Greyhound questions

[Jillcrewespony]

We hope to adopt a greyhound soon - and if it all goes to plan, we will have one coming to live with us in a few weeks time!

So, anyone who has rescued greyhounds - how did you settle your greyhound at night to begin with, and where?

Am not keen on dog sharing bedroom, the plan is dog will sleep downstairs. I was wondering if I should plan to sleep on sofa by dog for first few nights? Also wondering if we should try to crate train? Rescue have given some tips and will give some more, but would like to hear some other people's experiences too. Thanks!

[Bambinho]

With my first one I borrowed a crate from the rescue place (local Greyhound Trust) and he slept happily in there, initially locked in then after a few days left the crate door open. For the first few weeks he was mostly kept separate in a room next to the kitchen with a stair gate in the doorway, this was mainly because I had cats and wanted both to get used to the new situation. It all worked out well, they could see each other but no contact, even my bad tempered cat who initially hated him got used to his presence.

Got a second dog a year and a half later (beware, this is very common!) and it was a completely different matter! Tried the same method and this dog was hysterical at being locked away. He chewed and clawed through the stair gate so had to give up after one and a half nights.

Both now either sleep on the sofa, occasionally on a dog bed (one in living room, one in bedroom) or on the bed

I have a couple of really good big circular dog beds from Costco that I would recommend for greyhounds as they have really good cushioning for their pointy bones and are under £30.

I suppose the best advice I can give is just to keep him or her in a quiet environment and see how it goes. Your new dog probably won't have lived in a house before so it will all be new and a bit bewildering at first.

[Jillcrewespony]

Thank you. I am prepared to be flexible to see what works. With your second dog, what helped her settle?

Will look into the dog beds. Rescue also suggested duvets folded in half.

[CaptSkippy]

I had a lurcher as a foster dog a few years back (greyhound/saluki mix). Separate sleeping should be fine. I knew one foster family where someone slept on the couch for the first night or two. I never did that. The dog slept in the living from day one.

Crates are great. Most dogs like them as they provide a cosy, closed off space that is easy for them to watch. You don't even have to close the door.

My advise would be to determine a routine for the dog and stick to it from day one. It's easier for them to adjust to a new home if every day is basically the same for them.

Don't make a fuss over leaving the dog alone in a room or at home. I always ignored the dog before going to bed and when waking up. Same thing with leaving the house or returning. After a few weeks she would only lift her head to see who had come in and then carried on sleeping.

They really take their cues from you in new situations. If something is not a big deal then they will cease to regard it as a big deal, unless there was already some strong fears before you adopted the dog. They do have a history and with some it's harder than with other. Mine was afraid of strange men and obsessed with cats.

[Jillcrewespony]

Thanks, Skippy. Really helpful advice.

We will try and build up slowly leaving the dog (dog won't be left for any long periods, but ultimately we hope will be ok for one morning 4.5 hours a week). On my other two working days, DH will work from home, and we will have a dog sitter (friend's daughter) if he had to go to work on those days. Any tips on getting dog used to being left alone the odd occasion?

[CaptSkippy]

Like I said, don't make into a big deal. Just leave without giving the dog any attention and ignore the dog completely on your return. Once you have settled down, put your stuff away and made yourself some tea call the dog towards you and cuddle a little.

Building up the time you leave is a good idea. I started with taking out the trash, which only took a few minutes and then increased it to a short trip to the grocery store.

I once left my dog for 7 hours. This was way longer then I had planned (got stuck in traffic) and she was still sleeping on the couch when I came home. Took her for a walk straight away though and made better plans after.
I do think that was too long, but nothing happened.

[Jillcrewespony]

Great, Skippy. Can't wait!

[Bambinho]

@Jillcrewespony My second dog is a real Velcro dog, so he was happy to just be in the same room with me. He's done that ever since, no matter how settled he is as soon as I leave the room he follows me. You may end up with one of these!

[sexnotgender]

I got a rescue greyhound 2 months ago and he’s fantastic! Best dogs ever.

The rescue suggested we get him a crate as he was used to it and he was very timid so a crate was his safe space.

He still sleeps in it every night and if we’re going to be out for a while. He is more than happy to go in as he gets treats whenever he does!!

[Bambinho]

@sexnotgender He's gorgeous! They are such good, quiet and happy dogs it's no wonder greyhounds are feted here in The Doghouse.

[Jillcrewespony]

@sexnotgender: beautiful! Just saw a clip from This Morning featuring a black rescue greyhound, such beautiful dogs.
I am sure I will be back for more advice when dog arrives!

[Rollerbird]

@bambinho which dog bed and size did you get? There's a lot on costco.
Was it the nest? Or flat round? How many cm diameter?

[sexnotgender]

Sam says thank you for your kind comments! I got him this bed from TK Maxx for £20. He’s also got a folded over single duvet in my husbands office.

[Bambinho]

My Costco bed is the big flat round one, bit over a metre in diameter I'd say. I got a couple of them in furry animal print but they didn't have that design last time I was in. They were only about £24. Here's Dog No 2 modelling it

[Rollerbird]

Thanks

[Flippetydip]

Oooh I love it when people come on to talk about greyhounds :)

Are you on Facebook? If so, come onto the "Retired Greyhound Chat" - my newsfeed has been improved enormously by all the lovely pictures of greyhounds peering out at me all the time!

We got our rescue bitch 18 months ago and as a PP put her in a crate for the first week or so. She was brilliant, didn't make a noise from the first night, we had no bother at all (which makes me very reticent to get another as we'd never be so lucky again!). However, after the first week she made it entirely apparent that she wanted to sleep on the sofa (dashed in from last wee and leapt on sofa) so we just leave her there now. We never slept downstairs with her, she was fine right from the off.

I'm thinking of getting rid of the crate now - as you can imagine they take up a lot of room.

Be aware, that however much you have researched and planned for your hound, you will probably, almost inevitably, have a feeling of "oh my word what on earth have we done" and feel quite overwhelmed with everything. It will pass!

So excited for you. The most excited I've been in my adult life, (and I include marriage and pregnancy in this) was the week before we went to pick up our hound!

[Flippetydip]

And I can kind of see why she prefers the sofa :)

[twiglet]

Red crate training just build it up slowly, we didn't shut ours for quite a while just let her be her safe space.
She now sleeps there when we are at work ( DH comes back for lunch and we have a dog walker) knows her routine and happily trots off into it - most lunchtimes after going out goes straight back to it regardless of not needing to for an hour!
If we leave the house with her not crated then she gets really upset and panicked regardless of if it's just to put the bin out!

They like comfy/soft things we have a dog bed that you can stuff with anything.

They do get cold though so getting some house fleeces and a good warm jacket for winter is a must.

[JammieCodger]

Our hound is pretty laid back. She settled in fine without a crate and in the sitting room on her own. W. For bedding she has an old duvet doubled up in the sitting room and an old foam mattress cut in half in the kitchen.

She spends most of the evening on whichever bed is closest to us, but then comes on to the sofa when she wants to settle down for the night. She spends her days stretched out, upside down in the sun on the other sofa.

[CaptSkippy]

I am so enjoying all the cute picture. Here is one from my former foster:

[TheSteakBakeOfAwesome]

You might find the stairs terrify them anyway initially - they're a very alien thing to particularly retired racers.

Ours usually sleeps upside down on the sofa, follows us upstairs to bed, tries to sleep on the bed and is evicted onto the dog bed beside the bed, but the second anyone gets up to go to the loo in the middle of the night she'll jump on and nick their space. 26kg of greyhound dive bombing you in the middle of the night is a bit of a wake up call!

Think I win the photos so far with this level of ridiculousness.

[Jillcrewespony]

Loving the greyhound photos!

For those whose greyhound sleeps in the living room, did you do anything to keep them in there at night?

Not keen on completely shutting the living room door, as then dog would in pitch black. I was thinking of fitting some kind of dog gate, more as a deterrent than anything else, as I guess a greyhound could jump it if they wanted to.

[userxx]

I wouldn't bother with a gate to keep in the room, just let the dog potter and find a comfy spot. As someone else mentioned, they are not a big fan of stairs.

[CMOTDibbler]

Steakbake, that is an awesome outfit! My ddog1 is currently rocking a purple camo onesie, and we have woolly hat/snoods in both santa and reindeer (complete with antlers) patterns

[CMOTDibbler]

ddog2 does not like the reindeer hat...

[sexnotgender]

I just bought Sam a new jacket as it’s getting cold and his tummy is quite bald!

I mentioned getting pyjamas and my husband looked at me like I’m a crazy lady...