Spooks & Shy Dogs Poll

[Guest isntitgreyt]

Molly was very shy and reclusive when she first came. She would run and hide and even cower if DH or DS came in the same room as her. She did that with me a few times until she realized I was the one that fed her. She wouldn't go near anyone who came to my house, she'd run up to her crate and stay there. The first time she went up to a man it was my brother. It surprised me. She was more afraid of men the women but it still took her a long time to warm up. She's finally over all that and greets anybody who comes through the door. She's still submissive at times with the other dogs but she has a "Queen" streak in her!

[Guest MyBoys]

Having had 10 greyhounds over the years my one and only true spook was my Gunnar, this boy was terrified of just about everything and everyone, it would take much to long to explain it all. He had been returned twice because of his issues before we adopted him. I wanted to adopt him because I knew I had the time and patience to work with him. I had no idea he was as severe as he was, but Gunnar and I worked as a team, he learned from me and I learned from him. It took almost 2 years for my boy to be comfortable enough to greet people comming in the house, although never outside our home. We lost our boy last March to OS, but I believe when he left this world he left a happy dog. I don't think a day goes by that I don't think about him, we had such a special bond.

[Guest tammy]

Chloe, my once spook is now a maniac in the privacy of her home, but reserved in the public.

 

DH used to have to crawl across the floor on all 4s to make contact with her. Now, she is all over him!

 

how long did it take? i have had my girl 4 mos and dh can still not pet or look at her.

 

Molly was very shy and reclusive when she first came. She would run and hide and even cower if DH or DS came in the same room as her. She did that with me a few times until she realized I was the one that fed her. She wouldn't go near anyone who came to my house, she'd run up to her crate and stay there. The first time she went up to a man it was my brother. It surprised me. She was more afraid of men the women but it still took her a long time to warm up. She's finally over all that and greets anybody who comes through the door. She's still submissive at times with the other dogs but she has a "Queen" streak in her!

[Guest tammy]

Let's see. Pearl was flown here from GPA - GO. The then director of the program labeled her a spook.

One of the top 10 worst spooks to ever come through their program. Her words, not mine.

Her airline crate was bungeed closed so she could not possibly escape from the crate. She wore a harness and a collar. She was personally attended by the pilot (also a greyhound owner).

When she got to this end, we rolled her into a closed off room the airport let us use and broke the crate down around her. Then we carried her out to the car and locked her in the crate I had in my car. I drove all the way home without stopping, put the car in the garage and shut the door before I even opened the car door.

 

That was just to get her home. The next 10 months were spent feeding the phantom dog we called Pearl. Did we ever see her? No, not unless we forced the issue. I can't speak for anyone else's dog, but yeah.......mine is a spook! <img src="http://forum.greytalk.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/lol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="lol.gif" />

[Guest tammy]

it is nice to hear there is hope. i have had my girl for 4 mos. she still will not let my 2 kids or husband pet her. well actually not even look at her! just trying to be patient. it just makes me feel bad for them and her. especially the kids. hard to explain to them that it's not that she doesn't like them. it would be nice it she eventually will come around. at least with the members of the household!

[krissn333]

Pinky was a bit shy when I got her...she was clearly uncomfortable in most situations. She is pretty friendly and outgoing now, even when we are out and about, but, it's still hard to GET HER READY to go out and about...she is so used to her routine that she tries to go to her crate and freaks out a little bit if we try to get her to come out so we can leash her up and go somewhere

 

When she first came home and my parents would stop by, she would not approach them for attention. She would stand in the back of the pack, quiet. Now, she buts her way in, she knows that grandma brings the good cookies

[Guest Plygreygirl]

My first Grey Carly was a very shy girl. I never considered her a spook because I just refused to let her go there!!! When she came to me she was afraid of just about everything!!! Men, loud noises, other dogs, kids etc. The list is kind of long. But I got lucky on a couple of fronts. I had a very understanding young male friend who came over and spend like 3 hours at a time just sitting next to her and slowing moving in. He did this 3 or 4 time over about a month and from that point on she would not hide behind me when a man approched us!!! She never became an outgoing girl but at least she would warm up after 1 min or two. <BR>Yes with time and lots of paticients she was able to over come most of her issues. I did what I could to give her as much confidence so that her daily life was not a totally stressful place.  But there where some things with her that no matter what I did I could not fix!! <BR>One of her biggest problem was fireworks, thunder, gun shots and anything that sounded like that. 70lbs of dog doing the high flying act in a circle that was always a site to see!!! And yes after three years I still miss her!!! It was all worth it she was such a wonderful companion. Quriks and all!!! Loved my cow dog!! Now I have a large white female Mia who not afraid of anything!!! And things that all laps are her's for the taking! Yes I have a 77lbs lap dog! But I would not have traded the experience for anything!!!

Edited May 15, 2010 by Plygreygirl

[Guest jennyfur]

I have just gotten a spook grey and would like some suggestions please. He is now it the fenced in yard and I cannot get him to come in. He has been there for a couple of hours. I have only had him a couple of days and when he is in the house he just paces and paces and paces. I feel really sorry for him and any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you so much.

[Batmom]

Tammy and jennyfur, you might want to start new topics so more folks will see your posts.

 

Jennyfur, there are a couple things you could try. One is a line of hotdog slices leading from the yard into your back door. Another is a line of hotdog slices leading to you (sitting on the ground, reading a book, with your shoulder toward the hotdog slices).

 

After this I would take him out only on leash, until he's used to coming to you, but you probably figured that part out already.

[Guest ishapespace]

3 hounds and the last was shy. It took him months to really get comfortable and not run everytime we tried to touch him or get gis collar. Our last 2 fosters started pretty shy as well, but imrpoved greatly within a few weeks.

 

I have just gotten a spook grey and would like some suggestions please. He is now it the fenced in yard and I cannot get him to come in. He has been there for a couple of hours. I have only had him a couple of days and when he is in the house he just paces and paces and paces. I feel really sorry for him and any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you so much.

 

If he's been outside for a couple of hours, you need to get him in. Not sure where you are located, but it's too hot for that here. I would suggest calling someone with your group to offer you quick advice. May take you a while to get what you need here. No offense to anyone, but it seems like something your group should be helping you handle since it's a more immediate issue. JMHO.

[Guest TeddysMom]

I have adopted another little girl who is a super spook, She is scared of people, traffic noises, vaccumn cleaners and lots of other things. She sat in an adoption kennel for two years and now in a foster home for a year. No one wants her so I was asked if I would consider giving her a home since we live in the boonies and she will only have to deal with DH and myself. Of course we are thrilled and am really anxious to bring her home. The saving grace is that she really likes a pack of dogs because they give her some security and the ability to blend in with the pack and not be singled out. She is a beautiful red fawn and I am already so attached to her that it is hard waiting for her to get here. Hopefully she will be here by the end of June. There is something special about being patient and letting the scared or spooks begin to come out of their shells, it is an awesome process to watch.

[galgrey]

...this morning Argos feared grass because it moved, an ice cream truck sounds sent him into shivers and shakes...a spanish voice on the tv had him so tightly melted into the corner that I had to extract him and do a lil doggie massage on him and sing badly to him...and a yorkie walking in front of our fence had him crying and scratching to get inside...but Galgos have a much crappier, tough life than most greys so I would imagine many more Galgos are spooky. We just love on him, show him it's ok, and hope someday the outside world is a bright, happy, cheerful place like inside home is for him.

 

(Lucius tried to open the gate t get said Yorkie...yay for locks! <img src="http://forum.greytalk.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />)

 

My galga, Irys, was severely traumatized and had zero trust in people when I adopted her. Wouldn't come out of her crate & shook so hard the crate would rattle and vibrate which scared her even more. She finally learned to trust me and was very happy at home but never really trusted other people much & would shake and tremble and make no eye contact with anyone if I took her out in public.

 

Although she's made a lot of progress over the past 4 years, my Carly is still shy/fearful and just plain quirky. It took months for her to come out of her crate. Then it took months for her to eat with the other dogs in the kitchen. I remember when she was finally eating happily in the kitchen with the other dogs for about two or three months and I ruined it all for her when I dropped a spoon on the floor while loading the dishwasher. She was so scared she fell trying to get out of the kitchen and back to her crate in the living room! I finally gave up feeding her in there and she now eats in the living room now where no one can look at her. She will not start eating if I'm looking at her. I have to put the bowl in her feeder, put the baby gate up & walk away before she'll approach the bowl.

 

She has lots of quirks and rituals about daily life. After four years, she's still so sensitive if I even use a mildly annoyed tone of voice she runs and cowers. She will also run and cower if she hears people arguing or annoyed with one another on television. She's happy to see me when I come home from work, but rarely comes to me unless she wants to go outside. She LOVES going outside & the word always brings her running to the door. Otherwise she's content to stay on her bed or on the sofa. She lets me pet her and brush her now, but I have to be slow and gentle or she gets scared. She loves to go for a ride in the car, but doesn't really enjoy going to M&Gs or events. She's much better about walking on a leash now and generally enjoys it unless we encounter a large truck, bus, or motorcycle or groups of people who want to pet her. She hides behind me if someone reaches out to pet her. She loves other dogs and really is much better around other people than she used to be, but she just really likes and needs the security of a familiar routine and environment to feel relaxed and happy. I just let her be Carly & that seems to work out just fine. Well most days anyway.

Edited May 19, 2010 by galgrey

[Guest arlosmom]

After reading most of the comments here I would have to take back my vote about having one spook. He does have some strange fears. The ceiling fan when stopped and thunder and sometimes he will seel something that scares him but he is highly socialble and friendly. Loves all children, other dogs etc.

[Guest Linusmom]

Linus is terrified of thunderstorms and similar loud noises. He also has an irrational fear of cats. This is a good thing, as he lives with eight of them. They take the high road (kitchen counter, dining room table, sofa back, ect.) and he takes the low road. Except for the living room futon. Pity the cat that decides to sleep there! It's one of the few times I've ever heard him bark.

[Guest bbquer]

We have also fostered three greyhounds and they were not spooks or shy dogs.

[Guest got2now]

To all the new moms and dads of spooks, especially Tammy and Jennyfur, first off - yay for you for caring and putting so much effort into your spooks. It takes a particular kind of person to care for a spooky grey, and spooks are hard to rehome. But spooks do have a very high payout rate in terms of love, commitment to owner, and behavioral progress. There should be a handbook on this because so many of us have gone through the same long process of acclimating a spook to a loving home and have lots of experience.

 

We've had our spooky girl for 5 years. The first couple of years were really hard on my young kids - they had waited for years for us to get a dog, and when we finally did, she didn't interact with them or their friends at all, and it was stressful for them to deal with a high-needs dog. I won't go in to details of her spookiness, but my kids got frustrated when their patience needed to be constant, and they could see no end in sight. All that has changed now, and besides just loving her and being patient, I'll tell you some of the things we did that worked or didn't, in chronological order.

 

1) dog behaviorist - didn't work

2) dog training class for sensitive dogs - didn't work

3) quit tip toeing around her and trying to keep things calm and quiet - helped a lot. We tried to stop reacting to external stimulae, and it rubbed off on her. For ex., she almost slipped out of her collar, and I almost lost hold of the leash on a walk one time. A noise spooked her, and she jerked backwards. Freaked me out, so we adopted a new leash hold and made a concerted effort to give NO REACTION to cars and other noises. When a pot or pan banged out a loud noise in the kitchen, we ignored it and her. She always looks to us for a reaction (kind of like I look at a flight attendant's reaction to a bumpy plane ride to see if I should worry or not), and if she sees us ignore it, she knows everything is ok.

4) getting a 2nd dog - helped A TON

5) putting her on generic prozac - a MAJOR turning point. About a year after we adopted our 2nd grey, I took him to UGA vet school for help w/ fear biting. The vet did a thorough work up and prescribed behavior exercises and generic prozac for our boy. A low dose worked so well on him that our home vet suggested trying it on our spook. It has been like a miracle.

6) thyroid meds - helped immensely. Her thyroid tests had been low for years, but that's not unusual for a greyhound and no action was taken. It is notable that her hair was thin and patchy, but that was always attributed to allergies. We finally did more extensive thyroid testing and sent it to UOhio, after which she was put on a low-dose of soloxine. This not only helped her hair to fill in, it made her a bit bolder and happier. I would say that it helped a lot.

 

I am convinced that some true spooks have problems that can be helped with training and patience to a great extent, but some of them have chemical or hormonal issues that can't be thoroughly resolved without medication. I don't like having her on medication, but her quality of life is so good now, and so is ours. She is a different dog. She has gone from severe spook to semi-shy dog. And the meds are cheap, thank dog.

 

Doggy prozac meds may be a controversial subject, I'm not sure, but after a time of trying everything else (3 years for us), it's something that's worth a talk with the vet about. Good luck with your spooks, everyone. They are the awesomest dogs and well worth the effort.

Edited June 8, 2010 by got2now

[jenn8]

These stories really show the love we have for these special pups. I am surprised at how many there are, bless their hearts... every one of them.

 

Jenn

[Guest AnnieAreYouOK]

When I first got Annie, the adoption agency said she will always be shy.

 

Then I read about the stories on how shy dogs overcome their fears, and it's so encouraging. I'm so glad that Annie is not a spook and I am 100% certain that she will turn around. It's just a matter of time.

Edited November 16, 2010 by AnnieAreYouOK