Barking Issues?

[Guest jeffexpress]

Hi everyone. My boyfriend and I just adopted a 2 year old greyhound. We have had him for almost 3 weeks now, so I know that he is still adjusting to us and our home. We crate him when we are gone -- usually no more than 4 hours at a time. He seems to have no issues with his crate; sometimes, he goes and sits in it, either with a toy or his Kong, when we are home. He sleeps in a dog bed in our bedroom. The door is blocked off with a baby gate at night. We feed him a mixture of Eukanuba and pumpkin, 2.5 cups in the morning and 2.5 cups at night. He also gets lots of small treats, as we are working on clicker training (in anticipation of an obedience course, which will begin in mid-January). We take him outside four times a day: right when we wake up, at lunch, after work, and right before bed. The walks range from 0.5-3 miles at a time. Sometimes they include stops at a local dog park, which is entirely enclosed. Our greyhound loves roaching (or, as we call it, sharking) and tummy rubs. He had a full checkup at the vet.

 

When we first got him, he would sometimes wake us up in the middle of the night by licking or sniffing our faces. He would go lay back down, though, almost immediately afterwards. It was almost as if he was checking to see if we were still there, so we chalked it up to his general clinginess. (He follows us around the house, even into the bathroom, and whines if we are out of sight). Four or five nights ago, however, he started waking us up by barking. We had never heard him bark before, so we were very surprised! What was most surprising, though, was how aggressive he was when barking. He ignored commands like "NO!" and "uh uh." He even tried to snap at my boyfriend, who was reaching out to try to comfort him.

 

(A similar event happened the next day, when my boyfriend and I were cuddling in bed. Our greyhound started barking at us until we got up.)

 

We were advised by our contacts at the greyhound adoption group to just ignore him when he barks -- advice that would be much easier to follow if we did not live in a condo. We also were told to try to muzzle him when he was loud or aggressive. (We put his muzzle on as soon as he begins barking, and we take it off as soon as he quiets and lays down.) This latter technique has helped. I also have a spray bottle at the ready, since my boyfriend is out of town on vacation.

 

But, today, our greyhound started barking at me when I was reading on the bed. Then he barked at me when I left the room. And he barked at me when I was on the phone. I had just taken him for a two-mile walk (which included several bathroom breaks); I had refilled his water bowl; I had given him his favorite stuffed duck. The only thing that he didn't have at the time was my direct -- and total -- attention.

 

So, my questions: is our greyhound just clingy? Is he just trying to get our attention? Is this some manifestation of separation anxiety? Are there any suggestions for curbing this type of behavior, particularly his aggressive barking? How do we better establish boundaries?

 

Thanks for any help!

[Guest scfilby]

Without seeing the behavior, it sounds to me like he is playing, or wants something. Our greys often have a burst of energy a couple of times a day. Our boy's playing includes air snapping which can appear like he is "snapping" at you, but is really just a form of play. The barking air snapping is usually combined with play bowing.. Our girl will bark and airsnap when she wants to go potty...

[Guest jeffexpress]

Scfilby: Thank you for your response! If it is playing, do you have any advice as to how to establish a schedule for him so he understands that 4:30am is not playtime?

[RobinM]

First of all, Welcome! What is your boy's name? 2ndly, Congrats on adopting a fabulous family member. 3rdly, it is only 3 weeks so there will be much transition for all.

 

He is still on -0- dark hunndred time and that will get better in time. Not at all uncommon.

 

The barking- it is almost like he is trying to tell you something. Possibly, play with me (4;30 is not acceptable unless he has to go pee/poop)It sounds like you are getting that under control with the spray bottle.

 

The snapping- was it like an air snap? If he wanted to bite- he would have. It may have been a warning to the BF. Does BF live with you or does he just visit? I am wondering if he is starting to feel protective of you.

 

Let BF feed him and give him treats, walk him etc so that your pup sees that wonderful things happen with the BF.

 

Is he really underweight? 5 cups is a lot of food! I give my 83 poubd greyhound 4 cups of proplan and treats. Be careful not to overdo the food.

 

Best of luck, keep us updated and please post pics!

 

This is our schedule: We do have a yard so it is different.

 

Out back between 6-7 AM. Some go at 6 some go at 7.

 

Breakfast @ 7:15.

 

Walkie @ 7:30

 

Out back @ 8:30

 

Work

 

Out @ 3:30

 

Dinner @ 5

 

Walkie @ 5:30

 

Out @ 9:00

 

Out @ 11PM.

Edited December 22, 2009 by RobinM

[Guest scfilby]

Scfilby: Thank you for your response! If it is playing, do you have any advice as to how to establish a schedule for him so he understands that 4:30am is not playtime?

 

Schedules usually come with time. I would usually suggest exercise and potty before bed, but it looks like you are doing that already. You might want to try reducing the amount you feed at dinner and give him a little snack before bed, hunger could be causing his restlessness at night. Also the temperature of your room (too cold??) could be causing him to wake.

 

Our pups have free roam of the house during the night and they will move from place to place. One on our bed, both on our bed, one in the crate, one on the dog bed, on the couch, on DD's bed, etc.. If the pups are cold they will want to be in our bed, if they are warm, they want to be on the floor..

[Guest jeffexpress]

Robin: Thank you so much!

 

Our greyhound, Tom Boonen (named after a Belgian cyclist), actually lives at my boyfriend's place! I go over there every afternoon to walk him, and I generally spend the night there. It might have just been an air-snap, but I was still a bit worried about it. TB has snapped at me, but only because I had just taken away a disemboweled stuffed animal without immediately offering up another toy. This situation seemed different -- but admittedly the stress and disorientation of being woken up so early may have contributed to my interpretation of the behavior.

 

TB was listed at 79 lbs on the adoption agency's form, but he weighed in at 74 lbs at the vet's office. Our vet said that he could stand to gain a bit of weight, so we gradually increased his food from 4 cups (what he was fed by his foster and in the kennel) to 5 cups. Perhaps we should drop it back to 4 cups, though!

 

Yesterday looked like this:

7am: out for a walk around the block

7:30am: breakfast

11:30am: out for a potty break, just in case (I had to drop my boyfriend off at the airport during his normal afternoon walk time)

2:30pm: out for a walk to the enclosed dog park, where he can run off-leash

6:15pm: our for a longish walk, 2.5 miles

7:30pm: dinner

10:30pm: out for a walk around the block

11:00pm: bed

 

Scfliby: It looks like some food changes are in order! Thanks again!

 

Here is a link to a picture (I can't figure out how to post it here):

Edited December 23, 2009 by jeffexpress

[RobinM]

Sounds like a good schedule and it does sound like you have done your reading which I commend!

 

See how his weight is and if he is gaining, you can start tapering a bit. You don't want to go from 5 cups a day to OMG he is 90 pounds and now can only get 3! No one will be happy.

 

OK- so TB lives at BFs house. You are there all the time? You are the primary or is it a joint venture? If you are doing the walking, feeding etc, let BF do it for a while. At least let BFgive treats.

 

HAs he done anymore snapping since those incidents?

[Guest jeffexpress]

We have bought (or checked out) at least 5-6 greyhound books now! They are slowly replacing all fiction books for us. The Dummies book was very, very helpful.

 

This is a joint venture, although my boyfriend is technically the owner (and the initiator of the adoption process).

 

The only other snapping incidents are when I have tried to take something away from him or held a treat in my hand for "too long" -- according to Tom Boonen, of course. We are still trying to teach concepts like "Drop It" and "Wait". Jeff is really taking the initiative on most of the training, so he does dole out a lot of the treats. (He is so good with the greyhound.) One issue is that he is out of town all week for the holidays. I think we will just have to make sure he does most of the feeding etc when he returns, just to get him back into things.

 

Owning a greyhound has been so rewarding already, despite all of the stress (and the very loud barking in the middle of the night)!

[RobinM]

We have bought (or checked out) at least 5-6 greyhound books now! They are slowly replacing all fiction books for us. The Dummies book was very, very helpful.

 

This is a joint venture, although my boyfriend is technically the owner (and the initiator of the adoption process).

 

The only other snapping incidents are when I have tried to take something away from him or held a treat in my hand for "too long" -- according to Tom Boonen, of course. We are still trying to teach concepts like "Drop It" and "Wait". Jeff is really taking the initiative on most of the training, so he does dole out a lot of the treats. (He is so good with the greyhound.) One issue is that he is out of town all week for the holidays. I think we will just have to make sure he does most of the feeding etc when he returns, just to get him back into things.

 

 

Owning a greyhound has been so rewarding already, despite all of the stress (and the very loud barking in the middle of the night)!

 

 

OK I musunderstood, I thought TB was snapping at you BF more. I wanted TB to see that good things happen with your BF. I would just keep doing what you are doing. As scfilby said, it's hard to determine without seeing it first hand.

 

When I adopted my Polli, she would wake us up in the middle of the night, crazy barking. Them she would insist on going out in the middle of the night and bark at nothing. I would have to go out in 17 degree weather at 2am and bring her in. That passed.

 

It takes time to settle in and once you think you are, he will come up with something else!

[Guest jeffexpress]

Writing in with a little update. Tom Boonen has been generally doing well. We had a slight pooping issue, but that seems to be more manageable lately (thanks GreyTalk!)

 

Tom Boonen has been doing really well at night nowadays. He is quiet & calm for the majority of the night. He'll wake up briefly in the morning, but then after being told "Tom Boonen: Go to Bed" he'll let us sleep until his 7:30a walk time. Awesome.

 

Of course now we're trying to get him to be quiet during the day when he is home alone. He's only alone twice a day for 4 hours with a walk in between around lunchtime, but boy does he make a racket. I've been recording him and it is pretty intense.

 

We went back to crating him and I've tried to make his crate fun by putting in a Kong, a Buster Cube, his favorite hedgehog, leaving the TV on, etc. Today I covered his crate with a sheet to make it cozy too and he's been getting Rescue Remedy with his treats.

 

Any other tips to help him stay calm during the day would be appreciated...

 

In other good news Tom Boonen has been doing great. He is better & better at walking on his leash. The commands "Come here" and "Lay down" are getting through to him now (as long as there isn't too many food-style distractions). He also isn't as clingy anymore. Before you couldn't walk a step without him underfoot. Last night he went to our bedroom to laydown while my girlfriend (the author of our initial post) & I watched TV in the other room. A week ago that would've been unbelievable. The little guy is really changing on us & for the most part for the better.

 

Edited January 5, 2010 by jeffexpress

[dlgwarner]

Welcome to GT and congrats on your new family member. I've had Ringo for 13 months now and I can remember some of my early posts. Advice often came with "hasn't been that long..." "still getting adjusted..." "be patient...", etc. While I knew they were right, it still was a little frustrating because it felt like we already knew him so well and I had really done my homework.

 

Thirteen months later I can honestly say, they were all right. Thing is, they keep changing, even after a year. Here's the funny part. Ringo never used to bark, unless he wanteded to go out or needed water and we missed his more subtle cues. But recently (last 6 weeks or so) he has been barking at me whenever he is not eating or sleeping and I'm not paying attention to him. Well, thats a little exaggerated, but not much. I've been putting my findgers in my ears (he's really loud" and ignoring him. after anout a minute or so, he lays down and waits. after he has been quiet like that for a short while(30-90 seconds) I go over and give him belly rubs etc. It started when iwhen we were atching the playoff and World Series (big Phillies fns), but it has recently gotten worse. I was going to post when I read your posting, so I figured I'd add on.

 

I'm sure that things were a little exacerbated by my being home on vacation for two weeks and then suddenly going back to work. I think its also made a little worse because its been miserably cold lately and we haven't spent much time outside walking or playing. So I think he's getting a little stir crazy.

 

As for barking a lot while you are gone, it sound ike a bit of separation anxiety. The crate is a good idea, to keep him from damaging your house or hurting himself. I've read that greys, because they are sight hounds, are more secure when they can see their surroundings. So covering his crate may actually worsen his anxiety. There are some good techniques for desensitizing your dog to your being gone (just search separation anxiety and you'll find greyt advice from many with more experience than me.

 

The other thing that helps a lot is something to keep him busy. greys are smart, alert dogs and can get easily bored. Ringo loves to chew, but won't chew a Kong for very long. I give him a frozen (raw) beef marrow bone every so often. He loves them and one large one (about 4-6 inches long from the meat case in the grocery store) keeps him busy for hours. Once he's gotten all the marrow out, I fill it with peanut butter and freeze it. I strongly recommend you don't leave him with one unsupervized initially. They can splinter and be a choking hazard. Also, some hounds tummies are sensitive. I'd give him one for about a half hour, while you are around to keep an eye on him. When you take it away, have a "trade-up" ready for an immediate exchange (warm hotdog works well)because they can be very defensive of special treats. Until you know him VERY well, its important to respect the fundamental nature of dogs. I just put the bone in a plastic bag and stick it back in the freezer till next time.

 

Hope this is helpful. It sounds like you're doing a greyt job getting to know TB and helping him adapt to life as a pet.