smithy

For 2 years we've had no problems walking. Then, for the past 4 nights, Smithy hasn't wanted to walk. He'll do the morning one fine, nice good walk even in a bit of rain or cold - but each evening, he hasn't wanted to walk. He barely wants to leave the door, but the past 3 he's made it down the road to poop before turning back. This night he didn't even get to that end of the road to poop before completely stopping. When we turn around he's back walking like normal leading us home! It's really weird behaviour and has come so suddenly. Nothing else seems weird especially as he walks in the morning totally fine. He does drink a load of water before a walk which is worrying now as he's not doing this evening stroll to pee a few times. Could this be anything or just normal greyhound weirdness?

We've come so far with our grey, and when we eat at the table he goes straight to bed with or without a treat/chew. He doesn't beg for scraps or anything like that! However, when I eat something on the sofa like a sandwich that smells particularly appetizing, he'll often approach me and linger. Most times he goes to bed, but 5 or 6 times he's let out quite a firm growl at me and sometimes we lock eyes (if I'm telling him 'bed'). Today, he did quite a big one having not done it for a while so I stood up immediately (which startled him a bit) and led him out the room, shutting the door. I gave him a few minutes and let him back in and he went straight to bed. I'd like to know why this happens and what I should do in this situation?

Smithy is learning to walk at my heel and he's doing a really good job. I decided to do this because it was pointed out to me that when he leads the walk, he thinks he leads me and this affects other behaviours. He does seem to be far more obedient than before I did this! When he gets a little ahead of me I simply gently turn around and that's basically taught him to stay at my side. I also practice in the garden with and without lead, with and without treats, and am now using the word heel to associate it with what we're doing. However, I was wondering what the boundary is between having him walking nicely beside me and letting him sniff and explore a little? He was never an aggressive puller (apart from the initial few weeks) but he's a strong dog (the vet said he's incredibly muscular) and sometimes he can really pull. I like to stop every so often and say 'go have a sniff' and it gives him a chance to be a little free. Also, when he really wants to go somewhere we'll be walking and his body will sort of be leaning to the left and his back paws will clip my feet as we walk. In fact, he will often clip my feet with his back paws when not paying attention. For example, if another dog is walking behind us and he's a little on edge, he'll turn around every so often and his back paws will kind of trip over my feet. Is this just him being clumsy?

Thanks for all the replies! I was trying to not make it not sound too bad but it's multiple times during the night - last night it was 1am, 3am, 3.30am, and again at 6am. I know there's worse problems to have, and I even said there's likely nothing I can do about it, but I wanted to see if there was something I was maybe doing wrong. In terms of handling the real issues, we've overcome a huge amount and at the moment we're battling an immense prey drive and a fear of other dogs. The sleep issue is tricky because it wakes me up every single night multiple times and it seems like that's just how it is.

We settle at about 10/11pm. He goes down to bed and all is good. Then once or twice during the night until about 8am he will get up, walk around, shake (kind of shake his head so his ears flap about, like a dog coming inside from the rain - he always does that). It's super loud and always wakes me up, and after a few weeks it's getting annoying. I think there's probably nothing I can do to solve this, but I thought I'd check to see.

We moved onto Burns Pork and Potato, which seems to be going down really really well. Poop warning: His poop is now much firmer, a little lighter in colour, and hardly smells at all especially compared to what he used to do. We've now moved over fully to this new food, and he's started to poop way less which is awesome. Recently though his schedule has been weird. For example, he poops in the morning after breakfast, on the walk, and typically again after dinner on our second walk. Basically 3 or 4 per day. Now he does one in the morning, one on the morning walk, and that's it for the day. Yesterday he just did the two and I felt he needed to go again so I waited outside with him for 15 minutes in the evening and he did a poop. Is he congested at all, or does he simply need to poop less now? Should I just give him chances during the day as normal?

Last night we heard a lot of whining. We went down because it sounded bad and we found a poop on the floor. Went out for a pee, he didn't want to come out but eventually did, and peed a lot. Whining all night long, and we ignored it as he'd done his business. Came down this morning and found another poop on the floor. Both times the poop was actually pretty solid, but both were quite big. He pooped on his walk as normal and not much changed from his regular diet and schedule. He's never whined like this before and only a few times done a poop at night but hardly whimpered about it. I'm guessing this one was more to do with a health issue. Does anyone have ideas or suggestions, anything we can do differently? I'm going to cut back completely on treats, feed a bit less, and walk at night just before bed for a few days.

We've had him nearly 2 months and he's definitely getting good at toilet training. Knows he goes out immediately after eating, gets let out first thing and last thing, goes pretty regularly on his walks. He had a few pee accidents inside but we've put that down to anxiety and it's pretty much stopped now. However, this is the third time he's pooped inside in roughly the same place. Nothing's changed in his routine except possibly that we stayed up a bit later than normal last night. Is there anything more we can do or should do to help him out. Obviously if we're there later I'll take him out an extra time before I go to sleep but should we do anything like keep doors closed (to confine him to a smaller space)?

The other day, we got Smithy a new toy and he loved it. When I went near him today, he growled at me (not necessarily too badly). To test it was the toy, I slowly went towards it and he growled again. When we did some of our training just now, I brought out the toy at the end and gave him some treats as I took it away, then put it back and did the same thing. His behaviour was very weird, and he's definitely possessive of the toy. Is this something we need to watch for, and what should I do to prevent it escalating?

Edit to anyone checking this out - he also hasn't eaten this morning so I'll switch to his old feeder (was a little bit raised from the floor and a smaller bowl - https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/ergo-raised-dog-feeder?size=large)

We recently moved to a raised feeder and it seems to be fine with our Smithy. Yesterday however I noticed him not drinking. When we took him out to play in the garden I brought the bowl outside and he drank like mad. After our walk later on when he's hot and usually drinks he didn't. I sat near his bowl and he approached but then backed off. After lots of positive encouragement he sniffed it so I said good boy etc until he drank, then I said lots of encouraging things and our usual 'well done' stuff. Also gave him some treats. He didn't pee this morning, and we took him out again to check, so I sat with him by the water and it was the same thing again. He had some but not a lot, and when I put it on the floor I still had to do the same thing - I'm not sure if it was the raised feeder causing the problem seeing as he was afraid of both locations. Is there any advice for me regarding the raised feeder (which some people have said will kill him, and some said will save him). We keep him calm an hour and 15 mins before and after eating not including a small toilet break after he's finished - he does eat quick so I might put a tennis ball in his bowl (it's large, so possibly even 2 to slow him down).

Hey all, apologies for posting a lot but I'm new to this and the advice here is phenomenal! Spoke to a few trainers etc and it seems a harness is a good idea for our Smithy. He's a bit anxious outside around other dogs, so it will give me more control and hopefully be better for him too. Could potentially help us with stair training also. I suppose my real questions is how do we effectively use it? I spoke to a lady who told me to have his usual collar and lead PLUS the harness and lead and to hold both. Another person said I can get a lead that attaches his harness AND collar together so I can just hold one thing. I'm getting the Rufferwear front range one which seems to be good, so what additional lead(s) do I need to get?

Our rescue grey is currently on Dr John Silver food, that's what was given to him at the kennels. We were told to keep him on it and phase it out slowly to another one. He was given weetabix and milk for breakfast, but we know for certain to stop that and just stick to his normal food. Cod liver oil which they used to give him is no longer on the table too as the claims seem unsubstantiated. However, finding the appropriate food is a difficult task! Pets At Home suggested a good one from Wagg, whereas the experienced trainer we're working with suggested Barking Heads, Eden, Acana, Orijen and most certainly not Wagg. When I look these up, particularly Orijen, it seems there are pros and cons to all the options. I'm basically looking for some guidance as we don't know what's best for him, but we will keep him on the food he knows for now.

Thanks guys, I've got no one to talk to about this stuff so it's fantastic to have the help!

Hey all, just got our greyhound today and he's being fantastic! Honestly one of the most calm dogs I've ever come across. We live in a 3 storey house, and I sleep on the top floor and spend most of my day there - ideally that's where the dog will be most of the time. However, as we can't get him upstairs yet, he'll have to spend the next few nights or more downstairs. I'm half tempted to sleep on the sofa so he's not alone down there but I don't know what's best for him. Furthermore, the routine from his rescue center was quite strange and doesn't seem too good to me, so how gradually or quickly can I change aspects of it? For example, bed at 11pm up at 8am is what I thought would work. Wake up, pee, feed, then I get ready for my day which gives him a good hour or so to let the food digest before our walk. Then it's the usual stuff till dinner time, a rest, and the evening walk before calming down to bed. They fed him at 7.30am and gave him dinner at 1pm presumably because they were volunteers there and not present all day. What's the best course of action for both of these?

Thanks for the warm welcome! So far, it seems to all be going well. He's a very calm dog and seems to have settled with us nicely. Currently he's done one pee inside so we gave a stern NO and walked him outside. Bit later on we did it again, he peed, so we gave him a treat and a big well done. The most immediate worry is stairs (the plan was him sleeping in my bedroom on the top floor) but so far he freezes after two steps! I'll slowly do my best there.

Hey all! I'm rescuing a greyhound tomorrow and thought I'd start coming to this great forum. His name is Smithy and he's 2 years old, ex racing but didn't race for very long. Super calm, very big, already my best friend. I've got a lot of information to go through and all that, so I was wondering if I could get some first time tips from experienced owners here? Thanks Josh