tbuckland4

Hi everyone. Our boy loves going out in the car. He currently rides in the boot of our Kia Sportage safely tethered so he doesn’t leap out when we get to our destination. We’re considering moving him to the back seat so we can use the boot for longer journeys and we think this will also help him get in and out as he gets older (he manages the jump in to the boot fine now but the jump down sometimes looks uncomfortable). I’ve seen tethers that clip in to seat belts and back seat “hammocks” for dogs but whilst the car is fairly big, I do wonder if he will have enough space. He isn’t the biggest grey we’ve met (he weighs about 32 kg) but naturally we want him to be safe and comfortable. Does anyone else’s hound ride comfortably on the back seat and if so, are there any accessories you would recommend to help with comfort and protect the upholstery? Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone. Thanks for your replies and sorry for the radio silence - between a busy period at work and spending the rest of my time trying to persuade my dog to come out for a walk I’ve been pretty flat out. We’ve had some success over the last few days with clicker training getting him out for a wee in the evenings which has meant a couple of nights’ sleep without a trip out to the garden. I’m hoping if we continue as we are he will improve more. Walks are still a problem. In the morning and the evening we still have a stand-off from anywhere between 5 and 30 mins where he refuses to leave the house or get out of bed. The clicker doesn’t have any effect on this and despite encouragement he will just sit and stare. I agree the weather may be contributing as it’s so damp and cold outside. The strange thing is that he generally will go out eventually, but it’s almost as if it has to be his decision: once I stop trying, take my shoes off and head back upstairs he can come to life and leave the house quite happily. It’s very bizzare. I feel that the ambient traffic noise may be the problem as this seems to be the only real change I can detect. It clearly doesn’t bother him when we’re out and about so why it should be a problem when he’s leaving the house. Obviously it’s not going to go away any time soon so it will be a matter of helping him overcome his nervousness about going outside. We'll persevere with clicker training for the time being and hope that helps, as sooner or later we’ll both be going back to work and won’t have half an hour to waste each morning trying to persuade him to go out!

Thanks for your reply. We did try clicker training with him when he first arrived with us three years but he was pretty ambivalent at the time. I’ll dig the clicker out and give this a try though, thank you. We’ve moved from a rural area near the Yorkshire Dales to a city suburb. It’s still a few miles away from town and the village is nice and quiet, but there is more traffic noise for sure. Ironically this morning he was out of the door and away before I’d managed to get his lead on!

Hi everyone Our greyhound, who has been with us now for almost four years, has recently developed a case of door phobia which often results in him refusing to leave the house either for walks or just to pee in the back garden. We can’t be sure how this has come about as he enjoys his walks and until recently would always come to the door when called. This year has been an odd one for him: lockdown and remote working has meant that one or both of us has been home with him every day (whereas he previously had a few hours alone each day) and we also moved house in July which obviously changed his routine. He is also quite noise sensitive: fireworks, gunshots and those ridiculous brrrap brrrap exhausts are a source of anxiety for him so it may be that he’s been spooked by a noise he can hear but we can’t. Either way his behaviour has persisted for several months. On most days he will come to the door to go out, but as soon as we open it door he reacts fearfully: backing off, lowering his head, tucking his tail and so on before running off to bed and refusing to move. High value treats sometimes help to encourage him outside but on a bad day he simply won’t look up. We’ve tried applying some gentle persuasion - popping his collar on and trying to lead him out of the house for example - but this often results in him lying down or pulling back so hard on the lead I worry he’ll hurt himself. It’s been quite heartbreaking to watch as it’s clear he wants to go out, but something is holding him back. It’s also pretty frustrating for us, as his refusal to leave the house during the day means he usually decides to go out for the toilet at 3am which has meant fairly irregular sleep for the last few months. If anyone has had any similar experiences with their hound and can share how they resolved the problem (if they did!) I’d be really grateful. Thanks in advance Tom