New Retired Gh, How Am I Doing?

[Guest Beernardo]

I thought he was going to pick an area right next to the sand pit and gravel, but it wasn't unitl I saw him go in front of the door that Ii got me thinking if he was going to have a pee and poo parade all around the patio. I usually keep him on sight since he's just been with us for a week and I want to make him clear where he can and can't, but the pee in front of the dor happened in a matter of seconds. I would like to hear how the rest of the members dogs do it.

[TheFullHouse]

i have a pretty good sized yard and my dogs usually have to run or trot a little before they poop. My pack is mostly males so to get them to pee in certain areas (away from the patio), I went and got two orange construction cones and put them at each end of the yard and they would hike their legs on them. If your area is small your boy may just schedule himself to only go poop on walks.

[Guest Krissyfissy]

This is just a thought, I am not even sure if there is a solution...I'm a newbie too so I probably have no grounds to give advice, but.... Maybe if you catch him pooping somewhere, pick up the poop and put it in the sandbox. I know it sounds gross to leave it there, but the next time he goes out, lead him to that area on a leash, let him sniff his own poo and give him a treat. Make sure it's in the back so he will have to walk on the sand to get there. If he sniffs it, give him the treat and continue this every time you first let him out before you turn him loose. If he poops somewhere else, maybe replace the other poop until he gets the message? Or, I know my grey likes to pee where other dogs have marked, maybe see if a neighbor can help you out and catch some in a Baggie for you so you can pour it on the sand. Lol, is this getting too involved in the business? Thought id give it a shot....I wish you all the luck

[Guest Beernardo]

@JillysFullHouse I'm going to get myself on of those orange cones then. In the meantime we'll sstick with the poop walks, it is just not comfortable for me since I get these looks from people thinking I won't pick up after him since not many people does it around here.

 

@ Krissyfissy Actually a very experienced guy recommended me the same thing, so I did as I mentioned earlier, the sand pit is filled with land mines, heck I even had my 8 year old cousin and myself peeing in the sand in front of Stannis to see if he catches the idea (this already got too invloved in busines huh?). When he peed in front of my door, I soaked a big napkin and put it in the sand pit as well. I think I'll stop forcing him to go to the sand pit and start "collecting" his gifts from the patio and put them all in the sand pit (I hope I have the patience), do you think this will work or will just give the message that he's free to do whatever wherever?

[Batmom]

Sand = lounge area for most dogs. They really like to lie down in it, dig in it, etc. But, if you put a cone or a tall stake in/by the sand pit and took him over on leash when he had to go, he might start to get the idea.

 

It's hard to convince a dog to go where *you* want him to, unless you fence him into that area. If you scold him for going someplace, he'll pick another place, which may not be a place you had in mind. So I would not scold him or herd him much; more try to outwit him if that makes any sense .

 

Not neutering isn't usually a problem as long as you keep him away from any girl dogs in heat. Don't want any accidents!!! (For girl dogs, spaying really is important for health.)

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

Time and consistency is what this will take. Make sure you're out with him to prevent him from going on the concrete and praising him for going in the area you want him to. Or a fence. I used decorative fencing panels from Lowes to make Jayne an area in which to do her business. I lay down straw to make poop easy to pick up and keep mud off her paws when she comes inside. She's been using it for about two years now. She gets to play in the rest of the yard, and will even return to "her" yard if she has to poop, she will pee in other spots on the lawn if she's loose in the main yard, but I don't mind that.

 

(This picture was taken after I took up the winter straw and hadn't yet put down the spring bale.)

 

[Guest Beernardo]

I'll make things easier on him trying more positive methods. I like the idea of confining him with a fence in that area and leaving him there until he relieves himself.

I may also try the straw to see how he reacts to that surface.

 

It may be a lot of work initially but if I can make him to do most of his business in one easy to clean spot, I think it will be worht it.

 

Thanks for the tips!

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

We did originally have the fence so that there was a gate off the patio. We had to go out each time and shut her into it, it was a lot of work and sucked in the rain, but within about 2 months she was very reliable about using it. I would put her in until she went, then let her out into the main yard to run or back inside depending on the time of day and what she wanted.

 

I do love having just one area for her business. I never have to scour the whole yard looking for landmines, and I can go barefoot in the yard without worrying about stepping in anything. In fact, I've had my dog two years now and have never once stepped in poo. She's actually fairly consistent where she goes within her yard, and I cleanup every other day, so I could probably walk barefoot in the dark there and still not worry.

 

Honestly, if it weren't that we still worry about the back fence (she got under it once and although we tightened it we'd rather she never have access to it when we're not out with her), and that I'm paranoid about her doing zoomies on our hill in wet grass and taking a spill, we probably wouldn't need it anymore to keep her going in that area.

 

 

 

Good luck!

Edited June 22, 2012 by Jayne

[Tallgreydogmom]

We fenced a medium sized area just adjacent to the garage side door. We just let them out the garage door to potty. We watered down the area every few days or as needed.

[Guest SusanP]

I want to mention that one of my 4 hounds loves to sleep in the hallway right outside our bedroom door (the others sleep on beds in our bedroom). So we just put a comforter there (like a heavy blanket) for her to sleep on. It doesn't take as much room as a crate would, and we can walk around her. All of our dogs want to sleep close to us at night.

 

As for walking your dog, don't worry; your neighbors will get used to seeing you picking up after your dog and appreciate it. And you will be setting a good example for others who want to walk their dogs!

 

Our dogs love to dig and lie down in our children's old sandbox. Their favorite place to poop is on woodchips, in the grass, or on top of low plants, like hostas. I don't know why. You will probably have to do a lot of experimenting and also wait and see what your boy is doing a few weeks from now when he is more settled in your home.

 

I'm kind of wondering why your dog still smells bad even after a dental cleaning and bath. On possibility is that he has gas--that can be horribly smelly--as he adjusts to his new diet it may get better. If the problem continues, a different food might help. But at times all dogs pass gas.

 

In hot weather, our dogs spend very little time outside. If it's about 78 degrees F. inside, we usually turn on the air conditioning, so it's cool enough for all of us inside.

 

It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job!

Edited June 24, 2012 by SusanP

[Guest Beernardo]

DAY 12

 

Well we spend the evening yesterday at the beach and stannis had a great time, he didn't react to weird to the small waves coming at him.We went to an isolated and enclosed (by rocks) beach and I let him loose encouraging him to run and h went crazy after some birds on the sand, I got a little scare because he went neck deep into the water, I was more cautious the next time. He had a good 3 or 4 straight runs. Many times when he was off leash he ignored my call and loud whistling, he was too interested in sniffing the surroundings, especially when he needs to go potty

 

Yesterday he gave us two surprises, he went to pee to the designated area between the large palm trunk and the wall (gravel part, not sand) by himself, looks like he needs his privacy. The other surprise is that he spent the night in the living room by himself outside the crate in his big mattress pillow thing, I moved the crate to where he's been sleeping all this time and usually he'll come right away to get in there, this time he ignored it and walked back to the living room and stayed there. He was exhausted from all the activity on the beach, so I guess that also helped to clear up his mind and forget about his fear of being alone.

 

What I've noticed is that he whines a little when he sees other dogs, almost as he miss playing with his own kind.

 

He also likes to lay down all four legs stretched out over the tile floor, I think he likes how fresh it is, after a while he goes back to his bed.

 

Since he's very thin, we upped his dose from 4 cups a day to 6 (divided in two servings) while eating only Proplan, but 3 days ago I started switching the food to Blue Buffalo as Proplan has the 3 ingredients somebody told me a greyhound should avoid: Corn, Soy and Wheat. The problem is that since the food transition he's been eating 1 cup per serving, sometimes half and only one time he ate the three cups. Do you think he's just not liking its new food? I'm giving him today a couple of parasites pills to discard that possibility.

 

@Jayne I wonder if confining Stannis to his pee/poo sanctuary will make him think that's another lounge area and will restrain him from doing it there as he avoids to do it inside the house. I'm yet to add the construction cone, I hope that will attract him more.

@ SusanP yeah, now everytime Stannis makes a stop I pull out a bag and hold it in my hand so I don't get the nasty looks he he

 

As per Feisty49 request...

 

 

 

 

[Beachbum1]

What a handsome boy!!!

Don't be too concerned about your doggie sleeping with some of him hanging off of his bed.

I would say 5% of the time, Taylor has everything on his round, 42" diameter bed.

The rest of the time, the front end or the back end or any combination of him is off the bed and on the floor.

[Feisty49]

Stanis is handsome handsome! Love the head hanging off the bed. My girl almost never has her head on her bed. It hangs lower than her body all the time.

 

Food: You'll get a lot of suggestions about food. My suggestion is if he was doing fine on the Proplan -- that is his poos were good, he ate it, etc., -- then don't bother to change. Just sayin'. There are a lot of threads about food on here. I think most of us try to do high-end food. It doesn't always work. Who knows why. I thought I had found the answer to Annie Bella's soft poo by switching to Iams in the Green Bag (not rated highly), which worked for a while. Now I'm on Nutro Venison which worked great for about 10 days and now her poos are deteriorating a little. Oh well... she's not acting sick so she can have deteriorated poos as long as it's not diarrhea.

[Guest Beernardo]

Thanks Glad you liked Stannis.

 

Yes, I've noticed he likes more cushioning on his torso and the rest can just lay on the floor. I'll still look for at least on big size pillow just to see which one he likes better.

 

I think I'll go through the food forums to gather some info, I'm sure those will be looong threads.

 

I'll post a couple of videos of his runs soon.

[jamngrey]

He is a looker. I know I'm being the bad guy (gal) here but I would be REALLY cautious about letting him off leash untill his recall is MUCH better. One he is not altered and males can smell a female 3miles away & no way are you going to will against the scent of a female in heat. Two this new world is nothing he is use to and as he showed you it's more interesting than you. Not saying he can never be off leash at the beach but I just think doing it so soon is a recipe for disaster (just my honest opinion). He does sound like he is getting the handle of home life. I foster greys right off the track. It can be frustrating to get them to "get it" but it is so wonderful when they do and when they enjoy the new things.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

@Jayne I wonder if confining Stannis to his pee/poo sanctuary will make him think that's another lounge area and will restrain him from doing it there as he avoids to do it inside the house. I'm yet to add the construction cone, I hope that will attract him more.

 

Nah, he was used to being turned out into a pen to do his business at the track, it shouldn't be much of an adjustment at all for him to get used to a turnout pen at home. I think the cone is a good idea, if I had a male I would have one.

 

Just from the pictures, he looks like he's a fantastic weight. Remember that you should be able to see a couple ribs, hip points, and a few vertebrae on a greyhound. If people unfamiliar with the breed don't ask you if your dog is too thin, it's probably too fat. (Individual dogs vary, that's just a general guideline)

[Guest Beernardo]

DAY 13

 

He stayed in the Living room on his bed but then in the middle of the night he came to my bed to wake me up with small whining because he wanted to drink water from his bucket outside, then he went back in to his living room bed, I went to bed and I heard him whining some more, then I removed the Crate I have right next to our bedroom door and moved his bed there, he spent the rest of the night there and woke up 7:00 german sharp for his morning walk.

 

Before getting his bed, he liked to stay inside his crate to rest, now if he's not in his bed, his just laying on the tile floor, never the crate. I still need to get a baby/pet gate to close the kitchen and laundry room at night, he seems to respect the rest of the house just fine (living room, hall, my room)

 

Right now I feel like he's a cat inside the body of a big dog Will he ever pass through that phase and be more affectionate or show some more of himself as times passes?

 

@jamngrey Oh I don't think you are the "Bad Guy" here, every opinion helps me. I was sure there were no dogs in the enclosed beach, I'm very paranoid of him getting into a fight (thanks to some nasty stitching pictures I've seen here). After the first run where he went straight into the water I was more cautious and only let him off leash on 3 different occasions. I felt like I was babysitting him the rest of the time, do you ever bring an x pen or long leash to the beach? Do you think he'll ever be aware that he can drown in the beach while chasing like crazy some birds? or they just ignore EVERYTHING around them when they are in the chase even though the are very familiar with the surroundings?

[Guest Beernardo]

@Jayne Ok, I'll try the cone first, and if that fails, I'll use the panels to confine him when is time to relieve himself. I think he's thin, I've been struggling with the food, I think I won't be able to give him dry food only, he's just not interested and eats only a cup instead of three per seating, but when I give mix it with about 50% canned 50% kibble, he cleans the plate without looking away.

 

I'm trying to give him 2 or 2.5 cups and 1/3 can per seating until I can see only the 2 last ribs.

[Houndtime]

He is very handsome. If he is not altered, you should consider having him neutered. Also, I would be very wary about letting him off leash. He is very new to you and even in the long run, you must be very cautious. He is a sight hound.

 

re: His dinner. Have you tried adding some warm water to the kibble. I feed kibble and add a tablespoon of canned food and then mix with warm water. It makes sort of a gravy. Good luck. I think you are doing fine.

[Feisty49]

Do you have water inside also for Stanis? It was unclear if he whined because he wanted water and it's available only outside in the bucket or if he just prefers to drink from the bucket and it's outside. There should be water available for him all the time both inside and outside (if he spends much time outside).

 

One of the reasons for not letting Stanis off a leash was to ensure he didn't run away. We're all concerned, of course, about fights and skirmishes with other dogs, but a bigger concern is a Grey taking off and not returning. I know you said the beach is surrounded by rocks but he can probably run out the same way you entered with him.

 

Stanis will eventually settle in and become more a dog-like dog. It can take months (6 to 12 sometimes) for a Greyhound to adjust to a real home. In the meantime, make sure you give him lots of attention and affection and he'll probably return it and eventually ask for it. But having said this, my girl is very self-sufficient and I've had her almost a year. She doesn't often seek out affection, but very willingly takes it. She's not one to go crazy wild when I come home. She comes running and wags her tail, but it's not overwhelming. She does like to be on the same floor of the house with me, though, so if I go upstairs, even for 30 seconds, she trots right up behind me and then follows me back down.

[Guest Beernardo]

@ Houndtime I think I'm going to have him neutered just to avoid possible injuries when trying to conquer a lady and to do my part on keeping the number of greyhounds low. I was doing the same, adding canned food to his kibble (1/3 can) but then I tried to give him only kibble, I guess he's not diggin that, so I'm going to start to look for good and not crazy expensive canned food as well.

 

@ Feisty49 Mm no I don't have water inside because at the beginning he refused to drink inside from his bowl, I had to put the big white plastic bucket in my patio to resemble how he used to have it back at the track. But now he also drinks from his bowl, I'll put water inside as well. He spends most of the time inside the house but the door is always open and he knows wheres the water.

 

Good point about the running through we came in. We had to do some light hiking to get to the beach, but as I could see, when the hound instinct kicks in, they are careless and will go where their bodies allows them to.

 

He approaches me, my wife, cousins, coworkers about two to three times during the day to seek affection, once he gets it, he goes back to sleep. I also give him lots of affection when he's laying down calmed (not when's he's excited in the mornings before the walk or when I come back after leaving him for a while. I also don't let him do anything unless I want him to do it, like entering to the house, I don't let him go out of the house at the moment I open the door, during the walks we stop only when I say so. I hope I'm not being to strict on him making it much harder for him to like me or my wife.

 

I like it how from day one, we could let him know which rooms of the house where not allowed, and when he forgets it and tries to go in, we just say "no" lightly and he quickly stops and goes back.

 

How many of your Greyhounds "run" during their sleep? mine dreams almost on every nap. He was a lousy runner, that's why they retired him at 2 years old (lucky him), so I guess he doesn't have good memories about the training.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

How many of your Greyhounds "run" during their sleep? mine dreams almost on every nap. He was a lousy runner, that's why they retired him at 2 years old (lucky him), so I guess he doesn't have good memories about the training.

 

He probably has good memories of race training. Racing, and training for these guys really just involves placing the dogs to see the lure and releasing them to chase it. Much like training a retriever to fetch, if the dog isn't interested there really isn't any pushing them into it.

 

My gal retired just after her third birthday because she had a pulled muscle and wasn't a great racer to begin with. She still gets to visit the track a few times a year for meet and greets. She goes absolutely bonkers when we get there. We don't even get into the building before she's positively vibrating with excitement. She howls and barks like mad when the lure and dogs race past the window, and pulls so much that she has to wear her no-pull harness when we go. She occasionally "runs" in her sleep, mostly she just yips and woofles as if she's trying to get that squirrel that sits on the telephone pole in the neighbor's yard.

[Jenbo]

He's GORGEOUS!

[Guest Beernardo]

That's it, I'm replacing the sand, now he pees in there or in the gravel (mostly in the gravel) but he just can't resist the temptation of laying down in the sand, he did it and he ended up all smelly because of the stools I've been putting in there, I have the feeling he has smelling sense problems I think it was in part my fault because I didn't provided a comfy place in the patio for him to lay down, so he went straight to the sand.

 

I'm thinking on adding smooth pebbles of 1" to 2" on top of the sand and see how he reacts, hopefully he'll still get the pee smell.

 

@ Jenbo Thanks! He saw about a dozen greyhouds when we visited the tracks two times and Stannis was the first one we saw on the first visit and at the ended we decided to get him, also due to his laid back personality, the other dogs seemed very anxious when they got taken out of the kennels.