Calling all greyhound parents. First night advice needed

[Vepidee]

Soon to adopt a retired racer. Never been in a home before and quite anxious. What practical steps can I take on his first night?
Happy to have him sleeping in my bedroom but guessing hes neverdone stairs.
Whats worked for you and your greys?

Yay! Congratulations! I have 2 and my most recent addition was November- I did an evening walk, she didn’t eat for a good few days at first and I was worried but she was fine! I let her out quite late and went out with her too, I slept downstairs for those first couple of weeks so I easily hear if she was wandering about and I could put her outside. I think she was up from 5ish but soon settled after the first week and stopped getting up so early or needed to go out as often.

I've got a dignified old fella, he's 9.5 now. We got an enormous crate for him and he slept in that for the first few months. It was his little safe haven and he skulked into his crate whenever he felt a little unsure of scared - which for Wren, was a lot of the time! I'd taken the door off it, and put a big blanket over to make a den for him. He'd take his treats and toys into the crate for some private time.
After a few months he only used his crate sporadically, and we eventually got rid of it once he fully embraced his huge orthopaedic dog bed which takes up the living room floor. He loves being in the centre of things with the family and generously sharing his vile wind with us all 💨💨💨💨💨🤢

Space and time.
Give them a safe bed/space where they are left alone , so they can approach you if they want or decompress if they don’t.

They won’t have seen stairs, washing machines, hoovers , children . There is a lot that is new that needs time and patience.

Let them out alot , like a new puppy . They quickly learn house training but most will never have been in a house before.

Don’t take them out at first , roads, cars , bikes, children etc can be very overwhelming .

They are sensitive so keep things calm and quiet . Be warned they are addictive and greys react very well to having another greyhound with them to provide support.

once they discover the sofa your soft furnishings are lost.

Much as a greyhound crate is enormous, I do like them as a safe and cosy space for them that they can retreat to when things are overwhelming. Drape fleece blankets over it, and fold an old duvet up as a bed inside. My 12 year old lurcher still loves a crate (he doesn't have one of his own, but has been delighted the last few weeks while I've had a foster lurcher who is crated when we go out, to have been spending a lot of time happily and voluntarily in there) as apparently the world is then our problem.
The first night, just keep it super calm and if you are happy for them to sleep in the bedroom with you, maybe sleep downstairs with them the first night so you don't have to tackle the subject of stairs on day 1. They might be fine on their own (racers will be used to being on their own in a kennel or with other greyhounds, no humans around), and their reaction on night 1 won't necessarily be the same as night 2.
They will need/appreciate pyjamas unless your house is very warm as they have so little hair and body fat and that helps to settle them.
My current foster girl is 1 and had never been in a house before she came to us and found the hoover and tv very strange. She didn't understand treats either, but has worked that out .

Mine pissed over everything when I first got him! He cocked his leg whenever he was unsure or nervous which was a lot for the first few days. I got plastic sheeting and put it over everything in the sitting room, which was where we kept him for the first few days. We slept with him there, too. He was absolutely mad for the walks (he still is, at nine years old now), so we walked him a lot. My step count was immense in the first weeks we got him.

He wasn't the brightest tool in the box so it took a few weeks to manage stairs, mirrors (he kept barking at his reflection), and he was a proper food thief so we had to move everything that smelt anything like food really high up because he could get up into the higher shelves in the kitchen. We had to have his stomach pumped a couple of times in the first month or so as he got a box of flapjacks from a high shelf and managed to open the tupperware and scoff the lot, and he ate a whole avocado, including the stone I thought, but I later found it in the sofa. Oh and he ate an entire 48 box of felix cat food sachets, including the foil. That was grim.

After that he was a dream. You will need to perservere.

We have two, they follow me everywhere and yes they sleep in the bedroom too.

My other two greyhounds were girls and they picked things up a lot quicker. They still had their own quirks, though.

Good luck! I love the early adoption days when you see them figure things out for the first time. Watch their first nature program on tv, realise they're allowed on the sofa :)