MrsC
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Posts posted by MrsC
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Thanks so much for the reply. His name is Batman and he's quite bonkers but the most loving, affectionate and loyal boy.
Now I'm thinking about it, it's not really a very new behaviour, maybe more that we've just got used to it. For a while we'd wake up in the morning and he'd have done a poo in the living room, but he's not done that since barking to go out in the night. And on occasion he just wants tucking back into bed!
We feed him approx 220g of kibble (usually with a topper of something like sardines or mackeral) at around 10am and 5pm and then that's it. He's only a small boy (about 28kg).
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We haven't gone down that route as it's usually a number 2 he needs to go out for and no other issues with his weeing. But definitely something we'll look into.
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Hello!
Our 3.5yr old greyhound boy is wonderful in every way. We've had him since he was about 18 months old and he's incredibly happy, cheeky, playful, confident, inquisitive and loves a snuggle.
The only issue we have is that for the last few months he's been barking to go out to the toilet during the night, usually twice a night. I don't think he's barking for attention as he goes straight out, does his business and goes straight back to sleep again. He has his dinner at around 5pm and always goes out for a wee before we go to bed (anywhere between 11 and 12 usually) but he still barks to go out for a poo at around 2am and sometimes a wee at 4-5am.
Part of me is grateful that he wants to go out rather than us coming down to a little present every morning, and it could be worse as we all go back so sleep straight away. I'm just wondering if there's anything we can do to get a full night's sleep? Or just accept its the way things are and if he needs to go, he needs to go?
Many thanks in advance for taking the time to read this.
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Hello all,
Just after a bit of advice. I've just noticed a bit of a bald patch on my 2.5yr old boys 'knee'... For want of a better word?!
The skin isn't red and I can't see any injuries. I've not seen him licking it and he's not been scratching, although I'm not with him 24/7 so he may have done at some point. He's totally himself, isn't off his food etc so just wondering what it could be!
Many thanks in advance 🙂
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@greysmomThis is really great advice, thanks 🙂 I did wonder if it might be making a rod for our own back.. And he can throw a stinker of a hissy fit!
He really does love all kinds of training/scent work so I might try this in the first instance. He's very alert and picks things up really quickly. I have to say since he started to properly settle into the rules of the house, we kind of let the training go by the wayside a little bit as he now does all the things automatically that we wanted to 'train' him to do. So thanks for the reminder that it can totally be for fun and stimulation and not just to 'train' behaviours.
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Hello all,
We've had our 2.5 year old boy for nearly 9 months now and he's WONDERFUL. Such a ridiculous character. He's growing up a bit now and is super calm in the evenings and sleeps all night without a peep.
He gets a 45 min walk twice a day - 9am (ish) and 4pm (ish).
He usually couch potatoes after our morning walk until around 1-2pm. He's recently started barking at this point so I've been playing some scent work games (which he LOVES) or scattering some kibble for him to find in the garden. Sometimes this wipes him out until evening walk time, but sometimes he's still a bit fussy/barky/restless.
What do you guys think about adding in a shorter, lunchtime walk? Or a mix of both? Also, his 'I want a walk' bark is very similar to his 'I'm hangry' bark and I'm never quite sure which he wants!
After our evening walk we wait an hour before dinner (sometimes he gets grumpy as he wants it sooner!) and then he's done for the evening and it's snuggles all the way ❤️
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Thanks for all the replies! It's very much appreciated
😊
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This is all so encouraging and helpful. Thank you so, so much. You have no idea how much I appreciate it ❤️
I feel like I should also add that he's so unbelievably loving and trusting and affectionate. He loves us SO much that it's the silver lining when he's being annoying 😜 He never raced so I wonder if that might be why? That he wasn't in the system for that long so didn't pick up too much trauma?
Our previous greyhound who passed away last year came to us as a 4 year old ex racer. Timid, scared, anxious. The compete opposite. Over the years she slowly came out of her shell and was a very quiet, calm, still soul. And we were shaken and devastated when we lost her. So you can see why our new bundle of energy is a learning curve.
Also, we're NEVER giving up on him. Im sure I'll look back in a few years and wonder what all the fuss was about (much like my kids!) but I just wanted to make sure it's all normal, young grey stuff 😍
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Hi everyone,
Just after some positive stories or encouragement pretty please 😂
Our 2 year old boy has been with us for almost 5 months now and we love him very much. Can't imagine life without him. But I'm just wondering when (on average, I know they're all different really) he'll grow out of the puppy ish behaviours?!
I mean, I'd say he's chilled and very 'classic greyhound' 80% of the time now. He responds really well to training and positive reinforcement and is already solid with leave it, 'on your bed' and stay/wait commands which is SO helpful. We currently give him 2 walks a day which last between 45 mins and an hour which always tire him out. After his evening walk and dinner an hour later he's very, very calm and sleeps all evening/night downstairs without a peep. So in that sense we're doing well, I think?!
The other 20% of the time he's very excitable, high energy and you have to watch him like a hawk to direct his behaviour or have a play etc. I wouldn't say he's destructive, but he's a very cheeky little monkey indeed. It really is like having a toddler in the house again.
So whilst I don't think we have anything to worry about, I'm just wondering if the high octane stuff will phase out as he gets a bit older? I think I'll be more able to cope with it if I know it's not forever, if that makes sense?!
Many thanks in advance for reading ❤️
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Thanks @HeyRunDogfor the great advice 😊
Just had a mini victory. He had my husbands cap and I just stood back calmly, told him to drop it which he did briefly. In that moment I rewarded him with a treat. Cap went back into mouth and again I told him to drop it, which he did. Another treat. After a couple more rounds of that he just let me take it with no growling. I think it's all about being 'on it' but not confrontational.
Does this seem to be on the right track and to continue in this way?
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Hi guys,
Me again! I just can't stay away 😂
Our almost 2 year old, gorgeous boy who's been with us just over 10 weeks has started displaying some resource guarding behaviours - mainly freezing and growling. It's not constant and seems to be with things like shoes, clothes he manages to get hold of, bags etc. He's currently OK with toys and food, although if he has a particularly high value treat, like a pigs ear, he lets you know not to get too close. The rest of the time he's an absolute dream.
We know not to chase/approach when he starts displaying this behaviour and, at present, we've been 'trading up' by offering a tasty treat which works every time. I've also started teaching him 'drop it' command.
My question would be is trading up the right thing to do? Or is it just reinforcing a behaviour that isn't ideal? I'm hoping being consistent with 'drop it' training will help - am I on the right track?
There's just so much advice online, much of it conflicting, and I want to make sure I'm doing the best I can for him and I don't want it to escelate. Or is this just something that could happen now and again and we live with it/manage it?
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Hi there,
We've had our nearly two year old boy for 10 weeks and I firstly just want to say he's amaaazing and we love him so much already. He's incredibly affectionate, playful, loves people and picks things up REALLY quickly. He sleeps alone downstairs all night without a peep and he's making really good progress being left alone during the day now.
My question is, when we first brought him home he was into EVERYTHING and we couldn't take our eyes off him for a second. After a few weeks or training he really settled and responded well to the command he'd (quickly) learned and stopped 'stealing' things 😂
But the last few days he's become much more vocal and has got his little cheeky head on again. It's only at specific times of day, usually mid afternoon before his walk and when he's waiting for his dinner post walk. After dinner, he's an absolute dream and just snuggles for the rest of the evening.
Is he just testing boundaries or is it more of a regression? Or is he just bored and we need to find ways to manage him at those times of day?
I also have to keep reminding myself that 10 weeks is Nothing and he's still a baby. Just want to make sure we're doing the right things, continue with training etc, and we'll come out the other side 😂
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I'm back!
What a week and a half it's been. Our almost 2 year old boy came home with us less than two weeks ago and he's settling in so well I feel like it's too good to be true? He's affectionate, loving, cheeky, sleeps all night downstairs with no crying and we're just starting to try him out on his own in the house and so far it's going really well. No signs of separation anxiety. He's quite high energy and needs two 50 min walks and a fair amount of playing to keep him chilled, but after the first two days when I was a nervous wreck and said 'WHAT HAVE WE DONE' I couldn't feel more different.
Is this the calm before the storm where everything goes wrong?! Or should I just shut up and enjoy?! I wonder if I'm overthinking all the things that could go wrong and that sometimes a grey can settle in pretty well?
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Hi everyone,
We've had our gorgeous and silly nearly 2 year old boy at home for just over a week now. He's starting to settle in beautifully... Sleeping downstairs all night, responding well to basic commands and generally being an all round loving, derpy goof ball.
It's not a problem at all, but I'm just curious why he sometimes nudges our legs with his head when we're out on walks? He's still muzzled when we go out, as suggested by the adoption group. Sometimes it's just the odd head bump and sometimes he'll add in a little lean too. It's almost like he wants out attention? Is this anything to be worried about or just normal behaviour?
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I'm back already for more advice 😂
Our newly adopted boy is just under 2 years old. We only brought him home 3 days ago so it's still early days. I'd really like to start teaching him a few useful commands ASAP.. Is this a good idea? He's already responded pretty well to 'leave it' so I'm looking to add a few more. We never needed to do this with our previous greyhound as she literally never moved 😂
I absolutely understand he's still settling in and it all takes time, but he seems to really enjoy five or ten minutes of training and I'm hoping it'll serve us well in the long run.
And hints and tips would be amazing. Is it even possible to train a greyhound to sit? I'd really like to try and teach him to go to eventually go to his bed too.
Many thanks in advance!
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This is all so encouraging and has really helped relax my overthinking brain, so thankyou very much for taking the time to response and for your reassuring words.
A little update, today has been really good! He's so much more settled already and has snoozed much of the day either in the living room with us or he's taken himself off to sleep on the kitchen sofa for a couple of hours. When he's up and alert he's responding really well to a firm 'no' when he grabs anything and drops it straight away. He LOVES the positive reinforcement afterwards... I think he might be quite smart! I tried some 'leave it' training for a few minutes using treats and he got the hang of it after a few repetitions and when he just tried to pick up the remote control all it took was 'leave it' and he put it down and trotted off.
I know there will be way more ups and downs, but we're taking it day by day and so far today has been really positive. He's so funny and loving I think we're hopefully in the right path ❤️
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Oh my goodness Steve, this is just what I needed to hear right now. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply. He's really calm and chilled right now so I know it's in him 😊
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Hi there everyone! I'm a first time poster here and I'm a bit nervous. Very silly I know, you all seem like a lovely lot!
I'm really after some advice and have a few questions about our very newly adopted greyhound. He's only young, not 2 until May. We lost our previous greyhound back in August and only just felt ready to adopt again recently. Our previous greyhound was very, very timid and took a long time to socialise. She slept a lot and, after a year or so, you hardly knew she was there.
Our newbie is a whole new kettle of fish. He's still a baby really, and he only came home with us yesterday so we're really early days. He's incredibly loving and affectionate and bonkers, he's also very active, energetic and into everything so it's very new to us after our previous experience.
Last night was the first night he's ever spent in a real home after being in kennels his whole life and very briefly (2 days) in foster and crated for some of the time. We slept in the living room with him as we have quite awkward stairs and our previous grey never came upstairs and was absolutely fine with that. So, my question is...would you recommend getting a crate for him to feel a bit more secure? I can tell he's a bit overwhelmed by all the space available to him and he seems a bit unsure where to settle. Would this help if we used it in the right way?
Secondly, he's into EVERYTHING. Having a little nibble on anything he sees, taking stuff etc. Literally everything. Obviously it's all totally new to him and he seems to respond really well to a firm 'no' and he's started to drop anything he shouldn't have or get down from the worktop etc. Then we positively reinforce this by telling him he's a good boy and he seems really happy to please, but we're having to constantly do this and can't take our eyes off him for a second. We're all at home at the moment..my teens are homeschooling, I work from home upstairs and my husband is off work for a couple off weeks. So basically, are we on the right track and doing the right thing? Is this just young greyhound behaviour or just adjustment? Or both?! I feel like we're literally unable to leave him alone even just to pop to the loo at the moment, so I have no idea if he's going to struggle with SA as he's not been left alone yet. Are we doing the right thing?
Any advice would be really, really appreciated. I'm starting to think we might be mad for taking on such a young boy? Or if we're consistent and strong will we be able to make him feel secure and hopefully phase out some of this behaviour over the next few weeks? I'm really trying not to overthink things and get anxious so I guess I'm just after a bit of support!
Help!
Needing the toilet during the night...can we do anything different?
in Training and Behavior discussion
Posted
Yes, I was wondering whether it's something to do with his food. He usually does about 3 poops during the day, which are solid but quite big. The kibble he's currently on is 3% fibre, so I'll do some research. He gets between around 45 mins to an hour walk a day.
I mean, if it's something we just have to live with I'm more than happy to answer his calls if he needs to go. And like I said, he settles back to sleep again straight away. I wonder if an earlier dinner might make a difference?!