Do Greyhounds Chatter Teeth Out of Excitement or Happiness?
Greyhound teeth chatter can be one of the strongest signs that your dog is excited.
If it’s playtime, you’ve just gotten home, or you’re getting ready for a walk, chattering is a way these dogs show their pleasure.
If your dog is rolling around, taking a play-bowing position, or wagging his tail, he is probably very excited.
Although there’s nothing wrong with your dog being excited in and of itself, you might need to rein in some of the behavior that comes with it.
For example, if your dog is getting too excited and jumping, walking away from her and ignoring her until she calms down is in order.
A large dog like a Greyhound can injure someone while jumping, especially children and elderly or disabled relatives.
In many cases, Greyhounds chatter their teeth as a sign of contentment. A comparison that dog owners often make is that this behavior is similar to when a cat purrs.
The body language will be positive when your Greyhound has teeth chatter from contentment. A wagging tail is one example of positive body language. Your dog may choose to show their happiness through a relaxed posture.
If your dog is calmly resting at home, perhaps snuggling with you at the time, she is more likely to chatter her teeth. Greyhounds will do this as a sign of happiness with their owner and shared bond.
What Does Greyhound Teeth Chattering Look Like?
Your greyhound teeth chattering will look like a typical human shiver. You’ll be able to see their bottom jaw moving up and down rapidly physically, and you’ll hear the click of their teeth. You can also feel the chatter of their teeth when you’re patting their head.
Because a greyhound’s teeth look similar to human bottom teeth, except for their canines, it can even look quite amusing.
Diagnosing exactly why your greyhound’s teeth are chattering can be a challenge, so here’s every possibility and what to look out for.
Greyhounds might chatter their teeth as a way to show you that they’re happy or content. It’s just like a cat when they’re purring.
You’ll notice this when they’re sleepy or chilled out at home, and it’ll most likely be when they’re cuddled up to you. It’s a massive compliment, as your greyhound is enjoying the bond you have.
If your greyhound is laid out in a relaxed position, their chattering may be accompanied by a tail wag. It might be that they’re just settling down to sleep with you or that you’re petting them in just the right place.
You might also notice this if you have multiple dogs. They’ll use this behavior as a signal that they’re happy with each other too and that there’s no danger around.
If this happens when your greyhound is just meeting a new dog or other pet, it could be a good thing, showing that they’re happy with the stranger and feel comfortable with them around.
The ‘contented chatter’ should always be accompanied by tail wagging and open, inviting body language.
Other Reasons Your Greyhound’s Teeth May Chatter
If your greyhound freezes, stares off into nowhere, and begins to chatter, it may be that someone is approaching your home. Greyhounds can often sense this from an amazing distance. Peaches seemed to have a kind of greyhound-ESP, with regard to my husband returning home from work. His job was about a mile from home, and Peaches would give the Thousand Yard Stare and start chattering reliably 20 minutes before he came home. We worked it out once – She could sense the moment his intention turned toward going home – Clearing his desk, grabbing his keys, going to his car. If he took longer than 20 minutes, Peaches would start crying. It would always turn out, then, that my husband got detained, either because he had to go back for something, or had to clean snow and ice off his car.
WHY DOES MY GREYHOUND CHATTER HIS TEETH? [adopted greyhounds behavior]
Adopting a greyhound who was once on the dog-racing circuit is a learning situation not just for you and the dog, but also for you and the greyhound-owning community. This is a group of people who are immensely dedicated to the breed and this form of rescue, and it has a language all its own.
I’ve chosen a few common words from the vocabulary of this community to serve as a sort of “starter kit” for anyone who wants to enter. I learned these words over the course of a year living with my new hound.
When I first took my greyhound outside it was snowing. She had recently come up from Florida and probably not seen a lot of snow. I heard a weird sound and looked down to see her teeth were literally audibly chattering together. I thought she was just really cold but actually this is something they do when excited, or scenting the air, or even really happy. Also known as: air nit.
That is actually what’s called in the veterinary literature. Greyhounds don’t tend to have a lot of fur anywhere, but this often diminishes to none at all on the underside of the chest, front of the neck and rear end and backs of thighs. It can be exacerbated by rubbing or stress, but many greyhounds remain partially bald even in the most easygoing of adoptive homes. Also know as: baboon butt, bald thighs syndrome, or kennel butt.
A lot of greyhound events will not allow non-greyhound dogs to attend. [Editor’s Note: This is understandable, since some greyhounds are small breed-aggressive after so many years of being trained to chase a “bunny” around the track.] Sometimes some kind of plausible reason is given, sometimes not so much. It really limits my participation. Is this a just an inevitable side effect of purebred-based groups? In any case, Vera prefers to have her big brother around when she goes out, and I plan my calendar accordingly.
With their thin fur and low body fat, greyhounds don’t like being cold for any period of time, especially when they are inactive. So there are various items of greyhound clothing for the neophyte to navigate. One of these is a soft coverall to wear inside the home. When going outside, heavier coats, slickers, snoods and even booties may be called for. Also know as: jams
Any canine member of the pointy-head brigade needs a collar that will not easily slip off. Enter the “martingale,” which has a loop that tightens when the leash is pulled. It is a lot gentler than a choke chain but enough to prevent the collar constantly falling off. Although some greyhounds may still be better off with their leash attached to a body harness instead.
Greyhounds can have a really goofy way of lying around on their backs with their long legs pointing out at weird angles. I used to refer to this as “the Full Monty,” but I am told the proper term is “roaching,” after the resemblance to the appearance of a dead cockroach.
“Roo roo roo” is a sound that greyhounds like to make. It completes a repertoire of peculiar barks, grunts, groans and whines. People will tell you that greyhounds don’t bark a lot. Well, except for the ones who do. Also known as: a-roo, singing, siren.
No not those nasty little insects. The colors and patterns for greyhounds have their own language: Brown is red. Gray is blue. Blonde is fawn. And small spots are ticks. So while I might think I have a white and brown dog with spots, I actually have a white and red greyhound with ticks. So the correct answer to, “What makes a greyhound tick” is “a dominant modifier of the white spotting gene.”
Vera cut her leg just stepping through the ice in a puddle. I couldn’t believe it. She often has little dings and scrapes, especially on her elbows. This is why when greyhounds are exercised together they often wear muzzles. It is not because aggression is likely to occur but just to avoid any accident, because lacerations are caused very easily and more difficult to treat than with other dog breeds.
My greyhound’s favorite things seem to be zoomies and snoozies. Zoomies can strike suddenly. A sudden attack of 40 m.p.h. can be quite impressive to witness. It also comes out in the forms of leaping, spinning and figure-eights. I removed some of the furniture from my apartment because indoor zoomies were causing some collisions.
Discovering words like these really helped me understand some of my greyhound’s behavior and make a better home for her. But I also realized that we did not need to be fully fledged members of the greyhound subculture. We can just be a woman and a dog (and another dog).
About the author: Emily Kane is a New Zealand-born animal behaviorist of the throw-back radical behaviorist type, albeit with a holistic-yuppie-feminist-slacker twist. She spent many years as an animal behavior researcher and is now more of an indoor paper-pushing researcher. Her early dog-related education came from Jess the Afghan Hound and Border Collies Bandit and Tam. It is now being continued by her own dogs and extended dog family and some cats (and her three aquatic snails Gala, Granny and Pippin — they think of themselves as dog-esque).
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