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For those who don't know me, here are some recent threads I made roughly 2-3 weeks ago: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/316371-fustration-level-is-maxed-i-need-help-sa/ http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/316276-left-the-dog-bed-abit-to-close-to-her-cratepart-2/ http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/316122-left-the-dog-bed-abit-to-close-to-her-crate/ As you can see by these 3 threads, my 2 year old girl Trace has been suffering from seperation anxiety TO THE MAX. It's been just over a week now and she finally goes in her cage while I am getting ready for work, and knows the routine and gives out a slight wine when I close the cage, but does not rip apart the cage nor cry the entire time like she was doing before!! This is a huge step, and I am so glad it is getting better- and just wanted to update you all! I took HUNDREDS of steps to try and help her, but here are the steps I took that actually made a huge difference: THE CAGE- When I first adopted my girl, I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible. In my head I figured "The bigger cage the better, no?" WRONG. I switched out my 48' long metal cage for a 40' Plastic cage (Shes a smaller grey, 60ish lbs) and she fits perfectly fine in there. This also helped because she cant BEND and BREAK the metal bars like she was doing with her 48' cage, because there are no metal bars to break! ROUTINE, ROUTINE, ROUTINE!- I have a set routine- 9/5 job and come home at 12-1 for lunch to let her out- BUT on WEEKENDS I was not doing this routine, I would sleep in and spend the entire day with my new pup! MISTAKE!!!! When monday rolled around it was like the routine was non-existant. So what I have been doing for the past 3 weeks is EVEN on weekends I wakeup the same time, let her out, and leave to go to the gym/shopping/ANYTHING I can think of. As this goes on I will make the time shorter and shorter, but for now- this routine stays. Both of these made a enormous difference- and added in with a Kong and some Grilled pig ears, and shes set. Ofcourse she does not LIKE going in the cage at the moment, she actually dreds it and I have to give her a slight push in, BUT I can tell her anxiety is going down. No crying, No Gnawing at the cage to get out, Panting is getting less and less. I just wanted to let you know, the first month I had her was filled with fustration- and everyone kept telling me it gets better and better and better and I just could not beleive them from what I was witnessing. BUT THEY WERE RIGHT! I've had her for just over 2 months now and she has overcome a tremendous amount of things- ranging from stairs to walks to now her cage. If you are fustrated and it is your first time owning a grey, just give it time. It really does get better Cheers!, Mike.

Hello! I am so glad this community exists. I have been lurking for a while, but I have a question for you SA experienced greyt parents out there. I have a new rescue, a little girl named Kira that is 2.4. She only ran two races and she was very lucky to be retired early in September First, I want to say that I know this is only day 5 and (after reading this forum) I realize that I have been extremely lucky. She is calm and has even started playing/tail wagging. I have never met a more chill or tolerant dog. I can touch her mouth, paws, ears, and she is okay. She also pees and poos on a leash! We had an issue yesterday that is making me worried...I locked myself out for 1.5 hours (don't ask). She had no radio or stuffed Kong toy. When I got back in she had clawed and chewed the front door. The neighbors said she cried loudly the entire time. No accidents, and it was right before her normal walk. I will have class for 6 hours starting on Monday and we will crate her then. She is on that schedule now and holds it just fine. I'm a bit worried by the crying. I wonder if she hears other people in the apartments around us and feels lonely? Here is a little background information: She was matched to us because we live in an apartment and can only have 1 dog. The organization said she'd be okay alone, that she was very quiet, and didn't seem to be a redecorator. She is socially motivated and not always interested in treats. However, she was not in foster care at the rescue organization. Do to some emergencies, they had to place her in an kennel for two months until we adopted her. The conditions probably were not great and the organization won't ever place a dog with them again. She still has kennel coat, bald patches, and knobs on her elbows from insufficient bedding. She was much more anxious then she had been when they placed her there. She was also attacked by a non grey 2 weeks ago at the kennel. She is healing and okay with me treating the wounds, but she is now terrified of other dogs. Other than getting her spayed, she has not seen a vet since her vaccinations before her transport from Ireland. We are taking her for a work up on Tuesday. Any advice for getting her more comfortable around other dogs? She hides behind me on walks. i am wondering if the kennel or the attack might have triggered anxiety and if she has SA? Otherwise, she isn't a velcro dog. She hangs out on her bed while I am in other rooms. This forum has been great for alone training advice. I put on the radio sometimes when I'm not leaving so she doesn't associate it with being left. I also put on coat and jingle keys, leave for 30 seconds and come right back. I've been careful not to overdue the attention. I tried to get her used to the baby gate last night. She freaked and cried when I used it to quickly clean. She also loudly cried when my husband and I closed the our office door to assemble her crate. We wait until she stops and ignore her until she calms down to not encourage her. It seems to be getting worse. However, no gate or door and she doesn't always want to be in the same room. Any advice in addition to going to square one for alone training? Is this normal for a grey's first week in the house? Is there anything I might have missed? Sorry, still figuring out how to post a pic of her pretty face.

Hello once again everyone! I posted here abit ago about how my newly adopted 1.5yr old greyhound Trace was having a few problems (stairs, freezing on walks, etc). She is now no longer freezing on walks, and we are conquering the stairs day by day little by little!!! Shes is doing absolutely awesome, and I'm coming up on almost 3 weeks from the adoption day! There is only ONE problem left! And its her separation anxiety! I work Mon-Fri 8-4 and go home from 12-1 to let her out. She is crated and everytime I leave she cries like MAD. (I set up a doggy-cam so I can watch her while I'm at work-- if anything bad happens I can drive home quickly since I am only 5 minutes away). I can see her crying on the webcam and biting the metal hinges on the cage to try and get out. But the crying isnt he worst part. The worst part is everyday from that 8-12 time frame (even if she goes #2 in the morning walk) she will poop just a LITTLE bit in the cage. Like when I say little I mean LITTLE. I don't know why she does this- I'm thinking it's because of the anxiety thats making her stomach upset to give out a little bit of poop, but I'm very unsure. Does anyone have any advice on this? Problem #2 is- I don't think her food is cooperating with her very much. I feed her Blue Buffalo food which is the most expensive high quality food to get, and she is pooping 3 times overnight on my floor with VERY runny poops. I know she is not meaning to do this because when I fed her brand name food for the first week I had her she was fine- now with the high quality food her poop is running and VERY often! Should I go back to the cheap(er) type of food? Thank you so much!!!!! Here is Trace at the park yesterday! Finally had nice weather -- https://www.instagram.com/p/-9rGyNAdlj/?taken-by=mike_stabach

Hello All, We have had "Clem" for approximately 7 months now. During this time we have transitioned from keeping him in a crate (as he was getting his teeth stuck on the the wire) to now just keeping him gated in our family room while we are at work. We have had not problems with this until this past 7-10 days. The only thing that is new to the family dynamics is that our children started softball and baseball. I have brought him to practices and games (when they are at our home field where I know that dogs are allowed) but on nights that the games are away, we have put him back into the family room. On Monday night once we were home from my son's game that Clem had chewed and scratched the woodwork surrounding the door frame where the gate is located. Then last night upon returning from my daughter's game he not only scratched / chewed the other side of the door frame but also scratched our french doors leading to our porch. (We do not let him have free rein of the house as we have hardwood floors throughout our kitchen and dining room. Clem does not lay on the throw rugs on the floor and so he really struggles to get up off of the hardwood. We are fearful that he will hurt himself getting up since he looks like Bambi on Ice plus scratch and damage the floors.) My husband is always the last to leave in the mornings for work and this morning he gave Clem a chew like he does every morning before leaving. Once he shut the gate, Clem immediately left his chew (which he never does) and came running to the gate. By the time my husband went into our garage Clem was barking and yelping uncontrollably. With fear of Clem hurting himself or the house, my husband went back inside. At that point Clem wanted to go outside. He let Clem out and waited a bit. After a while he tried to get Clem to come back into the house and Clem would either run away from my husband or lay down. At one point it even seemed like Clem was shaking. Eventually my husband got Clem to stand and then tried to lead him into the house by holding his collar (he didn't have his leash outside with him) and Clem was like a statue. I spoke to the President of our rescue who then spoke to a few other members of the group. They suggested a behaviorist or just muzzling him. Wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions for us too. We do not have any other dogs or cats.