Skittish Grey

[Guest dee]

We adopted our grey at the end of January. He was the last of the greyhounds to be adopted from the Rhode Island track which was closing. He is two years old and his tattoos, etc. were never registered so we assume that the track closed before they started him racing. We took him as a foster and within a week decided he had found his forever home. He is shy but likes being with people. He lives with two other dogs and they get along very well. Micah is very gentle. My problem is that I am having such trouble teaching him to do anything or just putting a leash on or putting his coat on (during the winter), etc. He is soooooo skittish! He backs away everytime we put our hand out. We have used treats and encouraged him to "come" and he does do that but very hesitantly. We've tried kneeling, calling and giving him treats because he seems to respond when we are lower/kneeling but we can't seem to get to the next step. When he backs away he circles and circles til he gets the nerve to approach again. We just don't seem to be making any headway. Can you give me any suggestions? We love him and he is so sweet.....I know there's a fabulous dog in there just wanting to come out. How can we help him??? Thanks!!

[Jenbo]

I'm sure others will have some great advice but the name of your houndie caught my attention. Mine is Myka (see below) . Is yours pronounced Mike-uh too?

[Batmom]

Two things:

 

1 - practice "come" when he has the leash on, when he's 9"-12" away from you. Doesn't have to be any further away than one step to start getting the idea across.

2 - when you want him to come, don't look at him. Turn your head and upper body so your shoulder or back is facing him, and look away from him.

 

One other thing I often do with a new dog is, when we come back from a leashed outing, I bring the dog in the house, LEAVE THE LEASH ON, and "let's have dog grooming." Same words, same tone every time so dog knows what we are going to do. I squat by the dog's shoulder and "groom" the dog with my fingers. Shoulder, neck, ears if he likes ear rubs, back down the neck, back, ribs, if not too skittish then tummy and legs. 2-3 minutes, "good dog!", treat, unleash.

[Guest TeddysMom]

Spice is very shy and skittish also. She has been here since the first part of Dec and is just starting to come out of her shell. She does like treats so that has helped a little. DH and I always have treats so everytime she ventures out or is somewhat brave, we give her a treat and praise her. I'm sure your boy will get less and less scared as time goes by. I think the one thing that has helped Spice is having the other dogs around, she relates to them much more so than people. Good luck and please keep us posted on Micah's progress. I would love to see a picture of him.

[greg1229]

I have been fostering Gracie since the first of Nov. When I brought her into my home I didn't even see her for four days. She would stay back in the spare bedroom I have set up as my fosters "safe" room. I could not even approach her if we were both standing up. She would cower and run back to the "safe" room. I had to corner her in the room to even put a leash on her and she would often pee in fear. I found that if I put a lightweight leash or even some packing twine on the collar and let it hang to the floor she would just not move. Even though my heart said to take it off her my brain said No!..After about 3 weeks of doing this she would sulk around the house trailing the twine behind her. Now 6 months later, she is still not a big fan of the leash but she no longer runs to hide and we go to meet and greets and her fear is getting better, if fact she loves going for rides in the van so when I go to front door she comes to the door and I can then clip the leash on and we are off on a great adventure ;lol ( think the MickyD's kiddie ice cream cone may have helped)

 

IT will take time and patience but your pup should get use to having a leash and going out to check out the world.

 

Greg

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

I had a very shy girl. If I so much as looked at her, she ran for the crate and curled into a tight little ball at the back. I did one simple thing to help. I hand fed her. The first week I had to hold a handfull of kibble in my hand, sit on the floor with my back to her and reach my hand behind my back. She would slowly come and eat out of my hand. Next week, it moved a bit closer. By the 4th week I could hold my hands in my lap and she would eat out of my lap. This was the beginning of her comming out of her shell. The hand feeding I believe is the single-most bonding/trust building exercize you can do with a shy hound. As far as the other issues, like others have said, get down on the ground, make yourself small, no eye contact, etc.

 

Chad