Indy Is Nipping At Wife - Who's Pregnant. Connection? (1St Post)

[Guest LoriEric]

He's a DIFFERENT DOG.

 

Yesterday went well, walked him a lot, he actually pooped 3 times, and when bedtime came, he went right to his bed (in our bedroom), and fell asleep. He didn't move all night- even when wife & I got up to pee (I actually felt GUILTY!), he stayed in his bed. a lot of snoring (LOL) and a lot of dreaming noises. Wife & I were SO happy that he is getting comfortable enough to sleep all night now. Last night was also the 1st time he slept in the "roach" position, which I'm thinking shows he trusts us more? (since it's a vulnerable position.)

 

After talking to you guys & scouring the net, this nitting thing is definitely excitement. He did it to ME for the 1st time this morning. Part of the problem was my wife's fearful reaction. I had to correct HER to not do that. Tell him no, grab his collar, and start petting him to calm him down. Seems to be working. I don't mind it, but it does scare her a little. So we'll be working on it starting now.

 

Also going to do some alone training with the crate today. He seems to be settling in. He's very good on the leash. Feels good, it felt awful to know we were doing something wrong, last thing we want is to cause him any more stress.

[Tallgreydogmom]

Happy Days, Indy was turned the corner. He was due for a vacation after all the traveling he has done. If you have a chance do expose him to babies and small wiggly children. This is a website with some of the other "habits" of greyhounds you might be interested in.

 

http://www.grassmere-animal-hospital.com/greyhounds.htm

 

for Indy

[snowjay]

Meet Indy (short for Independence, Indiana Jones, or Indy 500, depending on who you ask!)

Just turned 3 yrs. Small boy.

 

Maybe it's short for "Indecision."

 

He's a handsome dude!

[Guest mysymba]

I have a big brindle boy (102 pounds) and he only does the air snapping with me not my hubby but loves him and I about the same I think..hard to tell LOL, he loves everyone!...I have had him six years and I have NEVER EVER had a problem with it...he is just happy and excited....it is truly nothing to be fearful of..and believe me when you see a 102 pound greyhound doing it...it is unnerving to some...but I do totally trust Symba....when he is air snapping I swear he is smiling at the same time and his eyes are shining....enjoy Indy....

[greytpups]

ok, three things, first I'm not a fan of crates unless it's for the dog's safety ,and secondly, I don't have children, and thirdly, i don't want this topic to go off track because you know how people can exert their opinions at times.

 

Why would you crate train a grey when you have crawling babies? Isn't it enough for them to have a safe place upstairs in a bedroom for instance? Our greys get up and go to their pillows in our bedroom if they are scared or want to go to another comfortable area. Neither of them ever wanted to go in a crate once they came home to us.

 

People in the UK rarely use crates and must face the same issues. Why are people suggesting crating? Flame me if you feel it's necessary but I hope the topic stays on track for sake of the OP...just wondering if crating is a good answer in this instance.

[Tallgreydogmom]

I really think greyhounds are raised and treated differently in the US than in the UK. I notice in photo's the greyhounds are usually off lead. Most of the US greyhounds would run off never to be seen again.

 

Is there a website that compares the life of the greyhound in the UK vs the like of a greyhound in the US. I remember some trainers coming over from the UK to work at the US tracks. I would think they could fill us in on the differences.

 

OH MY, please disregard this as it goes way off from the original thread. Sorry

Edited June 30, 2011 by Tallgreydogmom

[Guest LoriEric]

We are crate training because we both work (altho I am a home improvement contractor, and in this economy I'm not always working), so there will be times when no one will be home all day. As much as I would love to let him roam the house, I can't trust he's house trained for months. So we will be using the crate for that. We have also discussed gating him in the room that his crate is in instead... I would love to hear everyone's experiences with "corralling a grey" while they are away.

 

Also, when times come that he needs to be dog sat, either by my wife's sister or her parents, the crate will be going with him, so we want him to see his crate as his "bed away from home" when he has to stay with others.

[Guest Tes623]

We are crate training because we both work (altho I am a home improvement contractor, and in this economy I'm not always working), so there will be times when no one will be home all day. As much as I would love to let him roam the house, I can't trust he's house trained for months. So we will be using the crate for that. We have also discussed gating him in the room that his crate is in instead... I would love to hear everyone's experiences with "corralling a grey" while they are away.

 

Also, when times come that he needs to be dog sat, either by my wife's sister or her parents, the crate will be going with him, so we want him to see his crate as his "bed away from home" when he has to stay with others.

 

I think you are doing things correctly--it's the same that I do when I have a new foster. What's the big deal about crating a new dog when you're not home to supervise them?

[Guest katethegreyt]

We are crate training because we both work (altho I am a home improvement contractor, and in this economy I'm not always working), so there will be times when no one will be home all day. As much as I would love to let him roam the house, I can't trust he's house trained for months. So we will be using the crate for that. We have also discussed gating him in the room that his crate is in instead... I would love to hear everyone's experiences with "corralling a grey" while they are away.

 

Also, when times come that he needs to be dog sat, either by my wife's sister or her parents, the crate will be going with him, so we want him to see his crate as his "bed away from home" when he has to stay with others.

 

There are lots of opinions on crates = )

 

I personally like to avoid them if possible because no matter how used to a kennel situation a grey may be, once they're in a nice comfy home, they may decide they're not so keen on them anymore, and I think that's fair = ) Some dogs really do seem to like them, and I think it's a good safety thing to have your dog comfortable going in and staying in one. Still, there are other ways to keep your house safe if you want to try not to use a crate.

 

We've found our girl respects baby gates very well (we have the extra tall metal kind), so we use that to keep a dog-free zone for the cats. I know a lot of other people use them with success to keep their less trusted hounds in a smaller environment. A very determined hound can get through a gate, so you'll have to monitor yours and see how it works for shorter periods if you take that route.

 

My girl will go in her crate fine, but I pretty much only use it when someone new is going to be at the house when I'm not home (we live in an apartment, so there are sometimes fire inspections and stuff that I can't be home for.) And even then, I try to come home early or at lunch to let her out once they're gone. I found after a couple of weeks that she was perfectly trustworthy out of the crate, so we hardly use it anymore. It's open 24/7, but she has never chosen to go in it voluntarily, so I figure it's not her favorite place. We are sometimes gone long enough during the day that I didn't want her to have to be confined in there unless necessary.

 

It's up to you, but I tend to lean towards working hard to get them safe in the house without a crate. I know all the reasoning for and against, and I just prefer to let my dog decide since she's very good roaming the house all day. She likes to spend her days switching from bed to couch to chair to bed, and that's not possible in her crate, haha.

 

If you have an easily baby gated area that has easy to clean floors, you could put his crate in there, open, and a nice comfy bed with some toys and leave him for a bit to see how he reacts. If he's good, you can leave it like that for awhile and expand his raoming area as you trust him more.

 

I don't see crates as a bad thing, necessarily, and I think greyhounds are often happier in them than other breeds. Still, my leaning is towards no crating if possible if that's what seems to make the dog happiest.

[BootsyCollins]

Nothing is absolute - some dogs thrive in a structured environment that also includes crating, others don't. I do believe that structure is the key, whether you use a crate or not. And because you're having a child, you may want to keep the crate up for a couple of years. I found that when my son started crawling and then walking, the crate was a very easy boundary for him to understand. We even took the door off, so Bootsy could come and go as he pleased, but he was always able to safely retreat to it, and he frequently did. A bed alone won't protect a dog or a baby from an accidental stumble. Just want to throw that out there as food for thought.

 

Congratulations on both the new dog and the pregnancy!

[greyhead]

What a gorgeous boy! Congratulations, and glad things are going better!

 

We have an air snapper, who only started it once he was entirely comfortable with us -- about two weeks. He has done it ever since, and he's now 10. He only does it when he's lying down on his side, and it's an invitation for us to play with him. I agree with those who say it shows happiness and excitement. Our second dog actually made contact with my skin at first. He clearly meant no harm, but I let him know that it hurt and wasn't appreciated, and he stopped doing it. (Same for capturing shoes and taking them to his bed. He didn't want to chew them, just to have them! But still.)

 

We crated him at night for about the first week, then when leaving for an extended time for about three weeks. After that it was mostly voluntary. We just left the door open, and he often chose to go in there for a snooze or for the night. (He actually needed another greyhound to come over and show him how to get on a big fluffy Costco bed!) For the last four years, since being in our new house, we've only put up the crate for fosters. In general, I'd advise gradually preparing him to have the run of the house when you're gone as he shows he can handle it. I'm sure you've read about leaving the dog alone for gradually increasing periods to habituate them to it so they won't be anxious. Same principle.

 

ETA: Totally agree with BootsyCollins about crate availability when small tots are involved!

Edited July 1, 2011 by greyhead

[Guest LoriEric]

Thanks everybody. Now that my wife understands is out of JOY, it doesn't bother her as much, and I'm teaching her how to deal with it... don't react, just grab his snout and say "no" (gently, not angrily), and pet him till he calms down (about 30 seconds.) Indy's only been here 4-1/2 days, and we're so glad that he is apparently so comfortable with us that he does this, he also lays in the "roach" position, he seems very comfortable here. He's learning the eating/elimination schedule just fine, and we are learning how not to be a part of the "problem" (we let him get a little to excited after dinner one night, and he threw up a little - our fault.)

 

Funny- I made the mistake last night of thinking he was awake & looking at me (his eyes were open), and went to give him a little hug goodnite, and he jumped back like he was electrocuted or something... obviously he was asleep!!! Usually he wakes up at ANYTHING, but he was out like trout- no agression when he was startled awake by me, just sort of a "hey! **?!?" moment. Then he walked right upstairs into the bedroom, laid down on his bed, and was snoring in minutes. Happy dog.

Edited July 2, 2011 by LoriEric

[4My2Greys]

I am gone about 10 hours a day due to long commute so for my dogs crating was out of the question. I close bedroom doors and use a babygate to keep them out of my kitchen when gone. All the fosters I've had were housetrained to my long schedule in about a weeks time with just 2 or 3 accidents. Just a word of warning if you do decide to confine him to an area don't put him in a bedroom and close the door. A lot of them tend to find it very stressful and will scratch at the door and chew doorframes. I like BootsyCollins idea of taking the door off the crate and putting it in a safe area.

As far as dogs detecting pregnancy I believe they absolutely can. It's more about training them to elicit a response to certain smells they pick up on. Think about all the things dogs are trained to sniff out. Here's a story about a Labrador that was trained to detect cancer. He does it with 98% accuracy by detecting the chemicals in the person's breath. It's not that he couldn't smell these things before, but now he is trained to let someone know. I hope my link works here.

http://m.cbsnews.com/blogstorysynopsis.rbml? feed_id=71&catid=20030391&videofeed=null

 

Edited to add: Well it looks like the link doesn't take you directly to the story, but if your interested Google tumor sniffing dogs.

Oh and congratulations on the pregnancy and your boy is beautiful.

Edited July 2, 2011 by 4My2Greys