First Type Grey Owner.. Need Help!

[Guest normaandburrell]

You've gotten some really good advice. You should still check in with your adoption group.

When we got our new grey, the adoption group warned us not to crate him. I found out later it was because he chewed his crate while in the kennel, to the point where he had dental damage. We did alone training, babygated him in the bedroom when we left, which is also the room he sleeps in (with us), and used the muzzle initially until we were confident he would not chew. We also left the radio on, and let him have something of ours to take into his bed (like dirty laundry). He never chewed. Not once.

[Bill419]

Good advice from Batman!

[Guest onboarderror]

we are working on speration training. we are doing 5 mins away 5 min back.. 10 mins away 10 mins back... so far so good... she has been ok with the crate.. minor biting 4 times throught out the day and lot of lots of roo-ing and crying. each time we saw her bite the cage from our camera we came in and told her a stern no... then she wold lay back down and sleep for about 2 hours or so... we are going to keep working on leaving her for periods of time to get her used to the fact that we will come back.

[45MPHK9]

I have a dog that had three of his four canine teeth removed during his first dental because the teeth were cracked all the way to the roots from previous years of crate chewing. A nasty, painful abscess was forming from one of those cracked teeth, as well. Crate chewing is no joke.

 

Have you tried any of the other suggestions to baby gate the dog in a more open area of the house?

[Batmom]

Really do not recommend crating this dog. And do not recommend, ever, scolding a dog who is in a crate. That is a good way to make the dog even more crate-averse than she already is.

[45MPHK9]

Really do not recommend crating this dog. And do not recommend, ever, scolding a dog who is in a crate. That is a good way to make the dog even more crate-averse than she already is.

Yes, yes.

[greysmom]

Also, she probably knows that you're not "leaving" the house. Sort of defeats the purpose of alone training. If you are determined to crate train her, then she needs to feel happy and safe when she's in there. Personally, I would do as several people have suggested above and create a safe room for her to be in and ditch the crate.

 

How I alone train:

You need to do your entire leaving routine. Completely leave the house. And return *before* she becomes agitated enough to bite the crate. If that means you only do the routine and leave out the front door and walk down to the street and back for as many times as it takes for her to become bored with that level of leaving. If she's agitated before you even get out of the house then you need to step back to picking up your keys, or whatever is the first thing you do in preparation for leaving.

 

At our house, the first thing I do is get out my purse. So I would spend a day just moving my purse around until my dogs don't react to it at all. It might not take a day, but you do the action until they have no reaction. Then combine it with the next thing: 1) get out my purse, and then 2) put my cell phone in it. Repeat until there's no reaction. Then it's purse, cell phone, coat. Then purse, cell phone, coat, put the dogs in their room/crate (at first just for a few seconds or minutes, working to longer). After each successful sequence with the room/crate at the end, low key release and treat. Don't be excited, just matter of fact.

 

After she is in her crate, remaining calm for a good while, add in walking out the door. Close and lock it, then come right back in, low key release and treat. Do the routine until you can go out and get in your car and drive away - around the block, around the neighborhood, down to the store, out for a coffee, out for lunch/dinner, shopping, half a day at work, whole day at work.

 

You're not just teaching her that it's OK to be alone, but how to calm herself down when she begins to feel anxious. It's also building trust between you.

 

Yes, it takes time. But if you do it right, you will have a calm dog who can be left for extended periods alone with no problems.

[Hawthorn]

... she has been ok with the crate.. minor biting 4 times throught out the day and lot of lots of roo-ing and crying.

 

This is not a dog who is "OK with the crate". This is a dog who is very distressed.

[deboosh]

Minor biting does NOT mean she's fine with the crate. You're fooling yourself if believe that. I repeat, ". . . as long as your decisions don't put your grey in physical danger or EMOTIONAL DISTRESS . . ." PLEASE, use this statement as a guideline. Your grey IS in emotional distress.

Everyone has explained why crating her is a bad decision. If you want a happy, well adjusted dog that TRUSTS you, then ditch the crate!

[GeorgeofNE]

So you're a newbie, and you asked for advice. You got EXCELLENT advice from someone that almost everyone on GT would tell you to LISTEN TO BATMOM. But you didn't. Any special reason? I know what it's like. Because my dog HATED his crate with a firey passion. My adoption group kept telling me to stick with the crate. But in my gut I KNEW that wasn't the answer for him. It got so bad, I seriously considered returning him. Then they suggestion someone for me to talk to who they considered a behavior specialist, and I did. The first thing she said was, "Honey, if he's miserable in the crate, why on earth do you keep putting him in it?"

 

As soon as I put the damn thing away, his anxiety all but vanished.

 

Lots of exercise before I went to work, a Kong with peanut butter, and DAP diffusers EVERYWHERE, and he quickly got over what was hellish separation anxiety.

 

I feel exercise is key. Get up an hour early. Walk, walk, walk. A tired dog is far less likely to act up. If you're afraid the dog is going to chew, put the muzzle on it. If the dog isn't housebroken, they consider baby gating it into a room with flooring that can survive an accident if it has to.

 

You can get through this, you really can.

 

But listen to Batmom!

Edited September 24, 2014 by GeorgeofNE

[Guest onboarderror]

Because she does not hate the crate.. She goes in with the door open all the time to lay down and likes to sleep there at night... I been doing it this way because it really seems to work... My wife has off this week and all day we are working on having her in the crate but also doing the leave and come back to the house thing.

[4My2Greys]

There is a big difference between a dog going into and staying in a crate with the door left open and with the door shut. I always love the comparison to a den that crate proponents give. I would challenge them too show me a den that traps the animal inside.

Both Batmom and GeorgeoNE gave very good advice, of course it does take more effort than just putting the dog in the crate and closing the door.

[Guest Addie]

I had a foster that went nuts in the kennel after being adopted and broke her K9 teeth off, she was then returned. Imagine being that upset you would break your teeth, its so sad! not to mention it cost the adoption group a big vet bill. They told me she could never be crated again. She was fine in an xpen with my two when we went to work. Maybe you need two greyhounds make sure you are not showing any signs of anxiety when you are getting ready to leave, just what I've seen with my dogs they pick up on everything. I'm pretty good at hiding emotion so they must smell it or something (ESP?). Best wishes to you!

Edited September 24, 2014 by Addie

[Guest Lygracilux]

My new boy doesn't like the crate either. I never let it escalate to the point where he would hurt himself, though the second night it seemed he definitely would have. I felt it was just better to avoid it than push the matter. Especially being new and nervous. We may introduce the idea down the road, just in case he needs to be crated for vetting or something, but its not necessary now. So I let him stay where he felt comfortable, with a baby gate and a muzzle (for kitties and chewing) And hes done just fine. No one is anxious or upset and thats how it should be.

[Guest onboarderror]

My new boy doesn't like the crate either. I never let it escalate to the point where he would hurt himself, though the second night it seemed he definitely would have. I felt it was just better to avoid it than push the matter. Especially being new and nervous. We may introduce the idea down the road, just in case he needs to be crated for vetting or something, but its not necessary now. So I let him stay where he felt comfortable, with a baby gate and a muzzle (for kitties and chewing) And hes done just fine. No one is anxious or upset and thats how it should be.

what your dog sounds like is more of a crate fear than seperation anxeity.

[Guest GreyHawk]

You probably need to stop giving advice and start listening to the advice you've been given

[Guest onboarderror]

working on it.

[Guest Lygracilux]

I was commenting on the crating issue, not once did I mention SA.

And whether it be SA, crate fear, or plain stubbornness-you shouldn't put a dog in a situation where you know it has and will injure itself.

Im pretty sure thats what everyone here is saying.

 

On the SA issue since you brought it up. Fusion isnt exhibiting signs of that, which I am so grateful of. But I had a husky that had SEVERE anxiety when left alone, he actually chewed apart our whole couch once. It took about 6 months to get him calm enough where he wasn't destructive. It took a lot of time, patience and positive reinforcement.

There are many threads about separation anxiety and alone training on here.

[greytpups]

Your greyhound is distressed. Why do you continue to do something that obviously distresses him? Secondly, yelling no at him isn't very helpful and outdated type of training. If you want him to learn, positive reinforcement is the way to teach him, e.g. redirect and praise him for the wanted behaviours. There are lots of resources for positive reinforcement. Patricia McConnell's books are a good start and I highly recommend you read something asap. Honestly, we're only trying to help, and can't understand why you are not taking any advice for the benefit of your new greyhound. We're a passionate bunch when it comes to greyhound welfare, and we only want what's best for your greyhound.

[Guest onboarderror]

Wow im really getting bashed here and its been a day... this is my first dog... and I tried one thing that was a mix of what people have been saying in a bunch of places i have asked... Im stuck at work right now and there has been 10 posts inbetween that.. i cant change the training till i get home to do so... Lets slow down here and give me a chance... im not asking for advice and then just doing my own thing... I am trying as hard as i can find a solution that may work for my dog. I appreciate each and everyone of you who has chimed in.. everyone seems to point to batmom with dog proofing a room with a gate and muzzle. I will do that to keep her safe and then working on alone training. As an FYI my fiance who I cant reach at the moment.. has been home working on alone training her while she's been crated and so far she has been doing better. Here is the webcam feed for you concerned folks. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tesla-doggie Please let me know if im off here or anything else you think I should know. I want a happy a stress free dog... and her anxiety is starting to make me feel sick... like im a **ty parent.

[macoduck]

You're not a **ty parent, you're just new to greyhounds. My first was the worst - a total house and crate destroyer. We did finally have to use Clomicalm for a few months for her to understand Alone Training. Every greyhound we had after that was easy peasy.

 

She's looking pretty comfortable napping on your webcam.

[Guest onboarderror]

Thanks

[Guest LazyBlaze]

If she likes to sleep in her crate and hang out there then you could leave her with her kong in the crate with the crate door OPEN (and perhaps with the crate placed in a baby-gated room). Leaving her in the crate with the door closed when you aren't there is obviously distressing her and sounds like a recipe for disaster.

 

Best of luck with your new girl, hope you have many happy years together.

 

EDITED TO ADD: sorry I posted without seeing your update. Hope things are going well. Don't beat yourself up, it's a big learning curve at the start, but you'll get there. Time and patience do wonderful things.

Edited September 25, 2014 by LazyBlaze

[SarahsBlackPack]

I agree with both GeorgeofNE and Batmom! This dog seems to be in distress when closed in the crate. My first Greyhound that I adopted 15 years ago had sever crate anxiety and separation anxiety. We couldn't crate her. She would chew on the bars, she broke many teeth while she was crated. She ended up destroying a crate! So we ended up not crating her and she was fine.

 

I also agree with what LazyBlaze said about leaving the crate door open with a baby gate room or maybe even a hallway!