Preparing For A New Grey After A Bad First Experience

[Guest kirby3021]

Hi all,

 

Wall of text incoming. Some of you may remember me, but it's been a long time since I last posted (January, I think), so maybe not. My wife and I tried to rescue our first Greyhound, Ace (two and a half year old male), last December, but overall it turned out to be a horrible experience. We had both grown up in homes with dogs present all our lives and thought we were prepared, but boy, that dog had some serious problems and really threw us for a loop.

 

He had extreme separation anxiety (to the point that he'd bark and howl if we left him alone so much as ten seconds). Even though we tried to help him as best we could (alone training, desensitization training, DAP diffuser, treats, treat puzzles, even essential oils) he made very very little to no progress and even seemed to regress in some cases. As we live in condos, we couldn't have him constantly barking when we were away for work (I was very fortunate that my boss let me work from home for a while), as that'd lead to a forced eviction and is absolutely not fair to our neighbors.

 

He also was a general troublemaker. Anything he could get into that he wasn't allowed into he would, then he'd look at us as if to say "what are you going to do about it?" Very prone to resource guarding, tried to act dominant, and too clever for his own good. Anything soft and plushy that wasn't put away he'd tear up, and if there wasn't anything soft and plushy around to destroy he'd start pulling things off of counters and bookshelves and then look at us to see what we'd do. The one thing he did well behavior-wise was stayed off furniture (when we were in the same room as him, no guarantees when we weren't - at least he'd jump off furniture when we walked into room).

 

Definitely not a good fit for our home, as my wife and I were constantly stressed for the two months we ended up fostering him. We ended up rehoming him (and getting major accolades from our agency, the head let us know that he was by far the most difficult Greyhound she's ever seen after watching him in her home for a few weeks while finding him a different home - he even has a reputation among the different adopters who got to interact with him - it's a close-knit group - to the point that some have apologized for the experience when they learn we tried to work with Ace). Funnily enough, the head of our agency mentioned to us that Ace seemed to be doing a bit better behavior-wise with us than with his current home, as we were very strict with training and schedule (we were doing nothing in life is free training with him to try to work on his behavior problems).

 

With that background, we got a call from our agency that they have a new dog for us (female, just turned two)! We are both excited but very apprehensive - we really don't want a repeat of our last experience. Fortunately, we have two things going for us - our agency is watching the dog until Sunday (my wife gets back from a trip to visit family late Saturday) and we are fostering for a month with no obligation to adopt unless the dog is a good fit. We are going into this with the mentality, though, that unless there are major behavior and personality issues that make this impossible, we want to give this dog a forever home.

 

We've already made a few preparations. We'll have a schedule and I'm working to find time with a professional trainer for shortly after we get the dog. I've gotten a DAP collar and spray to go along with the diffuser. At the beginning we're going to keep her crated on Monday through Friday during regular work hours (unless both my wife and I are off) to get her used to that crate schedule (though it won't be permanent - when we're confident that she won't hurt herself or chew on things she's not supposed to we'll start giving her free reign). I've arranged to work from home for a few days at least, and when I start going in to the office I live close enough that I'll come home for lunch breaks to give her a bathroom break (until she can hold it for the 8-9 hours of work). I want to start working on alone training from day one (though in very small amounts).

 

Any other advice on how we can help her adapt or what we can do to help this be a better experience than our last?

 

*edit* Made some minor spelling corrections

Edited August 28, 2017 by kirby3021

[Remolacha]

I am not a training & behavior expert, but I wanted to say I am glad you are giving greyhounds another chance. It sounds like Ace was a very non typical greyhound. You will probably be watching your new girl closely, looking for any signs that she is acting like your previous dog (understandable), but if she is a typical greyhound, you will soon see the differences. I hope everything goes smoothly this time!

[smurfette]

After reading your post I'm a little so tried that you are maybe overthinking the situation. Try to be open minded and don't compare her to Ace.

She is an individual with her own agenda and her own problems. All greys are different. Gives her time and patience. Her world is turned upside down. She will need time to learn the roles of your household.

 

Have fun with your new companion.

[JohnF]

I tend to look at all rehomings as 'fosters which fail'.... no group wants you to end up with a mis-matched dog.

Try to put the 'rescue' idea in the background and just take it easy... see how it goes given plenty of bonding opportunities, because it is from those opportunities that foster turn into adoption. You dog will be trying really hard to accept all of the changes with good grace. It can be, and usually is, a fun experience

[Busderpuddle]

I have no advice, just wishing you good luck with your new girl. Ours has been a wonderful addition to our home.

[BatterseaBrindl]

[winnie]

I'm glad you haven't written off greyhounds completely. As someone else already said, be open minded and don't compare her to Ace. We've had four greyhounds and three galgos - haven't had any of the issues you had with Ace. Good luck!

[WalterWallerson]

I don't think Ace is typical at all. I'm sorry that was your first experience. Try your best to let this new little lady be herself and adapt as necessary.

[ShebasMom]

She might not adapt to the daily crating; some take to it well, others don't at all.

[Guest kirby3021]

Thanks everyone for your responses. It's heartening to hear that Ace sounds like a very non-typical Greyhound. Being that he was our first, my wife and I still have that gut fear that every experience is going to be like that, but everyone I've talked to has reaffirmed that Greyhounds, while they have their own set of challenges, are usually not nearly that difficult. Hardest part is going to be not jumping to conclusions when she does something similar to what Ace did, but we'll give it our best and really want to adopt this dog. My suspicion (and hope) is that this will be a breeze after trying to deal with Ace and that everything's going to go smoothly (relatively speaking). I'll keep you all posted!

[philospher77]

Here's my suggestion: approach this as "we are fostering this dog for a month, and then we are going to rehome her". If my understanding of human nature is correct, that will take a lot of the pressure off of you to see if you are the family for this dog, and make you stress less about "she did X... can we live with that forever?" And either one of two things will happen: at the end of the month, you will return her to the adoption group (and maybe reconsider if greyhounds really are the breed for you), or at some point you will realize that there is no way you can picture your house without her, and keep her. But I think that will take a lot of pressure off of you, and make you stress less about little quirks that she may have.

 

Just a thought!

[GreyBoy]

I live in a condo as well and was concerned about the whining when we first left Polar alone (in a kennel). I bought a Nest (nanny cam) and that alleviated much of the anxiety we had about leaving the house without taking him with us, which he totally loves to do. He sees us all as a family of course. The Nest allowed us to keep an eye on him with our iPhones, even talk to him and hear him as well. Very comforting. We are retired and are home with him most of the time though.

[peglywegly]

i am wondering if you have the new dog and how are things?

[Guest kirby3021]

Thanks @peglywegly for the reminder, I'd been meaning to post for a while but life happened and I totally spaced!

 

We have had our new foster, Hazel, for two weeks and she's been AMAZING! It's a completely different experience than our previous, Ace. She's been so quiet when we're gone (she just sleeps) that our downstairs neighbor didn't even know we had a dog, which is great! Absolutely no aggression, just a bit too much excitement when meeting new people, which we can totally deal with. We're working on training her not to jump up on new people she meets, especially kids (there are a ton of children in our complex). She also loves meeting new dogs.

 

Hazel has only had three accidents in the house, all when my wife and I have been in different rooms. I think she gets nervous or frustrated and tends to pace back and forth until she goes. She has no problem holding it when only one of us is home, in her crate, or when we're in the same room. We've been keeping her in the crate when we're doing things in different rooms (or when we're gone) and keep her with us when we're in the same room.

 

She loves walks and doesn't seem to get scared by much at all (if anything), which is a stark contrast to Ace (we had to drag him outside to do his business, he HATED going outside). That's been absolutely fantastic! We're working with her on improving her leash behavior (she tends to dart to and fro and sniff everything, which leads to a lot of getting wrapped up in the leash).

 

All in all, we're currently getting the adoption finalized and are looking forward to when she's officially a part of our family!

[BatterseaBrindl]

[winnie]

Great update! I'm glad that you gave greyhounds another chance.

[cleptogrey]

TABULA RASA....blank slate. Keep a good attitude and open lines of communication with your group. Let's think positively!