Newly rehomed greyhound, advise needed on settling and chewing, please

[lanesova]

Hi, I'm new to the forum.

We adopted an ex racing greyhound this week from the RGT, after several visits. He's my first dog for 20 years, and first sighthound (always had retrievers).

He is a really lovely boy, he likes cuddles, walks really well on the lead and so far is sleeping through the night downstairs with no issue. He seems to be a quick learner, too. He seems to have taken everything in his stride, with no obvious terror at new experiences. He is brilliant with other dogs he meets, either greeting politely or completely ignoring. He also seems to be happy to be around the kids (age 13 and 9) - they are both very sensible.

He is a youngster, 2 in April, which probably accounts for his energy, but i hadn't expected him to be so playful! (or to sleep so little in the day). He wants to be outside all the time, playing pounce and shake with his cuddly duck (he grabs it through his muzzle), or running round the lawn. He is starting to settle inside, I am trying to work out how to transition to alone training so that he can eventually be left when I go to work (I am working from home for now). We have arranged for dog care when we're out, so he won't be alone for more than 3.5 hours at a time. I have been doing alone training, I went out for 20 mins yesterday and that seemed to go o.k. I don't want to rush him too much! He was still on his bed when I got home, so think that all went ok.

Aside from conditioning him to be ok for longer times, one other possible issue on the horizon is chewing - while I'm in the same room, he has been wandering up to tables, the sideboard etc and chewing the corners. He is less interested in chews, and has totally turned his nose up at rawhide, so I'm not sure how to discourage?

Any advice would be welcome, please!

[lanesova]

• sorry, not rawhide (new to this!) beef trachea. Yum.

[stayathomegardener]

He needs a big secure field to run in with a pointy nosed friend.
Guaranteed to sleep all day then.

[lanesova]

Thanks for the reply stayathomegardener. Yes, i think we are just going to have to work hard to tire him out in the mornings - walk, zoomies etc, alongside mental stimulation. I think he is also just settling in - actually he's been much calmer today. We are also starting to get to know the local dogs, and have met another ex racer (although technically our lovely boy was only raced once and classed as 'Faulty'). Hopefully as we get to know more people, there will be the opportunity for more socialising for him.

[lanesova]

I also wondered if anyone goes jogging with their greyhound? I'm not a runner, but my DH is. I've read good and bad about people running with greys.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

Try putting this on "The Doghouse" thread for more traffic (though lots of us look on this one too).