Extremely Scared Greyhound

[Guest Al747]

There is a greyhound at my local kennel that is very scared/nervous around people but is OK with dogs. When you go near his crate, he backs up and you basically have to pull him out of his crate to get him. When you do this, he pees on the floor. What does it take to change his behavior? Will he always be like this? Like I said before, he is extremely scared of people but OK with dogs.

 

Also, would putting him in a household with another greyhound that is very social be a good idea?

 

Thank you.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

What kennel is this greyhound in? The reason I ask is because if there is a local greyhound adoption group, I am sure they would take him and place him in an appropriate foster home to help with the behavior. As far as the peeing, if you put him in a home with another greyhound, and work on trust with him, he will come out of his shell. The poor guy is obviously TERRIFIED. Again, where is this guy, he needs to get out of that environment. Thanks for finding this board and asking this question.

[Guest Al747]

What kennel is this greyhound in? The reason I ask is because if there is a local greyhound adoption group, I am sure they would take him and place him in an appropriate foster home to help with the behavior. As far as the peeing, if you put him in a home with another greyhound, and work on trust with him, he will come out of his shell. The poor guy is obviously TERRIFIED. Again, where is this guy, he needs to get out of that environment. Thanks for finding this board and asking this question.

 

He is in a greyhound adoption kennel, and I think they just got him recently.

[Sambuca]

I agree this pup needs to get into foster. Until then, have every person who walks past his kennel slip a treat in without any eye contact. He'll hopefully start thinking of people as treat machines and start to look forward to people coming by.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

If he is in a group kennel, then I am sure they are actively trying to get the poor guy a foster home. They probably have the same problems as most groups finding fosters for special hounds. Personally I think one of the most rewarding things is to get a shy hound to come out of its shell and bond with you. Is it easy to do, no, but the rewards are immense. I have a shy girl that was almost that bad, not peeing on herself bad, but would cower at the back of the crate and tuck the tail so far up you would think she had no tail. Now, with the help of my outgoing male hound as well as almost 1.5 years of living with us, she has no abnormal fears of strangers. She is still a bit aloof with loud large strangers, but the majority of the time she is just fine. I actually take her to meet n greets.

 

Chad

[Guest plmadd123]

Our Sydney is a very scardy pup and shakes when around people. We keep her away from young children and we advise people to ignore her at first and then she comes to investigate them. We took her to a flyball/agility class and she shook the entire first class. Luckily it was all greyhound owners so everyone took turns giving her yummie treats but they couldn't look at her when they gave her the treats. The next week she was better and was not shaking as much. Then she would sort of look at people when they gave her treats and while she wasn't ever comfortable, she didn't seem terrified. She will never be a social dog but that is ok.

 

This pup really needs to get into foster quickly and ideally with another grey or two. He will take his cues from the other dogs.

 

The first time we took Sydney on a long car drive during Christmas, she was the first dog we were getting out of the car for a potty break and we had to drag her out of the car. She was terrifed and in a panic. Then we let the other two out and she realized we weren't going to leave her so she calmed down quickly. She has abandonment issues so she really counts on the other pups.

 

Patricia

[Batmom]

If he has to be in a crate for now, sometimes works to reach in, clip the leash on, then TURN YOUR BACK and sidestep as far as you can get from the crate door -- so you're sideways to it, not 6' in front of it. Give your cheerful "Let's go!" and wait.

[Guest EmilyandSioux]

I have a very shy hound and he is wonderful. We got him about 5 years ago and he is now so funny. No one is a stranger anymore. He barks and plays like many of the others. We laid on his bed and he tried to make himself look like the furniture for about a year. He then started to come out and sneak into the common room with quick retreats to his bed. We let him lead the way to his coming out of the shell and now he a go bug. Truck door opens and you better be careful because he will jump in and over you if the need is there. He still will act up if men act like they are dancing or drumming on the laundry basket. It took 4 people to load him to get him home that day. What city is this guy in. We are always interested in fostering the hard cases.