Greyhounds

Soubrette

Kimberley wrote: »

Sounbrette what sized crate would I need? I have been told that some ex racers have never lived in a home so how long does it take for those dogs to settle in a home and become clean? I'm looking at some greyhounds in another kennels tomorrow but these ones have never been inside a house so if i chose one of them then i'd need to crate him/her at night and when he/her is left when i'm at work.

How long do they become clean?

I've just measured mine so these probably aren't precise measurements It's 85cm high by 75cm wide and 135cm long - we bought it as a large dogcrate and it's tall enough for him to stand and to lay in it with his feet stretched out if he wants.

He was poor at toilet training to begin with but improved after being crated - so probably within a few months We stopped crating him and it gradually deterioriated - if no one was home he would pee, even if it was a little bit if people were out, he then started peeing if people were in the house but not paying attention to him (say we were all in the kitchen). So he was back in the crate about a year ago, closed when we're out and at night but open all other times. Obviously the grate stops him peeing when no one is about but for some reason being crated also has made him much better at doing the 'hard stare' by the door when he wants to go out and waiting for someone to sort him. He's been totally clean for about about 4-6 months and even before that he only peed if I persuaded the OH to leave the door of the crate open if we were going out.

I'd personally rather have the crate open at all times but I guess he will probably always have to be crated if there is no one there to attend to his needs.

carefullycautious

I think a trip to the vets to check nothing medical is going on first. He may have the start of dementia. Get the vet check first and then you could talk with a good behaviourist to see what is going on.

Lurchers are very highly strung and sensitive souls. He sounds like he is trying to tell you something.

Crisp_£_note

cheepskate wrote: »

Sorry, but your thinking of rehoming him because he has a problem that annoys you ????????

Do you not think it will annoy his next owner and the next and so on.

You have made this problem by constantly going to him and giving it what it wants.

Ignore it and maybe get it a kong type toy to stimulate it for a short while if it is doing this. Lots of pets, but only start petting when it is not whinning and stop and go do something else if it starts

By breaking this cycle of going to it, it will eventually get the message but you need to persist.

It does sound like its not stimulated the correct way enough

We had this type behaviour with our cocker(from puppy it was just constantly demanding attention) and will if allowed still try to command constant attention. We just ignore her, then do a flying pet as we walk past or play, but on our terms.

We got her various kong type toys and they seem to work for a bit, rather than tuggys which just means she wants to command attention with this type of toy. Ebay has good little dog mind game toys, maybe have a look to see what is available

UM excuse me to but which part of my original post have you failed to read?! We have and do try to ignore it to a point its breaking our marriage up now as we have to sit in separate rooms so as not to give the dog too much attention (which sadly causes fallouts between me and hubby) but were holding in there and gripping on tight ! I love the dog to bits and dont want to rehome it at all I understand the problem isnt the dogs fault and no I am not so flippant to just wanting to rehome him because he has a problem that annoys me !!!!!

Sorry to sound so agressive but your accusation in your post did upset me a lot.

carefullycautious wrote: »

I think a trip to the vets to check nothing medical is going on first. He may have the start of dementia. Get the vet check first and then you could talk with a good behaviourist to see what is going on.

Lurchers are very highly strung and sensitive souls. He sounds like he is trying to tell you something.

I am coming to the conclusion a vet visit is whats needed I just wanted to check it out first and try and save some money. He is a Greyhound Cross Saluki (our other dog is a Lurcher) theyre both dogs from different shelters and other than their issues are adorable and give back so much love in return and dont ask for much !

Thinking more about this the worst thing is the whole thing seems to be going in loops and even if we try to break the chain of events or not even get involved / started with the cycle and ignore it our dog is so clever he will find a way to divert our behaviour back to the point he was trying to acheive. Therefore getting his reward !!

Thank you all for the suggestions so far much appreciated. We will keep trying and persevering and maybe learn to be more stubourn than the dog himself !!!

sarabe

I would disagree with the ignoring.

You are labelling this as attention seeking behaviour but to me it sounds as if there is something wrong.

You mention he does it when he is cold or lonely?

What do you need when you are cold and lonely?

Humphrey10

Our dog squeaks when she is excited, I do try to explain that squeaking won't make getting ready to go on a walk happen any faster but sadly I don't think she speaks English it's a very annoying noise, it must be unbearable if it happens all the time.

If the dog is cold at night then it needs to be sleeping somewhere warmer.

Our dog started barking at night, I was willing to ignore it until it stopped but no-one else was, so they kept letting her out and she would run straight to me, so now she sleeps in my room, anything for an easy life.

mineallmine

Hugs to you and doggie.

I second the poster who suggested taking doggie to the vet. Just for a check up - check their temperature, check for any lumps or bumps, that sort of thing.

Am interested to know if their eating or drinking habits (or even the err, um end result, poo!) is different or has changed too.

Sending you best wishes.

bungle4by4

damm i want to say have you tried wd40

Have you tried a little bit of fuss and treats when the dog is behaving, positive reinforcement works a lot better that negative i have found, and a hell of a lot faster.

toys, treats and tenderness. (sounds like a cheesy song):)

nedington

My greyhound "meeps " all the time too. But it is usually for a specific reason- someone has moved his bed a bit...one of other other dogs has his bone....fireworks...etc etc. He is an ex racer and it took us probably a good year to 18 months to truely get to know eachother and for us to work out his habits. He wanders round he house squeeking and meeping if my o/h is out because he sees him as pack leader and doesn't like him not being in ( o/h works from home so is usually home all the time )
What I am meaning to say is that greyhounds are such sensitive gentle dogs, they are like needy kids sometimes and I'm, sure with yours there must be a reason for the meeping and you just need to work it out.
With Fin if he's wandering round crying and we know everything is ok we just tell him to be quiet and he eventually settles.
I do hope you can find out the problem soon as I know it can be really distressing.

YorkiePud_3

My last two lived to 16 years of age (brother and sister), the two I had before that reached 15 .... and I really do think it is just luck of the draw with regards to them having leg problems. Unfortunately someone may have problems with more than one of their dogs and then say oh yes, this breed is prone to this. Rubbish!!

The one "leg problem" I ever had was with the boy ... and it was caused by another dog running into him without stopping. The impact broke my boy's leg in so many places that he had to be operated on and metal pins and plates inserted to hold it all together.
Within 5 months, he was right as rain and bounding about like a youngster ... he then lived another 9 years after that with NO further problems with his legs, let alone the leg that was broken.

If someone is getting a grey from a rescue though I would give a big thumbs down to crate-training them. I am not against crates, don't get me wrong ... but a crate is very similar to the traps that the dogs will have been put in when racing ... similar sort of enclosed space ... and I can just imagine a grey being left in one and going absolutely berserk, hurting itself trying to "scrape" its way out. I'm not saying it would definitely happen but it's something I would think was a possibility with an ex-racer.

I have always fed mine on Wafcol dried dog food (mixed with boiling water to make it soft), then half a tin of Butcher's wet dog food mixed into that ... when they were pups I gave them a drink of goat's milk on a morning because they can have pretty sensitive stomachs and it really helps them (and builds them up too!) ... the odd bit of black pudding every week and that was it.
Although I will admit they had a proper Christmas dinner each year with us ... !!
Be very cautious giving them bones because their teeth are so sharp they easily splinter the bones and if they swallow the splinters, it can cause horrendous problems.

As for the pain thresh-hold ... oh boy .. they are SUCH babies!
Having said that, I think the boys are worse than the girls. My girl Judy would stand there calmly, quite still, for any vet treatment (including vaccinations) without needing to be restrained.
Bazza on the other hand ... well, you had to get him laid on his side and have someone lay over him (not with their full weight, but just to discourage him from moving!) and he would still scream and wail blue murder ... and this was just having his toe nails clipped!!

I've known dogs that have been rescued from Ireland though ... dogs who were kept in sheds (and I don't mean dog sheds/kennels) and never saw the light of day except for when they were taken to the track ... they were like running machines and never knew any kindness or love ... but once brought over here and rehomed, they soon came on and became lovely family pets. They're really intelligent dogs ... they soon learn and settle down.

moomin5

Greyhounds are great you'll soon be converted to the cult:D

Some trainers use porta mag boxes to aid ailments which are the solid plastic crates with wire door and greys would also travel to the track crated for safety. My 2 greyhounds had never lived in a house but I never bothered to crate train them as i don't have the room for crates so instead left them babygated into the kitchen. My boy got in a crate at a show that was really too small for him and the other loves a den being made for him during firework season so would probably take to it. I think you can only introduce it slowly and see how they accept it if you want to go that route.

I know a fair few greyhound owners whose dogs had just the odd couple or even no toilet accidents so you many not have any trouble house training but its wise to expect it and some dogs may have issues. My boys varied one was fairly reliable after a few days house training and the other was fine as long as i was home to let him out when he wanted to go which probably took longer to train because i worked full-time and only had 4 days off to settle them in. Often the accidents were more our fault as we failed to notice the subtle signs they wanted to go.

Greyhounds also have thin skin & not much fat or fur to protect them so can also easily get cuts, sometimes you can lessen the risk of injury and so far thankfully the scrapes my boys tend to get running about don't require a vet visit. I would think any breed that runs as fast is more at risk of leg injuries due to the increased forces involved but then they don't tend to get some issues such as hip/elbow dysplasia that plague other breeds so i guess its all relative. My boys aren't that wussy about injections & nail trims but i'm grateful they aren't as stoic as some because i like to know when somethings not right.

You might like this book Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies as it covers just about everything, is an easy read and not very expensive although your library may have a copy. It is by an American author but apart from some different terms it all still applies. It tends to assume dogs are crate trained because in the states racing greys are crated individually at tracks rather than kennelled in singles/pairs as in the UK.