New greyhound won't leave the house

[martymum]

Hi there. I got my ex-racer just under two weeks ago - she's 7 (today!) and lived in a home for two years previously but was returned because the family had a baby. The kennels say they never had any problem with her walking, and her previous home said she was perfect, it was just bad timing. For the first week, she was absolutely fine. Went on her walks with no trouble. Now, for the past few days, she's been refusing to go on her walks. She's excited when I get her lead out, but as soon as I open the front door, she doesn't want to leave. I can bribe her with chicken to get down the steps, and sometimes she'll walk for about 10 meters, then shut down, no matter what direction we go in. I've tried bribes, I've tried waiting, getting down on her level and reasoning with her...I've tried herding her from the back...none of it resets her. She cowers and shakes, and insists we turn around and go home. She doesn't seem in pain and walks fine when she wants to! She also will go out to the back garden just fine to have a look around and do her business. She's my first dog and I'm finding it really hard going that she won't leave the house, and nothing has changed in the week since she came back so I cannot figure out the issue. The weather has been fine, the street is fairly quiet. She doesn't seem to have excess energy and is happy to sleep 20 hours a day, but I'm going to be returning to work in September and she's meant to be coming with me to my office. If she refuses to leave the house that's going to be a huge problem. Is this something that people have found settles down when their greyhounds settle in?

[macoduck]

Just give her some more time, especially since she is willing to potty in your back garden.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Agree.... time, time, patience and then more time.  

She is still settling in and at least you have a potty yard for her!

Have you tried luring her with super tasty treats? The stinkier the better...old cheese? 

Once she is out, only take her a very short distance then turn around.  Try and turn around when it is still your idea!

[HeyRunDog]

As the others have said time and patience. They seem to go through a honeymoon period before they realise how many things are new, then they start to overthink it and freeze until they work it out.

Grace would always happily go for a ride in the car so if you use a car to get to your office she'll probably be alright.

 

[martymum]

Thanks all. It's good to know time and patience should work. The kennels seemed very surprised when I emailed them about it which was obviously a bit worrying for me as a first-time dog owner. It's been as much a learning curve for me as it is for her!

I didn't take her out Sunday or Monday...so she's been bounding around the house and garden full of beans. But she did go this morning after bribing with a cut-up hot dog, and in the evening she did get there in the end after a lot of stopping and starting and changing the route. Treats do work to an extent - but she gets wise to them pretty quick! The thing is, she's absolutely fine the second she gets to the park, it's just the way there - and they're not super busy streets either. I could understand if she was fresh off the track but having lived in a house before I thought she might know the routine a little.

RE my office...unfortunately I live in London and I'll be taking her on the bus for 20 minutes  I don't have a car or access to one. Would make my life easier if I did! I'm hoping that in a few months she'll have settled and be more amenable to leaving the house/the idea of going on public transport - I did explain this to the rescue when I adopted her and they said it should be fine! 

Edited July 14, 2020 by martymum