Guest ThreeOhFive Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Our eight-year-old greyhound Sara, who is a very sweet girl, very timid and shy, and never has presented us with a problem before is now suddenly having issues while in her kennel. Typically she never barks, unless she is really excited, but in most cases she will roo it's the cutest thing ever. She's never had behavioral issues. Recently, we rearranged the bedroom in which the dogs sleep. There are two kennels in the room, one is Annie's, (she's normally the naughty one ) and Sara. The kennels used to be side to side, but they are now facing each other. We did this about a month ago, and everything seemed fine. They slept well and were quiet. For the last week or so, Sara has been waking up the whole house at night. She'll start whimpering, which is then followed by what sounds like "sad" barks, and then after a few minutes of that, she starts barking like she's paniced. It's very loud, and being a full-time college student who also has a full-time (and very stressful) sales job. I normally get home at 11pm or midnight, have dinner, go to bed at 1am, and then have to get up at 6am to comute to school in the morning. I get VERY little sleep, and I haven't gotten any now for a week! I'm not sure what the problem is, I switched her kennel with Annie's for a night, I washed the mats and blankets (even though they were clean), her kennel is fine. I'm worried about her, and now starting to worry about myself as I drive hundreds of miles each day and am now so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open while driving. Her behavior is creating quite the problem and it's so strange because it's not like Sara to do this at all. It's wierd to hear her bark, she just doesn't do that! I feel like I have a newborn child, having to get up and go see what the problem is. I have let her out a few nights, but she still seems on edge all night and keeps me up. If this is bad behavior and she is looking for attention, I don't want to be encouraging it by attending to her everytime she starts barking! Has anyone here had this problem? I need your help! Thanks in Advance, Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macoduck Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I could be the rearranging of the crates. I remember some time back about a GT member who rearranged furniture, much to the dismay of their greyhound. They had to put the offending piece of furniture back in it's original location and then daily - a few inches at a time - moved the piece. Could it be that in the new location Sara is cold? Is shee under/near a heating vent? Could you drape a blanket over the crate or cover her with one? Quote Freshy (Droopys Fresh), NoAh the podenco orito, Rita the podenco maneta, Howie the portuguese podengo maneto Angels: Lila, the podenco, Mr X aka Denali, Lulu the podenco andaluz, Hada the podenco maneta, Georgie Girl (UMR Cordella), Charlie the iggy, Mazy (CBR Crazy Girl), Potato, my mystery ibizan girl, Allen (M's Pretty Boy), Percy (Fast But True), Mikey (Doray's Patuti), Pudge le mutt, Tessa the iggy, Possum (Apostle), Gracie (Dusty Lady), Harold (Slatex Harold), "Cousin" Simon our step-iggy, Little Dude the iggy ,Bandit (Bb Blue Jay), Niña the galgo, Wally (Allen Hogg), Thane (Pog Mo Thoine), Oliver (JJ Special Agent), Comet, & Rosie our original mutt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houndtime Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 My daughter's greys get diarrhea is she so much as gets a new piece of furniture or dares to move a piece of furniture in her house. Some of these guys are very sensitive. Maybe if you put them back side by side or put a cover over Sara's crate to create a den for her. Quote Irene Ullmann w/Flying Odin and Mama Mia in Lower Delaware Angels Brandy, John E, American Idol, Paul, Fuzzy and Shine Handcrafted Greyhound and Custom Clocks http://www.houndtime.com Zoom Doggies-Racing Coats for Racing Greyhounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TBSFlame Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 How many hours a day is she in the crate? It sounds like she didn't like the change. Maybe she is not feeling well...something could be hurting. Maybe she is not getting enough attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThreeOhFive Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 How many hours a day is she in the crate? It sounds like she didn't like the change. Maybe she is not feeling well...something could be hurting. Maybe she is not getting enough attention. Thanks for all the reply's everyone. She's normally in her kennel when no one is home, which is about 5-6 hours from 11am to around 3-4pm. She is out during the day from 3-4pm until about midnight or 1am, and then we kennel the dogs up at night again. During the day we do as much as we can to get them their exersize, it's hard to walk them because it's so cold out (we live in Wisconsin). We have a fenced in yard where the dogs run around. I'm not around most of the time, but my family is. She is a bit heavy, I believe she is around 80lbs, but that is mainly because she likes to eat Annie's food when she is done with hers. We've been watching that lately, and trying to keep it from getting out of control. She seems happy when she's out, it just seems to be a kennel problem. The walls the dogs are against now are outside walls, and I do think there may be a heat vent near the kennel. I believe there is one by each kennel, but Sara does have a thicker coat than Annie, so she gets "too warm" quite fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThreeOhFive Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 My daughter's greys get diarrhea is she so much as gets a new piece of furniture or dares to move a piece of furniture in her house. Some of these guys are very sensitive. Maybe if you put them back side by side or put a cover over Sara's crate to create a den for her. We did cover the front of the kennel at night one night. We thought she could be uncomfortable looking straight at Annie all night long. Wow, diarrhea from moving the furniture?! I never realized how sensitive these dogs could be! I can rearrange the room back to the way it was tonight to see if anything changes. The problem is, the room used to be a bedroom and is now an office, so I'll have to find a way to keep the room an office, but make it look more like a bedroom for her. I feel bad for Annie, she's been a trooper through this whole ordeal. Sometimes I'll go in to the room when she's barking and Annie will be wide awake from the barking or standing up... poor thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysmom Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Is she no longer sleeping in the same room with you???? You said the room they are in "used to be a bedroom" but is now an office. She may be feeling lonely. Most greys do like to sleep in the same room as their people. Quote Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora) siggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThreeOhFive Posted February 3, 2010 Share Posted February 3, 2010 Here's the latest... We just rearranged the room, it's back like it was before. Sara is away from the heating vent, and right against the old wall she was against. I tried to cover up her kennel a few nights ago, she still barked. Now, I have tried sleeping in their with them, but she still barks. They only way she won't bark is if you let her out and let her sleep with you on the bed. I've noticed that when she goes in her kennel (normally after minutes of persuasion, and sometimes having to pick her up carefully and carry her over to it), she will start panting very hard. Even after she's been out of her kennel for an hour or two, she pants heavily. She doesn't look like she's feeling well, not a lot of tailwagging and she hasn't done her infamous "rooooooo" in awhile. She looks like she's losing wieght as well. We're running out of idea's. She's been a great dog, and she's only eight. I don't know what's going on, nothing has really changed much in the last two weeks, the bedroom was rearranged a month before she started barking. We have changed everything back and she is still keeping the family up all night long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn8 Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 I would take her in to see the vet. Other than that (if I read your post right) she is in her crate for 16 hours a day. That is too much. Jenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThreeOhFive Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 (edited) I would take her in to see the vet. Other than that (if I read your post right) she is in her crate for 16 hours a day. That is too much. Jenn I plan on taking her tonight when I get home, she doesn't seem well. They both spend a good chunk of time in their kennels, I wish there was more I could do about that, they used to only be kenneled about 10 hours a day but I've been busy with jobs and full time school so I don't get home until late, and neither do my parents. If we leave them out at night they come up into bed and sprawl out and we all have a hard time sleeping lol. They kick, roll into, get up, reposition themselves... it's not the most ideal because we need our sleep at night and the dogs kick us out of our own beds Edited February 4, 2010 by ThreeOhFive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 My question is why is an 8 year old dog who isn't new in your home being crated at night at all? I'd try a nice comfy dog bed and teach them the "off the bed" command. My guess is she's just had enough of the crate! Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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