When do greyhound puppies start to settle down, on average?

[Magdalene]

For background, Mia is my 5th greyhound, but the first one I've had as a puppy (prior to this, the youngest grey I had adopted was 2 years old.)

She was definitely a 'helldemon' from age four months to probably about a month ago.  (Constantly jumping, nipping, into everything that wasn't nailed down.)  On the plus side, she housebroke a *lot* easier than I expected.  I figured I'd be getting up in the middle of the night letting her outside for quite a bit.  Her first night, she crashed at 8 p.m. and slept all the night through.  I figured that was a fluke, but it wasn't--her habit was to go to bed at 8 p.m., and sleep until 5 a.m., no accidents.  She grasped within two days that she needed to go outside to go potty, and learned from Kyria (the older greyhound) to stand by the sliding glass door to go out side.  (OK, it did take her another day to realize a human needed to *see* her go to the door to let her outside....LOL.)  

Due to the pandemic, almost as soon as I brought her home, I started working from home.  I'd have to crate her quite a bit while I was working, or she'd be into everything while I was distracted.  But she's been at a point now where after her morning craziness (for about two hours from when she gets up), she generally snoozes throughout the day while I work.  (I do occasionally have to crate her still for what I call 'solid naps'--where nothing can disturb or distract her, but that's getting rarer as time goes on.)  She does start to get more active about 5 to 5:30 again, though, and stays that way til about bedtime.

She has recently started not sleeping the whole night through, and I'm working on that--I think she 'outgrew' the 8 p.m. bedtime, so I've been putting her down at 9 p.m. instead (with walks and playtime to help tire her out, and making sure she goes potty before bedtime.)  She still jumps and nips, though.  Not as much or as bad as when she was much smaller (my left arm was covered with bruises and nip marks for quite a while there, not so much now).  I've been working on getting her to not jump, and to give licks/kisses instead of nips.  (We're getting there on the kisses, she's doing it more and more.)

She still has 'restrictions' for where she can/can't go in the house (since she does still get into things she shouldn't), but she's getting better about that.  I gave her a short test today by leaving her uncrated while I ran to the store this morning (gone for 30 minutes), and she did well.  
 

As of today, she's nine months old.  I'm wondering, on average, when do greyhound puppies behavior morph into the normal adult behavior?  Sometimes it seems like she's just about there, and then sometimes it seems just as I think that, she goes back to 'helldemon'.  (To be fair, that is coming along less and less, and I probably just notice it more when it happens since it's now more rare than a constant.)  Except when it's time for a walk.  She's just not cooperative about getting ready for one, though once she is, she has a grand time.  

Also for background, Kyria (my other greyhound) is a retired 11 and a half year old brood mama, so I'm wondering how that might be influencing Mia as well?

 

[cleptogrey]

i remember the nipping stage very very well. during training felix miss-behaved poorly by going for my arm. his heeling was perfect it was the head action of biting in excitement. i tried, as suggested vinegar and lemon juice combo on my arms. no help what so ever. he did out grow it- my arm did survive.

exercise is your best friend. felix's coordination was finally coming together around 7/8 months and we had intense games of soccer with him. we kicked 4 or 5 semi-deflated old soccer balls around the yard or lobbed tennis balls in all directions which kept his focus and helped burn off some of that energy.we played those games at least 3xs a day!

he did stay crated for a long long time. there were no ill effects on it to anything but my home's decor. during his last days he didn't want to leave his beloved crate.

when did he morph into what we generally know as an ex-racer??- well he played until he died. he was a mess but still caught that ball or squeaky toy. he was always going for that ball. he turned into a gentle well behaved dog i would say going on into his 3rd year. the training and constant soccer/tennis/long long walks helped. 

the only influence Kyria might have on the pup is teaching her no bites on Kyria by biting her. Generally the mom teaches bite restriction. I lived thru all of this- loved every second of training and having a fantastic companion for 12 years. BTW saluki pups have the same adolescent disposition. did i forget to mention that those sighthounds forget everything you taught them at one point?

[greysmom]

About 2-2 1/2 years old.  So you have a while to go yet.

Exercise and play sessions will be your friend.  Remember, on a farm she would still be running with her littermates in long turnout pens all day, every day, building up muscle and stamina to get ready to head off to racing school at 15-18 months old.  So anything you can do to tire her out will help.  Including tiring her mind with puzzle food toys, snuffle mats, playing hide and seek games, obedience training, and the like.  They are learning sponges at this age and learn things really quickly.  Set up play dates with other playful young dogs (doesn't have to be greyhounds), and consider having her attend a day care for a couple mornings to work off some of the more energetic outbursts safely.  They aren't called "landsharks" for nothing - always moving, full of sharp teeth!!!

Tiring her out will also help her stay asleep during the night.

Puppies are amazing and fun, but they are also more work than the retired racers most of us are used to!

[Hubcitypam]

I agree with 2.5.

[cleptogrey]

8 hours ago, cleptogrey said:

. he turned into a gentle well behaved dog i would say going on into his 3rd year.