How Long Before Adjustment Period Before I Start Obedience?

[Guest Shontel]

OK, so I adopted first grey about 2 weeks ago. My sweet, shy retired 3 year old racer Pancho. He was in a loving foster home for 6 weeks when I got him. He is adjusting well to his new surroundings and my other two dogs (a Norwich Terrier and a Australian Cow Dog) My question is for you experienced owners out there is when should I start obedience training. Both my other dogs are well trained but I've also raised them from puppies....I see now what greys are different from other breeds...but I know he needs obedience, and eventually, I would love to make him a therapy dog...he has so many of the qualities I see already in him. Would appreciate any and all info, personal stories or advice. Thanks to all! This board is so awesome!!!

 

Thanks,

 

Shontel

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

Are you training at home or in a class?

 

I started training right away, and I felt like it helped me bond with my dog (assuming you do positive reinforcement only, which you should be doing). If you are doing it in a class, then I would wait and try some training at home until you get to know your dogs' personality more. Just remember that greys are independent thinkers. Lol, he may not be as easily trained as your other pups. That being said, my grey was very easy to train, BUT I had to do frequent, short sessions in order to keep him on track. He is very food motivated so that helped a lot.

I used Jennifer's blog http://neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com/ to help me with training techniques!

[a_daerr]

It really does vary, but if he were my dog, I'd give him a little longer. At least a month or two. Going to an unfamiliar place with strange, other breeds present could be extremely stressful for a grey that's brand new. You'll know he's ready for obedience when he seems well-adjusted, is familiar with his routine, and is sufficiently bonded to you. It's better to give him more time than to rush it and create a lasting negative experience. You're ahead of the curve because he's been fostered, but he still needs some time to view you as "his person." For the time being, I'd start by researching certified trainers in your area who use positive reinforcement based training methods, preferably one who has experience with greyhounds. Many greys do wonderfully with obedience training, but they can be a little more challenging to train in some ways (compared to your Norwich and Aussie).

 

One of my boys used to be painfully shy and fear aggressive in some ways. Now he's a therapy dog, and we do visits at a local hospice program. We didn't start formal traning until maybe six months in (although we did work on basic stuff at home right away like housetraining, trading up, leave it, sharing space, etc).

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

Like Clawsandpaws said, I think it depends on if you're doing classes or in-home training. If classes, I'd suggest waiting a few months. If at home, there's no reason not to start as soon as you're ready. I think I started within a week or two of getting my grey. I know that at the end of two months with me I had her trained to do about eight behaviors. I was hand-feeding to work on bonding, and just started integrating training at meal times.

[GeorgeofNE]

I started training George the day I got him. I had to! He was a total nightmare on a leash! Go forth! But don't expect results you'd get from some of the more trainable breeds. You may have one of those super trainable hounds--but you may not. I've given up on my guy, for the most part, and love him for what he is. As long as he does his business outside, and walks nicely on a leash, I'm OK with that!

[Guest TBSFlame]

I think it depends on the dog. If they are shy then it may take longer. I think with a greyhound you must earn their trust before any good training can happen.

Edited July 9, 2013 by TBSFlame

[GreyPoopon]

I start right away at home, within a few weeks (depending on the school schedule) at class. Sometimes, if the grey is worried, it takes a while to make progress at school, but we just work at our own pace and catch up by the end of the course.

[Batmom]

I too start right away at home. For class, it depends on the dog and the available classes. Might be a couple weeks, might be a couple months. I want the dog to be in a state of mind to absorb some new things.

 

I've never had a greyhound who was upset/floored/etc. by other breeds. Very rambunctious or aggressive or tiny squeaky dogs, yes, but that's not breed-dependent.

[Fruitycake]

First you have to do groundwork at home before submitting him to the stress of a class. I'd start with the positive/rewards-based training for simple things at home like coming to a "come" or "here" command when he's already thinking of coming toward you or actually coming in your direction (like for his dinner or something). No force (don't shove into a sit or try to push into a down) because if your grey is like many he will shut down and no learning is possible because that raises the stress considerably for him. They aren't used to being told to do odd things for human's fun, so take it slow at first. They can learn and are quite intelligent, but haven't been raised to work cooperatively with a human calling the shots so it takes time to develop that kind of love of learning.

 

You can work on simple things all the time, if you want to. Choose something that the dog does naturally that you like, and lure him to do that and then reward that behavior, then later you can tie a command to it. That's how I got Monty to go to his bed when we eat. It wasn't instantaneous, but when it clicked it really clicked! (When we eat he gets all bright eyed and then flies to his bed and makes sure to make eye contact and drops himself down on it with what I can only say is a huge grin and nod as if to say "see, I did it, where's my treat?").

 

Definitely look at the Never Say Never Greyhounds site! http://www.neversaynevergreyhounds.net/‎