Wobbly Hound

[Guest Mull]

So our guy Rory is 3 and newly adopted. He was neutered last week, and taken from the track at the beginning of that week. He is somewhat predictably nervous of our smooth floor and spends most of his time in the open x-pen on his bed. I was noticing he seems very uncertain with where he puts his feet outside as well, and sometimes trembles. Is this fairly normal? We are aiming for an introductory vet appointment on Saturday.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Please get some non-slip carpeting/runners ... You will find he moves more freely if he is not afraid of slipping.

[Feisty49]

So our guy Rory is 3 and newly adopted. He was neutered last week, and taken from the track at the beginning of that week. He is somewhat predictably nervous of our smooth floor and spends most of his time in the open x-pen on his bed. I was noticing he seems very uncertain with where he puts his feet outside as well, and sometimes trembles. Is this fairly normal? We are aiming for an introductory vet appointment on Saturday.

 

When you say "outside," do you mean outdoors? Also, as said above, you need to get rugs or something he can walk on other than a smooth floor. Overall, I think his reactions are because he's new to being a pet. Some people find reading this helpful.

 

http://www.gpa-az.com/gilley.html

[Guest Mull]

Feisty49, yes, in our yard.

[Feisty49]

He sounds uncertain and afraid of his new environment. Poor guy went from the track, to surgery to your house. That's a lot of changes in a short time. It can weeks, even months, for a Greyhound to settle in and be himself. Give him lots of love, patience and time.

[Guest Mull]

Thank you. Our dog we just lost to cancer, Navi, was a rat terrier mix with very greyhoundy feet and never had any problems on the floor (peel and stick tile, it looks like---it was under the carpet we had to rip out thanks to a burst pipe), so we weren't prepared for it to be a huge problem for him. After losing her very unexpectedly, I am having definite anxiety issues about possible medical problems!

I feel so bad for him! His whole life has been turned upside down, and I don't know that having us around is giving him any comfort right now. He's being such a gentleman, too. It's startling to go from terriers and my parents' GSDs, who take a *lot* of convincing, to a dog who can be deterred by a soft negative noise.

[Fruitycake]

That is quite a personality-type change! As he settles in you may start to get a more relaxed character in him, though.

 

As for the difference in reaction to your floors, most pet dogs learn very early on about how to handle the slippery floors in houses, stores, and other areas. I doubt that many kennels have floors that have the same tractionless character in the dog areas, especially where they may move uncontrolled (off lead) where they might be more prone to fast, sudden movements that would reduce traction to nil. So imagine a dog that's never been on something like ice to them suddenly slipping and either fearing falling or actually falling. And then they tense up, try to dig in with claws - which would work on slippery grass or dirt but it only decreases their toe-pad's contact, and overall traction - so it gets worse. I'd be tense, too! They will have to learn a new way to navigate, like those of us with areas that get icy in winters have to re-learn driving and even walking when it gets slick outside.

 

After learning to go slow, and not slipping and sliding, he will *probably* start to relax and be easier on slick floors. Just try not to push him or stress him too much. Rubber-backed rugs can really help the learning period.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

As to outside surfaces--my Scout at first refused to walk on grass. She clearly said that it tickled her toes and she did not like it! Ironically she developed bad corns and then disliked walking on anything but grass.

[DustysMom]

Yoga mats can work also

[Sundrop]

Congrats on your new addition!

 

Our newest addition (we've had him 9 months now) was not good on our floors. The carpeted rooms were easy, of course, but the hardwood and tiled floors - he had a really difficult time adjusting to. We ended up getting a rubber-backed runner he could stand on while eating and it gets him to the back door - so his anxiety at dinner time was alleviated. We also got a couple area rugs upstairs for my office and our bedroom so he could get out of his beds onto the rugs and be okay. Also got a runner going out the backdoor downstairs when our girl was diagnosed with osteosarcoma a few weeks back, as she was having issues on the tile even though it's rougher tile, and our boy seems to appreciate that, too.

 

He still sometimes has issues, and I notice that he tenses up his feet & toes when he feels any slippage, which makes matters 100x worse. Poor guy, we even were thinking of getting those non-slip toenail covers at one point. He's much better now, but he still has issues sometimes.

 

On a side note, we'd all love to see a photo of Rory!

[Guest FordRacingRon]

My house has been covered with non-matching runner rugs for 10 years. Leia will NOT do smooth floors. She can bouncing into the house when she was new (2 1/2), hit the tiles, slid across the kitchen right into her raised feeder bowls and launched them, and herself, into another room.

 

Runner rugs.