Newbie with my first Greyhound!

[Alibear]

Hi everyone! This forum's been a huge help to me since I got Frazer six weeks ago, so I thought I'd drop a line to say hi, and thank you!

I can't upload any images for some reason, but he's a beautiful, black grey, 16 months old and about 68lb. He arrived a pretty confident boy and he's grown in confidence ever since! He's from Limerick in Ireland and rescued here in London. He has his tattoos but apparently wasn't trialled nor raced. A couple more things and questions (if I may!) below:

As I said, he's 68lb and 16 months old. Do you think he has much more growing to do? He's already bigger than the other greys we've met while out and about!

He LOVES walks and spends a few minutes running off lead in a small, enclosed exercise area most days. We're generally out with him 2-3 hours a day. Do you think this is because he's still young? I know a retired grey is generally different to one who didn't race, but he's WAY more active than I was expecting! I've heard a couple of anecdotal comments about greys mellowing out at about 2 years old, can anyone else confirm this?

Eating... he loves his food and can often be found counter surfing! I'm sure this is nothing new, but annoyingly he was successful for the first time today and hoovered up a slice of bread while my back was turned! Given how active he is, should I feed him a little more? He's currently on about 220g  (just under 2 cups) of kibble topped up with a little fish/cheese and veg twice a day.

He's also now mouthing quite a bit while playing. He doesn't bite down, but can be quite full on, often with my arm! I don't want to discourage his playfulness. I'm currently backing away wen he does it, or "trading" for one of his toys. Is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks for reading, I hope to be the one answering the questions soon, and will keep trying to post a pic! 

[1Moregrey]

Congratulations and welcome!

As I said, he's 68lb and 16 months old. Do you think he has much more growing to do?   He should be done with his height by now may fill in a little bit.

He LOVES walks and spends a few minutes running off lead in a small, enclosed exercise area most days. We're generally out with him 2-3 hours a day. Do you think this is because he's still young?   Young greyhounds are very active exploring, growing, learning.  This will ease with age.  Somewhere between 2-2 1/2 they tend to settle in to the equivalent of teenagers where they gain impulse control sometimes early on you may catch them almost thinking twice before doing something.  For example picking up something that is not for them.  They look at it approach maybe even mouth it then just ignore or put it down.  Almost like they realize it is not appropriate and find something that is appropriate.  

He's also now mouthing quite a bit while playing. He doesn't bite down, but can be quite full on, often with my arm! I don't want to discourage his playfulness. I'm currently backing away wen he does it, or "trading" for one of his toys. Is there anything else I should be doing?  You can make a noise like ouch, or say no mouth while you back away or trading.  He is playing with you like a littermate so make sure he knows if he mouths you play stops.  If you are constant he should learn it rather fast.  

As far as eating if he is extra hungry you could give a little more just depends on what he looks like weight wise.  He maybe going through a growth spurt and needs a little more.  If you can not feel or see his last two or three ribs, or top of hip bones you would want to look at the amount you are feeding.  If you can see or feel them he is probably where he should be.  If you can definitely see them he could most likely use a little more.  

Hope this helps and again welcome.
 

 

[MerseyGrey]

Hello and welcome! I can’t really give you much advice since mine was 7 when we adopted him and well over the puppy stage (thank dog!) but it sounds like you’re clued up and doing well. I have found that Buddy does well with routine and consistency (as 1moregrey says).

You should be able to copy photos from a photo sharing site - I joined Instagram just to post photos here and that works. You should also be able to post from Facebook or Flickr if you use either of these.

[Alibear]

Thanks so much for your replies, it's so nice to chat to fellow greyhound owners, and wonderful to know Frazer and I are getting along ok! If I could just train him out of being my shadow while I'm cooking dinner I'll be golden!

He has started to approach things and think before trying to pick them up already, he tends to give us a little look to see if we're going to say "no" or not!

I also tried to post an image using Flickr but it's still not working! I'll keep trying.

IMG_6185 by AlisonAnn, on Flickr

Edited March 18, 2021 by Alibear
It worked!

[Alibear]

One more!

IMG_6099 by AlisonAnn, on Flickr

 

[MP_the4pack]

Wow is he handsome. 

I've had 18 months old that were mellow right away.  But the one I have now is a wild child. Of the 12 greys I've had over the years,  shes the most active.  Its just their personality. 

And since their noses are already at counter height it's kind of natural for them to want to counter surf. But most are easy to train.

[Alibear]

Thank you, he is a beaut - his coat's got so glossy in the last couple of weeks. I think he looks like a French painter - my husband wants to buy him a beret! 

We've been very lucky, really. He settled in very quickly aside form a couple of toilet accidents in the first few days. He's confident, cuddly (on his own terms) loves people and is largely fine with other dogs. The fact he never raced must play such a huge part.

His prey drive is very strong but only with squirrels, and he doesn't stare at them for what seems like hours anymore. He still almost rips my arm off occasionally, though...

My husband's a wheelchair user so some of our kitchen counters are lowered, making it even easier for him! We'll get there.

One more pic for good measure! Thanks again for your comments, it's so great to be a part of this community!

IMG_5933 by AlisonAnn, on Flickr

Edited March 18, 2021 by Alibear
Typo

[Houndtime]

Very handsome.  My opinion:  I prefer not to adopt a greyhound younger than three years old.  Since racing has been discontinued here, in many states, I see photos of greyhound adoptions at 15 or 16 months; dogs who have not raced.  They are giant puppies! 

Your boy is so handsome and I am sure he is a lot of fun.  Since most greyhounds train very easily, he will come around with your direction.  Congratulations!

[ShebasMom]

He's a beauty! Sounds like you're doing great with him.

[HeyRunDog]

I see he's got his sleeping positions worked out...

He'd tower above my Grace. She's only 55lb and at the opposite end of the size scale

I guess a child gate across the kitchen doorway isn't practical for you and as he seems an intelligent dog you could try putting a bed for him where he can see what you are doing in the kitchen and train him to lie on it while you are preparing food.

 

 

[FiveRoooooers]

22 hours ago, Alibear said:

One more!

IMG_6099 by AlisonAnn, on Flickr

 

It looks as though it will be a while before he settles in  

What a great dog! Welcome and congratulations! Greyhounds forever  change and enrich our lives in ways impossible to imagine. 

[LBass]

He is a beauty and sounds like a smart boy who really wants to please you.    Welcome!

[Alibear]

Sorry for the slow reply, it's been a busy couple of days! Thanks again for all your comments, I've loved reading them :-)

Our kitchen/lounge/dining room is all open plan... good for wheelchairs, not so good for training dogs! He's getting better, though. He generally gives up after a couple of minutes before laying on his bed with the hump! If he starts to get up again, my husband usually does some lay dow/stay/wait training with him. We've been very strict about not feeding him from our dining table while we're eating, which has helped. It doesn't stop him sniffing around there after we've finished!

We've been so lucky, he's a great boy. But he certainly does need lots of exercise. I wasn't feeling well yesterday afternoon and decided to use it as an experiment to see if I could get away with only giving him his morning walk. By 4pm he was trying to open the front door with his nose  

Re his size - I've had to loosen his collar twice since we've had him, so he's definitely growing. I'm going to take him to the vet every month or so to weigh him (while still monitoring his rib visibility, etc).

He's now enjoying a lovely cuddle on the sofa with the hubby :-)

[Alibear]

He went for a REALLY fast run today and is now having a snooze on the sofa! It's so wonderful to see them at (almost) full speed.

Annoyingly, though, he did a little pee in house on Sunday :-( He was on his own for about 15 minutes and my husband found it when he got back. He's been so good where that's concerned, so we think he must've seen something which either spooked or excited him while looking out the window. We do have the dreaded squirrels running around outside our house! We've managed to leave him for up to an hour so I don't think it was separation anxiety. It hasn't happened since (and we've left him on his own) so hopefully it's a one-off. I'll be taking him to the vet if it continues. Just feels like a little, frustrating setback!

[HeyRunDog]

They are not very good at giving "I want a pee" signals so don't worry about it. It's no-one's fault and he probably knew it was wrong but couldn't help himself, your greyhound not your husband

If it's any comfort Grace about once a year has a little accident. It comes within the job description of being a dog owner.

[EllenEveBaz]

Welcome!  Nothing prettier than a dog with a glossy black coat.  

I got Milo, a lurcher, when he was somewhere between 1 and 2.  I started to see signs of him mellowing out around age 6.    (I think he may be part coonhound, which are bred for endurance.  That, combined with greyhound speed and the most intense prey drive I've ever seen, make quite a combination.)  

Jeter was easy to train not to countersurf, although he is an eternal optimist that I will drop something.  Milo was easy to train not to countersurf when I was looking.  But if I am distracted for one millisecond ....

Quote

 you could try putting a bed for him where he can see what you are doing in the kitchen and train him to lie on it while you are preparing food.

   I find it much easier to train a dog to perform an alternate behavior than to simply stop doing something.  One of the first commands my dogs learn is "Out!"  and depending on the room, they know where to go lie down.  

Quote

His prey drive is very strong but only with squirrels, and he doesn't stare at them for what seems like hours anymore. He still almost rips my arm off occasionally, though...

One method to try is to immediately wheel and go in another direction.  This teaches him that pulling too hard will give him the opposite result from what he wants.  But Jeter says he sympathizes -- squirrels are evil little tailflickers and deserve immediate destruction.  

[Alibear]

He's mellowed out a little where the counter surfing is concerned - he now knows what "go away" means, which is useful!

He had another pee inside at the weekend :-( I think we misread the signs - he was whining when I went into his food cupboard (it wasn't dinner time) so i just assumed he was excited about eating, as this is his usual behaviour. He then went into the spare room and started weeing. I managed to stop him and take him outside, where he finished the job. He doesn't really have much to do with the spare room so hopefully he just didn't know he couldn't go there - until now. We've taken a step back in his training and started giving treats when he goes in the garden again. We'll get there, I keep forgetting we've only had hm 8 weeks as he's generally settled in so well!

Re the prey drive, the wheeling is a good tip. I've tried holding him close to me and walking away slowly, which is what I did when he used to freeze on walks, and treating him when he starts to walk again of his own accord. 

It's so lovely to have people to chat 'greyhound' with :-D 

[MerseyGrey]

1 hour ago, Alibear said:

 

It's so lovely to have people to chat 'greyhound' with :-D 

This is everyone! Although I do find that some people can’t get a word in while I’m gushing over my dog, and some peoples’ eyes do glaze over after the first hour.

I had a dose of this myself recently. A man I met occasionally while walking Buddy lost his 14 year old dog late last year. I didn’t see him for a while and then just after Christmas I saw he had a cowhound and we made a beeline for each other and proceeded to talk at me for about an hour on how wonderful his dog (Dixie) is. I couldn’t get away from him. And even better, the next time I saw him, he’d adopted another (Queenie) so I got it all over again but I also got lots of cuddles from his dogs so I was very happy 

[SIGreyLady]

Fraser looks like he has settled in very well and it sounds like you are working well with him.  Congratulations!!

[Alibear]

Thank you, he's doing really well, his recall is really improving, which means he can have a run around a couple of local enclosed fields now :-) He loves it, even though he's tired after about three ball chases. I can't believe how anaerobic they are. I knew they were built for sprinting but he literally flops on the floor when he's had enough - I had a doberman growing up who was still raring to go after two hours of solid running!