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New Hound Following Us Round The House And Watching Door When We Are O


Guest Grandstand

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Guest Grandstand

Hi everyone, I've been reading the forum for a couple of months in the lead up to us adopting our new greyhound last week and would first of all like to thank everyone for all the interesting/informative posts in the past that have been a great help in preparing us for our new arrival. As new dog owners I think we are just looking for some reassurance/anything you think we should be doing differently. It might be that most of the things described are down to an initial 'settling in' period but as first time owners just want to make sure we aren't making any rookie mistakes.

 

Our girl is three and a half years old and has come from a rescue kennels without any fostering. Obviously as she's never been in a house before there are a lot of new things/experiences that she has been getting used to. Given that, she has settled well in that she is eating at mealtimes, has only had one housetraining accident during her first night (understandable) and has gone from pulling excessively on the leash to walking fairly calmly alongside us in the park in a short space of time. We live in a house and haven't taught her the stairs yet, to enable her to have some alone time while we are in the house as she is going to be sleeping downstairs (I know this is contrary to what most Greyhound owners go with and we may relent at a later date hehe!) This means that she has access to the living room (front of house, carpeted, comfy for lounging) and the dining room/kitchen (back of house, wooden floor, quieter) as well as the hallway in between (carpeted, leading to the front door). She has a bed in each of the rooms but seems to prefer the one in the back room. We decided we wouldn't be crating her and she has coped fine sleeping downstairs at night save for a couple of minutes of whining on the first couple of nights as we went upstairs but this has subsided.

 

While we are in the house she will relax and sleep in whichever of the two rooms we happen to be in. If we move to the other (even momentarily) then she will follow us and settle down in there and then follow us back to the other. If we are upstairs and she is downstairs then she tends to whine for a minute or so and then lie down in the hallway until we come down. This obviously isn't too much of a problem and is obviously quite endearing but just don't want her to become too dependent/clingy if it will cause her further issues down the road. Is this the type of thing that will pass with time as she settles? We are considering a pet gate at the entrance to the rear room (where her water/food/favourite bed is) so that we can get her gradually used to being in a separate room to us from time to time. Any thoughts on this?

 

Secondly, when we were leaving her alone in the house initially (for gradually increasing amounts of time with a Kong and PB as suggested in Retired Greyhounds for Dummies) we were leaving her with access to both rooms and the hallway however after looking at recordings of her while we have been out it seems that being able to go to the noisier front room has stressed her out more (increased whining/crying, a box of shredded tissues - our fault and not a problem) and given her more choice which I have read can be a bad thing as she has more space to pace around etc therefore we now shut the door to that room while we are out so that she just has the rear dining room/kitchen and hallway leading to the front door. In terms of her alone training the most we have got up to is 30 minutes (on a couple of occasions) and she hasn't done anything especially untoward. There haven't been any toilet or destructive incidents which is positive.

 

The only thing is that when we are leaving the house she tends to follow us to the front door (we are working on desensitise her to our leaving cues) and then once we have gone she will whine/whimper for a few minutes and then lie down in the hallway watching the door until we return. She has done this for up to 30 minutes as mentioned. We know this after watching the video when we return. What we want to know if this is healthy/normal behaviour for a new hound or is this a sign that she is anxious about our departure? Obviously we are going to be leaving her for longer periods of time so if lying in the hall and watching the door might be a sign of anxiety then we would go back to basics/shorter intervals in terms of alone training and/or using the aforementioned pet gate on the entrance to the dining room/kitchen so that she wouldn't have an eye line to the door we leave out of.

 

Phew, that is a long post for what seems like a couple of small things! I know these are fairly mild issues compared to what some others have experienced but just looking to some experienced hound owners for your take on it / suggestions? Are we just being panicky new dog owners - having read so much about SA etc beforehand we just want to make sure we don't contribute to any issues that might present themselves down the line?

 

I should also say we are loving the life of hound co-habitation so far and are looking forward to contributing to this wonderful forum!

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You are doing GREAT! And it sounds like she is too.

 

Honestly? Carry on exactly how you're doing, and I bet within a couple of weeks, she'll just go lay down when you leave.

 

It's really quite normal for a dog to follow its people around. Every dog I've ever had (including family dogs) would just pick themself up and go with its people to whatever room they are in. Buck, my current dog, is not at all anxious about me leaving, but when I am there, he wants to be with me. I walk into my bedroom, pretty soon he flys around the corner and jumps on the bed. I go back to the liviing room, he's back on the couch. Mind, I only have a small condo, but he still follows me!

 

My first Greyhound had SA. And he would pretty much be right up my butt all the time. For seven years. Buck is different--he goes to the room I'm in, but if I go, for example from the bedroom to the bathroom, he just stays in the bedroom. And he doesn't follow me to the bathroom once he's settled on his couch.


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Susan,  Hamish,  Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck

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ditto, my dogs still follow me from room to room unless they are dead tired. also, i never taught stairs, they just did it. there was one situation with open backed stairs/night(pitch black) at a beach house. i had my flashlight, said, "hup,let's go!" and on a short lead my female conquered the 3 flights like a trooper. there was no way that i was going to carry her up! JUST DO IT! have rewards in hand and do it fast.

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As said above, this sounds completely normal. Your girl (name and picture?) may follow you forever from room to room or may decide that it's OK to be in "this" room when you go into "that" room. My Annie wants to be on the same level I'm on (3-level house) but doesn't need to be in the same room, mostly because she can see me wherever we are on any particular level. Your girl sounds terrific and it appears it's going to be an easy transition for her. My advice: Relax and don't sweat the small stuff. :)

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My dogs follow me from room to room, most times, and I have them for a couple of years now. My opinion, only, is I think you are giving her much to much space, when she is alone; at night or when you go out.

 

You only have her a short time and as she gets more comfortable, she may get into trouble. She should be in a more confined area. Use a baby gate to give her just one room and the one for the least amount of possibilities for problems. You don't want to blame her for anything that she just may be set up to do. Otherwise, sounds fine and good luck.

Irene Ullmann w/Flying Odin and Mama Mia in Lower Delaware
Angels Brandy, John E, American Idol, Paul, Fuzzy and Shine
Handcrafted Greyhound and Custom Clocks http://www.houndtime.com
Zoom Doggies-Racing Coats for Racing Greyhounds

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Guest Grandstand

Thanks for all the swift replies everyone. It has helped to put my mind at rest - think that with all the reading up before we brought Samba home we had started thinking about problems that didn't exist yet. I think we will probably set up the gate in the next couple of days for while we are out of the house, at least until she is fully adjusted.

 

I haven't got around to transferring my photos onto the laptop yet but once I do then a picture will follow.

 

Thanks to you all once again, it is great to know there is such a wealth of experience available.

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I think you're doing fine, we went through a very similar process (we adopted 5 weeks ago) and we can now leave for work for 9-10hrs no problem. At first he would wait exactly like your girl and now he just goes to bed and sleeps all day. Sometimes, when I watch him with the webcam, I am scared he's dead because he doesn't move at all for periods of time haha. I also starting thinking he had a bunch of problems that he actually didn't have and once I grasped that I saw everything he did in perspective and realised how well he actually was doing. The only thing we do is block access to our 2nd floor where our rooms are just in case he decides to rampage through our belongings but so far so good, he has destroyed nothing. Once we are home he follows us around everywhere.

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You are doing fine.

We have had multiple large breed dogs for the past 35 years...Greyhounds only for the past 5.

And they have all followed us. Especially me. Room to room. All the time.

We have 4 beds in the kitchen, 2 in the living room, 1 plus a futon in the mud room and 3 upstairs

:omg

 

Even now, we baby gate all hounds into our hummingus mud room when we're not home.

 

Once Samba figures out the stairs, will she be allowed to sleep upstairs, near you?

In my experience, all dogs...not just Greys... Want to be with their people all the time, but especially at sleeping time.

 

Nancy...Mom to Sid (Peteles Tiger), Kibo (112 Carlota Galgos) and Joshi.  Missing Casey, Gomer, Mona, Penelope, BillieJean, Bandit, Nixon (Starz Sammie),  Ruby (Watch Me Dash) Nigel (Nigel), and especially little Mario, waiting at the Bridge.

 

 

SKJ-summer.jpg.31e290e1b8b0d604d47a8be586ae7361.jpg

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Guest xengab

I will say you should like her following you around, that way if a nose gets into something it shouldnt (it will happen). you can nip it in the bud. I've had my grey for a year now, and he follows me around all the time. If I leave for 3 minutes to take out the trash he's all waggy happy when I come inside..LOL

 

I'd get some baby gates for the stairs, you dont want zoomies on them which could lead to an accident.

 

Not all greys get SA either, mine adjusted just fine with the aid of our cat for company. We expected all the issues, and waited for them to happen.. Had an accident or three but most were due to pain (he'd dislocated his toe). But all in all, been easy going and best dog ever!

 

Plus I had no idea how much talk about poop would go on. LOL Yes, it happens.

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You are doing great and in time you will see many little and not so little positive changes in your girl until her personality develops into the diamond she is hiding inside.

My oldest, Colin, used to follow me around for years. One day he decided to become a snob. He stays on his pillow tower and waits for me to come to him - little king that he is. You want something from the king - you get your a... over here and ask real nicely.

 

At first I thought he was ill, but he is just regal.

Sorry for butchering the english language. I try to keep the mistakes to a minimum.

 

Nadine with Paddy (Zippy Mullane), Saoirse (Lizzie Be Nice), Abu (Cillowen Abu) and bridge angels Colin (Dessies Hero) and Andy (Riot Officer).

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don't be surprised if she spontaneously goes upstairs when the incentive is there. my millie did, the 1st day when me and my male greyhound went up. she did have to be guided going down, that she was a bit afraid of. took her about another three trips & she was OK. a week or so and she was running up and down like she had been doing it for years.

 

try putting a high value treat a couple stairs up from her reach, when she manages that, move it up. repeat. going down, try walking with her holding the collar. or do the treat thing backwards.

 

sleeping with her people will be her goal, even if not yours yet. snuggles in bed with your dog is a treat for all. you can always shut her out for some 'alone time' with your significant other...ie. for cheese. :cheese

 

Regards,
Wayne Kroncke

CAVE CANEM RADIX LECTI ET SEMPER PARATUS
Vegetarians: My food poops on your food.

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Guest AtticusMom

It sounds as though everything is overall going very well! Congratulations! :D

 

Many years ago, I posted on GreyTalk when we adopted our first hound. I got a greyt piece of advice about the stairs. My grey was a bit scared of the stairs, and I didn't really think it was a big deal if I didn't encourage him to learn. He had access to most of the house without needing to learn the stairs. A wise person encouraged me to teach him how to go up and down stairs. It's a useful skill for dogs to have. No rush on teaching it now, of course. Your pup is learning a lot of new things. I just like to pass the "stair advice" on, as I feel it was very useful to us.

 

We don't have our dogs sleep in our room upstairs either, btw. They have all been very happy sleeping downstairs, too. :)

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