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Is it a basic obedience class? If so, we brought beds to all of ours! The instructors who were familiar with greys recommended them for use as a target.

We used a crate with both of ours, retired racer who was never fostered (lived in a central kennel-setting before coming to us) and our AKC puppy brought home at 16-weeks-old. We used the crate as a training tool until we didn't need it anymore. I think we phased it out with Henry around 3 months, and probably about 9 months for Truman. Invaluable!

Awww, Kili!! Hoping everything turns out okay. I posted this somewhere else, but I'm sure the same thing can happen in dogs. I had been getting ongoing bladder infections and ended up seeing a urologist. Basically I felt like I was having UTIs constantly (off and on for about a year), even when there was no presence of infection. The specialist said that it starts with one bad infection, which can deplete and irritate the lining of the bladder. Then due to certain things in your diet, the lining doesn't heal properly, which causes lesions that make it feel like you have a UTI even when you don't. Then, because you are constantly straining to go and your immunity is worn down, you are more susceptible to getting bladder infections again. It's a vicious cycle! I ended up taking a pill that's intended for people with urinary incontinence (about 4 months) which helped with the symptoms. But it ended up taking a really long time to get back to normal.

He's a little over 16 months... but I have noticed that his adolescent behaviors have just started cropping up fairly recently. Anxiety during on-leash introductions with other dogs, resource guarding with his housemate, showing teeth and snapping more at the dog park. It's like he's trying to assert himself and test the waters. If you see him, he doesn't look like a normal greyhound yet. He's very tall and lanky, with all the bones in his spine and hips showing. Sort of like a gangly teenager. I think he's taking awhile to mature, physically and psychologically.

Letting him have the run of the house too soon opens up a huge can of worms. One reason being, he's brand new and he's never lived in a house before. He doesn't have the ability to distinguish your belongings from his. He doesn't yet know what's safe and appropriate to touch or chew on. Another reason being, he's not housetrained. A lot of people think that greyhounds come housetrained because of their life at the track, when really, all your dog understands is that he's turned out at certain times everyday and he's not supposed to go in his kennel. Even greys who were housetrained in a foster home have to be re-trained once they get to their permanent home. Letting him have the run of the house before he's fully housebroken will ensure that he continues having accidents. Even if he's only had a few accidents or prefers one room, the floodgates are open and the idea has been put in motion that pottying in the house = acceptable. Now is the time to really start working on a food-water-elimination schedule and rewarding him for pottying outside. Otherwise, you may see a snowball effect weeks and months down the road where he continues having accidents. Free roam of the house can also really overwhelm a new dog from a behavioral standpoint. If you work or are away from the home for at least some part of the day (really, unless you can be there 100% of the time to supervise), the crate is your best friend. You don't have to use it forever, but for new greyhounds, it's important to establish a "den area" for both the comfort and security and as a housetraining tool. Also there are many greyhounds that start off with space issues, so the crate also helps with defining "his space" from "your space." I've always put the crate in my bedroom, right next to my bed. When you're sleeping or away from the house, the dog should be crated. Even if you don't crate him when you're home, three days is way to soon to leave him unattended in a strange house when you're not home. The last thing you want is to come home and find that he's gotten ill or hurt. If not crated, then at least babygate him (this is called "confining") to a safe, small area of the house like a kitchen where you can easily clean up any accidents. Initially showing reluctance toward the crate is pretty normal. Greyhounds for Dummies goes into this in much better detail than I can, but there are ways to retrain him to enjoy the crate. Never put him in the crate as a form of punishment - positive things only. Put him in the crate at various times during the day with a kong or chewy. Leave him for 10-15 minutes, then open the crate door back up. Gradually increase his exposure, until he starts going in on his own. It may be something you have to work at a little bit, but most greyhounds enjoy the safety and security of their crates. It's what they are used to at the track, and it's a place for them to retreat when they're stressed or anxious. Just keep in mind that greyhounds are a little bit different than "normal" dogs. It helps to do your research and learn as much as possible as you can to help your new guy adjust.

Yep, I'm probably going to cut down the time of the training sessions, but considering this is his 5th class, he really should be able to do some more advanced work by now. If I trained ANY other dog, I'd have a seeing-eye dog by now. Probably another drawback of adolescence... And yes, we also love hot dogs!! I used to just give them as is, then our last trainer suggested putting them in the microwave for a minute. This seems to bring out the smell and work even better (after you paper towel off the grease).

That's sort of where we are. His attention span is quite short. He starts off real well, but then he gets less interested in the treats, and I lose him. Last night, I was trying to do some work with heel/sit, down, and leave it. After about 10 minutes, he could care less about the treats. He was just standing there, deliberately not looking at me. I would show him the treats (cheese), and he would go back to staring into outer space. This coming from the same dog who will spend 20 minutes tearing up a cardboard box. The only thing that holds his attention is getting into trouble!

Yep, it sounds like he's trained you. Every time you've caved in and let him out when he barked, or took him outside another time, tried this, tried that, he's learned that barking and whining gets him the attention he wants. Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. If he truly had crate anxiety, he wouldn't go in on his own accord from time to time. Crate goes right next to your bed. Take him out for his last P&P as late as possible. Make sure the crate is as interesting as possible (blankets, toys, etc). Invest in a good set of earplugs, then be prepared to endure the crying. At this point, you have to counter-condition what you've already reinforced- the idea that his noise is "rewarded" by letting him out of the crate.

Since it looks like you've covered absolutely every base, at this point, I might just chalk it up to him getting older and not really having the endurance for it. Maybe just try again with him in the spring.

My guess is that everything is coming at him too much, too fast. Pacing is a sign of nervousness, and it sounds like he is feeling unsettled. For a brand new greyhound, the crate is an invaluable tool. He needs to have a space where he can feel secure and escape the things that make him feel anxious and stressed. Not to mention, it's almost impossible to housetrain a dog (not just a greyhound, any adult dog) without some type of crating or confining method. The idea is to define a den area for him to keep clean, then gradually give privileges to the rest of the house. Where did you first try setting your crate up? Most trainers recommend having the crate in your bedroom so that your dog can have his own designated space, but can still see and hear you. If you tried to crate him in another room by himself, he will whine and cry. Even in the bedroom, my first greyhound would cry for about ten minutes or so until he settled down and went to sleep at night. That's perfectly normal. Greyhounds for Dummies has a HUGE section on the importance of crating (and also the other issues you've posted about so far).

My very first memory of Truman was the day I brought him home- the breeder had a glass storm door on her house, and when I pulled up he was sitting right at the door. It was so cute! I thought, wow this will be great for obedience. He already sits! And he used to sit all the time on his own. It seems like he phased it out more the bigger his body got. The trainer always tells us to "give him time, he's got a long way down!" In training, he will sit 99% of the time when prompted, it just takes him awhile. I started heeling him around our main floor last night, and his sits were a little bit faster. But he still got to the point that when he's had enough, he loses focus (no matter what treats I use).

I usually bring three different kinds of treats (chicken, hot dogs, cheese, liverwurst, and Milo's Kitchen). And a down is acceptable, but the class is really fast. Not a whole lot of time for putzing around, which is probably the real problem. He wants to take his sweet time doing everything.

Truman just started his CGC/TDI class yesterday. It's not greyhound-only, so there are a lot of other breeds, most of which sit naturally. Truman can sit, but it's still not quite natural for him. His method is to slowly back up several steps and sink into a sit. If he's had enough, he'll just fart around and only do it if I lure him down from the nose. When he does sit, he has a hard time staying up and starts sliding down after a few seconds. I usually just put him in a down, sphinx-style, which seems to be easier for him. The class is pretty fast-paced, and it requires A LOT of sitting (i.e. move to the next station and sit your dog, heel-sit, sit-stay, sit politely for petting, etc). Although the instructor understands that greyhounds aren't the best sitters, I would like for him to be more on-point. Would clicker be appropriate in this situation?

Henry had a bad reaction to TOTW Venison and Bison. Some type of allergy, itchy paws and bum. Terrible gas.

I had the chewable ones from Naturvet. Not sure if it's the same that you're talking about. They did about nothing. Forti-Flora was good during a food transition, but I didn't see 100% improvement until we switched to green bag.

I don't have too much advice for 100% home cooking, but I have a little experience fattening up a skinny puppy. My favorite thing right now is a rice cooker with a rack. I use it to make rice/oatmeal in chicken stock with chicken breast/porkchop on top. Truman also gets cottage cheese (might not be good if Lehto is lactose intolerant, but high in protein), beef raviolis, pasta, chicken feet, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turkey meatloaf (I use a recipe by Three Dog Bakery that makes a really large amount), hamburger. He also gets greek yogurt mixed in with a lot of stuff. I also like Nutro and Wellness canned food with rice/oatmeal if I don't have time to defrost and cook meat. No veggies here because he won't eat them. He's gained 9 pounds since September (no less skinny unfortunately), but adding the homecooked to his diet is making a difference. I looked into supplements awhile ago because Truman was having terrible diarrhea all the time. There are a few powdered supplements that add calcium, Wysong's Call of the Wild or Honest Kitchen's Preference. I have no idea how well they work.

Muzzle with stool guard. Had to do it for months because of Truman's happy tail. They can still drink/navigate around normally. We weren't able to do any type of e-collar because he couldn't get through the dog door with it.

Could it be SA-related?

Oh no, I certainly didn't mean it like that. I just thought that would be something your adoption group would've addressed. All of the adoption groups in my area require adopters to read Greyhounds for Dummies, which address statuing and things like that.

Voting UTI. Is it only a little bit of pee each time, or is she emptying out a large amount?

Agree with everyone else. He's not being stubborn- he's statuing because he's scared. Greys are very sensitive dogs, and it will take awhile for him to settle in. For a lot of ex-racers, it can take anywhere from six months to a year before they 100% adjust. It sounds like you didn't really know what you were getting into. Did you adoption group explain some of the greyhound-specific behaviors before you brought him home?

Aww, Peggy is a little bit shy! That may or may not be indicative of her personality overall. Some dogs start really shy and do a total turnaround when they get home, some are always on the shy side. Just start slow and be very patient with her. Don't try to do too much too fast. Panting and pacing is a sign of nervousness, so don't push her to do anything too hard yet. Spend some time letting her get used to your home and routine. Be slow and gentle with her, giving treats and pets if she'll accept them (don't force it). She'll come around in time.

It's a little strange that your resident grey is acting scared of the puppy... And I do agree that 10 weeks is too soon. Puppies who are taken away from their mothers and littermates too soon sometimes have issues knowing how to respectfully act toward adult dogs. If the greyhound is correcting the puppy appropriately, then yeah, I'd let it happen. But if your grey isn't "correcting" and merely acting out of stress, then that requires a more intense training program. ETA: We brought Truman home at 15-weeks, and Henry was great for showing him the rules. They're best friends now.

Protein in her urine + kidney levels mildly elevated could be something. More testing is probably in order.

Bland diet. The Rimadyl can cause upset stomach and diarrhea. Make sure you give the Rimadyl with food.