Newly adopted greyhound

[Benedita]

Hello everyone! First thank you for taking the time to read this post and give your feedback! Me and my partner adopted a 4 year old Spanish greyhound/Galgo! She used to live in a kennel in a farm where she was used for hunting.

Although knowing only 5 days have passed since the adoption I wouldlike some advices since here in Portugal is not very easy to find expertise in greys.

I have tried to get her used to a strict schedule in order to train her to go to toilet outside (we live in an apartment). It is very hard to get her out of bed in the morning (around 7 am), we tried with many treats but nothing seems to interest her. What kind of treats do you give your dogs?

We live in the city and she still gets very frightened to go outside due to cars etc and since Portugal is in lockdown it is very hard to get her on the car and go to other places. We have reduced the time of walks (and more frequency) to see if she gets use to it but sometimes it is hard, she just freezes. She reacts best when walking with my husband, maybe because I am more anxious.

Finally, we feed her after walking (7.30 am and then 7pm after walk at 6pm) and she normally does potty and pee in these walks but after eating, after around 5 min potty again (inside the house unfortunately). Should they poop twice in each walk? Is the rule? Heard someone saying we should wait for the 2 poops but sometimes I wait 1.30/2h and nothing. Should I feed her before and then walk? It is not intense exercise, just walk. Do any of you feed immediately before walking? I’ve read scary things on internet related to this. Also think it would be easier to get her out of bed if it was for her to eat because she loves her food!

Any advise is welcome, have had labradors all my life and I am absolutely in love with our grey but they are very different from other breeds.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

best

[Mikalela]

Hi Benedita! First of all congratulations for your new grey! Yes they are really different from other breeds as you will see, but so adorable and crazy! It's still early days and your grey needs a bit of time to adjust to her new life. Everything is new and scary for her, but hang in there, I'm sure it will get better soon!

Regarding feeding then walking, yes I do that: as your grey, my Luna struggled to get out of her bed without a strong reason to do so (what's better than food!). So after a bit of trial and error I switched to feeding first, then walking.  And like you, I was so worried about this, but I double checked with my vet and they said that, as long as it is a gentle walk or a potty trip, it is totally fine. Actually, she was the first one letting me know that she preferred to do this way: I have a garden accessible from the kitchen, so after each meal she was glancing at the kitchen door a few times - the message was really subtle! The first time that I opened the door after her meal she run outside, and I felt so stupid for not realising it before! For my own peace of mind, I tend to wait a few minutes before going out after the meal, while Luna scans the kitchen hoping that other food will magically appear. Another thing that I have found out only recently, is that she is not a big fan of morning walks, especially if it is still dark, cold and miserable: she prefers a quick potty trip and then back to sleep until lunchtime, when she's happy to have her first proper walk of the day. So whatever works for your grey really! I know that the first big advice that you will have from everybody is to set up a strict schedule and try to stick to it, I did that too and I think it really helped to see what was working and what was not, but with time Luna started to feel more relaxed and now she's letting me know what she would like to do, rather than following me blindly. I started a topic here a while ago to see what the others here were doing and what was their routine, it was really eye-opening to see that each grey is different and they all have different habits and little quirks! It's here if you want to have a look: 

For toileting, again that took a bit of experimenting: I've learnt now to let her do her thing and trust her, but at the beginning I was expecting her to pee and poo each time we were out, 4 times a day (morning, lunch, late afternoon, evening before bed). Now she's settled with 3 or 4 toilet trips (usually 2 of them are proper walks), with pee every time and poo twice a day - that is always in the morning, then either at lunch or in the late afternoon walk. I don't freak out anymore if she poos at lunch and then nothing until the next morning, I know she doesn't need to, while before I was staying out with her for ages just hoping that it would happen! For pees instead I start to get worried if it's been around 8/9 hours, then it is a potty trip whenever she wants it or not!

Finally, freezing: eh I know! That is really common, have a look at the forum here and you will see that we all went through this at some point. Well done for taking precautions and reducing the frequency and length, it is all new and so stressful for them! What really helped us was keeping a cheery tone (Luna shuts down if I'm annoyed or frustrated) and take every day as it comes. I've realised that I was expecting too much too soon from her, also encouraged by the initial period where she was coming everywhere with us. With time, I've realised that at the beginning she was just terrified and completely shut down, while now I can see how much she enjoys her walks, always exploring and up for our next adventure.

I hope this helps a bit! Hang in there, you're doing great!

[Benedita]

Dear Mikalela,

Thank you so so much for your reply. Really helps a lot to see that there are other people that have had the same issues. It seems like Luna is very similar to our Sasha, does not like to wake up early as well! I will try to change schedules and feed her before. I have read the suggested forum and is eye opening indeed.

3 months have passed since you adopted Luna right? Is she better and interacts more at home? Sasha let’s us pet her but nothing else, only wants to sleep and eat.

Thank you again, 

benedita 

[MerseyGrey]

Hi Benedita and welcome! For tasty treats that might get your girl out of bed, try smelly cheese or stinky sausage. I would be tempted to try and feed these her by hand with lots of praise to encourage her to bond with you. This should help to increase her trust in you and this in turn might help with freezing on walks, in time. She is trying to take in her new surroundings at the minute and hasn’t worked out yet that you are going to protect her.

I think that trying to build in a schedule in these early days is the best thing to do. I’m not sure if you’re currently permanently at home but if you are, think about the schedule you’ll keep when (if!) life returns to normal. Keeping her walks short at the minute won’t hurt her at all. You can increase the length of walks as she becomes more settled. She is probably more used to being around men than women which is maybe why she looks more to your husband. Be firm when you speak to her and keep your voice light. I’m not sure how similar greyhounds and galgos are in their behaviour (several people here have or have had galgos) but I would resist reassuring your dog vocally when she’s freezing as this may reinforce her behaviour. Mine responds well if I stand close enough to touch him, and then we can get walking when he’s ready (I ask him ‘shall we go? Come on!’ and this normally does the trick)

I’m not aware of the two poop rule for walks! Neither is Buddy. But I think if your dog was going to produce a second poop she probably would before the end of a two hour walk. If you want to stop her from pooping in the house during the day you might have to resign yourself to popping a lead on her every time she gets up and taking her to the closest patch of grass until she does her business. She will soon get the idea.

Good luck! She’s one of the lucky ones to have found her way to a home where her humans want the best for her.

Edited February 1, 2021 by MerseyGrey

[HeyRunDog]

Hi Benedita. I'm an ex labrador owner also, and the difference between the two breeds does take a bit of adjusting to.

Like humans greyhounds pee and poop when it's right for them. If you go for a walk at the same time each day she'll know at what time she can go and control herself accordingly.
Grace goes for an early morning walk before breakfast and will poop, then pee, then a second poop within the first ten minutes. She'll sometimes pee and small poop again at her lunch time walk and another pee after her early evening meal. If she doesn't pee then it's a quick walk for a pee a couple of hours later. Usually she goes from 5pm to 7am quite comfortably without needing to go.

Freezing is a normal reaction as they get used to there new lives and surroundings but time patience and a sense of humour will get you through it.

[Kathy02]

When we initially adopted Zula in August, we were on a "walk, then food" type of morning schedule. The problem is, Zula isn't a morning dog.  Eventually, we realized that it made more sense (especially with the later sunrises in the winter) to swap things around, so now we feed first, and then take her out about half an hour after she's done eating. As others have said, you'll figure out what works best for you and your new hound!

As for poops, sometimes we get two poops per walk, sometimes it's just one. If it's two, they're generally not more than ten minutes apart. I don't think you need to be waiting hours for a second poop!

[Mikalela]

16 hours ago, Benedita said:

3 months have passed since you adopted Luna right? Is she better and interacts more at home? Sasha let’s us pet her but nothing else, only wants to sleep and eat.

Almost 4 months! Yes things are going better at home, but she's still a bit shy and introverted - maybe it's just the way she is! But now she interacts with us and the house a bit more: we've even been playing with her ball for a few days in a row hihi (huge achievement given that she still has no idea of what to do with toys in general) and she's discovered my favourite armchair (yeah I know, goodbye armchair 😂).

Ah, for treats: Luna has recently discovered peanut butter! She would do anything for that hihi

[EllenEveBaz]

Bem-vinda, Benedita!  

With my dogs, it makes a difference how fast we walk, and where, as to how many poops.  One of my dogs does not like to poop at all on leash.  This is okay, because we also have a fenced yard.  The other dog tends to poop more on a slow walk than a fast one.  He also poops more in a new or exciting place (such as a park) than when walking just on our own street.   So he may not poop at all, or poop 3 times.  

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She reacts best when walking with my husband, maybe because I am more anxious.

Let your tone of voice and body language tell  her that you are confident and in charge, and that you will take care of any problem that may arise.  Tell her that she is the smartest and luckiest and most beautiful galga in the world, and that is gradually what she will believe.