[Mad_Irishman]

Hello,

I am going to adopt a Greyhound here shortly and I wanted to see if anyone can provide some tips and tricks to a successful integration into my household. A little about myself and my family. I work from 2pm to 12am four days out of the week. My days off switch every month. I have a nine year old son who goes to school around 7pm and returns home around 4pm. My wife is in the Army and is about to be deployed to Iraq for a year or more. My question is, what would be a good program to introduce the Grey to. I was going to get the dog on one of my three day weekends so I could spend time with it, getting it familiar with the house and its surroundings. My schedule would be as follows, wake my son up at 6am, so I would take the dog out for a morning potty break. I would feed the dog in the mid morning, let it potty again, and then take it out for a walk. My son gets home around 4pm, he can then let the dog out for potty. I then get home around 12:30am or so, I'd let the dog out again, maybe a short walk outside, then bedtime.

I'm concerned with my work schedule and I want to let the dog have free reign of the house, but crating is most likely what I'll do. Any tips or schedule arrangements from you folks to help me out. I feel a grey would be a great dog, I just hope those four days I work would not be too much. Also, I am quite concerned with the separation anxiety. Any tips or help would be most welcome.

I would be adopting a retired grey from a foster home, so it would not come straight from a kennel.

-Ian O'Connor

[vjgrey]

Congrats on the upcoming adoption! Greyhounds are such fantastic dogs (although most of us around here tend to be pretty biased ). And good for you for putting so much thought into this ahead of time.

I have three greyhounds now and with all of them, I've initially tried to limit their time between bathroom breaks to around four hours. Eventually, he/she should be able to go much longer if needed (my hounds can go up to nine or ten hours at a pinch, although I don't do that to them unless I absolutely HAVE to). Mine all came straight from the track or kennel, though, so it may be different for a hound who comes from a foster home.

As for the separation anxiety, you should do a search on this board for "alone training." Taking the time initially to ease them into it is definitely worthwhile. Kongs are a GREAT help with a lot of hounds. Put in a little food in - kibble, yogurt, pumpkin, dog biscuits, peanut butter, whatever you have on hand - and freeze them. Give the Kongs only when the dog is in the crate. I think my hounds actually look forward to my leaving sometimes.

Good luck with your adoption. Greytalk is a wonderful resource. We'd LOVE to see photos once you have your hound home.

This post has been edited by vjgrey: 19 April 2009 - 04:29 AM

[greytkidsmom]

If you haven't gotten the book "retired racing greyhounds for dummies" yet, I highly recommend it. It really helped us get into the mindset of being greyparents. Greys are adaptable. Routine is important and comforting but there is no hard and fast rule about what the routine must be. Once you get your dog, you will get to know him/her and know what works.

[Mad_Irishman]

I have the Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies, a very good book. I know each dog is different, but I hope my 9 year old and I can take care of the dog until my wife returns to help. I do not see any problems, but I just wanted tips from folks who have gone through the experience.

[greytkidsmom]

I work 13-14 hour shifts (some days, some nights) and my husband is often out of town. We keep our three greys babygated in the living room when we leave. It is easier to dog-proof one room than it is the whole house. You would be amazed at what they can find to get in to.

We feed at 6a and 6p. Potty times are usually 6a, 12p, 6p, and 10-11p. They get a walk around the neighborhood most days but the time varies. When DH is away, I have a dog walker come for mid-morning turnout and for dinnertime. He hasn't been away while I am on nights but I expect if he was that I would sneak home at about midnight for a quick turnout.

When we adopted our first, we put her crate in the kitchen and left the door open. We got her on a weekend and worked on alone training right away. She didn't show any signs of SA. We babygated her with her crate in the kitchen when we left the house. That way it would be easy to clean up if there was an accident. She spent most of her time in the crate even though the door was open. We did the same when we added our second - two crates in the kitchen. By the time we added our third, we had moved and didn't have room for crates in the living room. We do have one crate set up for whoever wants some time to be alone.

Good luck as you embark (he he) on this greyt adventure

[RobinM]

Congrats and welcome.

When you say your 9 year old will let the dog out. I presume you have a fenced in yard? Can the person who is looking after your son can let the dog out sometime between the time your son comes home and when you get home?

That would be the most ideal.

[fatesrelease]

Congrats! I hope everything goes well for you. No advice, just good wishes!

[Mad_Irishman]

Well I think I found a person to let my soon to be new grey out when I'm at work to limit crate time. Once Arial comes to the house, I'll send some pictures of her. Thanks for all the replies.

-Ian M. O'Connor

This post has been edited by Mad_Irishman: 22 April 2009 - 06:16 AM

[jcbradley11]

Hi Ian!! Glad to see you here! Thought I would post Arial's pic from the website so everyone can see her.
Don't be too afraid of separation anxiety. A crate will help a lot with that until she adjusts, which since she's being fostered by Bob, she shouldn't have too much of an issue. He never crates any of his dogs.
I would be more concerned with space aggression. None of mine have it, but some do. I believe the book you have talks about it, and there is a lot of info here, too.
Good luck!!
Julie

This post has been edited by jcbradley11: 23 April 2009 - 12:15 AM

[jcbradley11]

I think the best phrase that you can teach your son to live by is "let sleeping dogs lie" until everybody gets used to each other and you learn more about her. This would apply any time she is on her bed or in her crate. They can have space or sleep aggression. I don't want to scare you off, but I don't want anybody to get bit either.
IF they have it, and not all greys do, but IF they do, it's only because at the tracks they have their own space and are not used to being bothered while they are in their 'space'. They are not used to being awakened with a human standing over them.
Best thing to do is MAKE SURE she is awake before anyone touches her. Some greys sleep with their eyes open, so you don't know. I have tought my kids to only pet them if they're lying down if their head is up...cuz they wouldn't know if they are asleep or not. We have never had an issue though and we have 3 greys.
I am sure everything will work out fine. You are doing your research and I can tell you will be an excellent greydaddy.

[fatesrelease]

Oh she is just gorgeouuus! Wow

[SIGreyLady]

Hi Ian, Sounds like you've done your research. I'm sure you all will do fine - they are incredible dogs. Your Ariel is a beauty.

[Mad_Irishman]

Well we just got Arial today. So far she seems very well mannered, except for chasing one of the cats. She knows what "no" means and has found a place outside to do her business. We are about to head out to eat and get her a few more items to make her new home more comfortable. Hopefully she'll do ok on her own for a few hours. I'll post more pictures when I get them and figure out how to put them on the website. Thanks again for all the words of encouragement.


-Ian M. O'Connor

[houndstooth4]

Congratulations! I'm sure everything will turn out fine!

We need pictures!

[PrairieProf]

Congratulations, but -- You're leaving her for a few hours when you just brought her home today??? Generally you want to work up to that with focused alone training starting with a minute or two (or even seconds, if the dog shows signs of anxiety). Good luck with that, I hope it works out. And I certainly hope she's crated or otherwise confined where she can't get at the cat!

This post has been edited by PrairieProf: 26 April 2009 - 07:27 PM

[DebR]

Congrats! They are such awesome dogs, you're going to love having one

[jcbradley11]

Congratulations, but -- You're leaving her for a few hours when you just brought her home today??? Generally you want to work up to that with focused alone training starting with a minute or two (or even seconds, if the dog shows signs of anxiety). Good luck with that, I hope it works out. And I certainly hope she's crated or otherwise confined where she can't get at the cat!

Yes Ian is crating her and she came from a foster home where the foster dad would leave her for around 10 hours a day and he never crates...I think she will be ok for a couple of hours in her crate.

This post has been edited by jcbradley11: 26 April 2009 - 11:19 PM

[rschultz]

helllo and welcome. routine is key

[Mad_Irishman]

Well, now she stopped doing her business. It's been about 6 hours since she's gone last and she has had a lot of water and a bit of food. I take her out every hour or so, but she will not go. Must be nerves. I gave her two cups of dry food and she practically inhaled it. Oh well, I must be vigilant. Oh by the way when we left for a few hours, no problems. So far so good besides the potty issue.

-Ian M. O'Connor