A Post About The Biggest Issue My Greys Have Right Now

[Brandiandwe]

Everyone, I'm posting this because I'm seeing a few threads pop up about how worried some new owners are about their greys because all they read about are the problems. And I get it. This is an awesome resource for problems. But I thought perhaps it would be good to have somewhere where we could post about the daily or weekly trials and tribulations which really aren't anything to worry about IYKWIM?

 

So, here goes. this week's list of MAJOR issues I've had with my greys.

 

Brandi: decided on a 40 degree C night that she REALLY needed to sleep in between DH and I. She flopped around like a fish all night shoving her legs into my face, or shoving her nose right into my neck and snorting with contentment. I'm delighted that she enjoys snuggling. Less delighted it was stinking hot night with work the next day.

 

Paige: moves five wheelie bins out of the way to go lizard hunting. I've no idea how. Some were full and I had difficulty moving them, so how a 26kg dog managed it, I don't know. I'm also not impressed that she's learning to use her mouth to open the glass sliding door, the wire door, the fencing we use to keep her away from the herb garden (yes, there are lizards there too). Scary intelligence not being used for good.

 

Hermon: the grunting and groaning with pleasure as he stretches out in bed and then roaches and wiggles, kicking our bed, have woken me every night this week. They generally don't, but the heat is making me sleep poorly, so I'm awake.

 

Benny: loves to snuggle. But the cold nose inserted into the belly button swiftly followed by nitting teeth has resulted in my squealing and leaping from the sofa at least once. This then results in me jumping about the try to avoid standing on another grey who insists on lying ascloseaspossible. Sigh.

 

We post a lot about big problems. but for most of us, and most greys, it does all work out. Look for the positive.

[Jenbo]

I got the cold snooter down the from of my tank top one night at 2 am. EEEEEEEEEE!

Edited January 15, 2016 by Jenbo

[locket]

This thread is a great idea!

Problem #1 : I have to spend 5 minutes on the floor petting Jack (with him pushing my face in my chest) otherwise he follows me around while I cook and I end up tripping on him and almost falling over Every.Single.Time.

Problem #2 : It's too cold outside now and he has to sleep in jimjams. Otherwise he wakes up in the middle of the night licking and shuffling and is restless.

Problem #3 : His coat is dry due to being winter time, so I now add coconut oil to his meals (I mean, really, you have to take a spoon, get the jar out, take a spoonful, dump it in the dog's food)

Problem #4 : They love routines. After his nighty walkie, Jack goes straight to bed. I am currently sitting alone in the computer room writing this post. He won't come if called.

Problem #5 : I love him too much and he has too many collars

[greysmom]

Things that make you go

 

#1 - The daily joys of a picky eater - she'll happily eat a treat then not want anything to do with exactly the same kind of treat 5 minutes later!! She only wants "fresh" treats out of a just-opened bag.

 

#2 - the sort-of-timid boy, who's been here for 4 years, has just decided he LOVESLOVESLOVES to play with his people. This involves diving onto our laps - front feet fully extended - whenever we sit down, shoving his big snoot in wherever it will go (literally) and snorting wildly. Not so bad for me (unless I have going-out-of-the-house clothes on!), but a very delicate owie for DH. Oh. And he now likes to nit us.

 

#3 - space issue greyhound has gotten a lot better. Until she doesn't. Mostly I think due to an overabundance of new toys scattered around the living room.

[Riverhound]

Joe and Brees fight over the "best" spot on the sofa -- the one between Mommy and Daddy. My legs used to go there.

 

When Joe tosses a stuffy around the living room, the TV remote can't "see" through him, so we can't pause Netflix.

 

On the very rare occasions I pretend to clean, when I put the toys in their bin, Brees must immediately remove each and every one. Over and over, until I give up.

 

Joe looks good in everything.

[sarabz]

Bella is now jealous of our toddler so is constantly nudging for pats and following me around. But only when he is around. If I'm here during the day, just the two of us, I get the stink-eye for messing with her weekday routine.

 

Every couple of weeks we think she can sleep with us. She can't. She is a giant bed hog who is able to give quite the amazing donkey kick with her hind legs when she wants more room, resulting in her having the bulk of the bed and DH and I hanging off the sides.

 

Love this girl.

Edited January 15, 2016 by sarabz

[robinw]

My guys are galgos, but I'm posting anyway.

 

1. They take up my entire bed.

 

2. If Xavi decides he wants to sleep in Iker's spot, he lays down on top of him.

 

3. Sometimes I have to gently nudge them in the bum to get them to go in the backyard when it's cold and snowy.

 

4. Xavi has learned how to unzip my purse and will empty if if he doesn't think he's getting enough attention.

 

5. Iker plays too much; those squeakers make a lot of noise!

 

Problems with my greyhounds before they went to the bridge:

 

1. Treasure ran in her sleep and would wake me up.

 

2. Loca liked table dancing and had a huge prey drive.

 

3. Phoenix was perfect. I could even leave an open bag of dog food or chips on the floor and he wouldn't touch it.

Edited January 15, 2016 by robinw

[rschultz]

I got the cold snooter down the from of my tank top one night at 2 am. EEEEEEEEEE!

[FiveRoooooers]

Love this thread! Pagliaccio (Pal) was my first greyhound in 2002 and he was perfect. No really, he was, which pretty much set me up to be living now with hounds #11-14. The original five roooooers were a grand pack. When I recall how easy it was with those five omg the things we did and didn't do. No muzzles were ever needed. Ever. They swam together like a seasoned school of fish. When I'd leave for work in the morning I'd toss a huge handful of large dental kibble (purchased just for this purpose) into the living room and then leave. Everyone went searching for treats and didn't notice that I'd gone, then they'd go to their beds and snooze until I got home. Can't do that now [cough]PaddyALVIN!Mayhem[cough] but that was such fun. Aiden is obsessed with nylabones and brings them everywhere, which means he leaves them everywhere

[NeylasMom]

This is a great thread. Brandiandwe, yours are all hysterical.

 

Joe and Brees fight over the "best" spot on the sofa -- the one between Mommy and Daddy. My legs used to go there.

 

When Joe tosses a stuffy around the living room, the TV remote can't "see" through him, so we can't pause Netflix.

 

On the very rare occasions I pretend to clean, when I put the toys in their bin, Brees must immediately remove each and every one. Over and over, until I give up.

 

Joe looks good in everything.

We have problems 2 & 3 as well. I'd say I solved problem 1 by buying a much bigger sectional except that all the dogs prefer to be next to me. I have 3 dogs and only 2 sides to my body. So whichever dog was last to claim a spot often whines or attempts to lay on top of another dog to get ckose. In Skye's case, she will either just climb up and lay on my chest or she goes in the bathroom and steals things until I get up to take it from her, causing the other dogs to move at which point she takes her righteous place closest to me.

 

I got sick with a really bad cold recently, which meant the dogs got less exercise. Less exercise means Violet becomes bat** crazy so every time I start to do things that might indicate a walk she goes nuts jumping around, slamming her feet onto the floor as she playbows, and barking. Barking so loudly. I live in a condo with neighbors below me.

 

If Zuri gets shocked by moving around in his bed at night in the winter when there is static electricity he will shoot out of bed at the speed of light, run across the room to guzzle water out of the water bowl and then sometimes need to go out to pee before our alarm goes off.

Edited January 15, 2016 by NeylasMom

[Guest picopaco]

Great idea! My new girl wakes up every day at 5am; thankfully we take her out and then she'll sleep more until the more reasonable 6am. also she's very puppy like (turns 2 in a few days) and frequently tries to bust out in a full run on our leashed walks. I need to get her to a fenced in yard quick! Prey drive is strong on this one... We see a small dog in the distance and she acts exactly the same as if it was a squirrel. So scared the little dogs human will try to approach haha.

[cleptogrey]

my dogs really do not have any big problems, as to they are merely dogs and enjoy what every they seem to be doing.

 

i often encounter a problem (not theirs- mine) which include:

75#s of dog sleeping on top of us(dh and me) in the tent (but not the bedroom, felix has his own grand crate which looks like something from a bedouin tent)

snarks at obnoxious little dogs who are lunging at us

 

i guess we have a pretty mellow house hold or we are just oblivious to any problems

[DesiRayMom]

Desi's thermostat is broken. He's always "run hot" so I keep the thermostat at 66. Now in his elder years, he's chilly, so I tuck him in a blankie.

5 minutes later, he's hot, & panting like a freight train. Gets up, gives me the stink eye cause he's tangled in the blankie, gets comfortable........

10 minutes later shivering & whining........and on....and on.....and on....and on..........never had so much fun in my life!

[Guest DarkHorse]

Mine's a real problem, but is only continuing because of DH issues, not dog issues.

Cole's snippy and will grumble if people come near his bed or his food. Never actually growls or snaps or anything, just complains about it. He also gets worked up at dogs when he's on a walk.

 

We're working on it so it doesn't develop into full-blown aggression. But, DH still doesn't get that he's in progress, not fixed, and he's still used to Araley and Dexter who were the friendliest most polite dogs ever.

 

So he lets all the dogs approach the boys. And inevitably one of them is either nervous or aggressive and Cole starts whining and then barking and air-chomping. And good luck telling someone that's him being excited, not aggressive. And then DH feels all ashamed about his behaviour and complains. And I have to sit there and explain again that he can't just let every dog say hi and not monitor Cole and expect things to go well.

 

Needless to say, when I'm walking them, whether just the new two or all three, we don't have issues. Because I know not to trust the silly boy further than I can throw him, and I always do dog meetings in order of calmness, and by the time Dexter and KB have said hi, the other dog is either calm or has revealed its own aggression and I can make excuses to back away.

[Roo]

No greys at the moment (though I could go on and on about Daisy the terrier's 'quirks' that are annoying but not really problems ). Past greys...

 

The biggest problem with Regis was that he decided every night at 9 pm that he needed to go to bed JUST THEN. He'd stand at the back door and wait. He slept in the sunroom when the weather was nice so that's where he wanted to go every night at 9. No matter what else was happening - he didn't care - just ready for bed at 9! And then there was that time I (stupidly) left a slice of pizza unattended for a minute. Regis got up off his bed, took the pizza without moving the plate, then laid down in the EXACT SAME position he'd been in just a moment before. I yelled at mom for throwing my pizza away and she was adamant she had done no such thing. Then we looked at Regis and he looked positively smug in his sleep

 

Dusty had her problems - intense prey drive (like the time she jumped a fence during a play group and tried to chase a horse - you could see the blatant look of "I have made a mistake" on her face when the horse started chasing HER), thunderphobia, etc. But those were rare occasions and the worst thing we ever struggled with with her was her extreme love of soft things. She stole dad's fuzzy fleece blanket right off his recliner while we were eating dinner one night. Pulled it off, dragged it over to her bed, and curled up as though nothing had happened, no, nothing to see here.

[Feisty49]

Biggest issue for me as Annie's mom is..... nothing.

 

Wait, there are two things. I do get concerned when she refuses to go outside to pee, in the large, fenced yard, and it's been 5 or 6 hours since her last out. I wonder why she holds it if she doesn't have to. Because she's so easy about everything, I can forget about her needs, so I trained me and her to respond to the alarm on my cell. It's set for 2 PM, and if we haven't done our afternoon walk yet, the alarm goes off, reminding me, and I use my NO NONSENSE voice and she comes running to the door. If I use the NO NONSENSE voice any time before that, she ignores me.

 

Also, the hour before supper she spends **staring** at me. She doesn't whine or cry. She doesn't come to me and push. She stares and stares and stares....for an hour.... those almost-black eyes looking at me... telling me how hungry she is. Drives me crazy because I hate the thought she's hungry but I know she's not starving and if she had her way, she'd eat all the time.

 

Other than these, Annie is the most laid back, downright boring Greyhound I've ever known, and even friends who have been Greyhound people for 20+ years say they have never known a Greyhound as good as she is.

 

Things I wish she would do: Share the queen size bed with me. Get on the couch with me. Come into the kitchen. Play with her stuffies more than the 30 seconds that precede a walk when she's excited about the prospect. Roach. Play in the fenced yard of the house I purchased FOR HER!

 

I suppose another issue could be that with Annie, one has to look for her "I'm happy" personality. After 4-1/2 years, I know when she's pleased, excited, grumpy, tired, hungry, etc., but her moods are so subtle, they're not obvious to others.

[NeedlenoseJake]

This week's issues with Jake...

 

We left the top off of the trash and Jake pulled 3 pieces of trash out of it.

 

He has been whining like crazy the past few nights- will stop when you pet him

 

He keeps his butt by our heads when on the bed. I prefer the other end

[greytpups]

Brooke often has to go out before their evening walk. Brooke and I go upstairs to bed and then about 10 minutes later, or about the time it takes me to get warm and comfortable, she decides she needs to go out. She never asks DH, who is usually still up, just me.

 

The other night I fell asleep on the sofa and dh nudged me awake because Brooke was standing there staring at me. Yes, she needed to go out

Edited January 15, 2016 by greytpups

[Jenbo]

Isn't that funny? Myka always asks me to go out, never DBF.

[Remolacha]

I was so pleased when Val decided she would sleep with me. I am still pleased, but... Lately she goes to bed immediately after dinner . By 7, she is in the bedroom. She doesn't always get on the bed, but when she does, she nests all the sheets, blankets, throws, everything but the fitted bottom sheet into a nice pile in the middle of the bed and plops down. When I go in to bed several hours later, I have to try and tug at least the sheet out from under her, and shove her over enough to give me a little space. I already have extra blankets piled up nearby

 

Conner is such a velcro dog that the first thing he learned was "move!"

 

The cold nose thing!

[NeedlenoseJake]

. I already have extra blankets piled up nearby

 

 

We call these "emergency blankets"... even though we need them most nights

[winnie]

Celeste is our first greyhound. We've had her for nearly 10 years now. She is an amazing meet & greet dog. Everyone *loves* Celeste. Her biggest problem? Cotton ears. She doesn't listen to me... At All. She is DH's heart hound. He is the only person she'll listen to. It's a good thing that she rarely misbehaves. Well, other than stealing her sister's spots.

 

Beatrix is our first galgo. We've had her for just over 2 years now. Her biggest problem? She doesn't realize she is a galgo. Aren't galgos supposed to sleep in piles, scale tall fences, and be more active than greyhounds? Yeah, no. Beatrix is just a loving lump. She has *her* spot on the couch and *her* bed in our bedroom. She *loves* to sleep. All those years in Spain must have been exhausting. The only time we know she is alive is in the mornings. She hops in our bed happy to greet another day.

[Brandiandwe]

Biggest problem this morning? Walking in the rain. Apparently Hermon shrinks when he gets wet. Who knew? And it's all my fault for not remembering to turn the rain off before leaving the house.

[Guest daytonasmom]

Daytona is awful about sharing the bed, and that cold wet nose!! But I love it when he sleeps with me, especially in the winter since he's so warm he loves his routines, and pouts if it gets messed up - like if I have friends over and stay up past bedtime, there are a lot of sighs and "poor me" looks. No one can make you feel guilty quite like a dog! The best is coming home from work; he is so happy to see me with jumps and twirls and sometimes, if I've been gone longer than normal, he'll "talk" to me. He is really the greatest thing ever. My life is so much more full and happy, even on the worst days, with him.

[Jerilyn]

Lila is one of those perfect dogs with no real issues, so I've got just one small annoyance. She wakes me up 15-20 minutes before my alarm goes off. She only asks to go out when she really has to potty, so I don't want to ignore her so I get up. But with such a short amount of time before I really have to get up I can't go back to sleep and I'm just up for the day. I almost wish she'd get up an hour before my alarm so at least I could go back to bed.