Deal Breaker: Destroying Property

[GeorgeofNE]

I would love to let her roam free around the house, but after what happened, I am reluctant to try. Whenever supervised she does very well. I just worry she will panic again and have the whole house to chew on.

 

No doubt she flipped out because she was locked in the room.

 

That's not a criticism of your decision to try that, but CLEARLY it didn't work, and clearly crating doesn't make her feel comfortable. My dog hated his crate. I tried to baby gate him into the area I thought was best. He crawled under the gate the first day, jumped over it the second, howled like a wolf for hours on end in the crate. I decided to leave him loose. That was the end of the noise permanently.

 

If you're willing to give her another chance, I suggest you consider muzzling her with a turnout muzzle and just leaving her loose.

 

Go away for an hour, and hope for the best.

 

I'm sure this was horribly upsetting for you--but truthfully, the notion that a crate is a safe space for a retired racer because they're used to it is a bit overstated.

 

They're used to being in a crate surrounded by other dogs in crates--not locked in a bedroom all alone in a crate.

 

A closed bedroom door is really just a giant crate--

 

Three years after I adopted him, George spends most of his day sleeping right by the door--where he last saw me. It comforts him to be where he knows I'll be when I come back. Perhaps your dog would also like that?

 

Good luck--I hope it works out for all.

[Guest Sunset123]

Was the bedroom door closed?

 

 

 

ETA: I'm heading offline so I'll elaborate. There are many dogs who are dangerous to crate (they try to break out, injuring themselves or worse), and most dogs don't like being behind a closed, solid door. A fair number of such dogs do fine with "free run" of the home.

 

"Free run" in quotes because most people close doors to rooms they don't want the dog in and/or baby gate the dog into a larger, familiar, comfortable area. Here, for example, I gate my "no closed doors" dog into a large room from which he can see the front door, the backdoor, his crated companion, etc. We hang out in that room all the time, so it's comfy and familiar to him.

 

Yeah, mine would go absolutely ballistic if she was closed in my bedroom, but she's fine if she's in the living room with the bedroom and bathroom doors closed. She doesn't like being able to hear sounds around her without seeing where they're coming from, so I think it makes her more comfortable to be able to see through the windows.

[Guest ww_phaeton]

Meep. This thread makes me a little nervous about the grey I am bringing home. I sure hope he likes that giant crate I got him. I put a comfy blanket in there and everything.

[Rickiesmom]

Meep. This thread makes me a little nervous about the grey I am bringing home. I sure hope he likes that giant crate I got him. I put a comfy blanket in there and everything.

 

Unless a foster home or other caregiver to your hound has crated them and can tell you about how it went, it's pretty hard to predict. Two of mine are fine in a crate - in fact Jaynie will go in there preferentially when it's set up. The third will trash it, and is therefore never crated.

[kudzu]

Kona, what are you doing for alone training? Are you ignoring her for 30 min to an hour before leaving? Are you ignoring her for 10-15 minutes after you return? Have you worked on desensitizing her individually & then in various combinations to all the cues that you may leave like picking up your car keys, putting on your shoes, grabbing your coat, saying goodbye to someone, opening the garage door, etc. Or in my case rushing around hurriedly, running out the door & then running back in to grab that to go cup of coffee. Those are just some ideas that come to mind.

 

 

ww_phaeton, bringing any new dog home makes me nervous regardless of breed. SA happens but most dogs have no problems. I am a believer in crates as a good tool for helping many dogs & most Greys make the transition to their new home. While it doesn't work for all it does for most. As for that comfy blanket maybe you could take a few long, comfy, relaxing naps on it so it is filled with your own personal happy juice. Then while he is in there he still has your smell with him. Course, that only helps if he associates you with company & comfort. My Greys seem to make that association very quickly. Or if your future pup is being fostered you can take the blanket over there for a day or two before leaving so it gets full of his foster home smells. Don't get scared; just get prepared.

[Guest bluefawn]

Katie was very destructive and peed everywhere - in her crate and all over the house, no matter how much I varied her intake and her outside potty visits. She was just out of control. She was finally diagnosed with a thyroid problem, and the meds apparently did the trick. In the meantime, I had used the DAP (the pheromone plug-in unit), and it helped a lot. A friend whose greyhound sailed over baby gates (as my whippets do) installed a regular screen door (the kind with a wooden frame), and her grey did well with that, since he could see into the other rooms. I hope you can find a good solution soon, for your girl's sake as well as for yours.

[Guest BlueCrab]

You've come to the right place for advice. Please don't give up on her. I'd agree about not crating...we had a German Shepherd dismantle a crate to get out of it. Made house-breaking a bit harder, but we all learned. We're lucky now with our current two, but some dogs just can't handle being crated.

 

Alone-training and muzzling are the things that came instantly to mind. There have been excellent threads on here about alone-training. Also, do you have any info on WHO she lived with prior? Is she really pack oriented and needs company of some sort - even if it's a cat or a bird perhaps, but another 'companion'?

 

Some dogs just don't lose their destructive tendencies, though, sorry to say. Our bridge boy Duke taught us that when we left the house nothing could be left out, no cabinet door could be left un-tied, no food, shoes, makeup, coats, etc. could be left lying about. We became pretty tidy out of sheer necessity and the fact that we were running out of wearable coats and shoes. And we couldn't continue to hang the dish towel on the fridge door. Made a handy implement to open and raid the fridge.

 

Good luck...hang in there.

[Guest TBSFlame]

Was the bedroom door closed?

 

Yes, the bedroom door was closed.

 

Closing the door will often cause the dog to panic.

[Guest TBSFlame]

Meep. This thread makes me a little nervous about the grey I am bringing home. I sure hope he likes that giant crate I got him. I put a comfy blanket in there and everything.

 

I have a grey that loves her crate. She is the one that also has to be touching me at all times. You would think she would have SA but when I start to muzzle the other hounds in the morning she runs and jumps in her crate and waits for me to close the door. Not all greys have SA. Some love their crates and some hate it. Hopefully yours will love it.

[Guest ww_phaeton]

Meep. This thread makes me a little nervous about the grey I am bringing home. I sure hope he likes that giant crate I got him. I put a comfy blanket in there and everything.

 

I have a grey that loves her crate. She is the one that also has to be touching me at all times. You would think she would have SA but when I start to muzzle the other hounds in the morning she runs and jumps in her crate and waits for me to close the door. Not all greys have SA. Some love their crates and some hate it. Hopefully yours will love it.

 

I hope so Gotta prepare for everything I guess. He's coming home tomorrow! I'm very excited.

[Laurenbiz]

Let me add!

 

Closed door:

A friend of ours kept discouraging us about getting a Greyhound during our adoption process. He told us the same story, over and over, about his former neighbors and their Greyhound. He said that they couldn't crate the hound, so they put him in a bathroom and closed the door. They said that their house had $10,000 worth of water damage because the dog went nuts and somehow flipped the drain stop on the sink and had turned the faucet on, causing the bathroom to flood!

 

Whatever, we still adopted a Greyhound, and we didn't listen to our friend. But, yes!...It's true what other posters are saying about Greyhounds panicking behind closed doors.

 

 

Crate:

Bernie escaped his crate just a few weeks ago. He bent the bars, and I found white fur and blood on the inside of the crate. He had cuts all over his body. Bye bye, crate!

 

SA:

Bernie's SA never seemed to decrease in the 4+ months we did alone training, counter-conditioning, obedience class, DAP diffusers - collar - spray, Rescue Remedy, two daily walks, calming dog music, I mean the list really goes on and on and on. Until recently, the one thing we hadn't tried is anti-anxiety medication. He's been on Clomipramine for about a month now, and we really are seeing progress.

 

Bernie's issue is that he urinates or defecates in the crate/safe room/run of the house whenever he is alone. He hasn't really damaged anything like your hound.

 

I hate to make it sound like I'm all for medicine being the answer to any problem - I'm not. But, considering that Bernie's SA doesn't even sound as intense as your hound's, medication may at least be something you might want to consider.

 

Before that, though, does she have the other, more simple factors to keep her calm when alone?

- Music and/or TV

- Lavender oil or DAP diffuser/spray?

- Your comings and going are boring, and you ignore her?

 

Bernie seems to be more panicky during alone periods that I haven't had music on. Plus, leaving stuffed kongs, bully sticks, etc., for him is pretty useless. (I still do it, though!) Even though this is a common strategy for dealing with SA, I've found that Bernie is so nervous being alone that he could care less about any treats around him.

 

Good luck. I know how you feel!

[Guest avadogner]

First let me express my sadness for how stressful this is for you both. :grouphug GT is the right place to come. Greys are different from other dogs and takes while to learn their language.

.

Both of my greys were uncratable. My first Ava was extremely fragile and traumatized due to a huge neck injury (huge wide scar on her neck till today). She hid in it until she got comfortable then she went wacko when we tried crating when we out of the home (she was 18m old and we had a nice sand colored rug that she couldn't resist). We finally had to pack away the crate when she flipped it on it's side and nearly broke her leg. She crates up like a pro when visiting her rescue center for vacations without any problems. At home, she would fall apart if we even pulled out the crate to loan out.

 

Fast forward to my new boy Augie. We are dealing with SA issues of crying nonstop (see whine with cheese thread). The very first night my incredibly social, beta boy came home and seemed so happy. We were warned he is "very verbal". Bedtime came and I slept in the LR with him and Ava in her bed close by. He immediately went crazy. Slamming himself against the side and them repeatedly vomiting and have the Big D in the crate. We immediately ditched the crate. It was horrible to watch. He did a lot better without the crate but did chew furniture and ate several coffee table books. I corrected him when caught and sprayed down all the tempting areas with chew deterent. He came to us with 2 broken canines for chewing (duh on my part for not picking up on it sooner ).

 

The very best advice/tip I can recomment is babygates. We installed baby gates to limit his access to areas of the house. When doors were closed on him, the crying worses (already really bad). Having the baby gate let him see what's happening or not happening in the other areas of the house. I think of like claustrophobia. It the dog can at least see what's happening around then relax more. Six months later we are down from 4 gates to just one (my sewing room where he could get hurt with my equipment and he likes stealing my projects) Augie is still not perfect but he has improved much over 5 months. No more destructive behaviour. I replaced the coffee table stuff including his fav books and he hasn't touched any of it.

 

I do keep mutliple stuffed Kongs, hide bully sticks around, put in a dog door to our big backyard, give him atleast one mile walk a day, do the dogpark 2x month (would more if he didn't so dirty) and keep a radio on talk radio on in the living room where our dogs hang the most. If Ava didn't bully him, Aug's SA would be better but we work on it every day. Every great love/relationsip takes work on both sides. Mistakes are made and we move forward and if we are lucky we learn what we can do prevent it again.

 

You can find study babygates at Walmart for $40 each and even cheaper at consignment shops/shows for baby gear. I hope this helps. This is probably the worst destruction story I've come across on here so you are not being unreasonable :yikes . You both need help to have a happy relationship. I hightly encourage you to check with adoption group for a rec to a trainer. It will be fun and bonding for you both. It is worth every penny.

 

Good luck, Blessings and Positive Energy are coming your way!

[cleptogrey]

if your dog does not like to be confined, a baby gate is not the answer. i had my trusty gate knocked down, bend, chew and destroyed by my 24lb welsch terrier when he had dementia. he could/would not be confined.

 

try short ammounts of time w/ freedom and a muzzle if she doesn't try to rub it off. that can be pretty destructive as well. lots of kongs, marrow bones, goodies to keep the pup busy can help. harp music is relaxing and will slow the heart beat. lights left on and watch out for the windows. i don't want to freak you out but, i have a friend whose grey jumped out of the window on the 2nd floor! broke both ankles. that pup hated to be left alone,she opened the front door and let herself out numerous times(i know since i was called to pick her up, i brought her back to my house to hang w/ my other grey).another time she broke the glass in the door, she was wearing her muzzle so she couldn't bite the lock and turn it, OMG....the cuts and blood was amazing.

 

not all dogs have SA as intense as my friends, but be aware of the dog's surroundings and what it can get into. my saluki ate thru sheet rock, broke windows, shredded the inner soles of my shoes,howled up a storm( i had to take him on dates), killed house plants, opened and raided the fridge. but i lived and learned how to deal w/ it. we had a good dozen years of bliss once he settled down.

 

no one has mentioned that you speak directly to your adoption rep. have you contacted the group that placed your pup and asked for their advice?

[Houndtime]

FYIIt is not just greyhounds that panic behind closed doors. Years back we were having some contractors working in our house and we put our German shepherd in the family room with the door closed. We didn't want her getting out of the house with the men who were constantly going in and out of our home.

 

She ate the door frame, and the center of a plywood door through to the other side. This was a dog who was fine with being home while we were out at other times.

 

I haven't read all of this thread, but perhaps your dog would benefit from some calming medication like melatonin, xanax, or canine lulabyes, white noise, dap difuser, etc. There are so many things you can try. Then again, I have had a grey with SA and do know it can be very frustrating to have your belongings destroyed.

[silverfish]

You've had plenty of confirmation that closed doors and/or crating makes plenty of hounds panic, and also advice about alone training/Dap diffusers/etc so I won't go over all that except to say that yes, I had a greyhound who shut himself in a room by accident and completely lost it. The damage/mess was incredible, but he never did it again. And also, yes the Dap can help, and yes, alone training takes huge amounts of patience and time.

 

I just want to add a few more things.

 

1) If you want to try her loose again, set up a webcam and watch how she does for the first time, and use it to keep an eye on her for a week or two if she seems OK.

 

2) If you leave her loose DO NOT leave her wearing a martingale collar, and remember to put stickers on glass doors. These two things are for her own safety.

 

3) She may just be one of the rare greyhounds who will never be happy without a companion.

 

Oh, yeah, and she probably bled from her mouth if she ate so many things. I feel bad for both of you, because it's not fun to go through this. Don't give up too easily, but if you feel you need to return her, don't give up on greyhounds altogether. Most of them would do great with the set-up you have, in terms of someone being there in the house pretty much 24/7 - although I'd never advise shutting a grey alone in a room, however confident they seem.