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Grey Trainer In South Charlotte/south Carolina Area?


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We adopted a new Grey Girl about 1 month ago from GFNC in N. Carolina. Emma is 2 1/2 yr old, VERY active & has some behavior issues we have never experienced in any of our others Greys over the past 12 years. She is exhibiting SA tendencies, although she can be left alone uneventfully in the house with our senior Grey, Molly, uncrated, for an hour or two IF she sees me & my car leave the driveway. However, if I am outside or in the garage & she can hear me (but can't get to me), she has chewed the doorknob, part of the wooden step next to the door, chewed the door frame if I confine her to a bedroom, jumps on the door I left through, etc. She also jumps onto counters with her front feet to get to any kind of food item she smells, whether dogtreat bags, a dirty dish from people food, or even jumps up to clear whatever she can reach on the counter (paperwork, mail) if she is frustrated. I have resorted to taking her with me on short errands, but have learned the hard way to not leave her alone in the car when there is any kind of dog or people food in it (she ate 2.5# of uncooked ground turkey I had just purchased! We headed straight to the vet to induce vomiting!). Some days I feel like a prisoner in our own home & have to cancel or not make plans outside our home because of Emma's behavior.

She knew how to climb stairs from day two when we didn't want her following us upstairs to our home office (because she gets into EVERYTHING or pees & poops when she's up there with me!), so we've baby gated off those stairs--that problem solved. Unless I am up there when my husband cannot be downstairs--then Emma's frustration starts.

She is obnoxiously excited to see people--anyone-- & jumps on them & obviously needs more socializing with people than she receives in our more sedate home (no kids, not many people over, etc). She tries to get our fragile senior Molly to run/play with her in our fenced-in backyard, but she gets too excited & aggressive towards Molly, which upsets Molly extremely & she tries to defend herself & get away from her (I've broken up that situation a couple times once I realized this was occurring). Emma is not trying to be mean to Molly--just trying to play, but much too roughly.

Long, rambling story shorter (sorry!), I'm looking for a trainer, preferably experienced with Greys, in the south Charlotte or York area of SC who can help address these issues & train me as well. Emma will not use a crate, so we donated it. I've read most of the training & SA threads here & gotten some helpful tips, but would like a trainer's help as well.

Any suggestions or recommendations in my area? Thanks for reading & "listening!"

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I will ask for recommendations on my trainer listserve (will take me a couple of days to get back to you), but I'm wondering - have you considered returning her and getting a different dog? SA and counter-surfing issues aside, it sounds like her energy level may not be appropriate for your home, especially with your older dog there. I'm not saying you couldn't manage things if you're very dedicated, but my guess is it's going to require a fair bit of work on your and your husband's part and there are likely many dogs out there better suited to your situation.

 

In the meantime, one big suggestion I have is for you to get Emma a lot more exercise on her own without Molly present and stop letting them outside together. When I say exercise, I don't mean walks. I mean full on running in the yard, playing with other dogs if she enjoys that, playing fetch with you or very rowdy games of tug until she's exhausted, laying down, tongue hanging out of her mouth. 2-3x/day. You could also get some treat dispensing toys - I like the bob-a-lot probably the best. Once you get her going with it and figure out the best treats/size for the dispensing hole, it could entertain her for a long time. Also, stuffed kongs that you layer and really pack tight and then once she's good at them, freeze. Basically you have an adolescent dog and she needs outlets for her energy. Most behavioral problems are a result of a dog not getting enough physical exercise and mental stimulation. Make sure she also has good outlets for chewing if she likes to chew at all - bully sticks, himalayan chews, I actually do some specific nylabones here because I know the strength of my chewers, though never unsupervised, etc.

 

You also need to do more management to prevent the issues you're having. Baby gate her out of the kitchen, or hwen you can't supervise her in there, crate or gate her somewhere safe with something to do. Put all dirty dishes in the dishwasher or wash them immediately, don't leave food or items that have had food in them out, etc.

 

Anyway, I'll ask for recs in your area and let you know what I come up with.

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Thanks so much, NeylasMom--I appreciate your research. Everything you mentioned makes senses & I have done some of those things already (not returning her though). The adoption group described Emma as "calm," which is why we thought she would be a probable companion for Molly. Apparenly Emma was a "sleeper" at the kennel--not here! I agree with more exercise. We have a good 1/2 acre of fenced, mostly level & grassy back yard she can run in freely which I encourage as often as possible. She just realized several days ago that she can run full-out whenever she wants back there, so she'll probably continue that more. I bought her a treat dispensing toy, but will check out the other you suggested. We would hate to have to return Emma to the kennel, as we've all bonded already, plus she has made considerable progress in the short time she's been here. However, if she continues to be an aggravation for Molly, then we will have to re-think the entire arrangement. Thanks again!

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Totally understand (and think it's great that you want to keep her). I wouldn't normally be quick to recommend a dog be returned since I'm not there to actually assess the situation, but with your description of her + your older hound it felt to me like it might not be the best fit - and now I see how you ended up with the situation inadvertently. ;) The main takeaway is that when you have an energetic young dog and a senior dog living together, you have to put in a concerted effort to meet the younger dog's needs for mental stimulation and physical exercise outside of what you do with the older dog. To be fair, the younger dog should have those needs met regardless, but it's easier to "get away with it" a bit more if you don't have an older dog in the home as well. Completely doable, but does take an extra effort that not all greyhound adopters are up for. And I don't mean anything negative there, but these guys aren't exactly known for their energy levels so when you get one who's still an adolescent it can be more than bargained for (not saying you specifically, just the general you). :)

 

By the way, while my advice comes from being a dog trainer, I may have some personal experience. :ph34r:P When I adopted Violet a few years ago Zuri was already getting up in years and starting to develop LS. Of course, I just solved the problem by adopting a 3rd dog, a mixed breed who is even MORE active that the other two combined. :lol

 

Anyway, inquiries sent out to my 2 force free trainer list serves. Will get some recs back to you in a day or two.

Edited by NeylasMom

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Another reason we wanted a younger Grey was that we recently had to euthanize our 9 year old brindle Grey Girl, Mae, who had a very aggressive form of lymphoma that did not respond to ANY of the standard or non-standard chemo protocols. When Molly's depression over losing another one of her buddies got worse, we knew we had to act quickly to help Molly recover from her loss too. My husband & I could not bear adopting a senior Grey who may have experienced a difficult terminal disease as we had just experienced with Mae... Then Emma came along & our household stress changed as a result of her personality & characteristics (not calm as the kennel thought!). Don't misunderstand me, Emma is a real sweetheart & very food/treat driven which should help the training process, but she definitely has some issues we have to address--including some aggressiveness with growling & showing her teeth to me & my husband when she apparently is afraid (& wants to escape from us or the immediate area). Any trainers you can recommend would be greytly appreciated, NeylasMom. I was given a couple trainer names from our vet, but they weren't personally familiar with them & they weren't Greyhound specific, which may not be a requirement... Thanks again!!

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I wouldn't worry so much about "greyhound specific" trainers, just focus on finding someone who is a force free trainer. I've only gotten one recommendation so far, but she's a good one if she's not too far from you:

 

Nildan Atkay
http://www.zecaninemanners.com/

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Looks like Nildan Atkay is in Charleston, which is almost 3 hours from the OP's location. I did a quick search on the CCPDT website and found this trainer in Fort Mill, SC. Don't know them personally, but their website looks pretty promising and might be one to consider.

 

http://www.olddogs-newdogs.com/

 

There are also a number of CPDT certified trainers in the Charlotte area. You can search via this site:

http://www.ccpdt.org/

Jennifer &

Willow (Wilma Waggle), Wiki (Wiki Hard Ten), Carter (Let's Get It On),

Ollie (whippet), Gracie (whippet x), & Terra (whippet) + Just Saying + Just Alice

gtsig3.jpg

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May be worth contacting Nildan to see if she knows of someone closer. I'm not sure why people mentioned her otherwise if she's that far. Otherwise, CCPDT may be a place to start, but you need to be careful as there are no guarantees you'll get a force free trainer without additional research. If you find someone you're interested in, you can always post the link to their website here and I can take a look.

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Hi Wendy - did you contact the two trainers I sent you? One was the olddogs-newdogs mentioned above. As NeylasMom says above the key to a young dog is stimulating their mind and exercising their body. We usually always have seniors here but when we brought in Billy at 4 it was a big adjustment. I can image at 2 Emma has twice the energy he did.

Mom to Bella, Trinity, Cricket, DB, Dabber and Sidewinder
As well as Gizmo, Miles, Pumba, Leo, Toby, Sugar, Smokey, Molly, Jasmine, Axel, Billy, Maggie-Mae, Duncan, Sam (MH King 2019), Bambi, Stella, Bay and "Gerty the cat" at the Bridge

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May be worth contacting Nildan to see if she knows of someone closer. I'm not sure why people mentioned her otherwise if she's that far. Otherwise, CCPDT may be a place to start, but you need to be careful as there are no guarantees you'll get a force free trainer without additional research. If you find someone you're interested in, you can always post the link to their website here and I can take a look.

 

NeylasMom: thanks so much for the suggestions & offer to look at a possible trainer's website I may find. I greytly appreciate your feedback & info. I've been working with Emma more & increasing her exercise to her tolerance level & she seems to be gradually improving. She is very stubborn & independent so it looks like she'll require more time than others to adapt & learn the house rules. We've been adopting retired Greys for 15 years, Emma is number 5. As I previously mentioned, Emma is an exception to all our other Greys, in many ways, but she truly is a sweetheart as all of them seem to be. Thanks again! I'll be in touch...

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