Newly Adopted Grey Won't Come When Called. Stairs And Would Healin

[smurfette]

My only advice for you is...

 

...enjoy yout time with your houndie. He seems to adjust right fine. Some of them just need more time than others. My boy Andy lives with me for 5 years now and won't touch any toys but his buddies Col and Paddy love to play with their stuffies.

Col won't go upstairs. I know he can manage the stairs but he refuses to do so and sleeps in the living-room at night.

 

You see, there are always some quirks but i just let them be as long as they don't affect my boys or one of us hoomans in negative ways

[Feisty49]

Awesome news. When I first joined GT, I found it comforting to read what other dogs do because it taught me that each dog is different and just about nothing a Greyhound does is unusual, short of something harmful.

 

Whining at other dogs: IMO, if he were scared of other dogs, he would try to get away or be aggressive. I think he wants to make friends. When we meet a new dog on our walks, I always ask the walker if their dog is open to meeting mine. If so, we both hold our dogs close to the collar and approach slowly. Annie, though, doesn't really care about other dogs. She's not at all mean. She ignores them once they've greeted, unless it's another Greyhound. She wants to get close to the person.

 

Walking around the house: I've had Annie almost 5 years. She will not walk into the dining room, which has an area rug under the table, more than 3 feet. She won't go into the kitchen. Each one has her/his quirks.

 

Pooping: Sometimes Annie poos 3 times a day; sometimes 4. It depends on how many walks we take. I have an enclosed back yard and she poos there only at first out, about 7 AM this time of year. The other times she has to walk or she'll hold it. I assume if I could not walk her, she'd eventually do it in the back yard. Annie never has gas.

 

Toys and play: Annie hasn't done a zoomie in years. She has a lot of stuffies, including the one I purchased for her before she came home. It looks brand new because she almost never plays with it, or any of them. She *might* play if she thinks I'm taking too long getting ready for our walk. She takes her frustration out on a stuffie. I've tried to engage her over the years with various games and generally being silly. Nope.. she's not interested.

 

Coats: He may get used to pooing with a coat on.... or he may not. Rain won't hurt him and actually, most raincoats are of such a material that they make the dog hot. You're in CT. No need to worry about a coat for cold weather for many months. I'm in the Albany, NY, area. We get cold. Annie loves the cold. If the temp is above 30, give or take, and the sun is out and there's no wind, she doesn't need a coat. If any of those things change, I may put a light-weight fleece on her. She has heavy fleece coats for very, very cold weather, like zero degrees.

 

Baths: Some people bathe their Greys often. In the 5 years I've had Annie, she's had two baths at a grooming place. She doesn't go in the mud. She doesn't go into the woods. She's clean and soft. Greyhounds are not an oily-skin dog, which is why they don't often have a doggy smell. I would think bathing too often would make their skin dryer than it is.

 

Bully sticks: I recommend not leaving him alone with one. As the stick gets smaller, the dog usually puts what's left into her mouth and can choke. I used to buy them for Annie but had a scare with her choking -- thankfully she got it up --and haven't purchased them since.

He is a beautiful boy and has greyt ears!

Edited May 27, 2016 by Feisty49

[TXRedbo]

He's a beautiful boy (brindles 4eva)!

 

It sounds like everything is going well and nothing sounds out of the ordinary at all! As far as playtime, mine rarely plays. Even after Redbo learned what those soft, squeaky things were, he never wanted to play tug of war or anything. I actually think he uses the toys as more of a security blanket. Whenever he's uncomfortable with all the renovations and movement around the house, he'll pull all the toys out and lay them on his bed. The only exception to his no-play rule is a blue rubber ball. He will play fetch with the blue rubber ball.

 

Redbo refuses to poop with anything hanging over his tail. We got him a light fleece jacket for the (few) cold days here in Texas, and he would just walk around in circles when he had to poop. At that point we learned we had to flip the jacket up over his back and then he would go. Hilarious every time.

 

Keep up the teeth brushing routine! We were not great in the beginning, and it's been super fun (not) getting both Redbo and ourselves back into the habit.

 

You're doing great!

[philospher77]

Hi!

 

I'm wondering if your difficulty with training is that your dog needs to "learn how to learn". Greyhounds live a very regimented life on the track, and the idea that they can make things happen may be something that they need to learn. For example, a pet dog learns "if I go stand by the door and bark, my human will let me out to go to the bathroom". A track dog learns "at certain times of the day, humans come take me out to go to the bathroom, no matter what I am doing". So it can take some time for them to grasp the idea the they can make you do things. If this is the case (or even if it isn't), I'd take a look at "101 Things to do with a Box". It's a training exercise/game intended to get dogs used to offering behaviors, and, frankly, is a lot of fun. You take a novel object (the box, or anything, really... a towel, milk jug, hula hoop, banana, etc) and put it on the floor of a room with you, the dog, and few other distractions. And then you click and reward the dog for doing ANYTHING that involves the box: looking at it, sniffing it, pawing it, whatever. At least at first, you are just looking for something to click and reward, so that the dog learns that they can make you do things. If the problem is that your dog doesn't know how to learn, there will be an "ah ha!" moment eventually, where you will realize that they get it. At that point, you can start setting goals and trying shaping (right foot in box, for example). Once they have the "ah ha" moment, you will find that training becomes much easier. Katie's "ah ha" moment was when she slowly stretched her foot out to the box, and looked at me. I clicked and treated, and she walked over to the box, looked at me, and put her foot out to the box. You could practically see her thinking "wait... if I do THIS, I can make her give me food? Cool!" After that, it was much easier to get her to try new things.

 

The links below give a description of the game, a video of it, and how to charge a clicker, in case you need to start there.

 

(Kikopup's intro to clicker training)

 

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001b/101.htm

 

 

I hope this helps!

[Guest Wally]

He needs to want to come don't push him ignore is better.

When Shirley had a wound on pad I used spray bandage worked fine

[Guest Mossy]

Hi!

 

I'm wondering if your difficulty with training is that your dog needs to "learn how to learn". Greyhounds live a very regimented life on the track, and the idea that they can make things happen may be something that they need to learn. For example, a pet dog learns "if I go stand by the door and bark, my human will let me out to go to the bathroom". A track dog learns "at certain times of the day, humans come take me out to go to the bathroom, no matter what I am doing". So it can take some time for them to grasp the idea the they can make you do things. If this is the case (or even if it isn't), I'd take a look at "101 Things to do with a Box". It's a training exercise/game intended to get dogs used to offering behaviors, and, frankly, is a lot of fun. You take a novel object (the box, or anything, really... a towel, milk jug, hula hoop, banana, etc) and put it on the floor of a room with you, the dog, and few other distractions. And then you click and reward the dog for doing ANYTHING that involves the box: looking at it, sniffing it, pawing it, whatever. At least at first, you are just looking for something to click and reward, so that the dog learns that they can make you do things. If the problem is that your dog doesn't know how to learn, there will be an "ah ha!" moment eventually, where you will realize that they get it. At that point, you can start setting goals and trying shaping (right foot in box, for example). Once they have the "ah ha" moment, you will find that training becomes much easier. Katie's "ah ha" moment was when she slowly stretched her foot out to the box, and looked at me. I clicked and treated, and she walked over to the box, looked at me, and put her foot out to the box. You could practically see her thinking "wait... if I do THIS, I can make her give me food? Cool!" After that, it was much easier to get her to try new things.

 

The links below give a description of the game, a video of it, and how to charge a clicker, in case you need to start there.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wv1uvvqaSw (Kikopup's intro to clicker training)

 

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001b/101.htm

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4MKO4BrXkE

 

I hope this helps!

 

 

 

Wow, this sounds amazing!!

I will.definitely give it a try.

Thank you.

[XTRAWLD]

I love that 101 box story. Awesome.

 

All dogs learn at different speeds. Will it make you feel better to know Kasey didn't play with a toy for 12 months? The first year, didn't know a thing. His first play I got on video and boy did he let loose! He did not care for squeaky toys, they actually freaked him out. So we bought stuffies and often popped the squeakers before we gave it to him.

 

Sounds as if he's coming around to the stairs idea. Now that you are successful out front, try those again and again. Build upon that confidence.

[MSTmom]

We've had our grey, Steven for almost 9 months and this month he finally learned to sit! He too was a pretty shy guy and anxious, but we just let him take his time to get used to us and his new home. After we had him for a few months, we started showing him how to sit. I would get on the floor next to him and make sure he knew i was close and then slide my arm behind his legs and nudge him back with the other. I did that every so often to at least get his muscles used to stretching that way. He was 4.5 when we got him and he'd raced for about 4 years so his muscles are SERIOUS. Now he just does it, if I hold up a cookie he sits immediately, we've even started working on "down." He's the best!!!

 

Steven also would poop as much as possible when we got him, we just chalked it up to him thinking this was it for outside time. Now he has created his own little poop routine, but he still goes like 3-4 times day. He also has INSANE farts, we switched his food and that calmed down. Don't get me wrong he still farts but not every 2 seconds anymore.

 

We also had a fun time adjusting to the stairs. Steve was 75 lbs when we got him and he did NOT want to go up the stairs. We tried everything. Treats, the leash, going super slow, lots of hugs, everything. He eventually started going reluctantly and then one day decided he didn't like it. Then we went to a family members house, and they have two goldendoodles who are constantly wrestling. He saw them run up and down the stairs and we never had a problem since.

 

Playing with toys also took a while. We know he loves squeaky toys ESPECIALLY the kong squeaky tennis balls. He goes crazy for those. If it doesn't squeak he literally couldn't care less.

 

We don't bathe steven too often. We have a big walk in shower and I've brought him in there and showered him. He doesn't care. We've also done it outside in the backyard and again, doesn't care. haha he's very easy going.

 

You're doing a great job. The first like 2 months are rough but after that, IT'S SO GOOD!!

[Guest xengab]

Hi!

I will tell you right away, it took me 6 months before my grey would sit on command. He had to 'get it' before he'd do it. I said SIT every time I saw him sit naturally (yes some greyhounds do sit on their butts). But I literally saw his lightbulb moment of understanding the word SIT and his action. Before that we used STOP! which had him just standing in place and not moving. I figured it would be no issue, heck I've taught adult cats to sit on command..LOL yeah, not the same.

 

Coming when called, you have to make it very fun and exciting. Whatever makes them the happiest you do, when they respond with a head turn. Mine didn't understand treats for awhile so we just used pats and cuddles as reward. Now he knows and we use them.

 

Positive reinforcement is the key to greys learning, letting them work out what you mean has them understand it do it more often.

Even slightly eye contact, praise him.

[Guest johnnydrum]

Hello

 

We have had our girl for 5 weeks and every day is a new day

 

She was very very aloof, almost "distant"....I completely stopped training and just took her out on lots of walks, made daft noises, bribed her with cheese...although she still isnt very obedient, she is now confident, and to my susprise, is now actually "picking up" words and phrases (walkies, breakfast, dinner, bed, her name etc) as we simply carry on.

 

The stairs was terrifying for her, and we succeed by placing a cheese cube on every step....this then over the week reduced to a cube every second step, and now she will do the flight for a single piece.

 

Regarding the farts.....as beautiful as she is, she can still clear a room in ten seconds....lol....thats just Sasha (although on occasion it may be me, and Sasha takes the rap)

Edited July 27, 2016 by johnnydrum