Help...new Greyhound Owner!

[Guest cookiedudeuk]

Hey all

 

I'm just wanting to see if anyone has any tips/tricks to help me out.

 

I picked up Deputy from a local Charity dogs home on New Years Eve, he is just under 3 and a retired racer. I'm a first time dog owner and I'm feeling a little out of my depth here if I'm honest.

 

I know there is an initial settling in period and I never expected the first few weeks to be the easiest. I don't know if I have mucked up even after the first night... I set up a 'den' area in our utility room which has a crate with matt and couple of blankets. I should point out I live in a small 3 bed ground floor flat so it's not 'out of the way' of people as we are always in and out of there. I also keep his favourite toy in there. I planned on him using the crate to sleep in and use as his place. The first day was pretty stressfull for him I can imagine and i set the crate up and spent a lot of time throwing treats in there and he is quite happy going in there when someone is in the same room. Even with the door open as soon as you leave he whines none stop. 30 seconds and hour doesn't matter on the time. I try to make sure I only go back in on the brief time he is not whining as I do not want him to think I will come each time he whines. The first night i took him for a walk for nearly an hour just before I put him in the crate for the night. So he was well worn out before going in. As soon as I left the room at 11pm he was whining and howling for atleast 1 hour before I went in. I took him outside to see if he wanted to releive himself stood outside with him for 10-15 mins and nothing. Brought him in back in his crate and then the crying and whining started again after another hour I gave in and let him into my bedroom on the floor then jumped onto my bed during the night at times but I got him down.

 

The next few days I moved the crate into the living room and slept on the sofa with him in his crate and he settled ok. A few times in the night he would cry but settle down in a matter of 10 mins until 6-7am when I would take him out for a walk and he would again settle.

 

I then tried moving the crate back to the utility room and spent some time in there playing with his toys training giving treats when he goes in the cage etc and the constant crying started again. This has been going on for 4 nights in a row and I have alreay had complaints from neighbors as they can hear him.

 

I'm worried if I start to allow him to sleep in my room and he will not be comfortable in the long term when he has to have alone time, I am lucky that I live with my mum and while I am at work she is here but we are finding even repeated commands of 'No' for certain things he does is not sinking in at all.

 

I know it will take some time to train him but I am worried that I have already compromised it by giving in too easily

 

Please if anyone has any tips/guidence pkease let me knoe.

 

Thanks

[WalterWallerson]

I don't know if this will be practical for you or not, but I have my boys sleep in my bedroom with me. Your guy may be upset that he isn't sleeping with the pack. I want to make it clear - sleeping arrangements do not equal alone time during the day. Ernie is crated when I leave for work, he gets a kong that is stuffed and frozen with peanut butter. Walter has semi-access to the rest of my apartment.

 

I found that making the boys sleep in the bedroom cut down on Ernie's whining at night significantly.

[Feisty49]

Someone else recently brought up the "problem" of her Greyhound whining and barking in the middle of the night and most of us told her that dogs are social animals, with Greyhounds in particular needing to be around other breathing, living things. Deputy wants to be part of the family -- and you are his family -- but he can't be if he's sleeping by himself. Here is a link to the other recent post in which a lot of good advice was given.

 

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/311321-night-time-in-the-crate/

[greysmom]

Is there a reason your feel you want to crate him other than that it's what you were told to do, or read you should do? Will he be crated when you leave the house, even if someone else is home?

 

In addition to the above thread, you should do a search for "alone training." You can't just put him in the crate and expect him to be OK being left alone for long periods right away, you need to work up to longer and longer periods.

 

You sound like you are in the UK, so realize there will be some differences in expectations and the dialog from your American friends! Hopefully some of our OK owners will chime in, too.

[Fruitycake]

Even if you are "always in and out of" a room, if you don't actively spend time in there for a considerable part of the day, it won't feel like part of the "family zone" to him. Walking through regularly isn't like spending 4 hours watching TV or hanging out or playing games or on the computer or whatever like in a den or family room, or 8+ hours sleeping as in a bedroom, which might make it more homelike to him and like he's part of the family. That said, some greys really don't like to be kenneled away from their family when other people are home, so kenneling him away from you at night might be exactly what is causing the whining and fussing. Your home is a new place to him, and he may well be fussing because he is not used to being alone when others are there but not close to him. Would it be possible to bring him into the bedroom and keep him in there with you at night, either by bringing in the kennel or gating him in with you if the kennel won't fit? That way you would be able to hear him if he starts to fuss and needs to go out (as long as you are "keyed in" to listen while you sleep - my husband can sleep through nearly anything!).

 

And as for him learning the meaning of "no" it would be like you doing something and me saying "gwertwpt" at you. He doesn't know what the word means, so it's just jibberish to him coming from a weird species that seems to make way too much noise from their mouths! If there is a behavior you don't want from him, it is best to try to prevent him from being able to do that behavior until you can teach him what you want hin to do instead. Is he sniffing or reaching for things on the kitchen counter? Work to train him to stay out of the way by blocking his access or putting a great bed where he can see you when you're in the kitchen but not get in the way or counter-surf. If he tries, you can tell him "no" but it won't tell him what you do want, and then you lead him to where you want him to be or encourage him to be elsewhere and reward the behavior you want. He's like a little baby, and just telling him no when he does something you don't want doesn't really tell him how to do stuff that you do. There are millions of things that we don't want our dogs to do, and if we only said "no" when training, they would never figure out that sitting/lying over here is a good thing for everyone, and behaving in this way is appreciated more than the thousands of other choices he might offer. I once heard a trainer in an introductory dog training class tell everyone in the class to pretend that there was no word "no" when training their dog - only "please do this" and "I'd prefer you do this" and, most importantly, "I really LOVE when you do this and please do it again."

[GeorgeofNE]

Please read a book on Greyhounds! Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies is a fun and informative read.

 

Just because he is an adult dog doesn't mean he is trained, and "no" means NOTHING to a dog until it sinks in.

 

Let the dog sleep in your room. He's never been alone in his life, and he wants to be with you. Someone please post that thing about greyhounds and how everything is new and strange!

[ramonaghan]

Someone please post that thing about greyhounds and how everything is new and strange!

 

There are a couple of good ones.

 

Kathleen Gilley

 

Dennis McKeon

[KickReturn]

The vast majority of greyhounds must sleep where they can see their people. For these dogs there are no other options.

Be careful with the crate. Many greyhound simply cannot be left alone in a crate. They will destroy themselves trying to get out. Search for threads about this. Some of these dogs however will tolerate a crate if they can see you or are next to another greyhound.

[Brandiandwe]

Yep. All of the above. We sleep with four greys in our bedroom. I haven't been to the bathroom alone in three years. They just like being where you are, even if that means shifting every five minutes. Try letting hiom sleep in your room, and getting him onto a routine. Lots of cuddle time. Beds in every room so he can be with you. And give him time to sort himself out.