EnzosMum

Hi all! Just wanted to update you all on Enzo's progress. He's doing really well in a lot of areas, some still need work but it's all a process! He's amazing on walks with other dogs, super friendly and wags his tail whenever he says hello. He even went to my in-laws for an evening without us and happily lounged in the same room as their elderly sausage dog. The growling is far less frequent now, we know his signals and when he wont want to be stroked, and he knows he can come to us for cuddles (which he does regularly!). The separation anxiety is still a problem, but it's mostly just crying and not destructive behaviour, although this is something we're still working on and hopefully it will improve - he's much better with my partner leaving than me as he works in an office whereas I work from home. Thank you all for your help / advice / reassurance! I have definitely relaxed more since then as we've gotten to know each other and I'm far less of a helicopter dog-mum haha! 84A161A0-307C-4E65-B53D-E743D044376A copy 2.jp2

So should we not be reprimanding him for growling? I think we are going to start doing this on his walks, we also know a very well trained and calm lab who I think would be good for him to socialise with. Thank you for your advice everyone! I will keep you updated I love him so much already and on the whole he has settled in very well already, I think we are just expecting a lot from him so soon so we need to lower our expectations a bit. I just worry that I'll do something wrong! I really want him to be happy in his new home.

So we adopted our greyhound, Enzo, last Wednesday. He's an ex-racer, 4 years old, neutered. When we first met him at the shelter he was super calm and had been adopted previously and settled in there well, so we had high hopes for him settling in. He has been great overall, great on walks on the lead, sleeps most of the day and is super friendly with us. The things I want advice on are the following: 1. There have been a couple of incidents where he has growled at us. At first we thought it was just a 'comfy noise'. My partner let him on the sofa when I was in a different room, I wouldn't have allowed this as I think it's too soon. When he was on the sofa I was stroking him and he made this noise but paired with a head movement which made us sure it was a growl. The other incidents have been when my partner was stroking him then rested his hand on him and similar situations. From my research, I think it's just that he's settling in and setting his boundaries. However, my partner is concerned about this. We have been reacting with a firm 'No', and stopped whatever we were doing, and moved out of his space. When he did it on the sofa we also got him off the sofa. I've also stopped going to him for strokes, only when he comes to me, but I've only started this today so not sure if it will help. 2. I work from home and I'm really concerned about him getting SA. We're trying to combat this by not fussing him when we leave / come back into a room and ignoring him if he cries for us in a different room. He seems to be getting better at settling himself when this happens, he'll cry for a couple of seconds then he'll lie down. At the moment it's just the crying, he's ripped up a puppy pad the first time we both left the house but other than that he hasn't been destructive or peed inside. Just want some reassurance that this is the right course of action. 3. On his first walk he met another dog, small one, and was intrigued but not aggressive or reactive. Since then when he sees another dog he is super reactive, can only focus on the dog and has lunged at a puppy (scaring him). I don't know how to go about socialising him, he is muzzled when we walk so I think other owners assume he is aggressive. There's also not a specific 'dog park' near me and the fields where lots of dog walkers go, he cant fit through the entrances (kissing gate he's too long for and gate he could crawl under but doesn't want to). Also if anyone has any general tips to settle him in / things you wish you knew when you brought your greyhound home please do let me know! And if you're UK based, recommendations for greyhound pyjamas etc.