do is attempt different strategies - and not expect miracles. It'll be a slow priocess to adjust a dogs behaviour - but if you persevere and are consistent then you'll see results...... eventually!!

Eddie would make me a cup of tea if he could. He comes when asked, doesn't jump on bunkers, doesn't widdle in the flat. He's very well behaved and I do everything with Wisp that I do to train him. I don't greet the dogs when I walk in as Eddie is a jumper and 6ft on his hind legs isn't a greeting I want at 5.30 haha. I just feel like I've tried everything and she just does as she pleases. Sounds like a typical woman actually lol.

I have to admit i have still been in doubt on psychology...Sometimes I think it is much overrated and may do more harm than the good if applied by someone who thinks to be a psychologist but forgets about "common sense".

Jess sometimes has an accident in the house but I noticed it is usually if she is stressed out like me and our son were away for a couple of days in the summer and my husband minded the dogs, every time he took his eyes of her she would do it. When we came back and everything was back to normal she stopped.

Does not probably help your problem but at least don't feel bad other dogs do it too.

Hi Jennifer,
Gosh, you've had such a lot of advice!
I think there are some dogs who just have to push the boundaries. I have absolutely no doubt that Foxy knows what she SHOULD or SHOULD NOT do, because she can do it when she wants to but, sometimes, she just can't resist being a bit naughty (eating rabbit droppings, stealing treats, tinkling on the dining room rug just before a dinner party). She absolutely knows she's been naughty because she vanishes as soon as I arrive on the scene, and sometimes even before I notice what she's done.
I have found that it's something they outgrow over time, and it doesn't hurt to let them know how upset you are. Foxy doesn't steal the bird food any more because it made me very cross indeed - as did the digestive repercussions!
I think stress due to separation can play a part, as can having strangers in the house. As the others have said, consistency is probably key. If I get cross, I try to leave her alone for a while then call her over to make up. They're not BAD - it's the devil makes them do it