Adjustment, Boredom Or Sa?

[Guest KK_The_Grey]

Hi all!

 

We've had our female grey for about 5 weeks now. She seems to have settled in pretty well, however, she still whines now and then through the day.

 

We did alone training with her and when we leave the house, she seems calm, she doesn't cry or whine (we listen outside of the door for a bit). However, I have been watching her on a spy cam and she does walk around for a bit, then whines for 5 min, settles down for couple of hours. Then, she will whine again, then settles down etc.

 

She is contained in her x-pen, we left her some sweaters with our scent on, a stuffed Kong (which she ignores), she has been fed and exercised in the morning. Our neighbor takes her out for potty around lunch time and checks in on her couple of times in between.

 

I was home sick for a couple of days and when I went back to work today, she seems to whine a little more than usual.

 

I'm wondering whether this is SA or if she's still adjusting to being left alone. She doesn't soil the house or try to get out nor destroy things, just the whining.

 

Any ideas/recommendations? I feel like we're doing things the right way but I'm no expert.

 

 

Thanks!

[NeedlenoseJake]

I am by no means an expert, but I think this sounds pretty normal. She may stop the whining if she has free run of the house at some point. That was our experience. However, Jake is just a big whiner. He whines to get on the bed, get off the bed, get fed, we stopped petting him (the horror!), there is another dog, he wants to annoy me... you get the idea

[locket]

It took a solid 2 months and a half for Jack to stop barking and we are just now starting to experience the "no SA". He still gets up and whines sometimes, go look out the window, but always gets back on his bed and snooze away. That is normal, you can't expect them to be mute all day

What help was a DAP collar and or diffuser. We started with the collar (closest thing available to us) and now we keep a diffuser at all time in the living room. Another thing is, he wanted to roam! So he broke out of his crate one day and walked and walked and walked until we arrived from work. So no more crate for the boy. At first, it was a solid hour of pacing back and forth to different windows (he would pull curtains to look behind) but after 3-4 days he began to relax for HOURS and HOURS.

There doesn't seem to be any problem in what you are explaining, remember she is very new still (I know you must have heard it). She will adjust and eventually be ok Give her time!

Edit to add : On Mondays Jack SA was always worst than the rest of the week. What we did is during 2 week-ends in a row, we kept him on the same schedule, we woke up, and we would leave for the day. Now we can pretty much leave whenever and he doesn't seem to mind and Mondays are not so bad anymore (it is the return of the KONG Yay!)

Edited March 20, 2015 by locket

[Guest KK_The_Grey]

Thanks so much!

 

This is what I thought. We are lucky to have very good neighbours. Lady below us works from home so she can let us know when the dog gets whiny but she doesn't mind the noise, she understands. Our next door neighbour, is retired and loves dogs, so she checks up on her and takes her out. She seems to be worse today than other days, so I think it's because I was home during the week.

 

We'll get her a crate (we need one for travelling anyway) and see if she will use it at home too. I will leave the door open so she can go in and out. We'll make it a point to leave the house tomorrow and on Sunday too, so she doesn't get used to us constantly being there.

 

Thanks again!

[locket]

Some hounds love their crates, some don't, before buying, maybe you can borrow one from your adoption group?

[Feisty49]

Another thought: It's so nice you have a neighbor who can walk your girl for a potty break, but the neighbor stopping in during the day when it's not potty time may make your girl more anxious because she likes the company, which comes and then goes!

 

Greyhounds like routine. If your neighbor walks her every day at about noon, for example, and doesn't come visit any other time, your girl will expect her only at noon time and stay settled the rest of the day -- maybe. Just an idea.

[Guest FloridaGirl]

This sounds about normal from what I've experienced in the last month with Claymore as well as what I've read here on GT. Claymore heens (my term for the wanton breathy whining) on occasion when he wakes up from a long nap and there isn't anything immediately entertaining him. He very quickly heens himself out (within a minute or so) and turns over to get back to sleep. This happens when I am at home, so I assume it may happen throughout the day. I always make sure to make coming and going a pretty boring event, and he only gets excited when I come home from work throughout the week because he needs to pee and stretch. I leave and return throughout the weekend days without complaint from him.

 

She might like a crate, she might not. Claymore LOVES his, but that's just his personality. I'd say give it a go if you can borrow one. Or maybe pick one up for cheap on craigslist?

 

Also, lots of folks on here mentioned that heening (or whining) is something some greys just do as a part of their normal, comfortable existence. I forget exactly who responded (the thread is in the behavior forum, I think) but the comments ranged everywhere from "my grey whines on occasion" to "my grey just sort of whines to herself often, like she's humming or talking to herself".

 

Quick question - do you give her good, tiring walks? Maybe she's a bit antsy? I try to give Claymore a good tiring walk every couple days or so (~1 hr for now, working on more), and an extended walk every day (~30 mins, brisk) and he's often pretty tired out so he doesn't have the energy to worry about my presence. Still, he'll heen a bit, but I'm starting to think he talks to himself like that...

[Guest KK_The_Grey]

Thanks everyone!

 

To answer some questions, I walk our girl quite a bit. In the morning, she gets a half hour, brisk walk. Our neighbour is supposed to only take her potty but she often takes her out for another 30 - 40 min (she likes the company), then around 6 pm, we go out for another 40 min to an hour (depending on the weather, it's been really cold lately) and a 10 min pee brake before bed time. We do this every day so she gets pretty tired out.

 

The lady who walks her for us, normally only comes over once a day but when the dog was really whiny, she would pop by to make sure she wasn't hurt etc, she doesn't rush over for her every whine.

 

I have noticed that for the last two days our girl has been a lot better, just snoozing through most of the day, so perhaps it's just an adjustment period. I just worry about stuff like that all the time, I want her to be calm and happy

[EllenEveBaz]

You have a treasure of a neighbor. You realize now you can never move.

[GeorgeofNE]

Don't we all whine a little throughout the day?

 

 

She sounds like she's doing great. Don't worry.

[sobesmom]

I think it sounds totally normal. Nothing to worry about. I personally wouldn't get a crate. I believe in crates as a transitional tool for dog that need them. Just roll through this, and it will be fine.

Edited March 31, 2015 by sobesmom

[quarrystepper]

Second the DAP (adaptil) plug-in if you can find one online! It really helped Brooks become accustomed to being an only dog at first, although the best solution for us was fostering and eventually adopting a second hound. But during that rough transition when he was a ball of SA and missing his foster brothers/sisters, and as a completely uncrate-able hound, I genuinely think DAP helped minimize the duration of his "freaked out by this new situation" episodes. It didn't change overnight, but he's an old pro now.

 

I'll point out that almost three years on, he still misses us when go and will watch us through the front window. But we've confirmed that he quickly settles down. Kali came to us straight off the track and magically figured it out even faster. As soon as she sees the baby gate going up to block off the kitchen, she retreats to the comfiest bed in our bedroom before Brooks can get there!

 

Good luck!