How Long Did It Take For Your Grey To Adjust To Home Life?

[Guest DeniseL]

Just curious...we just passed the 3 month gotcha days for our two hounds. Our girl acted like she had been here with us her whole life. Our boy has had more of a struggle. He was almost comatose the first month, wouldn't walk, little interaction, just layed around and stared at the wall, then had the corn surgery which was a major setback, but he has really blossomed the last 3 weeks or so, interacting with us and becoming much more playful....but then some days, like yesterday, he seemed depressed and lethargic. Everyone at the adoption kennel describes a totally different Miami than the one we see at home. We have gotten glimpses of the personality...I guess I'm just a bit impatient

How long did it take your hound to adjust and show their real personality? I know each hound if different just looking for some experiences....thanks!

 

[Guest KPS915]

We're just over the 2 month mark, so I'm curious too. Her SA is overall getting better - no more pee and biting the crate bars, just some rooing/barking when we leave, but she is so much different than was described by her foster mom. She never gives kisses or plays with her toys. Very rarely does she wag her tail. Sometimes she'll come up to us, but most of the time she hangs out in her crate with the door open. She's very sweet, but very very reserved. Every now and again we see a glimpse of a personality, I, too am impatient!

[rschultz]

over a year

[buddibear]

About 1 day lol. He got out of the car, watered everything in the yard,walked up 5 steps went to the LR and walked right up on the couch and smiled. Tried to get him to sleep in a kennel ( fostering guidelines) I ended up sleeping on the floor with him for several nights.After 3 weeks he has learned the 14 steps to the bedrooms and the rest will be easy going for his new adoption home,soon.

[rschultz]

Wow 1 day..I am jealous

[Guest karilynn]

Well, it's been nearly 7 months for me and in many ways, my boy is still adjusting to home life. He is a little bit of a spook, though. Not too bad, just a little timid about certain things. He's come a long, long ways. It's taken some patience, but he's worth it! I can't wait to see where he is at in another 7 months.

[gazehund]

About a year for all three of my hounds. All three of them raced until they were 4.5 years old. All three came directly from their racing kennel. Stud farm in Cracker's case. All three came in the house and did well right from the get go. No accidents. No SA. No chewing etc. But for their full personality to emerge and for them to become truly comfortable here it was about a year for all three of them.

[Guest DeniseL]

over a year

 

Arghhhhh! lol

[Guest KPS915]

About a year for all three of my hounds. All three of them raced until they were 4.5 years old. All three came directly from their racing kennel. Stud farm in Cracker's case. All three came in the house and did well right from the get go. No accidents. No SA. No chewing etc. But for their full personality to emerge and for them to become truly comfortable here it was about a year for all three of them.

 

Does it take longer for an older dog to warm up/get comfortable? Our girl turned 5 in July and raced until last September. I'm wondering if that has to do with how reserved she is.

Edited October 17, 2012 by KPS915

[Feisty49]

I've had Annie Bella for 15 months. While she was never a spook and never had SA, she was very aloof for a long time. It was 3 months post adoption before she'd look me in the eye.

 

And while she adjusted to home life pretty quickly in that from the beginning she laid on her bed and was comfy, didn't need (or even like) her crate, and ate and did her P&P thing without a problem, it was months before I felt that she understood this was her Forever Home and months before I felt as if we had bonded because she was showing total trust in me.

[inugrey]

I have to ask, what kind of corn surgery?

 

In terms of your question I have three different answers for three different dogs. Inu was my first and I think it took him about six months to be fully comfortable and himself. Salem was the addition and I think her transition was quicker because she was always with another greyhound, but she is also a shy dog. It probably took her a bit less than six months. It would have been much longer if she didn't have another greyhound. Zoe came to us as a behavior return after having lived in a house for five years. The first six months would probably rank as terrible for both her and the family. We found behavior/emotion drugs at about six months. She finally started to settle into the routine. Now she's home. I think we see the real girl most of the time now and it's been almost 18 months.

[gazehund]

About a year for all three of my hounds. All three of them raced until they were 4.5 years old. All three came directly from their racing kennel. Stud farm in Cracker's case. All three came in the house and did well right from the get go. No accidents. No SA. No chewing etc. But for their full personality to emerge and for them to become truly comfortable here it was about a year for all three of them.

 

Does it take longer for an older dog to warm up/get comfortable? Our girl turned 5 in July and raced until last September. I'm wondering if that has more to do with how reserved she is.

 

In my opinion it does. Life in a racing kennel is routine, structure oriented. It always stays the same no matter what. It makes sense the longer the dog stays in that comfortable environment, the longer it takes him to adjust to a new one. All three of my hounds are calm and confident. They did fine coming into our home. No problems whatsoever. Just a bit of time to become fully comfortable. There were always other hounds here too. The new dogs "learned the ropes" from the hounds already here. To me it is a fascinating process to witness. Greyhounds are awesome dogs.

[Guest KPS915]

About a year for all three of my hounds. All three of them raced until they were 4.5 years old. All three came directly from their racing kennel. Stud farm in Cracker's case. All three came in the house and did well right from the get go. No accidents. No SA. No chewing etc. But for their full personality to emerge and for them to become truly comfortable here it was about a year for all three of them.

 

Does it take longer for an older dog to warm up/get comfortable? Our girl turned 5 in July and raced until last September. I'm wondering if that has more to do with how reserved she is.

 

In my opinion it does. Life in a racing kennel is routine, structure oriented. It always stays the same no matter what. It makes sense the longer the dog stays in that comfortable environment, the longer it takes him to adjust to a new one. All three of my hounds are calm and confident. They did fine coming into our home. No problems whatsoever. Just a bit of time to become fully comfortable. There were always other hounds here too. The new dogs "learned the ropes" from the hounds already here. To me it is a fascinating process to witness. Greyhounds are awesome dogs.

 

They are, we love our girl to pieces, we're amazed how quickly she stole our hearts!

[Trihounds]

About a year for all three of my hounds. All three of them raced until they were 4.5 years old. All three came directly from their racing kennel. Stud farm in Cracker's case. All three came in the house and did well right from the get go. No accidents. No SA. No chewing etc. But for their full personality to emerge and for them to become truly comfortable here it was about a year for all three of them.

 

Does it take longer for an older dog to warm up/get comfortable? Our girl turned 5 in July and raced until last September. I'm wondering if that has more to do with how reserved she is.

 

In my opinion it does. Life in a racing kennel is routine, structure oriented. It always stays the same no matter what. It makes sense the longer the dog stays in that comfortable environment, the longer it takes him to adjust to a new one. All three of my hounds are calm and confident. They did fine coming into our home. No problems whatsoever. Just a bit of time to become fully comfortable. There were always other hounds here too. The new dogs "learned the ropes" from the hounds already here. To me it is a fascinating process to witness. Greyhounds are awesome dogs.

 

These are great points - and just to add to where I think Nancy was going with this, because it resonates in our house as well, is that the difference between "comfortable" and "fully comfortable" is very subtle. Our latest adds (Jan and Apr/12) to our other 2 who have been here ~4 years was simple - they both walked in like they've lived here forever. They took major comfort in following the other dogs and just did what they did. But there are subtle differences I can still see with Squirt (Jan/12) and Omie (Apr/12) that I don't see with the others but that they are evolving with time. It's quite neat. I can tell you this - even though I posted a funny Omie video of him goofing off in the yard with a ball, he is far too serious on walks. He doesn't get that we're out there for fun....he is a man on a mission and I have no idea where he thinks he is always going, but my sense is he keeps searching for that starting box, lol!! I don't know - I just made that up, but the guy is out there looking for something instead of chilling and sniffing like everyone else does! That tells me he is still figuring out what he is supposed to be doing comfortably.

[Sambuca]

I've had Bu for 4 years now and he still occasionally does something totally new. Both he and Sailor are shy so I would say over a year. Obedience training helped Sailor a lot.

[gazehund]

Exactly Derek. Exactly!

[Guest team_tonio]

We've had our boy for about 4 months now, he's almost 5... He was pretty bomb proof from the get go... he molded into our lives fairly quickly but definitely seemed to enjoy his own space. What i've noticed is the amount of affection he shows us is increasing. He now would rather lie snuggled with me on the couch with his head on my lap rather than alone on his bed - or even at the other end of the couch. It's very sweet and makes my heart swell! Can't wait to see what another 4 months brings!

[Brindles]

Dazzle and Echo both took a couple days.

[Guest DeniseL]

the adoption clinic did laser removal on two paws about a month after we brought him home, really rough recovery...he just stopped limping a few weeks ago...we had to change bandages and put on thera paws for every walk, it was a lot of fussing with his feet when he didnt know us or trust us....he is doing much better corn wise now, thank god.

 

We are starting obedience next week. A trainer is coming to the house, its good to know that it will help..

I just can't wait to experience the silly, goofy pup that I hear about from the volunteers! They swoon over him at the clinic, so im optimistic that when his real personality comes out, I will, too

[brianamac]

We also just passed our 3 month mark with Boo, and his personality has come in out in certain ways... He had a big setback at the end of August, so he pretty much acts like the same stressed, unresponsive zombie he did when we first got him anytime people who aren't my husband or I are around. In the last three weeks or so he has become much more playful in the house and backyard when its just us and we actually get tail wags pretty often now! I have a feeling we are just STARTING to see the dog he will be, even if he has made what seems like huge progress to us.

 

It feels like such a slow process, hey? Have fun and enjoy watching the small changes happen!

[Annette]

Rhett and Icabod were comfortable from the get go. Rhett cockroached his first night with us. It took at least a year for Dixie and Scarlett to feel comfortable and settle in. We have had Miriam for more than a year and we think she is starting to understand that she is in her forever home.

[JJNg]

I think the answer differs depending on whether you're talking about settling in and feeling comfortable vs a dog's full personality coming out. I find that the majority of greyhounds settle in remarkably quickly considering how different home life is to anything they have ever known. Because they have always had such a structured life at the track, though, it does take some time for their personalities to develop.

 

My greyhounds were both fostered before I adopted them. Willow came to our group at 2 years old with the reputation of being a spook at the track. Our group had placed her mom and one of her littermates, and we had volunteers willing to work with a spook, so her racing kennel held on to her for a few weeks until our group was able to take her. She was already much improved when she came to the group, so I think the kennel staff had worked with her.

 

Willow was in a foster home for about a month before I adopted her. She came in and made herself at home the first day, playing with toys, following me around. Here's a photo album from her first day home. She did have some quirks and would get spooked by odd things, like the ceiling fan or an airplane flying overhead. It was about 4 months before she started getting really playful with Corey. Here's a video of one of their first play sessions. Almost 6 years later, they still play like this.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSTsqYDCrFI

 

Wiki is a goofy, happy boy who was completely comfortable and himself from day one. He retired at a little over 3 years old. He was in a foster home for about 2 weeks before he came to my house, and he was roaching by the 3rd day here. The photos on the first page of this album are from his first day, playing with toys even with his muzzle on. Roaching shots on the 2nd page.

 

I haven't fostered a lot, but I request the shy ones and spooks. Even those settle into the routine pretty quickly here since they can follow the example of the other dogs. I let them progress at their own pace, and they do fine, although most haven't fully developed their personalities in the time they are here.

[Brandiandwe]

Nearly a year and we're still seeing changes. I think they know they're home but Paige especially is still relaxing.

[Hubcitypam]

Oddly enough both my straight from the track guys adapted MUCH quicker than the single one that was fostered. Harley came to me 3 days after his last race and a week after his 5th birthday. Buck came from the adoption kennel a month before his 5th birthday. Both walked in and never looked back. No issues, no SA. Both walked in and were home. They got the idea REALLY quick. Buck was cockroaching within a couple of hours.

 

Rex was found as a stray then fostered and it took him about 6 or 8 months, but he did have corn surgery on all 4 feet very soon after he came to me so I'm sure that factored in.

 

Bella was found as a stray and came to me from the pound at 13 months. She was such a beautiful total dingbat I couldn't tell you when she settled in, maybe not until she turned 10 when she suddenly decided she liked strangers and started begging for treats from my neighbors.

 

Buddy took a while, maybe 3 or 4 months, but he was a 7 year old bounce that had been in the home 3 years. I think he missed his people at first.

[GeorgeofNE]

18 months.

 

 

Seriously, George had a very, very hard time adjusting to live on the outside. There were some pretty unhappy times for both of us, but we made it through!