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Stubborn, Freezing Up, What Is This?


Guest TeriD

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Ok....got Rosey on Sunday. We never had a grey before. She is an absolute love, definitely needs some doggie training (doesn't know her name or basic commands) but she's smart and I'm sure all that will go well. My concern is she freezes up on us constantly. Ex:

-If she's in her crate in the morning and it's before a certain time she won't get out. (Fine by me. I go back to bed)

-Sometimes on walks she just stops and if I want to get back home I need to really coax her along (yes she wears a harness)

-if she's lying on her bed and we need to take her out for last potty before bed it takes two of us to get her up and stable enough to walk. And then we have to once again make her walk.

We are very gentle with her, we aren't yelling. Half the time we are laughing bc we have no idea what's going on. But it's getting to the point where it's annoying. Is she stubborn? Is she scared? She doesn't seem scared. I'm confused by this behavior and was wondering if any of you have some insight to share with this newbie.

TIA!

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Fear and/or her brain is full. It's hard work being in a new place! :) Patience and time.

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I highly suggest searching for articles written by Dennis McKeon (I don't have time right now to post links). You can read lots of books, but this man was a trainer and is really knowledgable and articulate. He will explain how greyhounds are not raised as pets and give lots of insights about the major changes in their life and how to help them adjust.

 

Sometimes patience is helpful too and you mentioned you are not very patient in another thread (I think). Greyhounds make wonderful pets but some need more time to adjust than others, so you may want to keep this in mind.

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Great! I'll look into his writing. And yes I did mention I wasn't very patient. But it's mostly in my mind and doesn't reflect through my actions with Rosey. I've been doing more standing around and waiting for her to decide what she wants to do lately than I ever thought possible. 😜😩

With that being said, I wasn't sure if this was a common characteristic for greys. Just wanted to see if there was anyone I could commiserate with and possibly a few pointers.

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Very, very, very common behavior. As Alicia suggested, search for "statueing" and you should find roughly a million threads about it! :lol

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52592535884_69debcd9b4.jpgsiggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr

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Didn't your rescue group give you any breed info???

Very common for them to freeze and all the other things you mentioned.

Your dog is NEW, new to everything you are doing, saying and asking of her.

 

Best thing for statueing is turn her in a circle, keep her feeting moving, then walk her where you want her to go. :)

 

These arent just normal dogs, they dont have the knowledge base others would have at this age. Step by step. BUT the best bit is, they do catch on fast and they are pretty damn smart. You teach them what you want them to do, and stop what you dont. I've told my dog ONCE to not do something, not done it since. I've had him 7 weeks, and best dog ever. Cheeky thing too and very much a cuddler.

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Yes. The rescue organization gave me a whole booklet regarding greyhounds. It did not included "statueing".

I've found if I just stand next to her and gently pet her head and just give her time to look around she begins to walk again when I suggest we keep moving. New to her....new to me. We are learning together.

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She doesn't know her name because it's not uncommon for adoption groups to simply give them a new name from the one they had at the track. And even if they didn't, the kennel keepers might have called her something else, or simply, "hey you" or "cutie pie" or whatever!

 

I got George when he was five He was at the same track his entire career. He did not know his name (Chile) at all! I found his kennel keeper on facebook, and it turns out they called him Chile Cheese Fries! He learned "George" in about three days. If he could do it, any dog can do it!

 

Buck was called Player at the first adoption group he was at. Then he was called Paulie at the second one (I have no idea what his actual call name was--he was at the track for a very short time). Even though he knew Paulie (he was waiting for a home for nine months), I hated that name. I called him Harry for two days, and then changed it to Buck. He seems to like Buck, and he learned it very quickly!

 

Be patient with Rosey. Try luring her out of her crate with a treat rather than physically pulling on her. Same for last outs. She's confused and scared, but she'll come around! Took my George 18 months to finally settle in (he was a hard, hard case!!). Only took Buck three weeks.


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Thank you 😊 I haven't really set out to teach her her name yet bc I'm figuring food will be a good motivator and she's still on a bland diet with kibble for her belly issues. I don't pull her out of her crate really. I tug on her leash to see if she's willing. If she is she comes out readily. If she isn't she just looks at me with those big eyes 😍 and I leave her be. Same for going outside and such....if she's willing she readily comes with me. If not she goes and flops on her bed. Lol

Her name was AMF Sunny Lee on the track (tried calling her Sunny...nothing) her name at the kennel was Summer (doesn't answer to that either)

Thanks again!

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Thank you I haven't really set out to teach her her name yet bc I'm figuring food will be a good motivator and she's still on a bland diet with kibble for her belly issues. I don't pull her out of her crate really. I tug on her leash to see if she's willing. If she is she comes out readily. If she isn't she just looks at me with those big eyes and I leave her be. Same for going outside and such....if she's willing she readily comes with me. If not she goes and flops on her bed. Lol

Her name was AMF Sunny Lee on the track (tried calling her Sunny...nothing) her name at the kennel was Summer (doesn't answer to that either)

Thanks again!

 

Remember there is no chance a greyhound will respond to their track, unless part of the track name was in their kennel name, which you tried. The track name is given by the owner any time from 3 months of age to 18 months of age. Most owners wait till the dog is getting finished to see if he is good enough to make the track because it costs money to send in the paperwork for their racing name.

 

The kennel name is given to the dog at the farm they were born at and they are given those names almost from birth.

 

Whether the dog responds to the kennel name for you is another story. LOL

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This happens a lot. Happened to me with Annie when first adopted. She'd walk and then stop and plant herself. I remember being in tears because she would... not... move.

 

Regarding planting herself when walking: The advice I was given was I had to get her moving. Walk in her in a circle by holding her on a very short leash, her head next to your thighs and gently but firmly push on her neck as you walk in a circle. It can take two times around but as you come out of the circle, keep walking at a good speed. Another way to get planted feet to move is to again have the dog on a very short leash and gently but firmly push on the shoulder/neck area so they have to jump sideways, and then start walking.

 

Another suggestion is to be in control of the walk. Don't let her wander off on a long leash. Keep her close, keep your pace steady and remember you're the human and she's the dog. If she slows down, you keep up the same pace, unless you think she wants to potty.

 

She'll learn her name quickly if you use it all the time. Whenever you speak to her, use her name. "Want a treat, Rosey?" "Let's go for a walk, Rosey." "Rosey's a good girl!!"

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This happens a lot. Happened to me with Annie when first adopted. She'd walk and then stop and plant herself. I remember being in tears because she would... not... move.

 

Regarding planting herself when walking: The advice I was given was I had to get her moving. Walk in her in a circle by holding her on a very short leash, her head next to your thighs and gently but firmly push on her neck as you walk in a circle. It can take two times around but as you come out of the circle, keep walking at a good speed. Another way to get planted feet to move is to again have the dog on a very short leash and gently but firmly push on the shoulder/neck area so they have to jump sideways, and then start walking.

 

Another suggestion is to be in control of the walk. Don't let her wander off on a long leash. Keep her close, keep your pace steady and remember you're the human and she's the dog. If she slows down, you keep up the same pace, unless you think she wants to potty.

 

She'll learn her name quickly if you use it all the time. Whenever you speak to her, use her name. "Want a treat, Rosey?" "Let's go for a walk, Rosey." "Rosey's a good girl!!"

 

This happens a lot. Happened to me with Annie when first adopted. She'd walk and then stop and plant herself. I remember being in tears because she would... not... move.

 

Regarding planting herself when walking: The advice I was given was I had to get her moving. Walk in her in a circle by holding her on a very short leash, her head next to your thighs and gently but firmly push on her neck as you walk in a circle. It can take two times around but as you come out of the circle, keep walking at a good speed. Another way to get planted feet to move is to again have the dog on a very short leash and gently but firmly push on the shoulder/neck area so they have to jump sideways, and then start walking.

 

Another suggestion is to be in control of the walk. Don't let her wander off on a long leash. Keep her close, keep your pace steady and remember you're the human and she's the dog. If she slows down, you keep up the same pace, unless you think she wants to potty.

 

She'll learn her name quickly if you use it all the time. Whenever you speak to her, use her name. "Want a treat, Rosey?" "Let's go for a walk, Rosey." "Rosey's a good girl!!"

Thank you for the suggestions! I feel like I do most of this except maybe allowing her to stop all the time 😜 I really just need to relax and let her acclimate to her new environment. I really couldn't ask for a better dog. She's a great girl 💗

I'm going to start using her name more. Thank you!

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What we did was whenever we walked up to the crate we'd say Hi (dogs name). Getting him out we'd say his name to get his attention, then when he was with us just in the house we'd pat his head and say his name. He caught on very quickly. He'd play with toys and bring them to us, we'd pat his head and say his name.

He now comes when called, and when whistled for in the house.

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As you get her tummy settled you can then use treats with what I call "the Name Game" to teach her what her name is. I like this method because the dog learns to respond to his name very quickly.

 

Start by saying Rosy and immediatly shove a treat in her piehole.

do it again

do it again but give it a second or two between the name and the treat

do that a few times

wait until she looks away from you, say her name and when she looks at you, treat her

you're mostly done at this point but can reinforce it by doing that last step a few times a day for the next two or three days.

 

If you're familiar with dog training, you'll notice that this is the beginning of "look at me" training, which itself is the foundation of other basic skills. It's also a good, positive, gentle way to start gaining the trust of a new dog.

Edited by jetcitywoman

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Terri,

 

I asked Dennis if the dogs knew their kennel names when he was training and here was his answer.

 

They all knew their names, Dick. I often forget a dogs racing name, but always recall their kennel names....like the dog in my story about Benny....I could not recall his racing name when I wrote the story, but happened to bump into it on Greyhound data one day, much later.

 

So everything is new and as others have said he is processing everything and with time he will come around.

 

Good luck with her.

 

Dick

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[quote name="jetcitywoman" post="5868392" timestamp="1443127892

 

Start by saying Rosy and immediatly shove a treat in her piehole.

do it again

do it again but give it a second or two between the name and the treat

do that a few times

wait until she looks away from you, say her name and when she looks at you, treat her

you're mostly done at this point but can reinforce it by doing that last step a few times a day for the next two or three days.

 

If you're familiar with dog training, you'll notice that this is the beginning of "look at me" training, which itself is the

foundation of other basic skills. It's also a good, positive, gentle way to start gaining the trust of a new dog.

 

 

Great suggestion! I will definitely try this.

And also....the circling while gently pushing my leg into the side of her neck works to get her moving! She's not always moving for very long but it works!

I'm getting the feeling with Rosey that she likes to do things when she likes to do them . When she initiates the walks she trots so quickly next to me that I need to pick up my speed. But when I initiate a walk that she isn't necessarily thrilled about she turned into my Little Lady Liberty and statues.

Today is her 5th day with us and she has blossomed so much already. She went from a dog that walked around hanging her head to a girl that is curious, loving, appropriately confident, just a joy to be around. Thanks for all of your tid bits. They are really helping me be confident as well. 👍🏻

Edited by TeriD
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