AwesomeDogs

I'm sure she does! Food is her number one obsession - I've never known such a greedy hound! – and she's pretty smart. That's a good idea, thanks!

Thank you, MerseyGrey. Unfortunately she's too heavy for me to lift but I will try the circling thing (and keep the treats handy too!). She's my third greyhound and is definitely the quirkiest… a real little character!

I’ve had Auburn (2 1/2) for 7 months now and she’s settled in really well – she’s clever, super-affectionate and very chilled, although she can be naughty, cheeky and stubborn – but I love that about her too! She’s occasionally statued on walks when I wouldn’t let her go the way SHE wanted to, but it wasn't a major issue… however, about 10 days ago she suddenly froze at the end of her morning walk after I wouldn’t let her eat dog puke off the ground (I told her to “leave it” and lured her away with a treat, I didn't drag her). She unfroze when I let her walk back in the direction of the puke but locked up again when I tried to head towards home again – it took us half an hour to go 200 yards! Since then, every single day she’s been slowing down and then stopping when we get near to the end of a walk. It doesn’t matter how long or short the walk is or what route we take, and seems to be worst on our local walk near home (which isn’t that exciting to be fair, but I don’t have any other option in the mornings). And it’s always when we’re a couple of minutes from the end of the walk. In the afternoons we drive to the local woods and fields, which are more interesting, and she’ll walk forever then, pulling ahead on the lead and sniffing and looking for squirrels… but she will put the brakes on again once we’re in sight of the car! Luckily I can get her moving with treats but I’m not sure why this has suddenly started after 7 months. She’s not scared of the car or anything at home, and she's always SUPER keen to go out and starts the walk well. I don’t think she has a corn as her pads look fine, she’s not limping and is happy to walk on the hard floors and patio at home, and on roads when we're somewhere more interesting. And we're in the UK so it's not hot here yet. I’m a bit mystified! Do you think she’s playing me because she doesn’t want the walk to end (like I said, she is rather strong-willed) or is there something else going on?

Thank you for your replies EllenEveBaz and HeyRunDog. That's a good idea about another dog's poop – our boy peed all over the back yard but I used to disinfect it regularly and had done so just before we brought our girl home so there was no smell left to tell her this was where she could go. I wonder if getting a friend to bring their dog over to use the backyard (once she's a bit more settled) would work. I tried taking her out of another door yesterday and she was a lot happier about that so maybe whatever spooked her happened when we were going out of the back gate? It's a narrow enclosed space with a tall fence on one side and the house on the other, and our neighbours make quite a lot of noise (they also have a very barky dog and CATS), so perhaps she heard something which worried her. Thanks again, fingers crossed with time we will be able to convince her the world outside our door is a fun place not a scary one.

Hi everyone, I used to be a member of this forum many years ago and got some greyt suggestions when my first hound had stomach issues, so I wanted to ask for some advice about our new girl. My husband and I adopted her 10 days ago, after unexpectedly having to say goodbye to our darling greyhound boy who we’d had for 7 1/2 years. She’s a recently retired racer who has just turned 2. She’s our third hound and overall she’s doing really well – she’s calm in the house, and a real cuddle monster. We’re quietly getting on with life around her so she can get used to the daily routine, and trying not to push her too far too fast. She was initially super keen to go for walks, but when I took her out yesterday morning something spooked her, and since then she’s become nervous of leaving the house. Although she's been completely clean inside she won’t do anything on the back yard (even if you walk her round it on the lead), so we don’t have any other option at the moment than to take her out for walks and pee breaks. If we go out in the car she can't WAIT to jump in and loves every minute of it – it's the walks from our house she's become nervous about. At the moment, I’m tempting her out with treats and a happy voice – she seems fine once she’s actually made it outside, walks nicely and does her business, it’s just getting her to go through the door that’s the challenge. I’m guessing this has happened because she’s hit the point of feeling overwhelmed with all the changes in her life over the last few months (retiring from racing, going to the rescue and then into a home). It goes without saying that we’re prepared to do whatever it takes for however long it takes with her to get her feeling secure, but I wanted to ask for advice now so we don’t do the wrong things with her – I’ve never had this issue with a dog before, even our first hound who was scared of *everything*, so any suggestions would be much appreciated. (I should just add – she’s just had a clean bill of health from the vet, is eating well and doesn’t have corns, so we don’t think this is a medical issue.)