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

[gr8kids]

I would have to agree with everyone who says about a yr. For my first two grays when it hit a year I saw them just totally chill and relax. They would get adjusted slowly and in little ways but really saw their personality come out at a yr. My newest one I have had for a 14 months and I'm are still getting her to be really comfortable with everything for she had to go to the vet almost every wk the first 8 months I had her home, so she is coming out of her shell in different ways but slowly. The hard part is she started showing her personality and getting adjusted shortly after getting her home, but then the trips to the vet closed her up again. I'm loving the new personality everyday. Just be patient and just let him know he is home and secure. One day it will just click. I mean I finally figured out her crying at the top of the stairs is b/c she wants Sky my other grey to come upstairs too...she is a momma!

[greytpups]

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.

 

it's probably more to do with personality than age.

 

It didn't take either of our 2nd or third grey too long at all and I suspect because they learned from the grey who showed them the way. I created a photo journal for Brooke so I could remember all of her firsts and surprisingly, for how shy she is, it didn't take her long at all. We have a well established routine which helps.

[TheFullHouse]

It depends on the dog. I have a couple that came in and acted like they had been here all their lives (those were my younger adoptions), my dogs that were around 4 or 5 when I adopted them took a lot longer. They would settle in as part of the pack pretty quickly but to see their personality totally emerge took a few months to a year for most of them. The more comfortable they got and the more trust they built with us the more of their personality we saw. I learned very quickly to just be patient.

[Beachbum1]

Good timing with this topic.

Taylor came here 10 months ago (after 14 months at the adoption agency waiting for a home!!!!), and he settled in quite fast.

 

I live on the second floor, with an outside concrete staircase, and he learned stairs when he was brought here. Up/down/up and that was it.

 

He has never had an accident in the house, never has been destructive, and after the first night of sleeping in a crate, he has slept on his bed outside of my bedroom in the hallway ever since (with my bedroom door open).

Other than a little separation anxiety the first 6 weeks (just pacing.....I used my web-cam to see how he was progressing), he's been fine.

 

 

BUT, just a few weeks ago, let's just say his personality is coming out? Like he now plays with stuffies and not just for 15 seconds? More like a few minutes of rampaging around throwing them in the air, or wiggling around on his back waiting for me to get down and wrestle with him (all 90 pounds of him and those back legs do leave a mark when he kicks me).

 

The latest, the past few nights, instead of him laying there sleeping upside down from 7:30 PM or so till I wake him up at midnight to go out so I can then go to bed, anywhere from 8:00 to 10:00 PM he'll wake up and start wiggling around.

 

Then he gets up and stomps on a toy or two. Then runs to the door to go out, and when he gets in the back yard (around 20' x 30') he starts doing zoomies like a lunatic. The lawn looks like Poland after being bombed in WWII. For the first time, last night at 9:30, he started digging a hole in the dirt and I stopped him before he hit water (we live across from the ocean). Then got him back in (after hosing the mud off of his feet), and after 15 minutes of laying there on his side on his bed panting, it was "legs up and zzzzzzzzzz" till I got him up to go out at midnight. Then MORE ZOOMIES!!

 

Talk about bursts of energy? Most of the time I feel like I have to put a mirror under his nose to make sure he's breathing .

 

Oh well. He's cute.

[Roo]

Eli's still not completely "out" in terms of personality, but he's getting there! I've had him for 5 months (tomorrow exactly!) and he's acting much more dog-like (well, Greyhound-like). Still no roaches (I've never had a grey who roached and Eli is my/our third) but he's playing with me when he wants to eat now. Before he'd wander around the room and act all forlorn (nicknamed him Eeyore for a while) but now he play-bows, thwacks the ground with his front legs, and spins away from me then back to me then away again. He's still skittish about things (school buses, trees, the smell of coyote in the woods, wood floors [but only if I'm looking at him]) but I think he's finally realizing that he doesn't need to be afraid of everything new.

 

I can't wait to see what he's like when he feels completely at home - I believe I'll be in for even more silliness

[brianamac]

Then runs to the door to go out, and when he gets in the back yard (around 20' x 30') he starts doing zoomies like a lunatic. The lawn looks like Poland after being bombed in WWII.

 

Yes!! Love the way you put it. My husband and I joke that our boy has made his own personal dirt race track in the backyard... where grass used to live.

[rschultz]

Good timing with this topic.

Taylor came here 10 months ago (after 14 months at the adoption agency waiting for a home!!!!), and he settled in quite fast.

 

I live on the second floor, with an outside concrete staircase, and he learned stairs when he was brought here. Up/down/up and that was it.

 

He has never had an accident in the house, never has been destructive, and after the first night of sleeping in a crate, he has slept on his bed outside of my bedroom in the hallway ever since (with my bedroom door open).

Other than a little separation anxiety the first 6 weeks (just pacing.....I used my web-cam to see how he was progressing), he's been fine.

 

 

BUT, just a few weeks ago, let's just say his personality is coming out? Like he now plays with stuffies and not just for 15 seconds? More like a few minutes of rampaging around throwing them in the air, or wiggling around on his back waiting for me to get down and wrestle with him (all 90 pounds of him and those back legs do leave a mark when he kicks me).

 

The latest, the past few nights, instead of him laying there sleeping upside down from 7:30 PM or so till I wake him up at midnight to go out so I can then go to bed, anywhere from 8:00 to 10:00 PM he'll wake up and start wiggling around.

 

Then he gets up and stomps on a toy or two. Then runs to the door to go out, and when he gets in the back yard (around 20' x 30') he starts doing zoomies like a lunatic. The lawn looks like Poland after being bombed in WWII. For the first time, last night at 9:30, he started digging a hole in the dirt and I stopped him before he hit water (we live across from the ocean). Then got him back in (after hosing the mud off of his feet), and after 15 minutes of laying there on his side on his bed panting, it was "legs up and zzzzzzzzzz" till I got him up to go out at midnight. Then MORE ZOOMIES!!

 

Talk about bursts of energy? Most of the time I feel like I have to put a mirror under his nose to make sure he's breathing .

 

Oh well. He's cute.

 

Maybe time to cut back on his coffee..Perhaps decaf???? Wow, Taylor sure has settled in.

[a_daerr]

It took Henry a long time, probably close to a year. After about six months, he was doing better, but he only really trusted me. He was still extremely shy and would look to me for reassurance a lot. I'd say his true personality didn't come out until after we did obedience classes. That really built up his confidence, and he's great now.

[Guest zombrie]

it's probably more to do with personality than age.

 

Agreed! Both Doolin and Mira walked in and acted like they owned the place day one. Neither had issues (besides Doolin's health). Both dogs are extremely confident and pretty much bomb proof.

Minerva has been the hardest to adjust so far to home life. She had a lot of SA and extreme fear of non-greyhound breeds. She is not as confident as the other 2 and looks to me and her brother Doolin for confidence. Maybe 6 or 7 months to get to the point of 100% comfort with home life. A solid routine was her best friend. ETA she is not shy at all with people, just the world around her made her very uncomfortable. Now she is more perfect than I could have ever imagined and is quite the explorer now! She learned to love what she once feared

Edited October 18, 2012 by zombrie

[cleptogrey]

emily- adopted at 4.5yrs of age- adjusted to life here in 1 month(we had thanksgiving dinner here and she was adopted nov 1st), by the 4th month she had her therapy dog certification and was on her way to a cgc.

 

annie adopted at 2.5 yrs of age- 9 months to get into the car, 1 year to not run away from my son-in-law, 2 years to really feel at home. but she ALWAYS has had a FANTASTIC recall.

[KickReturn]

I highly recommend going on as many long walks as possible with your dog. And by long walk I mean two hours. It may take time to build up to it but most dogs can do it. If you can't do two hours at once than an hour at least twice per day can work. It is easy to overlook how depressed some of these dogs can be and the walking really helps. Wandering around the back yard doesn't count. The sniffing, physical exercise and ultimate fitness helps the mood. It also really helps the bonding process. In the case of my boy it has resulted in him becoming my "partner" and very affectionate toward me and he was extremely meloncholy and detached in the beginning.

 

Good luck, it will work out.

Edited October 27, 2012 by KickReturn

[JohnF]

March 15-May 29

I can date it with Peggy's Photo Gallery.

 

 

A stretching dog is both a well and a happy dog - this was her first warm look towards camera too.

[Guest badderh]

I got my 2nd hound about 4 months ago right from the track, I would say he's coming around and adjusting fine, but that I still don't think his personality is fully coming through yet. A lot of things still scare him/ confuse him and he has some days where he'd rather just stay in his crate where he's safe rather than come out and play.

 

My 1st hound has been with us for about 8 months and has been off the track for about 16 months and I'd say his personality is pretty out there. He knows who he is for sure and lets everyone else know it too! <3 His strong personality and head start with "real world training" has definitely helped our 2nd hound come around faster.

 

It seems like most people will say that you start to see their full personality around 1 year of them being with you.

[Guest snoopycomehome]

We got Dragon first at 3yo. He fit in really well, but had difficulty with stairs (2 weeks) and SA for months. Enter Gypsy 3 months later (also 3yo), which cured 90% of the SA. Gypsy had trouble with stairs for 1 week, and she was early to bed, early to rise for 3 weeks. (The most difficult part for us night-owls). She was skittish with ceiling fans, as well. But other than that, they 'fit' into our family and seemed to 'get' it right away.

 

Personality was a whole other animal, though. Although Dragon became attached to me and was my velcro-dog from day 1, his playful side and ability to really relax happened at about 6 months...and was complete at a year or so. I didn't feel attached to Gypsy for 6 months...partially because dh wanted his 'own' velcro dog so I kept my distance emotionally and physically. She became Dragon's velcro dog...lol...and I still don't think she is 'attached' per se to any human in our household. She is still a work in progress in this area. However, Dragon used to sleep with us, but she booted him out of the bed and now spoons me most of the night. This just started since the summer, and we have had her 19 months. She is a very goofy, silly girl and extremely playful. Just more...independent...I guess you could say, for the lack of a better word.

[Guest PaulEmandStan]

My Grey was 5 years old when we took him home (actually it was his birthday) he had not been "home tested" by the charity so they let us know we were taking a bit of a risk with him but we've had very few problems. After 2 and a half months he's completely house broken (in our house anyway!) and in a good routine which works around us and keeps him happy. Still a long way to go I feel

[Guest newgreymama]

If I answered this a month or two ago, my answer would have been "Oh just a couple of days" and really, she adapted to our household very well in the very basic of ways: potty trained, walks well on a leash, eats well, learns fast, etc. But only now, after having her for a few months, we are seeing her actual self emerge: she plays, and leans on us for pets, she wants to be with us, not out of fear of being alone, but because (at least I think) she likes our company. She follows me into the kitchen to see what's going on and she wags her tail a LOT more than she did for the first few weeks with us. She has recently been getting up and greeting us with a wagging tail when we walk in the door--she is genuinely happy to see us.

 

We love her and are delighted by her. And hopefully she returns those feelings as much as a dog can.

[Guest ManyBlessings]

Newgreymama....we've had our new boy for only a week and he does everything you describe above. Granted he was fostered for 8 months and is only 2 1/2 now....so I didn't do all of his training. But it's like we've had him several months already. He even comes to my kids for pets and sticks his big head in your lap for head rubs. Like's to give nose kisses on you and is very excited when we get up in the morning or come home. He wags his tail way more than I thought he would. Loves treats, plays with our berner puppy. I feel like we got a perfect match for our family. Didn't even seem like there was a transition.