New Greyhound Walking Advice

[Samoeba]

Hi everyone! I just adopted a beautiful 3 year old Greyhound a few days ago! She’s super shy and was told I would be the perfect fit for her since I work from home. Just wanted some advice since I’m getting all sorts of different answers from different people and I thought I could ask here as well. 

First, I have a bit of trouble getting her to go outside. I put a treat down to get her to stand up so I can put her harness on. But then she freezes. I have the double lead attached to the harness and mandible collar. I can tug on the leash to get her to move or stand back up, but I worry that it’ll hurt her. Is it better to carry her? If it is, what’s the best way to pick her up when she’s lying on her side?

Second, I was told I should give her treats as positive reinforcement during our walks, but she doesn’t seems too scared of everything to take them. I live in a slightly more urban area. Even though I live in a very quiet area, there’s still a lot she’s afraid of. Whenever I try to give her treats when she behaves well, she doesn’t take it. She tries to avoid my hand. I try throwing the treat on the ground but she doesn’t take that either. Should I give her better treats or should I just be more patient?

[Scoutsmom]

Congratulations on your new grey!!!   What is her name?

It is a whole new world that she is being introduced to and she is finding it terrifying.  Do you need to go on walks?  If you have a yard, let her out into it and forget about walks until she is more comfortable in this new world she has found herself in.  If you have to go on walks, forget about treats--she is too terrified to be interested in treats.  The best thing to try is to have another dog show her that walks can be fun.  Is there another greyhound or a friendly dog that could join her on your walks?  If not, you will need to be very patient.  Let her wear her harness around the house so she doesn't associate it with being forced out of the house.  Then it will be easy to clip her leash on and you can cheerfully tell her it is time for walks.  When you need to take her out, praise her like everything if she goes a few steps.  She will likely freeze as she is overwhelmed.  Other threads here will tell you what to do in that case.  Basically you can try to wait her out, try turning around and going another way, or give her a nudge in the rump with your legs to get her moving.  Once she is moving, praise her as if she is the most wonderful dog in the world (which of course she is).  

[Samoeba]

I unfortunately don’t have a yard. I have to take her out of the apartment building. There are other dog walkers in my building, I can try asking them. I let her wear the harness and double lead/leash all day yesterday. Going to keep doing that today. 
 

A friend told me I could just hang out in front of my open door with her leash on to get her used to it. Or play desensitize recordings.

When it comes to the first few days, I keep getting different and opinions on whether I should give her time to adjust and get used to me, or immediately establishing myself as alpha and keep her on a strict schedule 

[JaimeL]

Please let her decompress and feel safe in this strange new world. I would not try to walk her, just out for potties. Every time you walk by her toss a treat, talk softly and calmly. Pet her when she comes to you and asks for attention. This is all new and frightening to her, she does not trust you yet, but she will. You'll get there, it may take weeks, but you'll get there. Keep us posted on your progress.

[macoduck]

Please do not use any Alpha suggestions!  That's a Cesar Milan thing that has been proven to be harmful to a greyhound, or any other dogs. Your girl needs time and patience and a routine.

For now, you could leave the harness on her at all times. Or put the harness on like you are going to go out but don't go out. Thus her not associating the harness with going out to the big new scary world.
If you need a reward to get her up to go out, use a little piece of hotdog or chicken, not a boring dog cookie. A tiny piece to get up, another when outside, another when she potties outside, along with praise.

By mandible collar to you mean a martingale or a Gentle Leader? A well fitting martingale is enough, plus a tag collar. Is she microchipped and registered in your name?

I wrote this for GFNC since the adoption counselor volunteers weren't always explaining everything to new or potential adopters, and/or it's just too much info for a newbie to take in in one sitting.
https://greyhoundfriends.com/wp-content/documents/New-Owner-Guidebook.pdf

I wrote this one too:
https://www.greyhoundfriends.com/2022/06/lost-greyhound-booklet/

Here's some other links from GFNC:
https://www.greyhoundfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Gilley-Must-Knows.pdf

Each are free pdf downloads.

[macoduck]

Like JaimeL said, just take her out for potties now, no walks yet. It might be days or weeks before she gives you a clue that she'd like to walk a bit further.

Your girl is used to being with her own kind and in a set schedule. She may shy away from other breeds in your apartment complex or be agitated by them. Let it be just you and her right now. Keep the leash short so she's beside you, not wandering out in front or lagging behind. If she freezes, turn her around in a small circle and either continue in your direction or slightly change course.

There's a saying is that any new dog will gradually evolve over 3 days - 3 weeks - 3 months as their personality and comfort level changes.

 

[Samoeba]

So, here’s an update. I’ve been carrying her out the door for potty. And I still struggle to get her out of bed, The issue isn’t about getting her to trust me to go on walks, it’s getting her outside for potty. She’s fine as soon as we get in to my elevator to get outside my building. But getting her to get out of bed so I can pick her up is a bit of a struggle. She’s not reacting to treats. She doesn’t tell me when she needs to go. I’ve been trying to get her out around the same time every day, but if she doesn’t go, she holds it for a long time. She sleeps most of the day, but still gets up for food. But I’ve been told I should wait by about 30 minutes after she eats because they have to go potty soon after. 
 

So the main issues now are: 

1. Treat’s aren’t enough to get her out of bed.

2. She sometimes ends up holding it for up to 12 hours and I don’t think that’s healthy.

Also, I don’t know if it’s common for a greyhound to not need to go if she sleeps all day

[macoduck]

How often are you trying to get her to go out? Does she go potty each time?

You could lengthen the time between attempts. If you are concerned about her pottying in your apartment you could tether her to you by connecting her on-leash to you. That way you'll begin to see her signals that she needs to go out.

I have had some new greyhounds hold their pee for over 12 hours during the first week with me. I currently have podencos, 2 of whom refuse to go out in even light drizzling rain. They've held their pee for over 12 hours.

[Samoeba]

I try to take her out every 5-6 hours. She does go potty each time. She’s pretty good when it comes to avoiding accidents. I’ve only had one so far and it as because she held it for well over 12 hours. She really just sleeps most of the time