Rookie greyhound owner - advise me!

[MissBetsyTrotwood]

We picked him up today.

He's done really well. No accidents in the house (yet), two long wees in the garden and a good park walk that included a poo (runny) and a successful encounter with two off the lead terriers, a very friendly staffy and an elderly collie.

He's panting a lot in the house. Is this because he's stressed?

I leave food down all the time.

Ours are fed twice a day. Breakfast after we return from morning walk, and tea at 6pm sharp - as all hell breaks loose if it is late. We get the full drama queen flounce, whines, staring pointedly at the fridge (and nobody does pointedly like a pointy!), huffing and so on.

Not a big fan of free feeding but if it works for you, that's great.

Don't mind the idiots. YOU have the greyhound - they don't - I just feel sorry for them that they don't know the wonders of pointiness.

I find it helpful to remember that a greyhound is a true aristocrat, owned solely by royalty for many hundreds of years, a thoroughbred racing athlete, and like all aristocrats, is so absolutely and completely secure in their own superiority that they are more than happy to be nice to people who aren't

You're right. Oh, we are in love with him and it was only some silly woman who I don't like anyway! She's just the sort who dishes out judgement on others but can't take it herself...

Some who we've met out in the area are a bit 'Ohh, dog with a muzzle', but then they actually come and meet him close up and they see his eyes and realise he's just a gentle giant. Interestingly, there's a big Afghan and Pakistani community round here and 4 or 5 of the men have gone all misty eyed when they see him and come and tell me they had dogs 'like that' back in their countries. I had no idea. The father of a boy in DS1's class told me he had four as a child.

So, a yes and a no for leaving food down, thanks, Viva and Scuttle. Would be good to know why you're not a fan, Scuttle. I am at the most basic level of dog knowledge and am happy to receive all information and advice! Might I improve his, ahem, windy bottom if I limit feeding time?

Thanks again all.

The first time my DS met a grey in a muzzle (he was at Reception at the time so about 5 yo) he asked me (loudly) if the dog was a bitey dog.
The owner very kindly explained to my DS -who loves dogs- that her grey ate whatever he found and the muzzle would stop him eating something he shouldn't.

She told told me quietly that her grey would chase cats/squirrels and the odd small dog but didn't want to shatter DS's illusions

this thread has made me feel all warm inside - Betsy, you sound like a dream retirement home! V jealous of all the pointy love. I've always thought greys had a magnificent regalness about them, like in those Elizabethan portraits where they recline at the feet of their owners in dog pyjamas jewelled collars.

Yeah I think it's the big muzzle which scares people. I don't use it anymore as I soon realised ours won't chase a thing. But the first few weeks until I knew she was safe we got a few comments and people pulling small kids out the way, etc.

Ooh, Elizabethan portraits! Jewelled collars! I can feel 2012 wall calendar coming on right now...

@ LordOfTheFlies !

Mmm, the muzzle is an odd one. He'd like to chase cats and squirrels but as he's never off the lead when we're out at the moment he can't anyway. Was it that she settled down and got used to her new 'beat' over those first few weeks, Viva, or was she never interested when she was wearing the muzzle?

I'm trying to get Billy to meet as many dogs as possible when we're out, so he gets used to seeing them around. He's been fine so far, only having a growl at a really up in his face terrier.

She was never interested, she's got a very low chase instinct and lives with cats, rabbits and chickens. She even let a squirrel come right up to her and sniff her nose.

I think the rgt say if they're chasers to keep the muzzle on incase they slip their collar, pull the lead out your hand, etc.

Ah, OK. Muzzle it is then! I'm assuming the very very interested reaction he's displaying when he sees them is probably not because he wants to make friends... Thanks again! Your girl sounds pretty amazing.

If he's interested in cats he'd probably kill one if he caught it. And he can run a lot faster then a cat. If he weights 39lbs if you're distracted and he suddenly sees something and lunges the chances are he could be gone.

You might find he loses interest as he gets more used to seeing them and of course you firmly saying no to him if he gets interested will help.

Im really lucky with mine. She's got good recall and I'll walk her across the fields off her lead. She occasionally starts to chase something like a rabbit but she stops and comes back if shouted at. Rgt rescue were amazed when I told them as I think it's quite unusual.

There's another benefit to muzzles too. Sadly, many parks, especially in the summer are heavily littered with food waste, including disposable BBQ leftovers, takeaway chicken, burgers, sandwich remains etc. These remains are hazardous - cooked bones are a choking hazard, and often the food is off. I am also deeply suspicious of potentially baited food. So if you have a grund who likes their food (which is most of them ) a muzzle will ensure they can't snaffle anything like this. Of course, if you are walking somewhere wild and wonderful where messy humans don't go so much, and squirrel eating won't frighten the children then this may not be such a problem.

The other thing about muzzles is this - we all as dog owners know (or should do) about the DDA. I take the view that I cannot control who my dogs meet, I cannot predict the behaviour of the dogs, children and other people they meet, I cannot predict if I might accidentally let go of the lead. By ensuring my dog is muzzled, I am doing something I can predict - I am minimising the risk of an unfortunate incident and I am very publicly showing I wish to take a preventative, risk averse approach. Obviously, every dog owner is different in the degree of risk they are comfortable with but given that two of ours do have high prey drives, even though their recall is good, and off lead time is very limited in public I am comfortable with the muzzle as an extra layer of protection and reassurance.

A couple of points about free feeding - ours would be the fattest grunds in creation if they had access to free food - one in particular is the Henry 8th of the grund world! Secondly, as we now feed raw, anything which is left over, is refrigerated pretty promptly, particularly during the summer. Believe me, a plate of tripe is no feast for the senses. Once they've had their breakfast, all the bowls are scrubbed thoroughly. Obviously, if you are feeding just kibble, then this isn't such an important consideration. However, even when we did feed a kibble based diet, we often topped up with things like sardines, eggs, leftover gravy, pasta etc so again good to get it clean and tidy in the kitchen.

I'm loving all the historical references in this thread.

I think he may not have been finishing the meals because the bowl wasn't high enough for him and he was uncomfortable. I lifted it a bit more for him to finish today and that seemed to be much better. Also, feeding after walk no.2 seemed to help.

Interesting about the muzzles. We'll definitely keep it on for now - far too many beloved cats around here to take the risk and it doesn't seem to bother him at all.

He has shunned the sofa so far (to my amazement - I think the kids were pretty territorial about it when he first arrived so that's probably made a difference!) but he has colonised a very ancient sheepskin rug in the lounge. It's waaay too small for him to fit his whole body on but he loves it. Must smell right. Eww. The only way we've been able to winkle him out of the lounge at night is to turf him off it and put it in his bed in the kitchen! I think he likes being in the place we all are.

They definitely like being where you are.

I think my poor dog is feeling unloved at the moment. I've been unwell and am spending a lot of time upstairs. She always used to sleep in her bed in the dining room when I was up and about the house ore. But now she's taken to sleeping at the bottom of the stairs as I guess it's the closest she can get to us. She's not allowed upstairs and she knows it. She's also not allowed on the sofa and we have a stair gate across the long door. But she has recently taken to jumping it as sometimes I've come in the house and she hasn't been quick enough running back to her bed and I've caught her looking very sheepish.

I'm sorry to hear you've been unwell - I do hope you'll be up and about and feeling much better soon.

She sounds really cheeky - and clever!

Poor thing's had quite a lot of diahorrea last evening and this morning - should we just get him back on the dry kibble? I put it down for his breakfast and he was not interested at all. He had a tin of dog's food mixed in the kibble yesterday and I think it was a bit much for him.

Except the (many) nasty poos he's been his normal self. Has weed too. Did his normal daffy playing thing with a chew from the pet shop and made us all laugh!

Sorry to be so needy. I just want to get it right for him!

I just feed mine the dry kibble with the occasional bit of cheese or leftover pasta. At the kennels they're just used to dry kibble and manage on that. They are meant to have a low protein diet I was told. Mine isn't very bothered about her kibble, which is why I leave it down all day. She just has a bit every now and then.

OK, thanks Viva. Back to plain old kibble for Billy then. I hope you're feeling alright today!

Well mine has had an accident in the hallway again. She's been fine for about a year and has now had about five accidents in the last two weeks. I think it's her revenge for not having had a walk for two weeks. I'm going to try and get up and take her tomorrow. She's had a couple of short walks, round the block jobs but not her normal walks.
She's upstairs in the bedroom with me now. First time I've ever known her come upstairs when I'm up here. She's obviously too lonely downstairs. I tried telling her off but she ignored me so I've given up. I suspect she will be on the bed before long!

Aww, she loves you. If you're anywhere near Hackney I'll walk her for you!

Ah thanks, that's very kind but I'm a long way from hackney. Have slipped a disc but am getting there slowly.

Oh, you poor thing. That takes time, doesn't it? I'm glad to hear you are making progress.

This is our fella, Billy. We laugh at the picture of Denzil every time we see it!

Billy looks lovely. Funny how it's mainly black dogs. I've heard that black ones are more difficult to rehome so I wonder if it's due to that or if there are more black dogs born. My girl is black.

ooooooooooooo aren't they lovely. Billy is very cute. It does seem the black ones are harder to home but I must say they are so beautiful when their coats start shining. Hope his tum is better. Just love your updates so keep them coming.

It's getting colder now so do tell whether you've started looking at the coats and hats

Viva have you thought of contacting the cinnamon trust to see if they have a volunteer walker near you who could help out on a temporary basis?

I hadn't actually miacis, thanks for that. But I really am feeling positive that I'm going to be able to manage a walk tomorrow, even if it's just a 20 or 30 min one rather than her usual one hour one.