Hi Everyone,
Vicki and I adopted Jingo and Dee 18 months ago. Neither of us were strangers to having greyhounds in the family, having previously had two separately over the past 20ish years. However shortly after we got Jingo and Dee (around a month) Dee started howling and whining at night, and we could never work out why. Jokingly Vicki suggested she might be afraid of the dark, however we put a nightlight in the dogs’ bedroom, and to our astonishment it seemed to work. From that night she was fine, and we forgot about the unsettled nights.

Four months ago we moved to a bigger house with much bigger gardens. The nightlight came with us, but was never used as Jingo and Dee have their own beds in our room; such is the size of the room. They both enjoy the space they have now in the gardens – indeed Jingo does his rounds inspecting the flowers every day, and last thing at night. However Dee on the other hand will only go to parts of the garden that are lit up at night. She will not venture round the back of the garage even though it is not fully dark. We have had to install garden lights in order to get her to go around the garden. Our last garden was lit by street lights at night; however she would not go too near the back gate where it was dark.

I’ve never known any dog to be afraid of the dark before and wondered if anyone else had experience of this.

Thanks.

Hi Andrew and Vicki,
Never heard of a greyhound being afraid of the dark.
Could it have anything to do with her eyesight?? Maybe it is lack of confidence rather than fear.
Just a wee idea.
Tell her that her old uncle and auntie said it will be OK.
Celia and Jimmy.

Hi Celia and Jimmy,

Thanks for the reply. You could be right about it being a confidence issue rather than a fear, however generally Dee likes to be in front, but at night when it’s getting dark she seems to look to the path around the back of the garage and then run behind either Vicki or myself allowing us to go first. She will follow but it’s as quick as she can do her business and get back to the lit area of the garden, or preferably back into the house.

It is not a major issue as she has the run of the garden, but it’s a shame that she doesn’t benefit from the entire garden space like Jingo, because she would like to follow him.

Last May I adopted an 8yr old greyhound girl who had spent an unknown but considerable time, maybe several years, shut in a shed with no daylight at all before being rescued along with a number of others. She is scared of the dark and shakes and tries to avoid going for a walk in the dark. Although clean through the day, she would piddle and mess at night. I accidently found like you, that if I left the light on overnight, she was fine. Apparently several others rescued from the same shed are also very afraid of the dark.

Following on from Celia and Jimmy's suggestion, I have an adorable lurcher who has retinal atrophy, a gradually deteriorating condition that only becomes noticeable from around age 3-4. Are her eyes bright green in the dark when you shine a light on them? It's definitely worth checking with the vet. RA is not treatable but you can do lots to adjust your behaviour to help as it progresses (eg don't move the furniture around at home, and I wear a bell on my wellies when out walking).
Hope all goes well with her.

A friend's Beardie won't go out for a pee at night unless his owner goes too, he has perfect eyesight, isn't nervous and has been with her since a pup.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone with practical experience of PRA though, as I am fostering a 5 year old greyhound for Gracehounds which has been diagnosed with this condition. I know there is no cure and it isn't painful but I would like to do anything I can to help him in the meantime. Cheers

Hi Marion,

In keeping with your suggestion we checked both Jingo and Dee with a light shone in the eyes. There doesn't appear to be any difference between the two dogs and neither have a problem in daylight. Jingo definitely doesn't have a problem in the dark so I'm more inclined to think that Jimmy may be right and that it is a confidence thing.

We've also noticed (moreso recently) that any loud or unusual sounds tend to have Dee running behind Jingo so that he is between her and the source of the sound. She will then look over his back to see if she can identify the source.

I will however keep an eye on her sight in light of your suggestion though.

Dear Andrew and Vicki,
From what you say, it seems unlikely to be a sight issue, and more likely to be just a nervous complaint, in which case Jingo will be her 'hero' and should help her regain her confidence.
I mentioned RA because it first becomes noticeable in poor light conditions, when there aren't enough photons hitting the retina to give adequate vision, and this can make the dog appear tentative. The pupils dilate hugely to compensate and thats what gives the emerald green effect when you shine a light in the dark. Think you can rest easy on that one.