Another newbie with new dog questions.

[binka]

Well after our taster day last week went so well Bonnie is now here for good. I picked her up yesterday. She's so well behaved, slept through the night downstairs without a whimper!

I'm a bit concerned that she hasn't eaten anything yet. We have the same food that she was on at teh rescue and not touched it. Am I right in thinking she just needs to settle down a bit more and then will eat?

I've got a coat for her when she's on walks - what about when she's out in the garden, does she need it then? She's out now and its drizzling and she hasn't got her coat on. Seems happy though!

When she's in the car I'd prefer her in the boot as I think she's more secure there. I've got a Yaris so the boot is quite small but I've slid the back seats forwards to make it bigegr and she can turn round and lie down now so I think its big enough. Only problem is getting her up and down - I have to lift her. I can't carry on doing this as my back will give up - does anyone have a greyhound who's learnt to jump in a boot or is it too high for her? She'll jump on the back seat OK but then stands up on the backseat when I'm drving and falls off when I break.

[Jane and Sara]

Nelly didn't eat for two days - don't worry - I'm sure Bonnie will eat when she is more settled. Depends on how 'wimpy' she is about a coat in the garden, I don't bother with mine if they just go out for a pee - just towel them off when they get in - which they love! Can't help you about the car - I don't have one. Lots of luck with Bonnie!
Jane

[Deleted]

Oh I'm so pleased that it went well for you & Bonnie (& the cat!) Congratulations

What food are you giving her, is it greyhound working food, if it is it'll be too high protein & you will want to get her on to a conventional mixer around 21% protein.
But as for your original question has she not eaten anything at all, she must be starving, can you tempt her with something tasty & smelly like sardines? It'll be probably be due to nerves & if she is drinking OK I wouldn't be overly concerned but obviously it's not ideal. You could always try some Rescue Remedy in her water to steady her nerves.

If she is pootling around the garden she should be OK without a coat, if she has free access in & out she'll come in if she feels cold. You'll find that once she settles in she won't venture outside if the weather is bad, it's probably a bit of a novelty for her at the moment ;D

Hopefully she will learn to jump in & out of the car boot, once she has her appetite you can tempt her in with a tasty treat. Also if you start loading her in to the car to take her out for walks she'll soon associate going in the boot as a good thing. I can't get mine out of the blummin boot they jump in at every opportunity
You can buy car hammocks which go on the back seat to stop her falling down the footwell & she should be harnessed in so that'll help also if she prefers to travel on the back seat rather that the boot.

You do know that we need photographic evidence don't you ;D

[dominique]

Try luring her in the boot with smelly tasty treats ;D I'm sure that she'll soon get the idea.

[binka]

Thanks for the replies.

The food is Wafcol Value Greyhound food - the rescue said it was a low protein food but I can't see anything on the sack that says what % is.

I've tried her with mackeral, cheese and biscuits and not she's bothered at all. I've got a DAP diffuser going. I haven't seen her drink either but am hoping that maybe she had a drink in the night.

I've been and bought a harness today - just need to learn how to put it on now!

I'll take some photos of her tomorrow.

[rzs]

Hi

When we first got Ruby she would often just eat a tiny bit of her food, wander off and then go back to it but then still end up leaving quite a bit. This went on for a couple of weeks and she did lose a bit of weight. We tried a couple of different things - firstly taking her food up after 15 mins and not putting any down until the next meal time. Then we also tried altering the proximity of our other dog, at first having him out of sight all together but then having him quite near to her as I read somewhere that having another dog nearby can encourge them to eat as it seems like there's a bit of competition. (They were seperated by a dog gate though). After a while she just settled down and got over it and she eats perfectly normally now.

With regards to car travel - I wouldn't have thought that the boot should be too high for her to jump in and out of. Ruby will sometimes jump into the boot and sometimes she just won't - it's the same with getting out. Could you try putting the seats flat rather than just moving them forward and put a nice bed or blankets in the boot? Ruby seems more inclined to jump in when the seats are flat - I think it's because there's no solid "barrier" that she can see just in front of her if you know what I mean.

Making the seats flat though does mean that the dog is not as secure so I use a harness when the seats are down (or if one of them is on the back seat) although I'm not desperately fond of them as they seem to get a bit tangled sometimes and I did hear that in terms of safety, although they help protect other passengers, they are not that great for the dogs Personally I think that in the boot with the seats forward is probably best but until she's happy jumping in and out flat seats and a harness might be worth a try.

Hope some of that might be helpful to you, as others have said try not to worry too much, things will settle over time.

[elmuervo]

Oh, I'm so glad that Bonnie is home to stay. That's really lovely.

Lots of great advice has been given already, and I too am sure that there's noting to worry about. Bonnie will eat when she's ready, and she's probably terribly stressed and unsettled at the moment. Would she like a drink of room-temperature milk, maybe? Anythings worth a try to keep her fluids up. ;D ;D

We have a Fiat Punto Grande and we bought a car ramp for Barney, but he was soon thinking "sod that!" and jumping in the boot on his own, so I'm sure that Bonnie will do the same as soon as she realizes that there are nice walkies at the end of car rides! ;D You're quite right that you can't keep lifting her - that a real crippler!

As far as the coat goes, I've been advised that if you need a coat on then so will she. So if it feels chilly and you automatically reach for your fleece before venturing out, it's odd-on that you'll need to pop her coat on.

I wish you all the luck in the world for your new life with your new girlie. You'll love every minute!

Jo
x

[binka]

Thanks for all the replies.

She's eaten now, but only because I took her food bowl over to her in bed. Lazy girl ate it while still lying down in bed! I know they're normally meant to have their food raised up, but am just glad she ate to be honest. Maybe she feels more secure in her bed? Hopefully tomorrow she'll be braver. ;D

[Flaperoo]

Hi Binka and to you and Bonnie ;D

bonnie is probably completely overwhelmed and has had an overdose of stimulus.

You don't say where you got Bonnie from or if you have any other dogs to show her the ropes, but if it was an ex racing kenell she may spend a few weks/months perplexed by her new environment.
Try not to pamper her too much, you just might reinforce any fears she has unwittingly. I am 100% sure that given time she will become the most loving companion and perfect dog ;D

Try not to worry and don;t try toooo hard

Please keep us updated I love hearing how they are getting on.


Mx

[binka]

She is from a racing kennel though had been in RGT kennels for a month before I got her. I don't have other dogs.

She did jump down from the boot by herself today. Progress!

I struggle getting her off her bed in the evening so I can put her in the garden to have a wee before I go to bed. Really struggle. I had to gently but firmly pull her out by using her collar. Then I felt bad that I maybe shouldn't have done that? But she wasn't responding to verbal encouragement or a biscuit. And if I hadn't then she'd have been wanting to go outside at 2;00am!

Then I struggle getting her back in. She comes to the back door but when I open it she runs off. I try calling her, I try moving away from the door incase I'm scaring her. Then I went out in the garden and had to lead her back in using her collar again - but she seemed to come happily when I did that.

[vickyb]

You're doing fine ;D, just like Bonnie Gracie was funny about going in and out to start off with, give her lots of praise when she's gone where you want her to and try to find a treat she really loves. With Gracie it's bread, just plain and she snatches your hand off. She loves cheese too, just small bits and they all love frolic, it's meant to be a food but I use it solely as treats, breaking the rings up small and it works out way cheaper than small bags of treats and I've yet to find a dog that doesn't like it. I put my hand in any coat pocket and there's always some in it! I find that it's easier to move ours with a lead rather than just collar, I think they understand that I mean it more and probably hope it means a walk! I shove Gracie out last thing or she wakes me up about 2am for a wee. I need my sleep so if she doesn't want to go out in the cold, tough! She understands wee wee.