He's So Shy!

[Guest Swifthounds]

The world is a scary place for him, it's totally different from what he's known most of his life. He was taken from a track and put in a foster home, now he's been taken from the foster home and put in your home. His world has turned upside down a couple of time. It's going to take him a while to learn that the world isn't scary and that he can trust you to take care of all of his needs. Time, patience and love is all it will take to turn your baby into the playful, happy dog he can be. Some hounds take almost a year to adjust, most though adjust fine in around 6 months. Keep encouraging him to play, he'll get it once he feels secure.

 

 

When I have a new hound in the house, I go through the normal routine, don't react if they get scared (no coddling to reinforce that noises and new things are scary), and carry around a pocketful of small tasty treats to toss out randomly and for immediate reward for positive behaviors (you'd be surprise how less frightening pot lids clanging can be when the immediate result is treats). The "non-new" hounds love this adjustment time too (free treats).

[kudzu]

When I have a new hound in the house, I go through the normal routine, don't react if they get scared (no coddling to reinforce that noises and new things are scary), and carry around a pocketful of small tasty treats to toss out randomly and for immediate reward for positive behaviors (you'd be surprise how less frightening pot lids clanging can be when the immediate result is treats). The "non-new" hounds love this adjustment time too (free treats).

Read & reread the above. It some of the best advice you'll get.

 

Plus the suggestion to use his food motivation for both handing feeding & training is a rock solid one. This will build your bond faster than you may believe with a shy dog. It also helps build their self confidence, especially clicker or marker training where they learn that they can actually control situations. "Cool! I can actually make her give me a treat just by doing this."

 

My first Grey turned out to be much more timid than I expected. At the adoption kennels in a more familiar environment she had seemed the perfect combination of friendly yet independent. Once home that ALL changed. She enjoyed quiet attention, belly rubs, ear scritches when she was on her bed or out in the yard or in the more open spaces of our house. Yet she was scared of being in narrow spaces with humans. That meant she wouldn't be in the hallway at the same time we were. Plastic bags were Greyhound eating monsters. People leaning over her made her backpedal to get away. We started to joke that she was scared of everything. She earned the nickname Piglet because she acted like the world was almost to large & scary for such a little, timid creature.

 

In those first weeks she didn't wag her tail. When I came home from work she just stayed on her bed. My BF doing his usually stomping down the stairs startled her every time so when he finally made it into the living room she initially barked at him before seeing to recognize him. Note: He & I are the only people living at our house & we had no guests over. You'd think she would have figured out it was going to be him. He was starting to take it personally. I was starting to think I'd made a mistake.

 

Then one day sometime in the first month together she met me at the door when I came home from work, gave me a quick sniff & then trotted back to her bed. She continued to meet me at the door over time adding a tail wag, sniffing longer, then snuffling me by rubbing her muzzle against my leg. You should see the greetings I get now. The girl has an entire dance routine that is hysterical, adorable & melts my heart every time. When her carefully choreographed routine is over she grabs a toy & trots back to her bed for a nap. Elapsed time: approx. 60 seconds. BF always then says, "She's done being a dog now."

 

Given time, patience, positive exposure to all the various things in her new world held, and making sure I was calm, confident, casual about everything seemed to be her ticket to confidence. This girl has amazed me. She's gone places & done things few dogs get a chance to. We've gone from me thinking it was a mistake to wondering how I could ever live without my wonderful Greyhound, my most perfect Piglet.