Scared

[Guest makalataylor]

Hey guys!

 

Any suggestions on making my Grey more confident? I got her a month ago, and she is great. Very friendly, VERY lazy, but she is SO timid. Any little noise sends her tail tucked, she has no interest in toys and does not come when you call her. She'd rather stay on the couch.

 

When we go outside, if someone shuts a car door, or if you brush up on the bushes she tries to bolt...she nearly ripped my shoulder off one days when I brushed up on a metal sign

 

Any suggestions to make her more confident? If she doesn't want to play that is fine, but I would love to have her comfortable or come to me for pets, or come when she is called.

 

She was adopted to a family for about a week, but they returned her.

[GeorgeofNE]

Dogs don't just magically come when called. You need to teach her that! Usually this involves yummy treats. I do it with the leash on. "Come Buck!" and I gently pull him to me, then give him the treat. Repeat over and over. Eventually lose the leash. Eventually replace treats with loving. That's how you teach recall!

 

She will get more comfortable in the home with time. As to outdoors--without seeing what she is really doing, or knowing about your environment, it's hard to suggest helpful tips--but if she's that spooky, you should get her a spook harness so you don't loose her.

Edited August 23, 2016 by GeorgeofNE

[greysmom]

A month is no time at all. Some dogs just take longer to relax and settle in to home life. None of what you are describing is unusual for newly homed greyhounds. Give your dog more time and more patience!

 

You can use a DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromones) diffuser and collar to help her relax, and there are tons of natural "calming" aids for sale everywhere. A spook harness is a good suggestion, as is walking with more awareness. Sit near her and read a book or magazine. Hand feed her meals. Let her take the time she needs to figure all this stuff out.

 

The book "The Cautious Canine" by Patricia McConnell is helpful.

 

If you search here for threads on anxiety you will find a lot of info too.

[Guest makalataylor]

Thank you for the suggestions. I have tried treats, but it doesn't work just yet. I am going to get a trainer to come and teach me so I can do better by her. She will lay by me all day while on the couch, but if you go to get her to take her outside or what have you, she will try to skeedaddle away. I always make sure to give her a lot of praise, especially if we have a good walk.

 

I don't want to pull too hard, as she plants herself. We do use a martingale, but wondering if we should get something else like you all mentioned, though we were told not to use anything BUT a martingale

[ramonaghan]

Thank you for the suggestions. I have tried treats, but it doesn't work just yet. I am going to get a trainer to come and teach me so I can do better by her. She will lay by me all day while on the couch, but if you go to get her to take her outside or what have you, she will try to skeedaddle away. I always make sure to give her a lot of praise, especially if we have a good walk.

 

I don't want to pull too hard, as she plants herself. We do use a martingale, but wondering if we should get something else like you all mentioned, though we were told not to use anything BUT a martingale

 

Many of us use a harness with our greys instead of a martingale. I don't have a spook, but I do have a leash reactive breed snob who would sometimes gag herself pulling and lunging at other dogs; I was worried she'd seriously hurt her neck with the martingale. The harness has been a game changer for us. Here are a couple of options for you (I have the second); you'll find plenty of good experiences on this forum for both:

 

Majestic Spook Harness

 

Two Hounds Freedom No Pull Harness

 

If she settles after a little more time with you, you can always go back to the martingale.

Edited August 23, 2016 by ramonaghan

[XTRAWLD]

A month is still too early to expect her to act "normal" but I will say that in general, greyhounds are way more sensitive to things and sounds than other dogs. We've learned how to be quieter believe it or not kind of a nice way to learn to be less disruptive to be honest. Give her more time to settle in. Things are still very very new.

[NeylasMom]

Thank you for the suggestions. I have tried treats, but it doesn't work just yet. I am going to get a trainer to come and teach me so I can do better by her. She will lay by me all day while on the couch, but if you go to get her to take her outside or what have you, she will try to skeedaddle away. I always make sure to give her a lot of praise, especially if we have a good walk.

 

I don't want to pull too hard, as she plants herself. We do use a martingale, but wondering if we should get something else like you all mentioned, though we were told not to use anything BUT a martingale

Sounds like her fear outside is causing her to avoid coming to you when she thinks it might result in going out to the scary place. You might need something to help her along so her fear doesn't worsen further. There are some natural calming aids you can try first. In addition to DAP, which I find is better for separation anxiety/distress, there's also Composure chews or l-theanine. I would start there. If she's not eating Thats a good sign that she's darn scared.

 

Please also make sure your trainer uses reward based methods only. Avoid anyone who calls themselves a "balanced" trainer or says they use methods that suit the individual dogs. Ask specific questions like what will happen if my dog makes a mistake, do you use any corrections, etc. If you have any doubts or something feels off, abort! Punishment will make her so much worse.

[smurfette]

Time and patience - that what you need. If you don't have a yard take a short route walking her and stay with that one. Perhaps you can walk on times when there is less activity out there like in the early morning or later in the evening. This way she can learn the way home and slowly gets more comfortable.

Hand feeding is a good advice - I always take the super yummie treat with me when walking for the first times with a new grey.

[Guest makalataylor]

Would I just search "Composure chews or l-theanine." to purchase some? I want to make her as comfortable as possible, but she is so very nervous. I worked on calling her last night, and she will come if she is on a leash but the second you take her off of the leash she runs back to her couch, and does not care if you have a treat...treats on a walk don't work either, she isn't interested in them.

 

I don't want to get discouraged.

 

I am eager to meet with the trainer next week.

[schultzlc]

I adopted a spooky hound about 5.5 years ago. While she warmed up to me (but only me) fairly quickly at home, she was also very fearful when we'd venture out of the house. Like your pup, she'd try to bolt or do a bucking bronco/crocodile death roll move to try to slip her collar and get away from whatever was scaring her. Like your girl, she is not terribly motivated by food. Before trying calming treats or medication, I decided to go with a harness, and purchased the 2 Hounds Freedom harness that ramonaghan linked above. Honestly, the harness was a game changer for us. The fact that I was no longer paranoid about her bolting or slipping from her collar (the harness provides gentle security) made me much more confident with the leash. Luna could tell the difference in the way I was reacting to her stimuli, and began to follow suit. Fast forward to the present, and she is awesome on walks. Noises and contact no longer bother her. For example, if I accidently stepped on a stick in the past, she would have bolted, but now she can walk right next to noisy garbage trucks or construction equipment without an issue. She still won't let random people pet her, but that's a whole different issue. I wish you the best with your girl! Time and patience are definitely the key with the timid hounds.

[NeylasMom]

Would I just search "Composure chews or l-theanine." to purchase some? I want to make her as comfortable as possible, but she is so very nervous. I worked on calling her last night, and she will come if she is on a leash but the second you take her off of the leash she runs back to her couch, and does not care if you have a treat...treats on a walk don't work either, she isn't interested in them.

 

I don't want to get discouraged.

 

I am eager to meet with the trainer next week.

I wouldn't work on basic cue training until you have addressed the fear issues. However, what I would do is try a variety of very high value food to take on walks and see if she will eat any. Cooked chicken breast is a good one (you can buy canned chicken and rinse it to keep it simpler). Cheese, lunch meat, especially roast beef though preservative free turkey breast or ham will work nicely too, hot dogs cut into tiny pieces and microwave are all worth trying. Anorexia is a sign of anxiety, but you may find she's willing to take the higher value food. You might even initially have to gently push it into her mouth, but if she doesn't spit it out, great. So you could go out, walk to the end of your street feeding her like that, let her potty and then immediately return home. If you have a yard that she's more comfortable in, I might just stick with that until she warms up more.

 

Composure chews are easily found online, Amazon sells them. You can safely double the dose if you try them and notice a small difference. L-theanine is marketed as Anxitane in a dog chewable, but it's pricey and hard to find so I would just get a human supplement. Most greyhounds are large enough to have a 100 mg capsule twice a day. You want ot make sure the one you buy does not contain Xylitol (poisonous to dogs) and is pure Suntheanine. This is the one I use:

https://smile.amazon.com/Enzymatic-Therapy-L-Theanine-Vegetarian-Capsules/dp/B0017KHVM2/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1472057153&sr=8-1&keywords=enzymatic+therapy+l-theanine

 

Composure contains a smaller amount of l-theanine so just try one or the other at first. Both can safely be used with DAP. There's another option called Zylkene, but it's a bit pricier so I usually recommend trying the others first. If you want to try DAP, I prefer the collars, which are also available online for much less money. The puppy & small dog one fits my male greyhound, but you can measure to be sure:

https://smile.amazon.com/Appeasing-Pheromone-Collar-Puppies-Small/dp/B000HPVH6O/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1472057215&sr=1-1&keywords=dap+collar

Edited August 24, 2016 by NeylasMom

[Guest pdxkara]

It just takes time, they're all different. It my first grey spent the first 6 months hiding in my bedroom. She didn't explore the house or want to walk in the neighborhood. She eventually came out of her shell and was a wonderful companion. She loved to volunteer at meet & greets, walk in parades, all the greyhound social events. Give her some time, she'll adjust. Everything is new to her.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Sorry to repeat... but she needs time, time and more time... with a good dose of patience.

[Guest makalataylor]

Took her out tonight and took her by things that I know aren't her favorites. We sat by the scary sign and I fed her cheese,she didn't relax much but she didn't try to bolt and did better than she usually does.

 

She came to me in the house for cheese. She eats all of her food at dinner.

 

I talked with a trainer who I am meeting with at her home to begin with ( she lives in the country).