Constant Following and Eating Toys Whole

[Jessicalloyd90]

Hi Everyone

Myself and my partner have just taken on 2 rescue greys from a trust near us, We are into our first week now. I'm taking them on an hour long walk in the mornings and in the afternoons sometimes its up to 2 hours in our local woods. I feed them around 7pm they seem to want to sleep after that, do I need to do another walk before bed after feeding them? Just the boy has had us up at 4am every morning whining (prosuming this is to go out) I come down stairs and take them into the garden for a wee, then bring them back in again and try to get back to bed. but again its the same thing at 6am more whining then I will do another walk. Does anyone have any tips of how i can get them to sleep through the night and hold out till at least 6/7 without any interruptions through the night? The interruptions during the night are wearing me down a little bit.

I've got a bitch who is 3 and a boy who Is 5. My girl is no trouble at all doesnt whine, stays in her bed when I ask her too. but the boy is relentless. They both are following me absolutely everywhere at the moment. If I sit in a room they are in they will settle and sleep but as soon as I get up to go to the toilet or to make myself something to eat they jump up and wont settle.Any tips for this?

Also my girl she came to us under weight, I tried giving her some toys the trust gave us and brought some at the pet shop. But every toy shes had ive had to take off her as she has tried swallowing it whole as if its food. I had to pull a soft toy out of her mouth as she was chocking on it and later was sick and threw lots of fluff balls up. Is this normal? Im too scared to leave them alone with toys while im not there now incase something bad happeneds and she chokes on something.

Also the rescue recommended feeding them Waggs dry food and canned mixed in. But thier poos are runny so Its impossible to pick this up in a dog bag. Is there anything I can do to help this to make it solid? 

Any advice would be appreciated! 

Thanks Guys x

[DocsDoctor]

Don't panic! Everything is very new to them still. I reckon it takes about a month for a dog who has only ever lived in kennels to begin to relax and understand domestic life is their new normal. Then they can settle and grow in confidence and you see new traits of their character emerging. It's lovely to watch but the early stages can be worrisome especially if you've not had greyhounds before!

Some of what you are seeing will be left over from their kennel routine, where they were used to being put to bed in the early evening and got up again early in the morning. I think you can safely dispense with the evening walk, just push them out into the garden for a loo break last thing. The night interruptions I dealt with by getting up, silently letting the dog out for a break, then back to bed for both of us - no other interaction. Both mine soon adapted to the new routine, but other people on here have needed to do more complicated but still manageable things like setting an alarm clock, a little before the time the dog was waking, doing the "silent break and back to bed" thing, and then setting the alarm clock a bit later the next night, and so on. Other things to consider is whether they could be disturbing you because they are feeling cold, or hungry. If the former, a housecoat/ pyjamas [yes really! they are a thing]/ extra blankets would help. If the latter, try shifting dinner later.

The following you around will probably diminish as they gain in confidence, though boys tend to be more velcro by nature. You can encourage this by putting their beds somewhere where they can see what's going on and  rewarding or just praising them for settling on them. Also - are you going out and leaving them on their own at all at the moment? If not, please do - the sooner you start, the sooner this too becomes part of their new normal. My first guy, Doc, found this the hardest thing to adapt to which I could understand because in kennels there'd always be other dogs around. Your two will have each other for company, so it should be easier. Start with just short times - even just out to the post box - don't make a big deal of it, but do give them a nice treat each to settle in with before you go. Make sure you do this every day, and build up the time in increments.

Yes toys only while you are around if she is swallowing them. Then you and she can lark around with them, not all greyhounds "get" the idea of toys but it is worth trying to encourage her. Again, don't forget that this is all new to her, she may never have seen toys before.

Food - try getting a bag of porridge oat flakes from the supermarket and sprinkling a tablespoon or so on each meal, this should firm up the poos. That said after a month or so when they are settled in you can always try feeding something different,  Wagg is readily available I know but contains a lot of fillers which means a lot of poo. And again lots of tinned foods contain weird colourings and sugars and other additives which again can mean runny tums. I don't feed any now but Butcher's Tripe - original tripe loaf recipe is a decent tinned food without additional gunk. This is a useful site for analysing what's in the various UK foods: https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/

That'll do to be getting on with - hopefully others will chime in!  And I'm sure we'd all enjoy seeing photos of the two of them - what are they called?

[BatterseaBrindl]

Congratulations on your new housemates!  What are their names?

You should have them checked for worms...this could cause the loose poos.

I agree .... they could be chilly and need some Jammies! 

And yup.... They will follow you everywhere until they get totally adjusted.  Give them a few weeks to get settled.

 

 

[Houndtime]

After you get them checked for worms, try the Olewo carrots.  I feed then to our dogs and the poop is always solid.  Congratulations on the new additions.

 

[HeyRunDog]

It can take a few weeks for their poop to firm up as they get used to their new lives and become less stressed.
I feed Grace Pet Greyhound Food from the Greyhound Trust https://greyhoundtruststore.com/collections/pet-greyhound-feed/products/pet-greyhound-food
or Gain Maintenance from Millbryhill https://www.millbryhill.co.uk/pets-c6/gain-greyhound-maintenance-food-p5304/s18328

20 hours ago, DocsDoctor said:

Food - try getting a bag of porridge oat flakes from the supermarket and sprinkling a tablespoon or so on each meal, this should firm up the poos

It also helps with coat condition

If you change their diet do so gradually as a sudden change can cause runny poos.

Don't let them do anything you don't want them to even if it seems cute at first. For example if you don't want them begging every time you eat or have a snack don't ever give them a titbit or leftovers.