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Hi everyone! I’m having a bit of trouble, but it hasn’t developed into trouble trouble just yet…I have a greyhound. He is five years old and he is an amazing guy. He does NOT get along with dogs who are high energy and I know that. So we steer clear if I notice he’s getting overwhelmed or the other dog isn’t responding to his boundaries. Anyways, I adopted a female, Mia, yesterday. She is also five and is actually his litter mate!! I think it’s adorable but obviously they don’t care. They get along great and she’s super lazy just like he is. I’m having zero issues with her. She’s potty trained right away so it’s been amazing. The issue is…my male, Tej, showed his teeth at her today when I was sitting on a chair by them. He was in front of me and she stood beside him and he showed his teeth. I told him to be nice and removed myself from the situation if it was a “I’m protecting my mom or I’m jealous of her giving you attention” kind of thing. Then, a few minutes later I’m in the kitchen and he stands by me and she walks up and he shows his teeth AGAIN. There was no growling involved just him showing his teeth. I moved out of the way again. She did not seem to be bothered by his reaction. She just stood there almost ignoring it. My question is, do I just let it play out? He has never done anything more than a growl and teeth shown to any other dog. But I’m a first time grey owner and I want to make sure I do this right. They share space and food and literally everything else even though I have two of everything on opposite sides of the room. They have their own stuff but neither guards resources or has any indication of food aggression so I am not worried about them sharing (obviously still keeping their stuff opposite just in case). I have had zero problems taking them out together on leash when she walks up to him when he’s standing by me. Heck, she even slammed her face into his on accident and he didn’t react at all! It was only in those two situations where he showed his teeth. please help! I feel like I’m failing the introduction process right now.

Hello you guys I once more need your honest opinion and maybe someone experienced this type of problem with their Greyhound as well Faye has been with us for a month now (whew, time really flies) and overall she´s a wonderful and easygoing girl, very calm and still anixous or scared at times but nothing like in the beginning - it´s already so much better and I can see her change everyday. She sleeps through the night and also got a hang of our daily routine or rather what´s left of it because of the pandemic She lies or sleeps in her crate all day...and this is where the not so fun part starts: she won´t come out of the crate unless I close it right behind her so she can´t go back in...which doesn´t work well for either of us because unfortunately she now knows that I might close the door so she becomes more and more hesitant to leave the crate and if I´m lucky enough for her to walk out completely chances are that she turns around right away - and there we go again...I tried to lure her out with treats or let my other dog walk by because normally that´s a sign for Faye that they are getting food or we are going for a walk etc. but there´s just NO reaction at all anymore... She´ll only come out when I prepare their food (I can´t prepare dog food everytime I need her to come out) but also very hesitant and she´ll even go back in the crate while she´s eating - it´s just IN - OUT - IN - OUT all the time if I´m not fast enough to close the door, which makes all of us nervous. And don´t even let me get started on going for walks...it´s not possible to put her harness on and simply go out, we play a literal "game" of how to get her out of the crate long enough for me to close the door from that point on it´s alright for her, she´ll let me put on the leash, coat or whatever needed and we just leave for our walk... BUT there´s another much bigger problem that comes with her crate obsession...she won´t even leave it to go potty in the garden anymore but she´ll rather pee INSIDE her crate than come out!!! I don´t get it at all...she´d always come out of the crate and I´d open the back door for her to go outside in the morning or whenever she had to do her business - never a problem until a few days ago and I can´t figure out what happened because I was always out with her or both dogs, so there were never any noises etc. that scared her...yes there are people walking by and my neighbours talk to each other sometimes but most of the time it´s pretty peaceful and it never concerned her before. So I´m getting pretty frustrated at the situation right now because she does it more and more often and I have to wash EVERYTHING which takes time and she doesn´t pee a little bit but a freaking LAKE So originally I got the crate because I was thinking it would help her adjust and give her a safe space...as well as contain her while I´m out for work because I don´t want to leave her alone with my small dog yet and I´m afraid that she´d start peeing everywhere while I´m gone or start some trouble. I don´t know her well enough yet and I don´t want my flat ruined when I come back! But if I don´t find a way for her to come out of the crate when I need her to, I´m thinking about getting rid of the crate and I had to force her out of the crate for the first time today because she peed in it right before my eyes rather than coming out, so I dragged her out in the garden but I opened the door and calmly told her "outside" before I released her and as she finished peeing in the yard I praised her a lot and let her back in...but I feel so horrible about it as I really don´t want to make her leave the crate by force but I couldn´t just stand there and watch her pee! I had to clean behind the crate the day before yesterday and when I pushed it away to gain access to the dirty area Faye wouldn´t come out of the corner the crate normally stands in but she tried to lay down there instead and I had to push and lure her out of there. So maybe a dog bed would be the easier option but I´m afraid she´d close herself up even more... I just can´t keep washing all of her blankets nearly every day and the smell of urine makes me naseous, I feel like it reeks of it everywhere I could get rid of the crate and replace it with a large dog bed, muzzle her or put my small dog away in another room... Has anyone experienced something similar or knows how to cope with this? Should I give her more time and see if she comes out on her own? I´m just so overwhelmed right now...

Hi all, I'm heartbroken and seeking advice (also new here.) My partner and I adopted Jumper 3 months ago. He's a 4 year old ex-racer. Everything has gone very smoothly -- we've both bonded with the dog, he's doing well with obedience training and we've spent a lot of quality time together. We love him to pieces, and he is very affectionate, cuddly and loving. He always wants to be right next to me (classic velcro dog.) Over the weekend, Jumper bit me (or rather, nipped me pretty good) in the face. I have a black eye and one puncture near my tear duct where his tooth made contact. When it happened, he had come over to sit next to me on the couch. He laid down in a strange position, and his butt was stuck in between couch cushions. I attempted to readjust his butt to make us both more comfortable, and before I knew it... I was knocked over by my snarling dog. In hindsight, I should never have tried to manipulate his body, especially approaching him from his backside. I know this was a mistake. I also believe we granted furniture privileges too soon. Saying I adore this dog is an understatement, and I want to make the right changes to avoid these stressful situations for both of us. Moving forward, I plan to enroll in more formal obedience training classes to help rebuild and strengthen our bond and trust. Any other advice, concerns or thoughts would be very much appreciated. Greytful to have this community. - Rae (28 y/o, female)

Hello! I have had my greyhound for 2 months now. She is 6. She has had no accidents in the house until recently. We have been at my parents for two weeks now - the past two days she has peed inside. Once in the AM and once in the PM. I am wondering if this is cause to be concerned since it is something she has never done or if it is a new environment / more house (we live in an apt) . Also concerned maybe it is a UTI... I am a new greyhound owner so I am not sure!

Hello everyone! I have never used this site before, but am looking for some advice! Two weeks ago I brought home my very first retired racer, and he's amazing. I know there is definitely an adjustment period that can last much longer than these 2 weeks, but as a first time greyhound (and dog in general) owner I just want to make sure my new bud is doing ok. As the title of this post states, he is pretty much scared of everything (I'm assuming because everything is new to him?). Other than myself, he is terrified of nearly everyone and tries to run and/or hides behind me, whines/yelps in the morning (even after I take him out at 5:30am), is extremely reluctant to go on walks (but does great on them once I am able to get him to start walking), gets so terrified of stairs I can't even physically move his legs to teach him and he ignores any type of treat, etc. Is this normal? Is there something I can be doing to help him not be scared of really everything? I am trying to be extremely positive praise him whenever he tries to meet anyone or does anything new. Thank you in advance for the advice! Bonus question: I'm assuming like many newly retired racers, he doesn't understand the concept of toys. I tried a big tennis ball, rope, [safe] squeaker and non-squeaker plush toys, realistic toys to try to trigger his prey drive, and more, but no luck at all. The only thing he seems to like is his Kong. If you have any advice on toys either that would be much appreciated!

First time grey owner here! Apologies for the long post but I'm a bit desperate... We've had Ivor for 3 months and he has been an absolute star throughout. Friendly with dogs and strangers, a gentleman at the vets and can't get enough of cuddles with us. But today, he managed to get hold of an avocado stone and I panicked about him choking on it so tried to grab it out of his mouth. He growled and I ran to get some treats to distract him (hoping he would drop it) but before then my husband also tried to get hold of it and Ivor snarled and lunged at him, biting him in the arm. It almost broke this skin, but not quite. He then dropped the stone and I was able to call him into his crate. He quickly calmed down and seems to have forgotten the whole thing but it scared the life out of me. I'm trying to tell myself that he did everything right (growled to warn us, only snapped when we didnt back off) and I know it was our fault for panicking and crowding him. But I'm terrified it will happen again, or that somehow we're ruining him and will turn him into a 'problem' dog. I've had a few dogs before (not rescues, from puppies) and I've never had to deal with aggression, so I'm finding this really scary. Am I over reacting? Is it possible for this to be a one-off or is it a sign of a serious problem?

New first-time grey owner and previous lurker on the forums (lots of great info from you folks!) I have been struggling with our new boy Tully having isolation distress/separation anxiety. Background: Tully came off a farm in TX as a failed racer, not quite 2 yrs old. Sweet disposition, the calmest 2 year old dog I've ever had. Big issues arose when I tried to leave him alone during the first week. Lot's of gentle, slow attempts at crate training. When I was able to get him crated, shut the door and leave the condo, Tully bent the steel crate bars with his teeth, destroyed an "indestructible" crate bed, and dragged a rug into the crate and tore it to pieces--all within 15 minutes. (I'd previously left him alone for just 5 minutes.) He shrieked the entire time, swayed, drooled, looked wild-eyed. I was actually just running to the library to p/u 2 books on Sep. Anxiety (McConnell's and Malena DeMartini-Price's.) I had a camera on him so was watching the video in the car. It was just awful to see and hear. I raced home quickly. Next step: I abandoned the crate in favor of a 4'x4' x-pen with his comfy bed placed inside. He took to that immediately and would come and go frequently. After speaking with our vet, Tully began taking Clomicalm (40 mg/ twice a day.) I also immediately started on a very conservative training protocol using the two books. I never left him alone aside from brief training sessions, and he was fine if a neighbor or friend stayed with him while I went shopping, etc. Any attempt at leaving the condo without him was a failure, though. Crying, pawing at the pen. I also tried leaving him with the pen door open and he would cry and paw at the exit door. During all of this I was also helping Tully to transition to life as a pet, thanks to the wonderful advice I read on this forum (let him take his time, don't push too hard, let him sleep, etc.) Next step: During week 7 of training (8 weeks with us) we got up to 11 minutes outside the house with Tully in his pen which felt like a huge step. I always started each session with a food-filled kong, always filmed the sessions. He would often cry or get frustrated when his kong finished but settle down afterward. Occasionally though, he would vocalize LOUDLY and bite at the pen for at least one minute. With condo neighbors, that was obviously a problem, but the bigger issue was seeing him be anxious. Lots of small steps forward and then back. Last week I really lost my confidence in my ability to help Tully through his isolation distress/SA on my own. I contacted Malena DeMartini-Price who phoned me to speak about Tully. She asked questions about what that morning's training session had been like and gave me some suggestions. I decided to take her SA online training course, Mission: Possible. (I'm not plugging for her, just telling you my process.) I've spent several days going through the materials and basically dialed way back on any training for Tully while I studied. Two things jumped out at me: Malena D-P no longer recommends using a kong or other food treats for SA training (different from her book.) She also suggested that I abandon the pen to see how Tully would do w/o it. My long-term plan was to allow Tully the run of the condo, so I could save a step of training him out of the pen by just starting SA training over with him out of it. (I'd only wanted the pen to prevent him from randomly chewing stuff, which he would try when we first got him home.) This morning I did Tully's first assessment (as part of the class.) His first time not being in a pen while I exited and first time without a kong. I sat on a bench outside the condo where he couldn't see or hear me (except when I dropped a book.) Tully was a champion! He came to the door twice (once when I dropped the book) and cried briefly and softly twice, but mostly he just relaxed in his bed and snoozed. I stayed outside for 60 minutes, all the while wondering, "Who is this dog and where is my fearful, anxious boy?" When I came back inside, he was happy but not clingy or needy. I can't begin to describe the rush of relief I feel. I know he will need to continue training to get to 4 hours alone (my goal) and that there will be regressions but I just want to celebrate this victory. For those of you struggling with a similar problem, I'd say get help sooner than later, keep a journal (to remind you how far you and your pup have come) and keep going. Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone, I have been reading this forum a lot over the past 6 months and have already learned a lot from this community. I was hoping I could get some help with an issue I'm having. I have a 2 1/2 year old female greyhound that LOVES people and other dogs. She has never shown aggression towards another human and very rarely with other dogs (always a clear reason why like trying to hump her or standing over her while she was dozing on the floor). However, something happened yesterday that I am hoping for some help with. My brother adopted a greyhound as well about a week ago and he is a shy 3 year old boy. Yesterday I took my dog to meet his at my brother's condo. We had them meet outside and everything went great! A lot of sniffing and we went on a short walk before heading inside. Once inside things were fine at first. My dog followed my brother into the kitchen and was standing next to him as he made coffee, and when my brother's dog came into the kitchen mine started to growl. We told her no and she stopped. I called her into the other room and she came. My brother's dog followed her over towards me and when she was standing near me she started baring her teeth looking straight ahead. Again we said no and separated them. I brought her to the couch and sat down next to her. My brother's dog approached me on my right and while I gave him neck scritches my girl started growling again. We told her no again and she stopped. We let them lay down and relax across the room from each other for a while. Then we put their leashes on and tried an introduction inside again. My girl was fine for the most part as the other grey came up and started sniffing. When the other dog started sniffing more towards the front of her very quickly she bared her teeth and snapped at my brothers dog. I took her to the corner and scolded her (she didn't really react or seem to care). From there we just let them lay separately across the room until it was time to go. We all went outside as we left and outside my girl was completely fine and friendly. A complete 180 from inside the condo! I'm hoping that I can get some advice on how to get these dogs to get along because I see my brother a lot and I am supposed to watch his dog when he goes on vacation in a month. Some other pertinent information that may help: My girl has been to the condo before and stayed overnight there two times (before my brother had the dog). She has gone to my fiancee's parent's house for the weekend and gotten along great with their dog (non-greyhound) My fiancee's parents and their dog have stayed a weekend at my house and again, no issues with the other dog My dog was recently started on Proin for spay incontinence and pyrantel for hookworm. She was panting and getting a racing heart on Proin so we are playing with lowering the dose and she is finally acting normal on a low dose. She was panting and I think feeling kind of crappy yesterday. Thanks for any help you can provide because if there is any dog I need mine to get along with, it is my brother's dog!

We adopted a two-year-old girl in January. She's been wonderful so far and we love her, but she's recently had a change in her sleep pattern that is causing difficulties. For the first month and a half, she slept soundly through the night. For the last two weeks, she's woken up once each night between 2 am and 5 am, whining or sticking her nose in your face to ask to go out. If you ignore her, she'll bark until someone takes her out. She sleeps in our upstairs bedroom, so when she wakes us up, we always take her straight downstairs and to the door, and she goes outside for 3-5 minutes, then almost always comes right back upstairs with us and goes right to sleep. We both work during the day, so we can't keep waking up in the middle of the night, and we are at a loss for what is causing her to do this. Nothing has really changed in her routine. She seems to *only* want to go outside, not to play or eat, so it seems like a bad idea to just ignore her. So far, we've tried making sure the curtains are fully closed, taking her out multiple times before bed, and going out with her to make sure she isn't eating something that will upset her stomach. I've read online that waking up can be a sign that they are hungry, but she's a grazer and there's food in her bowl almost at all times -- it's not like she wakes up and instantly wants to scarf down some breakfast, or finishes dinner at 6 and doesn't eat again for 12+ hours. I don't *think* it's a medical issue, because she's crated for 9-10 hours while we are at work and she hasn't had an accident since her first week with us. (And she's not typically anxious/impatient when we check in on her camera -- she seems happy to nap in her crate for that amount of time). It's way too cold to go for actual walks right now, but we do play with her in the yard and she does zoomies every day until she gets cold, plus we encourage her to play with her toys indoors as well. She is being treated by her vet for a minor ear infection (ear drops) plus hookworms (pyrantel), and the waking up did start within about 3 days of giving her the hookworm treatment, but I don't see that listed as a side effect anywhere. We're going to ask him about it when we go for her followup visit in a couple days, just to make sure it's not medical, but I wanted to see if anyone else has experienced a weird change in sleep patterns with a young dog, or if anyone has any ideas about how we can correct it.

Hello. My wife and I recently adopted a 2 year old male greyhound about 6 weeks ago. Overall he has been settling in really great and seems comfortable and at ease most of the time. However, I am seeking advice whether there's anything we can be doing to help him not be so fearful or timid when meeting new people, particularly while in our home. Overall he is inherently shy and typically won't let strangers pet him. Even if he's met someone before it doesn't seem to matter. However, I wouldn't describe him as excessively fearful either - just guarded. He'll approach and sniff, but from a distance and on his own terms. Sometimes (not always) we can entice him to accept treats from a stranger, but that show of goodwill never parlays into him allowing them to pet him. My wife is a singing teacher who works from home and she teaches anywhere from 2 to 10 students in our living room per day. Part of the reason we became interested in greyhounds as a breed in the first place is because they aren't known as incessant barkers and they're typically used to being handled by strangers due to the kennel environment - both traits that are essential given my wife's line of work. Luckily, the singing and loud sounds don't seem to phase him at all. The first two weeks in our home he hardly payed any attention to the students, I think because at that point in his adjusting to our home there was very little differentiation to him between his relationship to them versus to us. The following two weeks we were essentially snowed in together, so no students came to the house and during that period is when he truly became acquainted with us and began to bond to us. However, since my wife began teaching again about a week ago he has growled, barked, and sometimes lunged at her students on several occasions. Again, he didn't pay any attention to them at all for two weeks at first so we had thought that he was comfortable with guests at the house. But now that he is comfortable with the house and with us he seems to perceive visitors as a threat. Now we are wondering what to do, especially if we can't get it under control soon. We can't afford to sacrifice my wife's livelihood for the dog. Ever since he began acting out I have tried to carefully oversee and observe all of his introductions/interactions with the students. All of the students have been very gentle, non-threatening, and respectful in how they approach him. In fact, he never starts out the gate barking or posturing aggressively. Typically, he'll come over in an innocuously curious fashion at first just to see who has arrived, and then after 10-30 seconds he'll suddenly bark aggressively and assume a defensive (and aggressive, from the student's perspective) posture without warning. Clearly, for some reason or another he is fearful of them in that moment even though they haven't done anything to warrant that response. After we intervene he calms down and pretty much doesn't pay them any mind for the remainder of their lesson. Overall it's a pretty minor interaction, and if you have prior experience with dogs it's pretty easy to recognize that he's not acting purely out of aggression and that there's no need to be fearful. However, my wife has no prior dog experience, and it's clearly a rattling experience for her students as well. Plus, he's a big boy, which in itself can be intimidating. Also, although I discourage it, lately he's started following them around afterward out of curiosity to the point of being uncomfortably close in some cases. I'm sure this is very intimidating for the students, and if it led to another outburst that would be very bad. My primary question is are there any exercises or training we can be doing to accelerate the process of him becoming comfortable with strangers in our home (and in general)? I'm sure that in a few more weeks/months he'll naturally acclimate to the parade of strangers in our home, but I don't think we can afford to keep up the "I'm really sorry, I don't know why he did that" response for much longer. Also, I have been working from home as well during the entire time since we adopted him. So not only have I been around to oversee his interactions with students, but I've been primarily responsible for his needs throughout the day and he spends most of the day following me around. However, I go back to work exactly a week from today, and if there's anything we can be doing between now and then to make him less fearful of strangers it would really help give me peace of mind. Given my wife's overall inexperience with dogs I worry about something happening while I am gone. Clearly the obvious solution is to crate him up whenever company is here, but I really don't see that being a long term solution given the large number of people we have over during any given week. However, perhaps in the short term that would possibly help to get him accustomed to the frequent visitations and perhaps reduce any associated stress he may be feeling? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks! - Derrick -

Hi Everyone, I am new to the forum and a brand new first time greyhound owner! My wife and I are extremely excited and love our new greyhound Arrow. She is 6, was a racer and was also mother to two litters of racing pups. We have had her about two weeks. 90% of everything is great, we are so happy! The one area that is becoming tough (besides stairs) is walking. She started off walking great, staying with us, not leading, etc. But in the last few days she has started freezing with increasing frequency and seems often not to really want to walk anywhere other than the backyard. There are a few factors I should mention: I have two residences due to work and every few weeks have to go back and forth between them (My wife and I work in academia; it's a pretty common situation in this field). Our dog was with us in our primary residence for the first week. Then we debated as to whether or not I should take her with me or leave her. I will be her primary caretaker and she will be staying with me 95% of the time, so we thought it best for her to go with me to bond as her primary caretaker. She did great in the car and did amazing on walks the first several days. But now the freezing has started. I've tried nudging from behind, which worked at first. I tried food, which doesn't seem to help that much. And the last few days she's really only wanted to walk around the unfenced back yard on the leash (which is pretty large), do her business and go back in. Also, I live on a main street here and the traffic can be quite busy, especially during rush hour. I'm wondering if this is scaring her off from venturing out? It wasn't an issue at all at first, but maybe something scared her? Any help would be much appreciated! I really want her to be healthy and happy! Thank you!

Does anyone have thoughts on dog parks? We've taken our new grey Arrow twice. I could tell she loved it so much - getting to run free and be with other dogs. And she generally did great both times. At one though, there were separate spaces for big and little dogs, and she seemed a bit obsessed with a chihuahua on the other side of the fence. Chasing it back and forth and barking. I felt like it made the dog's owner a little uncomfortable. I know she couldn't get to the dog in this instance, but I worry about her being in a shared space with a small dog. Do you all muzzle your greys when in a dog park with small dogs? The other thing that worries me a bit is the unpredictability of other dogs. I know greys' coats are thin and worry about some other dog getting too aggressive. Our grey loves to chase the other dogs, but she doesn't seem interested in anything more than sniffing and then running onto the next thing. But I can't help but feel like I'm gambling with her safety a bit every time I take her, though she so clearly loves the experience. Any insights? So grateful for this forum...

Let me start by saying, that we have dreamed of having our grey for over 20 years. My family and I recently adopted a greyhound a little over a month ago. He was only for 2 weeks with a foster family (after retiring from racing) before he came home with us; and we learned that although lovely people, the foster parents, were very disorganized and didn't do anything to help him transition to family life. We have been very blessed and lucky that a gentleman who assisted with qualifying us for the adoption lives nearby and has been helping us through our training struggles. We haven't had pets in decades, and it is the first time we own a greyhound. After helping us for 3 weeks straight, with his separation issues, Ami, our boy, is now with us full time. He doesn't take as long to get over whining and barking when one of us leave, which is a huge improvement as we live in a building and can't have that. But we have yet to all leave him alone, god knows what would happen then. Ami used to occasionally statue when going for a walk, but lately has become truly difficult. All the tricks we've tried work only a few times and then don't. We go to different areas as he likes variety, we were doing very good, we even had him jogging while we run, he always smiled when we did that. We were doing ok on walks for weeks and suddenly he went back to his old way, stopped dead on his tracks and statue, no pulling or going on circles to reset him worked; i refused to give him a treat to get him to walk as that would reward bad behavior. Then he would pull in the direction of going back home. I checked on him and he was shaking, his tail tense and tucked in. We have bothered our friend so much we are embarrassed to ask him what's wrong with Ami? What can we do? We had to change his diet cold turkey 2 days ago because the Purina food the foster parent was giving him was horrible and had moths. So we took a chance to switch him to much healthier food which he loves it. We know that his behavior might be a little difficult due to adjustment but walking was not really an issue. He couldn't have a more loving and caring family. We've done all the steps suggested by the person helping him train but this is truly heart braking. We are beyond frustrated. The level of inconsistency with him is extreme. We love him so much and he is part of this family, but want a normal pet. We had read that this breed make amazing pets, and very well behaved, and Ami has been anything but that. We have pushed past the many times we have thought of giving him back, but we love him so much we are still trying. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Hi all. We recently adopted our boy about a week and a half ago. I know it's all still new, and he's never been left alone, but we're having issues. We first started to use the crate and did alone training, but he really hated it. It would be a real struggle to get him in the crate and when left for a longer period of time, he chewed on it and bent the metal. I decided to instead put up a gate outside the kitchen and keep him in there with his bed. We left him for about 10-15 minutes, and when we came back in, we found that he had chewed up the gate door, chewed on our counter top, and had jumped over the gate. What can we do?

My greyhound will stare at me, then whine or bark. I don't know what he wants. I have tried letting him out, petting him, playing with him to no avail. I wish I could figure out what is behind this as I feel bad not knowing. Any ideas? This is our first greyhound and he's been with us since November.

We have had Genie for 6 months now and she has recently been very clear that she doesnt want to wear her coat or boots when going out. We live in MN and it regularly is only a few degrees, she refuses to poop unless she has been walked at least to the end of the block, no matter how hard we have tried to get her to do her business closer to the house. That means that we have to put on her boots and jacket to take her out. She used to be totally fine with the jacket (Slips over her head and velcros around the waist) and has been pretty good about boots (slip on and velcro), as good as you could expect. Within the last few weeks though she now puts up a fight to get her boots on to the point she will growl and snip at us. Just this week she now wont even let us get her jacket on, she again will growl and snip at us and go into her kennel and curl up refusing to come out. We know that she needs to go as when we do get her outside it is obvious she was holding it. She has never done this before and we have not changed her routine at all. Any help on how to get her cooperate or why she would have suddenly changed her behavior so much? We have tried give her treats for letting us touch her feet and play with them when she is laying around during the day. She seems to enjoy it if she isnt being strapped into her boots. We tried the musher wax for her feet but she snips at us when we try to apply that as well. I assume she just hates the cold but im not sure what to do about it.

Hi everybody! This is my first post, though I've been lurking the forums anonymously for a while now. This place has been such a great resource already - I love the community here! I'm hoping someone has had a similar experience with their greyhound and might be able to give me a little bit of insight to my hound's weird behavior. We adopted 3.5 year old Dewey in March - he's a huge goofball and pretty outgoing for a greyhound. He showed some pretty normal symptoms of anxiety for the first few months - he was scared of leaving the apartment at first, scared of cars and loud noises, scared to cross the street, and sometimes would freeze up in the middle of a walk and refuse to move. Through gentle but persistent encouragement we've gotten over almost all of these issues - he loves going outside now, doesn't mind cars, loves long walks, etc. Very occasionally now he will freeze on a walk if he is only with one of his two owners (me and my partner) - he prefers to be in a group. However, it doesn't feel like a problem. What has become a problem: over the course of the summer he started whining more and more - in the last month particularly it has ramped up a lot. He whines frequently throughout the day now, and it doesn't seem to be linked to a particular cause - he eats plenty, gets healthy treats and snacks, has fresh water always available to him, and it doesn't seem to be linked to having to pee or poop. We took him to the vet to make sure he's not secretly in pain, but he has a clean bill of health and the vet didn't seem to have a clue why this would be happening. We're hesitant to put him on anxiety meds because it doesn't even seem like he's particularly anxious - just loud! He whines any time either of us leaves the apartment or changes rooms. He whines while sniffing around the house. He whines loudly WHILE he's playing with and squeaking his favorite duck toy. He often doesn't even seem to be in distress - just whines for the sake of whining. We try not to acknowledge the noise because we don't want to reinforce the behavior, but often it gets so loud and irritating that we have to shush him. And the worst part is that it seems to be increasing in both volume and frequency of occurrence. Does anybody have experience with this strange random whining behavior, or barring that, an idea on how to address it? It's getting worse - what was once a mildly annoying quirk is now a majorly off-putting and frustrating behavior, and we have no idea how to fix it. Thanks for your time and help!!

My SO and I have had our greyhound for about 3 months. Every Monday-Friday, I take him out at 6:30 AM before I start getting ready for work. He was always totally fine with that, until about a week ago. He started softly growling, got louder, started barking, then snapping. I was always able to get the leash on him before any real snapping began, but today he snarled before I even got near him. I tried to pet him first, to show him it was okay, and he bit my hand. So I just reached in and grabbed his collar and pulled him up, thinking I was showing him who's boss. He showed all his teeth, his ears stood straight up....it was horrible. Once he's up and awake, he's totally fine. It honestly just seems that he'd rather keep sleeping. Anytime after 9:00 AM, he's totally fine going out. No aggression or anything. He never seems overly excited to be going out, but at least we don't have to forcibly pull him up. He's really not treat motivated at all. He always just avoids eye contact whenever we try to bribe him with a treat. My fear now is that I'm making him afraid. He knows the morning routine...I don't want him to associate anything negative, like myself or my SO pulling him up forcibly in order to get him outside. We've decided after today's incident to not grab him and force him up again, so as to not make him fearful of us. But the only alternative is to keep letting him sleep. Then he'll have to hold it until 5:00 PM that afternoon, which I think is way too long. Although he does seem capable of holding it for an extraordinary amount of time. Sometimes when we take him out when we get home from work, he'll only do a #1, and no #2. He'll do that before bed, so at that point, he basically waited 15+ hours, of his own choice though. Anyone else experience this or have any insights? I never want to out him or myself in another position to get bitten/bite, but I'm not sure what's the next best step.

My greyhound has been going upstairs in my house for the past year with absolutely no problems. Last Wednesday evening, he followed me upstairs when I came home from work as he always does. However, that night, he would not go upstairs for bed. No amount of persuading on my part would get him to budge. I tried treats. I even tried using a leash, which has worked in the past when he had been nervous with new stairs. However, he just pulled back. Since then, he has not gone up the stairs once. I don't think there is anything physically wrong with him, as I had him at my mom's on the weekend and he was going up and down her stairs without a problem. So he has clearly developed an anxiety about either my stairs or my upstairs for some reason. I wouldn't push him on it, however, he is very unhappy at night (as he usually sleeps in my bedroom upstairs). He is whining, pacing, and barking at night. I am at a loss as to what to do next to try to get him over this new fear.

I've had Henry about 4 months. He is the sweetest dog ever. And generally completely well behaved. About three weeks ago, I went out of town for work and the pet sitter said he started refusing to come in the main door to my apartment building. She said it would take him about 10 minutes to walk through the door. He has done the same with me ever since as well. He is very hesitant to walk over the threshold of the door. Sometimes he comes in easier than others. The entryway floor is tile and then carpteted stairs. He is fine with every other door way. Its very strange! The door has never slammed on him or anything like that. Could it be the tile? He just stands outside of the doorway wagging his tail and staring at me. It's very cute but annoying as well. I'm just trying to understand his hestitation? I don't pull on his collar, but after about 5 minutes of waiting and calling him in, I get behind him and nudge him in/ hug him and nudge him through the door. Then he runs up the stairs really quickly. Any advice? Thanks!!

We adopted our boy, Hank, in January. We started off with a very nervous dog, who had diarrhea for three months and finally has a negative fecal sample as of this past Monday. When we first got Hank, he whined anytime we left him home alone. We started with interval training and he couldn't even handle thirty seconds. Once we shut our condo door, he started yelling. We tried to let him work through it and recorded him, but it went on for three solid hours. We got home, he went to sleep and napped for 18 straight hours, mainly because he exhausted himself. He then started being destructive and self-harming (I'm a therapist in real life, so it's kinda funny how similar dogs are to humans). He chewed the crate apart, we would come home to him bleeding, and e urinated every day in the crate from panicking. He would be panting with nose drip puddles everywhere. We sought tons of help from our vet, who suggested medication. We eventually worked on him handling being in the crate with us at home, which was not a problem at all. Then we added PB Kongs, bones, toys, etc. and music, tv and even made a puppy playlist on YouTube for him while we were gone. It just made him yelp louder to be heard over the sound. We tried leaving him out with a muzzle on, and he knocked over a dresser, the night stands, the tv stand, chairs, and scratched up the front door. We tried leaving him out with the muzzle off, he chewed the door frames, any corner of the walls he could get, and scratched the front door more. For the past four weeks, we have successfully had him in the crate and on Clomicalm and given a Trazodone each day we would be gone for work (I only work three days a week and am home the other days with him). It worked very well, and he lay nicely all day long until we got home and was so happy to see us. It's like he learned we were coming home no matter what. This is good news, so we can slowly come off the trazodone. Last Thursday, I was out of town and my husband took Hank to the dog park. He loves the dog park and is very social, but a husky nipped his side and he had emergency surgery to put a drain in. He never showed signs of pain or discomfort, though I know he had both. But now, with this injury he can't run or go socialize with other dogs at the park. He's panting constantly, refusing food, vomited twice (vet says most likely from the antibiotic), nose is making so many puddles everywhere, won't lay still, and refuses to come home after walks. And then refuses to get in the crate. Now, even with the trazodone, he is whining and trying to break out of the crate again. He starting to be self harming again and destructive. He paces, pants, whines, and refuses to eat or come home after walks. When we get in the front door of our unit, he tries to sneak back out around us and runs down the hall. It's so bizarre! He was so comfortable last week until he got bit. I know it's traumatizing, but how do we create the safe space at home again?!

I adopted 3.5-year-old Tanner a little more than a month ago, and he's been such a great addition to our family. I think he's figured out that he's now in his forever home because just last week he started barking. It's a tail-wagging playful bark, but it's a little intimidating nonetheless and I'm not sure what he needs. He's usually been walked, potty-ed and played with. Anyone else dealing with random bouts of barking? I try to keep my cool when he does it and not react with barking back at him!

Hi, I've recently adopted a spooked female, Laila, she's 2.5yo. I didn't start the training yet, cause she is not even a month at home and it's hard to take her for a walk, I have to drag her, because I live in a apartment and she doesn't pee/poo inside. I've tried the pads, but she didn't get what they are for. Last week she started with a habit of taking things to her bed, like sandals, socks, yoga strap, anything that she has access. We hide everything, but she always find something. She doesn't eat or chew the things, just like to have them in her bed. I wasn't so bothered about this fact, because she doesn't go out of her bed the whole day, she just stays in our bedroom and doesn't explore the rest of the house, so coming to the hall and taking shoes from our mud room was to me a progress, but my husband said it was a bad behavior cause it would lead her to chew our shoes or eat bad things. Is this a common behavior? We bought some toys and let a used shirt to her in the bed, but she seems to not care about it. I know it's too early to demand anything from her, as she is very scared of everything and is off racing track since January. What can I do to avoid this behavior? Do I have to buy more chewable toys? P.S. This forum has helped me so much with my first Grey! I love all the topics.

I see a number of threads about leashed behavior, walking the dog, behavior issues, exercise needs etc. So many of these things and more, come together and are addressed in walking your dog on the leash. It seems terribly simplistic to say, but it is true (and it is that simple). At the risk of telling you all what you already know in one form or another: Many years ago, while involved with shepherd dogs, we used to really push the importance of walking your dog. Shepherd breeds, and most breeds to some extent, need physical and mental stimulation regularly or there will be serious consequences. That is why these highly intelligent dogs have so many active rescue organizations. People don't realize these needs and give up the dogs when behavior issues develop. While greys have the reputation of being couch potatoes and being low in trainability (NOT the same as intelligence), they actually benefit from exposure to many of the same principles related to working with high activity, high intelligence breeds. They do need both mental and physical stimulation (how they react to it varies of course). I have applied this to all of my greys and foster greys over the years, including spooks, vecros, and aggressives, and it always works to some degree. Greys are more than potatoes, and are actually above average intelligence (sources vary on this, also not to be confused with trainability). When done a certain way, walking the dog can be exercise, training, and therapy. It can be as simple as you walking the dog, and not letting the dog walk you. Benefits of walking your grey (or any other dog): Exercise - for the both of you. Bonding - from shared activity and development of trust. Reduce Stress - by providing both stimulation and exercise you tire your grey out, mentally and physically. Reinforce Roles - You are the boss. You are in control. You set the pace, you set the path. Socialization - and adjustment to the outside world. Routine - he gets/stays used to being on the lead and doing his business on the lead. When you walk your dog, you expose him to the outside world in a controlled bubble that reinforces the fact that you are the one in charge. You provide mental stimulation and physical exertion that helps reduce stress, anxiety, and behavior issues. You increase the odds that anytime a leash is clipped onto your dog, he will behave (it may not be just you that has to take him on the lead -things happen), and you also maintain him doing his business on the lead as a routine event. You build a comfort zone for your dog from the familiarity of the leash and the controlled environment of the walk. It also reinforces behavior that is desirable such as heeling, stopping at cross streets, better focus, and general obedience. The walk is its own reward for good behavior and over time, the more control that you maintain while doing it, the better the reward will be, because it will be more enjoyable for both of you. It helps your dog to trust you and increases the bond between you. It also makes the leash less of an event and more of a routine in general. This I learned with Aussies, but it is just as true with Greys: When you set the pace slower than your dog's natural pace, he has to think about what he is doing and it will actually tire him out faster. He will still be exposed to the stimuli from the walk itself, but the unnatural gait will tire him both mentally and physically. It also reinforces your role as the boss, which helps with obedience in general. If he pulls, while on the lead, then you stop and wait until he stops pulling before moving on. In the beginning, this will be a bit frustrating and will wear you both out very quickly, but over time it makes for a much more enjoyable experience for all involved. It's also easier than yanking on the lead and/or yelling to heel or stop, and reinforces the fact that you are leading him and he is matching pace to you. This isn't about absolute control over your grey and absolute obedience, even though I have used the words control and obedience several times each. It's about have a well adjusted retired racer, who feels secure in your presence and behaves while on lead. If done correctly in the beginning, the walk becomes less about the outside world and more about quality time for both of you. At the same time, the walk becomes more than just the walk, as you build a bond and trust between you that will affect all aspects of your grey's life. I absolutely think having a fenced yard is a benefit for both you and your grey. As is the opportunity to run off lead (when a safe opportunity and environment allows, such as in a fenced park). But they are no substitute for the walk. Even ten minutes of walk time a day, if he is getting enough exercise in the yard, makes a noticeable difference. Again, you walk the dog, not the other way around. Many grey people I know don't train their greys a lot of tricks, instead placing their emphasis on a comfortable retirement and acceptable behavior. There have been greys go on to agility training, obedience recognition, therapy or other service, but the majority of retired racers just become companions. Adjustment to home life is paramount. Behavior is a big part of that. Walking can be an amazingly powerful tool.

Hello. I'm new to this forum. I just adopted a small (~50 lb) red fawn greyhound, Freya, about four days ago. She's my first grey. So far the home introduction has been good, and she's remarkably well-behaved. One behavior quite puzzles me though, and I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions/has seen this before. Un-surprisingly, Freya gets up in the middle of the night to ask to go out (whimpers and pacing). I oblige her, and then she settles down. I assume eventually she'll be able to make it through the night. However, the last two nights she hops up at 4 am, wanders through the room once, and then begins to play bow and bark! It seems she wants me and my small dog, an Alaskan Klee Kai, to pop out of bed and play. When she does this, I immediately hop out of bed, tell her a firm "no", and lead her back to her bed and wait for her to lie down, then praise her. Sometimes she'll pop up a few times before settling. Any suggestions on why she might be doing this? Am I handling this in a greyhound-worthy way? My working theory is that she just gets bored sleeping through the night. We've had temps in the negatives for several days, so she may just be stir crazy since we've had to limit outside activity.... We're starting to get daily walks in, so maybe that will help?