First Day Back To Work

[Guest stacy6344]

Most of you already know that I'm a nervous wreck to go back to work and leave Tripp tomorrow.

I've been doing alone training all weekend and he's done good. Now he goes right into his crate when I say "crate" and give him a bite of Pupperoni. But I've only left him about an hour or an hour and a half at a time. Minus the first day when I left him four hours and he shredded the egg crate.

 

But tomorrow I have to go back to work. So he will be up from 7:30 till my dad lets him out at noon and then from then until I get home around 5 pm. I'm a wreck worrying about him! :crazy I have his kong all made up with banana/peanut butter/kibble and it's in the freezer. And his Elk antler which he doesn't even act like he likes but it gives him something to chew on.

 

So am I just being overly paranoid??? How about some first week back to work stories from some of you guys that have been through this? :clap

[winnie]

Tripp will be just fine.

 

Celeste was our first greyhound. She was fresh of the track. I don't think she moved from the time we left work until we got home. We never had any issues with her pottying in the house or destroying things.

[Yamaha_gurl]

I know the feeling! When I came home at lunch time that very first day, Bella stood up from her bed and came running over to the front door. She must have slept all morning, she didn't do anything bad.

[Guest stacy6344]

That's the bad part though...I work 45 minutes from my house so coming home for lunch isn't an option. I'm sure my dad will do fine with him. We had "houndie" lessons last night! But I'm not leaving Tripp out...I'm crating him...He's only 18 months old and I haven't had him long enough to trust him to stay out. I'm just hoping he will be ok in the crate.

[Mike516]

Ginger is currently alone in her crate from 8:30am until about 5:15pm unless I can shoot home and let her out for a little bit on my lunch hour, and although she's not thrilled to be alone, she doesn't mind the crate at all. She goes nuts when we get home, it's really cool how happy she gets, but then while we're eating dinner she sometimes goes and lays in her crate with the door open.

 

As far as I know, they are used to the crates from being at the track, it's being alone they don't really like. And that is definitely the case with Ginger. We tried leaving her out thinking it was the crate she didn't like but she caused some minor damage and we realized the dangers of her hurting herself or one of the cats outweighed her uncomfortableness being alone all day.

 

I agree with the other posters that he'll be fine.

[Guest stacy6344]

Ginger is currently alone in her crate from 8:30am until about 5:15pm unless I can shoot home and let her out for a little bit on my lunch hour, and although she's not thrilled to be alone, she doesn't mind the crate at all. She goes nuts when we get home, it's really cool how happy she gets, but then while we're eating dinner she sometimes goes and lays in her crate with the door open.

 

As far as I know, they are used to the crates from being at the track, it's being alone they don't really like. And that is definitely the case with Ginger. We tried leaving her out thinking it was the crate she didn't like but she caused some minor damage and we realized the dangers of her hurting herself or one of the cats outweighed her uncomfortableness being alone all day.

 

I agree with the other posters that he'll be fine.

She doesn't do anything bad in the crate? He's been good in the little times I've left him this weekend. Except tearing up the egg crate. I've just read some bad things they can do like bending bars and breaking teeth. Scares me.

[Guest FawnFan]

He'll be fine in the crate. That's a comfortable place for greyhounds (most of the time.) Our first had been a double bounce who had lived in 2 homes prior for about 7 months. He didn't like the crate training at all. And he made sure we knew this after the first day. So he was baby-gated into the kitchen and family room areas.

 

Yours does sound like a shredder type though (i.e. the egg crate re-purposing attempt. ) You'll need to take that into consideration and provide him with something he's allowed to shred or something which he can't shred (like a tear-resistant covered crate cushion.) If it were me, I'd try to provide him with both.

 

As for the bending bars and breaking teeth, imho that rarely happens. Also personally I think he'd would have already shown you some of this behavior if it were to happen. From what I've read, the destructiveness happens within 20 minutes or so of you leaving them.

 

He'll be fine though. It will take a few days to get used to the new routine yet if everyone keeps it consistent, by the end of the week it'll be old hat type of stuff.

 

Good luck and let us know how he does today after you get home,

Jean

[Mike516]

She sometimes digs at her bed until it's bunched up and one time until it was turned a quarter of a turn which must have taken a while since it's pretty much jammed in there and there isn't much room for it to move.

 

Other than that, the crate will slide across the hardwood floors some (I assume it's from her digging at the bed) and water will spill, but so far nothing too bad (knock wood).

 

She knows when it's time to go in and resists, and sometimes tries to run upstairs, but once we get her moving in the right direction she'll usually go in without much trouble.

 

I try to mix things up so she doesn't associate any one thing with going in the crate for the day but she knows anyway.

 

It's actually kind of mysterious unless she understands english because if we're not leaving she stays downstairs and hangs out with us. If we're going to be leaving at some point, she goes upstairs and gets into bed and pretends she's sleeping. She does this even before we start getting ready so it's not our preparation that is tipping her off.

 

It probably sounds like I'm nuts but she knows. And I've tried to think of anything that might tip her off so I don't do those when we're leaving and actually try and do some of the things I think might be tip offs when we're staying, but she always seems to know when we're leaving and when we're not. It's weird.

[MaryJane]

Ginger is currently alone in her crate from 8:30am until about 5:15pm unless I can shoot home and let her out for a little bit on my lunch hour, and although she's not thrilled to be alone, she doesn't mind the crate at all. She goes nuts when we get home, it's really cool how happy she gets, but then while we're eating dinner she sometimes goes and lays in her crate with the door open.

 

As far as I know, they are used to the crates from being at the track, it's being alone they don't really like. And that is definitely the case with Ginger. We tried leaving her out thinking it was the crate she didn't like but she caused some minor damage and we realized the dangers of her hurting herself or one of the cats outweighed her uncomfortableness being alone all day.

 

I agree with the other posters that he'll be fine.

She doesn't do anything bad in the crate? He's been good in the little times I've left him this weekend. Except tearing up the egg crate. I've just read some bad things they can do like bending bars and breaking teeth. Scares me.

 

Both of mine are like that. The first and only time Larry was in a crate, I came home to bloody paws, nose and bent wires after that he just wasn't crated anymore - I used baby gates in the kitchen and that worked OK. After a month or two of baby-gating, I let him have the run of the house and he was fine except for his occasional counter-surfing.

[greymatters]

It's certainly true that some hounds don't tolerate the crate well at all, BUT - you have already left Tripp in the crate on several occasions and he hasn't shown any sign of trying to escape, and his foster mom said he was crated at her house with no problems, correct? So he'll probably be just fine. As FawnFan said, if he were anxious about the crate itself you would know it by now!

 

Based on my own experience, it's you who will be a nervous wreck worrying about him! Try to relax and remember that he's safe. The mid-day potty break will make it much easier for him, and other than that he'll most likely sleep all day. That's what my boy did when he was crated, and that's what he does now that he has the run of the house. But DH and I were absolute wrecks the first couple of times we left him .

[Guest stacy6344]

Thank you all...I will probably stress myself out over this!

 

I have left him in the crate several times...the longest was the four hours. And then an hour here and there the past couple of days.

 

Walking is another issue for us. We live out in the boonies...and I mean boonies! And unfortunately everyone around here either seems to leave dogs running loose or they drop them off out here. And coyotes are also around...not on our property per say, but I wouldn't want to go walking up our dark street in the morning or at night. So...we have about 1 acres fenced around the house and I plan on getting up and taking him for a 20 minute walk around that and then play with him for another 10 minutes in the doggy yard. I'm hoping that will be enough exercise in the morning and evenings. Summer will be better because it's light longer and I can see critters if we walk down the road.

 

I had my IG (biggy iggy, 20 pounds!!) and Tripp in the doggy yard this afternoon and they were playing and doing zoomies. I think Tripp might be a little too rough for Scrappy though...not mean just rough. But it was pretty fun seeing him run!

 

Keep your stories about working and leaving coming! It helps me!

 

She sometimes digs at her bed until it's bunched up and one time until it was turned a quarter of a turn which must have taken a while since it's pretty much jammed in there and there isn't much room for it to move.

 

Other than that, the crate will slide across the hardwood floors some (I assume it's from her digging at the bed) and water will spill, but so far nothing too bad (knock wood).

 

She knows when it's time to go in and resists, and sometimes tries to run upstairs, but once we get her moving in the right direction she'll usually go in without much trouble.

 

I try to mix things up so she doesn't associate any one thing with going in the crate for the day but she knows anyway.

 

It's actually kind of mysterious unless she understands english because if we're not leaving she stays downstairs and hangs out with us. If we're going to be leaving at some point, she goes upstairs and gets into bed and pretends she's sleeping. She does this even before we start getting ready so it's not our preparation that is tipping her off.

 

It probably sounds like I'm nuts but she knows. And I've tried to think of anything that might tip her off so I don't do those when we're leaving and actually try and do some of the things I think might be tip offs when we're staying, but she always seems to know when we're leaving and when we're not. It's weird.

They are smart aren't they! It's funny how they can sense stuff even when we try to make it impossible!!

[Guest stacy6344]

Well we went for our twenty minute (freezing) walk and played in the doggie pen for about 10 minutes. Now he's had breakfast and curled up on his bed and his mommy is all :crazy thinking about leaving in a couple of hours. Keep fingers, toes and paws crossed that he is a good boy. :goodluck My dad is going to let him out a couple of times today because it's his first day so hopefully that will help.

 

Hopefully in the future he can stay out of the crate. But last night he lifted his leg in the house...with the belly band on and it still went everywhere. So the crate is the only option right now.

[Mike516]

I'm nervous along with you, but I bet he's fine, especially with your Dad coming over to let him out a couple of times.

 

Please let us know how it all turns out today.

 

Thanks.

[Guest TBSFlame]

It's certainly true that some hounds don't tolerate the crate well at all, BUT - you have already left Tripp in the crate on several occasions and he hasn't shown any sign of trying to escape, and his foster mom said he was crated at her house with no problems, correct? So he'll probably be just fine. As FawnFan said, if he were anxious about the crate itself you would know it by now!

 

Based on my own experience, it's you who will be a nervous wreck worrying about him! Try to relax and remember that he's safe. The mid-day potty break will make it much easier for him, and other than that he'll most likely sleep all day. That's what my boy did when he was crated, and that's what he does now that he has the run of the house. But DH and I were absolute wrecks the first couple of times we left him .

 

I think mine are glad when I leave for work b/c they get to sleep without me being around to make noise. He will be fine.

[Guest stacy6344]

My dad just called me and said Tripp was fine! He said he didn't give him any trouble getting his muzzle on or going back in his crate after going potty!! Yeah!!

[BatterseaBrindl]

Atta boy, Trip!!!

 

Edited December 6, 2011 by BatterseaBrindl

[GeorgeofNE]

A 20 minute walk is not enough exercise for a young dog who is going to be crated for 8 hours in my opinion.

 

Get yourself one of these: Nek Light

 

And your dog oen of these: Pup Light

 

You won't believe how much light they put out! But if you work from 2 until 10:30, I'm assuming you mean 2 PM until 10:30 PM? Maybe you mean 2 AM? Anyway, it's dark when I walk my dog, and we go for 45 minutes Monday through Friday (and he's nine!). He needs the exercise and it helps him to have this routine. He knows that long walks are followed by his Kong, and that I will come back!

 

Yes, I've seen foxes and racoons and coyotes. And I've seen beautiful sunsets, hawks, and bunnies!

[Guest stacy6344]

A 20 minute walk is not enough exercise for a young dog who is going to be crated for 8 hours in my opinion.

 

Get yourself one of these: Nek Light

 

And your dog oen of these: Pup Light

 

You won't believe how much light they put out! But if you work from 2 until 10:30, I'm assuming you mean 2 PM until 10:30 PM? Maybe you mean 2 AM? Anyway, it's dark when I walk my dog, and we go for 45 minutes Monday through Friday (and he's nine!). He needs the exercise and it helps him to have this routine. He knows that long walks are followed by his Kong, and that I will come back!

 

Yes, I've seen foxes and racoons and coyotes. And I've seen beautiful sunsets, hawks, and bunnies!

 

I will for sure get those! Thanks! What I will probably do is just walk longer here on our property. I'm just not comfortable walking on these back roads with all the dogs around here by myself. And I can always play with him longer in the yard. I know it's cold where you are and it normally doesn't get that bad here in TX, but OMG it's been cold the past few days! He has a coat but even tonight when we were walking he just wanted to come back in the house. I had to make him stay out and walk with me. And I made him up his Kong today...smashed banana, peanut butter and kibble...he didn't touch it all day. And I know he liked the mixture because I gave him some before I stuffed the Kong. But he was SO good all day today! Such a sweet boy!!!

 

A 20 minute walk is not enough exercise for a young dog who is going to be crated for 8 hours in my opinion.

 

Get yourself one of these: Nek Light

 

And your dog oen of these: Pup Light

 

You won't believe how much light they put out! But if you work from 2 until 10:30, I'm assuming you mean 2 PM until 10:30 PM? Maybe you mean 2 AM? Anyway, it's dark when I walk my dog, and we go for 45 minutes Monday through Friday (and he's nine!). He needs the exercise and it helps him to have this routine. He knows that long walks are followed by his Kong, and that I will come back!

 

Yes, I've seen foxes and racoons and coyotes. And I've seen beautiful sunsets, hawks, and bunnies!

 

And no...I don't work at night. I leave the house around 7:30 am and get home around 5:00 pm. He has a potty break at noon when my dad lets him out.

[Guest leemc]

YAY TRIPP!!!!!! I knew you could do it!!!!!

[Guest stacy6344]

Thank you guys for all the replies! I'm very proud of my boy right now!! Hopefully he continues to do well!!!

[msjpk]

Are you leaving the radio on? Is your dad going to let him out everyday? If so, is it possible to feed Tripp half his kibble to hold him over till 5:00- this can also make him satisfied and "lazy".

Just make sure Tripp goes out to potty after he eats.

[Guest stacy6344]

Are you leaving the radio on? Is your dad going to let him out everyday? If so, is it possible to feed Tripp half his kibble to hold him over till 5:00- this can also make him satisfied and "lazy".

Just make sure Tripp goes out to potty after he eats.

My dad is here all this week. After that it will either be him or my stepmom letting him out at noon. There will be the occasional day he will have to go all day but those are few and far between. He eats breakfast before I go to work and I always take him out and play and do his business before I leave.

 

Day 2...keep your fingers crossed.