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[Houndess]

The best advice I got was for the first 48 hours your job is to make the dogs feel safe. By that I mean, ignore or prevent behaviour you don't want. This is not the time to punish or correct. Once your babies feel they can trust you, learning can begin. They will tell you by their actions when they are ready to learn.

 

The first 48 hours in your home is NOT the time to come down hard on them AT ALL. And its a lot of work to ignore or prevent behaviour you don't want. Trust me, I was hopping! Dashing from one end of the kitchen to the next in order to prevent him from counter surfing. And by just standing between him and the counter, he got tired of trying to access it. BTW - I've had my grey for three months and he won't touch anything on my counter.

 

Best of luck. I've had many dogs and this is my first grey and I'll never have anything but a grey again. In my opinion, they're the perfect dog.

 

: )

[Guest gst]

Back to one of my earlier questions.

 

Here in the deep south it only gets cold every so often.

 

This week it is supposed to drop into the mid 30's at night

but stay in the upper 50's during the day,

what type of coat should I get the new dogs?

[Guest ChrissyB]

Welcome to GT. This site is addictive.

---Coats: Your best bet is to order them from a greyhound vendor. Just Google and you'll find bunches. Coats you might find in a pet store often won't fit around their deep chests. I have 2 coats by Chilly Dogs. I love them!! www.chillydogs.ca

 

Enjoy your newbies. Post often and let us know how they're doing.

[Guest whatahound]

Welcome from North Carolina. So sorry about Winston.

 

After having a Dalmatian, I guess cow doggies was the obvious choice. Their beautiful..... Congrats.

[winnie]

 

Welcome from VA. You have two beautiful greys - enjoy!

[Guest TBSFlame]

Hi guys,

 

Thought I would introduce myself.

 

My name is Gary, I live in Mobile Alabama.

 

My wife and I lost our dalmation of 14 years "Winston" last May,

and my wife has grieved ever since.

 

She recently decided it was time for a new dog, and she talked to some

folks that reccomended adopting a greyhound.

 

So yesterday, we went to the greyhound adoption center here in town

to visit a greyhound we had seen to their website.

 

Once we got there they showed us several different greyhounds.

Happily while we were there another guy came in to adopt a greyhound,

a beautiful brindle, so we had several happy greyhounds running around

playing with us and each other.

 

We left there yesterday after adopting not 1 but 2 greyhounds.

 

Today Country Law and Pat C Wafer are getting their required vet visits and

fixes, we will pick them up Friday at lunch, so we will have the whole

weekend to spend with them prior to returning to work on Monday.

 

Wafer is a female 3 years old and Law is a male 2 1/2. Both are White/Black

with plenty of tick marks and both are large, in the 60 pound range.

 

Needless to say we will have our hands full for the next few weeks.

 

I would appreciate any suggestions for us new greyhound owners,

especially concerning anxiety when they first enter a new home,

leaving them home during work hours, and

what types of coats or blankets are best to keep them warm even here

in the deep south.

 

Thanks,

Gary

 

I have always said it is easier to have 2 greys than 1. IMO

 

Congratulations. So sorry about Winston. We had a dal and they are very different from a greyhound. Greys are sensitive so just allow them time to adjust. I do believe they will be a lot of confort to each other. Enjoy them and thanks for adopting a greyhound. You will never be sorry they are the most loving dogs.

Edited January 16, 2007 by TBSFlame

[Guest loveagrey]

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of greys,

from Ontario, Canada!!!

 

Beautiful puppers you've got there!! And I love their names!

 

Just remember....

[Wonder]

Welcome

[Guest kristijewell]

I'm very sorry for your loss of Winston.

 

Congrats on the new family members! You are going to have a wonderful time.

[Guest gst]

Pickup new pups today

 

Couple of hours to go till I pickup the new pups.

 

Almost couldn’t sleep last night because I’m so excited.

 

My daughter just moved back to within 50 miles of us after living 900 miles

away, we are keeping her 17 year old golden retriever “Walker” for her until she can

buy a house, her apartment doesn’t allow large dogs. He was a dog used for research

at Auburn University, and my daughter rescued him from being put to sleep.

His name is “Walker” because as a puppy, when ever he was ready to go out he would bring

you his leash and once outside you could drop his leash and he would walk himself.

I hope he doesn’t mind sharing our house with the new pups.

He is old and blind, and he sleeps most of the time.

 

I hope he can handle the whirlwind that will be occurring during the next couple of weeks.

 

Anyway, I can’t wait to pickup the new pups.

 

We have been busy puppy proofing the house, and gathering supplies. I finally got the

“Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies” book, wow what a great book.

The one thing I haven’t found are coats or PJ’s, it gets cold here occasionally but doesn’t

usually last that long. One lady recommended, “If you have an old flannel shirt,

trim the sleeves, put it on them backwards, button it up and tie the tail around their back.

 

I picked up a toy the other day at Wal-Mart called a “Zoink” made by Sargents.

It appears to be the same as a Kong except that is made in the shape of a fire hydrant.

Has anyone used one of these?

 

Have decided to keep their current names “Law” and “Wafer”, that’s just one more thing

to make things less confusing for them. I figure the easier it is for them, the easier it will

be for us.

 

Don’t have a digital camera, but will try to get some decent pictures with my cell phone.

[winnie]

Please keep us posted after you pick up your new pups. I know how hard the waiting can be! I'm glad you were able to get the "Retired Racers for Dummies" book - that book and the one by Cynthia Branigan were invaluable to us when we got our first grey this past April. Once again... congratulations!

[Guest gst]

Finally got the pups home, the wife wanted to go by the pet store so I could spend another gazillion dollars then wanted to go by work and show off the pups, then to the house. If they are as worn out as me they will sleep well tonight. Time for a cold beer or maybe something stronger.

 

Anyway they are home and are getting comfortable. They are ok with the older dog we a keeping for our daughter. "Wafer" has already shown that she trusts me. We were outside and a train came by with the whistle blowing, at first it scared her and she came straight to me and I rubbed her ears and she was ok.

Law on the other hand is still very stand-offish when I am standing, but if I am sitting and Wafer comes over to me he gets jealous and has to come over and get his ears rubbed too. Law loves his backyard though.

He got out there earlier and ran it like it was the track.

Sorry no pics to post yet, I took some cell phone pics but Outlook on our computer is acting up, I'll get some posted as soon as I can.

[Guest argolola]

Congratulations! They are both adorable!

 

As far as coats (or pj's) I have gotten some on Ebay. Some of our GTers make and sell them too.

 

You will LOVE greyhounds!

[Guest jackjack]

Congrats and welcome! Very nice pair of cow-dogs!

[Guest FreddyGirl]

Go c owboys!!

[Guest stealthydog]

Welcome from MO. I was pretty anxious about getting a coat for mine as the winter months approached, but he is really like a furnace. I only use a coat on him if the temps are under 25. Of coarse, some greys get cold easier than others. Try the shirt thing first until you find out how they react to the cold. I got a really greyt coat from Ebay.

[Guest gst]

Hi gang,

 

Thought I'd give you an update. As I am sitting here "Wafer" is on the floor right behind me and Law is pacing in and out of the room. After an almost slepless Friday night, because the Old Golden Retriever grumbled all night about having to share his house, everyone got a good nights sleep last night.

Took the pups to the vet yesterday to introduce them, the vet was very impressed and said they were in extremely good condition (thank you adoption center), he even mentioned he may adopt one himself.

Got home and they ran and ran in their backyard, the squirrels and rabbits are learning very quickly.

Lucky for them when the pups take off from the patio they must pass through a gate then turn either right or left into the big back yard. My house and yard are surrounded by woods and the local varmints have always felt free to roam anytime they want, NOT ANY MORE, there's a new sheriff in town, "LAW".

 

They have both established where they want to sleep, "Wafer" has taken over a large "papasan" chair pillow in the middle of the bedroom and "Wafer" likes a rectangle doggie pad between the bed and the wall on my wife's side of the bed.

"Wafer" has really calmed down and is responding to the commands "outside", "inside", and "come to me".

"Law" I think is still going through the "where do I fit in with the pack" stress. He is still stand-offish, and will

approach but is still skittish.

He is much better with my wife, it could be my baritone voice which is naturally kind of intimidating.

I have tried getting down on the floor with him, to help him understand not to be afraid.

He will appoach me wagging his tail and then when I speak he will lower his head and tuck his tail.

[Guest greytdame]

Hey Gary,

Welcome and Law and Wafer are two gorgeous pups! Sounds like everything is going really really well in your home. I'm not sure you got my post from EEG, but we do have a GPA group here in Mobile. Yes, I'm in Mobile too. I've got 2 greys of my own, 2 foster greys right now, 2 live stuffies, and 2 cats. Hubby thinks I'm insane! Anyway, we are fortunate to have all kind of activities and lots of folks who've been involved with the houndies for a long time right here in town. Go to the website, gpasouthalabama.org to see a list of the local activities for greys. We also have a communication board, (nothing like GT, it's the best) but you can join that group from the gpa website. It's mostly about activities we're doing in this area. You can also buy some stuff for the greys and the skin folks from the gpa group. Just to let you know, I don't use coats on my houndies. It's just not cold enough. They like to run in the cool weather and then head on back in to their sofa. Most of the folks I know around here don't use coats but it is certainly a personal choice. I spend my coat money on fancy martingale collars, stuffies, beds and the like. Anway, welcome, welcome, welcome and hope to meet you and your family in person, uhhhh, grey, soon.

 

Kathy & the gang

[Guest twogreytgreys]

[Guest neworleansmama]

Welcome and congratulations on two stunning dogs.

I finally ordered some lightweight flannel coats for the dogs to sleep in here in New Orleans, but only because we live in an old house that we keep chilly at night. Until the coats came they slept in old T-shirts on cold nights. They never wear them during the day.

[rycezmom]

Welcome from Miami. I see that you found out that these hounds are just like bar-b-que chips. You cant have just one. Our house finds that three is the managable number. Have fun and post more pics please.

[Guest gst]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS.

 

 

After 3 days of being sooooo careful, I think I messed up getting "Law" to trust me.

 

It has been raining all night long and this morning we got the pups up and they were ready to

go outside for their morning potty, since it was raining instead of going straight out to the patio

we went to the garage first, so we could dry them off on the way back in, and then headed out

to the patio, my wife passed me an auto opening umbrella, my first big mistake

I popped it open and "Law" took off like a high speed power boat pulling a water skier.

 

I threw down the umbrella, got him under control while standing in ankle deep water and we proceeded

back to the garage. He ran back inside straight to his crate and refused to come out.

I sat down and leaned in the crate to dry him off with a towel and re-assure him everything was ok.

 

I almost cried because he has always been skittish, and I have been trying so hard to gain his trust,

I guess I'll have to start all over.

"Wafer" didn't like the umbrella either but she just shied away and once back inside she was ok.

[Guest gst]

Finally got pictures, my company allows a couple of cats and a couple of small dogs to run free in the company every now and then, and my company President insisted that I bring the pups by after we adopted them. My company President sat on the office floor and took pics of the pups in the office. (The pics I took with my cell phone at home were fuzzy and so I choose not to post them).

 

Law posing for the President:

 

Wafer posing for the President:

 

Wafer checking out the guys pouring concrete outside the window: