Guest spicy Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 So to make a really long story short, we adopted our grey just over 10 weeks ago. 2 weeks later she suffered a shoulder injury running around, and although it's slowly but surely getting better she is still on very limited exercise. As in 2 blocks a day is her max before she starts limping. On top of that, her world got turned upside down 3 weeks ago when I went into the hospital for 2 weeks (whole other story there), her daddy came home pretty much to shower and change and go back there, she got sprayed by a skunk, and grandma can't walk her so the neighbours that she doesn't know took her out. It's set her back quite a bit, but not as bad as I thought. The problem is now that I have a very smart, very bored greyhound on my hands, who can't exercise the boredom out and I can't do much besides sit on the couch and walk from room to room right now. She's got a rawhide, but that only lasts about 20 minutes a day before she walks away from it. I need ideas on what we can do that doesn't require much physical effort from either one of us that will keep her mind busy! I appologize in advance for whatever doesn't make sense, I'll blame it on the medications I'm on LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest k9soul Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Have you tried any of those puzzle toys that you put treats in and they have to figure out how to get them out? That was my first thought. I'm not sure how food motivated she is. Maybe some other varying chews that she can have alternated too, or frozen kong toy. Hopefully others will have some more suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spicy Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Unfortunatelly she's not that food motivated at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Can you do any training with her? Clicker training would be pretty easy and you could do it sitting down. Use really yummy and irresistible things like cheese and hot dog and train her to "touch" (even a dog who isn't terribly food motivated can be interested in cheese and hot dogs for a short amount of time!). There's quite a bit about this online (and probably even on the forum here). A bit of training can stave off boredom. Other than that, I'm not sure what to suggest... Sorry! Quote Mom of bridge babies Regis and Dusty. Wrote a book about shelter dogs! I sell things on Etsy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneGTS Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 (edited) My Greyhound, Spriet, also has some health problems and can't walk much. I try to do some mind games every other day. Lots of treats are involved though.. Spriet loves treats! Today for example I grabbed a cardboard box and some old newspapers. I put some treats in the box, fumble up the newspaper and let Spriet search for treats. She loves it! Another thing you could do is just get some newspapers or magazines and hide treats in it. Spriet always has a great time tearing the paper apart. Or hide treats in egg carton, an empty plastic bottle, inside empty toilet paper rolls or under a cup. If you have a box filled with toys, teach a command and let her pick out a specific toy. ETA: Sorry, just read that she isn't food motivated... Does she like certain toys? Maybe you can hide a small toy and let her search for it? Edited September 4, 2013 by AnneGTS Quote Anne, Sasha & Tapas. Spriet (2002-2015), Tibbie (2000-2015) and Gunda (1996-2009) www.sighthoundgoodies.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scarter55 Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Two suggestions from me. First is a good 'ol marrow bone. Even if she isn't food motivated, she might respond to this. If you have a fenced backyard, you can just toss it out there. If my wife or I are working from home, we'll do this around mid-day. Lady typically spends 60-90 minutes working on it, and is then fairly tired after. The second suggestion is basically the same as AnneGTS. A few months back, we did a nosework class with our trainer just for fun. Turns out that sighthounds know how to use their noses! Lady definitely isn't food motivated, especially in class, but she would go after whatever we hid for her. It is more about the challenge of finding the treat rather than the treat itself. Similar to AnneGTS, we would use boxes, but a whole bunch of them. Put a smelly treat (we would sometimes use canned tuna) in one or two of the boxes and watch her try to figure out where it is. Than gradually make it harder; under the box, close the box, stack the boxes, etc. Granted, I don't know how easy this is to teach without a professional, but you can probably find guides online. We used the basic techniques that they use for bomb and drug dogs. When we did the class, Lady would usually get three sessions of this and spend the rest of the time in the car. (Only one dog at a time could be in the room for this) Each session would be 5 min max. And all she would do would be to sniff around the room; no running or playing. Yet afterwards, she would be exhausted! It was great fun, and really low impact for both parties. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandiandwe Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 Puzzle toys are what two of my greys enjoy, especially the one who isn't food motivated! Something about having to hunt or work for some food makes her very excited! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedHead Posted September 4, 2013 Share Posted September 4, 2013 I don't know how the weather is where you are but I find car rides to be a great simulation for my guys. We sometimes grab an ice cream cone and sit by the river with the dogs in the car or with us on a bench. They don't exercise much but are tired and settled when we get home! If you have any local pet friendly petstores you can also take them in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest joviemom Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 I think I spy you from FiSH spicy Puzzle toys work great, same with a frozen kong. Also second the car ride idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spicy Posted September 5, 2013 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Haha yep Joviemom Thanks for the ideas, I will definitely try some of them. I'm not sure about hiding treats in papers etc, she's such a chicken she'll probably scare herself LOL. Worth a try though! Never thought about the car rides, but that's a great idea. We have a lot of waterfront parks that are beautiful with the weather right now, would definitely be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest StansMom Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 Maybe a long car ride would help! Roll down the windows a bit and let her sniff her guts out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spicy Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 So hiding the treats was a bust, she just stared at me till I cracked up laughing and gave them to her. We did a couple of car rides and that seems to have helped. Took her to a little meet and great yesterday for an hour. She was less than impressed by that, but it was her first one and there were a ton of people/other breeds/kids there. She was good, just didn't like it much. We also took her to the barn with us. Not that I can do much more than pet and brush the horse, but hey it's a start. We've discovered she LOVES the barn! Loves it. So that will definitely be a regular outing for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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