WalterWallerson

As far as greyhounds go the bed thing is pretty typical. It seems that some greys have issues, others don't, etc. Walter is my first grey and his behavior and showing he loves me is very different from my other dogs. In a way, I think he loves me more than the other dogs did because of his background and all the crazy stuff we do (we travel a lot). I've had him for a little over two years now and he loves butt scratches and ear rubs. He also rubs on me when I come home and puts his head on me when he wants something. He follows me around at the dog park (not so much at home because my apartment is small so he knows where I am) and this summer when I wasn't going to bed early enough, he would whine in my face and then go to bed as if to say, "Mom! It's bed time!!!" Once you learn greyhound you'll realize that Rocket loves you, he is just telling you in a language you haven't learned yet.

For us it depends on the weather. July in NJ was pretty hot and humid so we went out maybe 30 minutes a day? Walter was not at all happy with the weather and preferred the air conditioning. Now that it is a bit cooler out (its expecting to be around 75 today and almost no humidity) Walter wants to be out longer and walk farther and run around at the park - which is fine by me. So in the fall/spring we are out for longer walks which means more mileage and more time. Winter is a little less if it is raining or snowing but usually putting a jacket on is good enough for Walter. Summer walks are based on heat, humidity and if we'll be near a water source.

Walter is usually pretty excited when I get home. At that point he's been home for 6-7 hours so my goal is to calm him down, and get him outside for a walk to pee. Sometimes he just doesn't care if we go out right away and he will run and get a toy and chew it while I change into comfy clothes. Sometimes I use my Teacher Voice and say NO really loud, throw his collars on and send him down the stairs to wait by the door(I live in an upstairs apartment). At that point, we go outside and he pulls a bit and he's excited. When he first came home (a little over two years ago) I had never seen a greyhound play before and it was a little unnerving. He has only knocked me down once at a dog park, but never since then. I also taught him not to step on my feet! He used to nip a bit, but that stopped with Teacher Voice, "No"s. I think its as much of a learning curve for the grey as it is for their human. You will get gradually more comfortable and your grey will realize that certain things aren't cool. I still stay out of his way when he plays with his toys, I encourage him by grabbing the toy and saying "get it get it get it" in a high pitched voice. For me I am most concerned with my toes being stepped on or being scratched.

Thank you for posting this - these are the two things that I have also been thinking about regarding Walter. I am really curious about the decision that others have made, and the "why" behind it, but also curious as to what/why you end up deciding. Thanks again!

Yay! I remember the first time I left Walter home un-crated. It was such a relief to me, and I think to him as well. Now I muzzle him because apparently he enjoys tasting things while I'm gone

LOL!

This is going to sound a little wacky but just read it all the way through. I'm also a teacher and I live in an apartment and sometimes I need Walter to just go out and do his stuff QUICKLY. That being said, I taught him to go sort of on command. Every time he p/p I would say, "Walter go potty!" or sometimes just, "Go potty". I do it in a sing song type voice and at first I did it EVERY SINGLE TIME he p/p. Now that he's pretty much trained, when we go out at night, I say, "go potty" and he does the "poop/pee walk", goes and then we are done. It works especially well when it is raining/extremely cold and neither one of us want to be outside. I tried teaching him with the poop bells but he was not interested. Its the same concept but you jingle bells until the dog puts bells ringing = need to go potty. I still have the bells but the phrase worked so much better (and I looked like less of a lunatic). I hope that helps. Let me know if you need any other info. I wanted to add that if Walter whines before I'm ready to get up, I give him a very firm NO. That works very well unless I slept late and he has to pee really bad (this has happened). Walter also sleeps in my room, on his bed, but he is prone to having very loud nightmares. He's woofed and whined LOUDLY in his sleep before and did so a lot when he first came home with me. Is it possible that she is having nightmares? I just wanted to throw that out there. I also think that your hound just has to get used to your schedule, and she will. Honestly, I think being adopted by a teacher was the best thing to happen to Walter. He really loves my schedule.

Walter does the same thing. I try to time it by putting it on right before we go for a LONG walk or the dog park so he can get all of his "eeby-jeebies" out

Any particular reason? I haven't purchased it yet.

That's great news!!

I was in Costco and noticed their brand of flea tick stuff. I wanted to know if anyone had tried it on their hound?

Oh my god - I'm so sorry! Walter & I are sending good healing thoughts your way.

I'm a teacher so I have a naturally early schedule. Walter typically gets up with me most mornings. Some mornings he needs to help me stop hitting the snooze button, and sometimes I have to wake him up (with so many kisses!!!) On weekends, I don't get to sleep past 8. Frequently he will whine around 630 because that would be "late" for my alarm clock, so I think his intention is "omg mom you're going to be late!" but a firm "NO" almost always works. Some times a firm "NO, GO LAY DOWN" in my sternest sleepy voice works. Not always, sometimes he really has to pee regardless of how late I took him out the night before. Fun fact: None of this happens on rainy or cloudy days. It's almost like he couldn't care less about getting up and doing anything because its cloudy/rainy. I just wanted to edit to say that he absolutely knows the difference between "alarm clock" days and "non alarm clock" days. All "non alarm clock days" are automatically days that he & I should spend doing dog things that he likes.

Walter currently has, and get occasionally, black looking butt "pimples". They come & go, occasionally they seem to pop or maybe Walter bites them and they bleed. Have you ever seen these?

Walter pooped 4x a day when I first brought him home. If we go on a walk, he poops as much as 5x but they are excited poops, not "emptying" poops. I think you need to give your houndie some time to adjust. I also think you not give your houndie as much space, maybe close doors off so he can't go in your daughters room.

Walter was really stand-off-ish with my boyfriend when he first came home. It took a solid six months for them to bond and this is considering that my boyfriend & I don't live together, so he saw my boyfriend infrequently. It seemed like Walter was afraid of most tall men, not just my boyfriend, and it was difficult for him to realize that it wasn't a personal thing, it was a greyhound-adjusting-thing. It's hard when you first bring them home because you want to love them and shower them with affection and all that but I would give your new hound time and space and you will be surprised when you get nudged and asked for hugs/kisses. Something that I think helped bond Walter & I is that I fed him out of my hand for almost all of his meals the first three months I had him. It helped that it was over the summer, and I have the summers off. Secondly, I talked to him - A LOT. I still do, and I look crazy but I'm fine with it. It helps to femininize your voice, talk high & squeeky like your talking to a baby, it is less threatening and save the deep, rumbley man voice for when your hound is doing something you DON'T want it to do. Good luck, post a lot on greytalk you'll learn so much. Walter & I celebrated his second gotcha day with a great deal of help & support from GT good luck & have fun!!

The first day? I pet Walter. I took pictures. I touched his paws, and then I just made sure to take him out every few hours because he was really stressed out and scared (panting constantly and pacing). Those were the biggest poops I have ever seen! I needed TWO HANDS to pick up is poops those first few days. Give your grey space at home and take your grey on long walks. Walter & I have really bonded because of long walks. Good luck to you and enjoy yourself!

Your dog is settling in. I think its important to open up your dog to new things, but perhaps you are moving too fast for your hound. Walter used to play exactly how you describe, he would wait until I'd leave and start playing furiously by himself, but as soon as I would pop in to watch him, he would stop and slink away to lay down. I've had him for nearly two years and we can now play together. Give your hound some time and let Penny get comfortable on her own timeline.

Walter is very sniffy but he didn't become very sniffy until he spent a lot of time with my boyfriend's poodle-mix. I think to a certain extent greyhounds never really used their nose the way they do when they are retired and EVERTHING is new to them. Walter's sniffing can be aggrevating because he wants to stop & sniff every five feet, like any other dog would do and I've remedied this by giving him a verbal cue and then I redirect him. I say, "C'mon Wall" and give him a second or two to react, sometimes he does, othertimes he doesn't. If he doesn't, I tug on his leash and keep him moving on the same time saying, "C'MON WALL" in my "angry" voice. He knows the difference between pee-pee walks and Mom walks. Mom walks are for exercise and I like to keep a faster pace where pee-pee walks are for him to sniff and poop without me trying to keep any type of pace.

I live in a 1 b/r apartment on the second floor. When you enter the apartment you have about 3 feet and then you have to go up a flight of stairs. Walter needed help the first time getting up the stairs, and benefited from me holding his leash on the way down to slow him, but now that he's been here for almost 2 years, he is a pro at stairs. I also have a balcony with railing that is about 4 feet high. The spaces are big enough for him to poke his head through, with lots of space to clear on both sides, and he likes to watch what is going on. He doesn't bark or try to eat anything, he just watches - that is, when he isn't sleeping!

Looks like a scab.

I hope Singh is doing well !

I take Walter to the dog park but I watch him and the other dogs carefully. When he gets tired, he gets nippy and mean so that's usually the time to go. He also has no tolerance for being humped or puppies and will bark at them and push them away. The first half hour is him sniffing and pooping & peeing so there is very little recall when he is in sniff & mark mode. My advice is go a few times during times where you may be alone and see how he does. Watch his body language when he is with other dogs, where are his ears, tail, hackles? Be observant and don't let other people tell you the dogs are "just having fun" because you can go from "fun" to "vet for emergency sutures" very quickly. I don't usually talk to other people when I'm there because I'm focused on Walter & who he is with/near and what's going on. I don't have a problem when another dog is jumping near/around him to push the other dog away because my dog's safety is priority. I also have left the dog park if the other dogs energies are totally messed up - sometimes they are looking for a fight, they are too aggressive, too antsy, too anything is enough for me to leave. Bottom line: work on recall (it can NEVER hurt), be observant and vigilant and don't be afraid to leave or stand up for your dog.

He eats cookies no problem, no obvious mouth pain - I've been doing really good about brushing his teeth, too. Less gas than normal and normal poo situation.