Hello And Intro

[Guest KPS915]

Hello -

 

Just adopted a female grey, Lila, at the begining of August. She's five and was bounced around a bit before she came to us - her first family returned her because she was sad and lonely then was fostered for a while.

 

Things are going mostly okay. She responds to her name most of the time, but not all. Does great on walks, leash manners are quite good and ignores the other dogs in the neighborhood. We're working slowly on come, stay and down. We make her wait in her crate for breakfast and dinner - somedays she's better than others.

 

No potty accidents when we're home or overnight, but we have some pee accidents in the crate when we're away at work. I'm trying to determine her "witching hour" - I work full time, as does MH - so we're working up to getting her comfortable alone all day. She's day crated for now - we left her loose in the living room one day and she peed on the couch (that had a big old rolled up wool rug on top of it as a deterrent) - when we're ready to move her out of the crate, we'll baby gate her in the kitchen. We've got some whining in the mornings when I leave for work and MH says she's usually whining when he comes home at night. So maybe a bit of separation anxiety? I load her up with a kong and a refilable water bowl and a treat ball (which she still doesn't quite get). I have a DAP plugged in behind her crate - but we've only had that plugged in for a week or so. No chewing, just some whining and pee. We've just been keeping towels in the crate to make clean up easier - she has 5 or 6 bath towels in there.

 

No real interest in toys or play. She likes her walks (gets 30-40 minutes first thing in the am, then a quick 10-15 minute walk before I leave and another 15-30 at night during the week). On the weekends we take her for a 2-3 mile walk in the am or a play session in the park where we'll run around the soccer fields.

 

We're been trying to get her out and about - farmer's market, pet store, walks downtown. She mostly does okay - a bit nervous our first trip downtown - large trucks and a revving Lotus freaked her out a bit, but we gave her a pat and kept on trucking.

 

She's still a bit reserved - definitely not a cuddly girl - she'll let us pet her and sometimes seeks out some rubs/love, but more often just follows us around the house.

 

She sleeps upstairs in our room on a throne of appropriated pillow shams, dog beds, and blankets - it looks like a hobo hut in the corner! She's a bit of a restless sleeper, we'll hear her up a few times a night scratching/nesting her bed or getting a good shake before she settles back down.

 

I've been reading and lurking for the past few weeks and found this board extremely helpful.

[Guest DeniseL]

Congrats on your new addition!! Is this you're first greyhound?

 

[Guest KPS915]

Yes, she is our first grey. I grew up with Labs and MH grew up with a wire haired terrier.

[Guest KPS915]

I recorded her this afternoon, she whined and howled and barked a few times for about 5-10 minutes after I left. She jumped up once or twice on the door to her crate. Looks like she slept most of the 4 hours I was gone and woke up a few times and whimpered/whined for a minute or two before settling down again.

[Guest DeniseL]

I wish I had more than well wishes to offer...i am a new grey owner myself. So I am still learning. My two didn't suffer SA at all. Our girl we alone trained in a crate for the week, then she was fine. Our boy we brought home a week later and he only used the crate for a week or so. Thyme did whine for a while when we left her and still does if one of us leaves and takes miami, our boy, with us. I'm sure she probably cries when both of us are gone. But no destruction or severe anxiety, thank god. Our challenges have been statuing on walks and corns (at least 6 on our boy!).

I have gotten lots of great advice on here!! I'm sure you will, too

[BatterseaBrindl]

 

Sounds as if she's doing fairly well considering you've only had her for a month.

 

How long is she left alone when you're at work?

My guys can 'hold it' all day, but of course they've been living in a home situation for a long time, but I personally don't like to leave them for more than 6 hours. They are not crated.

 

Do you practice 'alone training' at all?? Do a search and I'm sure you'll find lots of info.

 

Oh...and now we need to see some pictures!!!!

[sobesmom]

Welcome. My advice - ask a LOT of questions. You can turn many "big" issues into small situations by getting help here. We've all been there-done that.

[Greydawg]

Welcome, and congratulations on adopting your first Greyhound! I love the visual of her "hobo corner!"

 

Before you leave for work, make sure she has completely emptied herself. We both work full-time, too, and we take them on a 20-30 minute walk every morning. At least "2 Tinks and a Stink" for each dog. Never a mess in the house. My dear dad is our mid-day dog-walker, but the boys have held it for 8 hours before. Overnight, they regularly hold it for longer periods. (They are world class sleepers!)

 

ETA... Best wishes to you in your "adjustment period." You are all learning each others ways right now... It will get easier soon.

 

 

 

Edited September 6, 2012 by Greydawg

[Guest KPS915]

She gets a 30ish minute brisk walk in the morning before work, rests for a bit, eats breakfast around 6:30-7, then I take her at least 2 or 3 more times (one is another mini 5-10 minute walk) before I leave for work between 8-8:30. She has a refillable water bowl in her crate, but doesn't seem to drink much when we're gone. She gets a filled kong in the am that is cleaned out by the time we get back. The treat dispensing ball is totally lost on her. Any other interactive toy/treat suggestions? Vet said she needs to put on a bit of weight, so I'm not overly concerned with the added calories.

 

Between MH and I we're out of the house for about 8-9 hours a day (8:30-5ish). So we'll need to work up to that. Sometimes one of us works from home. Yesterday she was alone from 8:30-2:30, then I came home for a half hour and alone again from 3-7. No accidents yesterday. MH is working from home today and tomorrow I'll record her again, I did find that helpful.

 

We have been working on alone training and I try to vary my morning departure routines. Go into the garage to put my work bags in the car, open the garage door and come back in. Sometimes I'll sit on the couch for a few minutes after, etc. I leave a fan on by her crate and either the jazz or classical music channel on the TV. She has a DAP diffuser plugged in behind her crate.

 

There are a couple other greys in our neighborhood, she leans against/hides behind us when we encounter them, all other dogs she seems to ignore.

[Guest june]

Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of greys! Your girl will adjust given time. It is wonderful that you are walking her on a regular basis. As is commonly stated on this forum, "a tired grey is a happy grey." As for the peeing have you had her checked for a UTI? That can cause frequent peeing.

Again, welcome and we'd like some pictures please.

june

[GeorgeofNE]

I wouldn't bother with the treat dispensing toy in the crate. The fun of that is being able to roll it around and such, and she really can't do that in the crate. It sounds like she's doing very well!

 

It might sound counter intuitive, but I think you might actually need a slightly more rigid AM schedule, and I would shift the longest walk to AFTER she eats. Piddle break first thing--then you feed her, do your thing, etc., and THEN take her for the longer walk. One more quicky right before you leave (since you can--I do not do this myself) and off you go!

 

Sounds like all in all she's doing really well.

[Guest KPS915]

My concern with swapping breakfast and walk is it won't give us enough time to get ready for work. She goes out for her walk around 5-5:30 and eats around 6:30-7. If she eats at 5:30-6, we can't go out for a walk until 6:30-7 - and that doesn't leave much time to shower/get dressed for work/etc.