New greyhound suddenly started freezing and refusing to leave the yard to go on walks?

[blj]

We just adopted a 4 year old retired racing greyhound 1 week ago. Up until today, she was great on walks. We would go 20 mins in the morning and 45 mins in the evening. She seemed to really enjoy our walks and (as far as I am aware) there is nothing we encountered that would have scared her. Just yesterday morning though, I could not get her to go further than maybe the end of the street. We live in a fairly quiet suburb, so it's not a busy road. She did her business, and then refused to budge. I pulled her collar with my hand to direct her and we went home.

After getting home, I looked it up an apparently this is fairly common for greys? It seemed really sudden though, she was really great on her leash and enjoying walks with no issue until this point. I read all these techniques, such as walking in a circle, using treats, or directing her with the collar... no luck. I tried taking her for our usual evening walk yesterday and it was worse than the morning. I couldn't even get her more than maybe 30 meters from our house. I did end up getting her to start walking back towards our house, and I kept walking past our house and we went maybe another 30 meters the other way and then she refused to budge again. Then, this morning was probably the worst, I couldn't even get her to walk off our front lawn. I just tried again over my lunch break and she is now being difficult to even leave the backyard, so I can't really even get her to walk around back there. None of the techniques worked, I basically had to shove her from behind until she realized we were walking towards the house again. If I shove her or direct her in the other direction she does not budge at all. I feel I am maybe being counterproductive by physically pushing her, as well, and making it worse. 

I am looking for some advice! This was not an issue until yesterday. Is this something that will go away once she becomes more comfortable with us? We don't have a fenced backyard so she can't run around back there, so I'm worried she's not getting enough exercise right now since she had no walks yesterday and just slept all day, and today is looking to be the same situation. She doesn't play with toys either so its been hard to get her active inside the house. 

Edited July 11, 2022 by blj

[1Moregrey]

Remember to take a deep breath and relax. She is doing normal adjustment.  She has left everything that is familiar to her and moved into a new unfamiliar world where she does not understand any of the rules.  She has just finished the honeymoon still in shock phase.  She is now noticing that things sound different, no longer hearing the familiar track sounds or on the same schedule.  Do not worry about walks for a while just spend some time outside with her in the back and front yard for potty breaks. As she gets used to her new environment she will willingly go for walks again.  For now she is just overwhelmed with all the new sights, sounds, routine, and getting to know you and your household.  The more you can stick to a ridged schedule the more at ease she will be.  Just give both of you time to adjust.  As she gets more familiar you can go a little farther but for the moment let her set how far she goes.

[HeyRunDog]

I think most of us have been there and the sight of a 6 foot man carrying a large dog back home gives the neighbours a laugh.

On a serious note 1Moregrey is right. Take a deep breath and relax. The greyhound you have now will be different to the greyhound you have in 1 month, 6 months or even a years time. It took Grace nearly 2 years before she'd let me sit next to her head end on the sofa.

If you got your greyhound from an adoption group see if they have regular greyhound walks. Taking my Grace on those really helped with her confidence 

[Moo]

I apologise if it seems I'm making light of the situation as I definitely am not, but I have to smile when I see these "help, my grey is frozen!" posts as I've been there several times with my boy, and it makes me chuckle how much these dogs all act so similar. 

 

But I can promise with 99.9% certainly it will pass! Not without you feeling worried and desperate that pees and poos aren't happening and not enough exercise is taking place. But every step is a victory, and sometimes you might have to bum-shove a little to motivate them to take a few more. I felt like I was never going to get mine past the garden gate, it went on for weeks, maybe months. Remember to praise their efforts and keep trying even if it feels like no progress is being made! You'll eventually get back to that stage of them loving walks, it'll just take time and patience. 

[sobesmom]

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I know I'm late to the post - and I'm sure the issue has been fixed.  5ft 5" woman - carried a grey home - after it was FINE on the same walk for several days.  Much shorter walks for many days.  And then it was fine.