Advice Needed Re: Alone Training Our New Greyhound

[Guest Pugilist]

Hi all. This is my first post on this forum, and I hope you won't mind my beginning with a question. (I have been lurking for a little while, but was motivated to register because I could use some help on this one!)

 

My husband and I adopted our first greyhound a little over a month ago. Actually, she is our first dog ever! We absolutely love her and she has been settling very well into retired life--she is a pretty quiet, mellow dog who so far has had few behavioral problems and has responded well to basic training. We read a couple of books about retired racers which have been immensely helpful in helping her get accustomed to her new life.

 

Our only challenge with her is, predictably, alone training. We have been doing all of the obvious things: crating, kongs stuffed with peanut butter, radio, being calm about coming and going, slowly increasing the amount of time we'll leave her alone, etc. About twice a week we record her while we're out of the house to see how she's doing. We mostly found that she doesn't totally freak out, but she will whine a lot and bark every five minutes or so when we're out. A couple of weeks ago we decided we'd gone too fast and started over with the training. One thing we changed was that instead of crating her, we'd just close her in the bedroom, as she did not seem to like or feel comforted by going into the crate, and in the bedroom she has one of her beds, and a little bit more space, but not too much.

 

Anyway, today we left her for the longest that we have yet, about 2.5 hours. We came home, and I was surprised to see her sitting on her bed in the living room, smiling at me! She had somehow gotten out of the bedroom. (Our suspicion is that the cats somehow sprung her out, as they have figured out how to open the bedroom door before. Yikes!) And the house was absolutely fine--she had not chewed anything, or even taken anything she shouldn't have. We went and listened to our recording and were surprised to hear that the first hour or so had her doing the usual whining with a little bit of barking in the bedroom, and then when she miraculously found herself with the run of the house, she was much, much better! She paced around a bit and whined a bit, but MUCH less than when crated or closed in the bedroom, and she did not bark once. The last hour and a half of the recording was the most chill we have heard her yet, even when we've left her for as little as half an hour! So we're wondering if maybe she actually feels more comfortable not being enclosed and if we should try that next (still with the kong, radio, etc., obviously). It just seems counter-intuitive since every single thing we've read about alone training has stressed the importance of enclosed spaces, especially until she gets comfortable.

 

I am sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give enough context! Any insight as to this situation would be appreciated!

[rallyp]

For some dogs, having more room is a lot better. So it seems totally fine that your dog reacted that way. A lot of people when they confine their dog to a room only use a baby gate because they find that closing the door stresses out the dog.

 

Glad she's settled in so well!

 

ETA: Oh... one thing you should do, make sure the rest of your house is pretty dog proofed. Even though she is behaving like an angel now, as time goes on and she gets more comfortable, she'll probably get more bold and start checking more things out. Believe me, I know

Edited March 26, 2011 by rallyp

[Guest IrskasMom]

My Boy Morty was confined to the Crate for one Day. Since your little Girl does not have SA or is overly upset that you are gone give her Space. Just make sure NOTHING is on the Kitchen Counter that includes Medicin Bottles.I would not leave any Tissues around and the Trashcan is secure. Go for short Periods and see.

[Guest Pugilist]

Thanks so much for the reassurance that it can be done with way, rallyp and IrskasMom! Maybe we will try this week without the crate/enclosing. What surprised us was the she appears to have been on perfect behavior once she got loose--she didn't even touch the cat food! We will make sure to not leave her with any temptation but I am hoping that it does become easier this way. While to date she does not seem to have developed serious separation anxiety, she clearly was experiencing some distress while we were gone (those recordings are literally the only times we've heard her bark) that did not seem to be improving much with our previous way of doing things. Hopefully letting her wander will do the trick!

[Jackandgrey]

For me none of mine were ever confined. I know that doesn't work for everyone and would never recommend it for everyone. But some dogs do just fine without crating or being enclosed. You may want to close doors to a room or use a babygate to a room that you would be devastated if she were to do do something er less than perfect in. As Rally said she may get comfortable enough to chew your shoes later .

[Guest Pugilist]

Haha yes, we have noticed that the more comfortable she gets, the more she starts stealing a sock here and there, or trying to sneak a potato chip off the coffee table! It has been a struggle to make sure she gets a firm "no!" before getting all excited that she is becoming more and more of a "dog".

[seeh2o]

Welcome and congratulations on your new girl! It sounds like you are really working with her at her pace, which is great. My boy Carl had SA, I put him in a crate and found him standing at the front door when I got home from work. He had broken one end of the crate - torn apart the soldering without completely shredding himself. That was the last time he was ever crated. Some dogs hate the crate, others find it comforting.

 

It's funny, when they are settling in and they do something naughty, awkwardly naughty like try to steal a chip, etc. it is really hard not to cheer them on as they become more "dog-like".

[GeorgeofNE]

My dog hated being crated or gated.

 

We went through a miserable couple of months before I decided to do what I thought was right instead of what I was being told to do by my well-meaning adoption group. He never chewed or destroyed a thing, and hasn't made a peep since.

 

If you feel like you have to not crate, then at least shut off all the doors to bedrooms and other rooms. Leave a bathroom door open. That smells like you the most, and they can drink from the toilet. Greyhounds like that! Keep the toilets spotless -- it's how I finally got my kids to keep the toilets clean, way back in the day -- keep the toilet clean, because our dog drinks from there.

Just had to comment on that--dogs drink out of the toilet because the water is generally fresh and cool. Every dog we've ever had has done so. It has nothing to do with being a greyhound--and I don't believe your scent either. Heck, I've had cats that drink out of the toilet! Some people don't appreciate it, so if you're one of them, close the lid. Out of sight, out of mind.

[Guest Pugilist]

Thank you for all your responses! I really appreciate the insight. I think we are going to try this week without crating, slowly (I work from home so it's pretty easy to not leave her alone for too long) and see if it makes a difference. We had always hoped to wean her off the crate eventually due to space issues, so if it turns out she's better off without it, then that works for us! I'll let y'all know how it goes.

 

(Sidenote about toilets: we actually have kept our lid down every since we adopted our cats 2 years ago, as one of them is fond of drinking out of it and like to leave charming paw prints on the toilet seat. And inside the bowl. Ha.)

[Guest queenme2]

I agree with Puglist, the more comfortable they become they can get in trouble. Nina did fine for first eight months being allowed to roam when gone. But then it changed. She started to find the extra cat food and ate that down and then was somehow able to open the pantry and ate ALL the bread and crackers. Now she has to stay in the large master bath with her large blanket and her cat buddy for company

[Houndtime]

If you want to leave her free, close as many doors as possible and limit her access to all the rooms. The entire house can become overwhelming.

 

Also, I noticed that you shut her in the bedroom. I think you are lucky that she escaped. Most dogs don't like to be shut in.

[Guest leemc]

Good luck to you! I am going thru a similar situation. I just adopted 2 weeks ago. I work away from the home 4 mornings a week. When I leave I have been putting her in the crate. But when I run out for a short time I have been leaving her out (with all the doors closed). So far , so good! She also has the company of my 8 year old lab mix .

But like someone already mentioned... dont leave anything on the counter that she can get to. I had another greyhound- who unfortunately passed away in January When we first got her she decided to 'counter-surf' and stole food-lol

Edited March 28, 2011 by leemc