Okay to late we have Seperation Anxiety

[jamesuk]

just a quick 'heads up'.

it took our amber approximately an hour to muster the strength/courage to leap over the 35 argos babygate. and she's not a large greyhound by any means.

if you want a gate, try this one - www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8704346/Trail/searchtext%3EPET+GATE.htm, tis taller.

[julies]

Hi

As well as all the great suggestions here also have a look at Tellington TTouch - its a training system that works with the animal (no force) and builds their confidence up so they can cope with lots of different situations.

I've just lost the first message I spent ages on so please check out www.tilley farm.co uk or www.ttouchtteam.co.uk for lots of info - I'm a Practitioner so am happy to do a Workshop to raise money for GG to use however they want .. just let me know and we'll sort details out.

I have Charlie/Rigsby and understandably he was very clingey when I got him .. I did the ignoring too, he was crated at first when I was out with Kongs etc but I also did TTouch bodywork with him especially on his feet and legs - and he hated you touching his feet at first. I also slept on an old tee shirt and put that on him when I left so it hugged him and smelt of me.... we usually use wraps but tee shirts can work too tho my greyhound found a wrap too much at first.

In TTouch we find that if you bring the dog into physical balance then mental balance follows .. when I got Charlie he couldn't stand up in the back of the car but now he's rock solid and can also be left on his own at home or in the car when I take Tigger out. .. often SA dogs have cold feet and legs - so we'd suggest not a good connection with the floor so not confident. You also find that (like us) when they are worried they often have a very dry mouth .. Chrlie finds other dogs sometimes difficult to cope with and will lunge at them - I do TTouch mouth work when he's getting OTT and stressed ... it calms him as there are loads of accupressure points in the mouth which affect the whole body and nerbous system .. or maybe it's not much street cred so he shuts up hoping no one will notice )

TTouch is great - it sounds odd but it works and it can help with all kinds of behavioural issues such as fear aggression, aggression, lack of bonding, old age stiffness etc etc .. and of course it's a lovely way to spend time with your dogs :=)

Best wishes

Julie and Charlie and Tigger

[julies]

PS If your dogs jumping gates, scratching doors etc etc I'd suggest you're going too fast for that dog ... go back to a point that the dog could cope ..you can use the child gate to help so (likes been said) the dog can see you but not follow you so give the dog a scrummy Kong, when it's settled then casually get up, go out of the room thro the child gate, stay in view and maybe even turn round, come straight back and ignore the dog, sit down and carry on reading or whatever then when the dog settles call it over. Build that up to -go thro the gate, still in sight, make a cuppa, go back, ignore dog, etc etc ... then - as long as the dog remains calm, if not go back a stage- go thro child gate, go out of sight, come straight back, maybe stay in view, make a cuppa, etc etc

If your dog won't settle at night and you don't want them in the bedroom then use the child gate on the bedroom door so they can see you, put their bed on the landing and they usually are ok

Best wishes

Julie and the furries

[fraserl]

Hi,

We've had Twiggy for nearly 2 weeks and she has settled very well. We had some whimpering for around 30mins on the first night when we went to bed, 10mins on the second night and now none at all.
When we go out, we leave her with a Kong and/or some other treats. She still follows us to the door however and is excited when we get back. But I can tell that she has been in her bed as it is warm. The longest we have left her for thus far is around 90mins but this will go up to around 4hours next week. She has never toileted inside when left and there is no sign of her being destructive but I want to be sure that I am doing everything possible for her. She is only moderately interested in her Kong at the moment. Is there anything else you think we should be doing?

[danhodson]

At the moment we leave Dave in our dining room/kitchen during the day, is this space too big for him? The only other option would be leaving him in our utility room but its a bit cold and doesn't get much natural light.

[kamkay]

We left Jet in our kitchen/dining room and he settled quite happily - I'm assuming Dave has a nice comfy bed in there !! Stick at it - it'll be worth it for all of you in the end.

[danhodson]

Funnily enough we had a little breakthrough this morning, I think now he must assosciate being in the kitchen/diner with being left alone, he wouldn't go in there at all last night even though we were in there. He just stood by the door crying. So this morning I just left him on the sofa when I went to work and he seemed fine. I stood by the door for half an hour or so waiting for him to go back to sleep and he didnt cry when I left. Although its not ideal I guess a comfortable hound is a relaxed hound...

[em1ly]

Hello, I'm new here. We adopted our large male resound, Logie, in November. We also have another dog, a lively cocker spaniel called Angus. I wish I had discovered his forum earlier and would have definitely benefitted from reading Lisa's article on bringing home a new hound. We did get off to a quite a good start and for the first month or two Logie seemed fairly well settled but I think Christmas has caused a real setback. I'm assuming that the sudden increase in family activity and possibly the fact my husband and I were both off work for two weeks meant that he started to depend on us being around more. He has taken to following us around the house constantly and whining and yelping if he ends up separated from us within the house. Strangely he seems fine when we go out, we have left the house and listened outside, and also listened from outside before returning home and all is calm and quiet. I have also checked with our neighbours who assure me all is fine while we're out. The problem seems to be mainly when we're in. The worst occasions are 0630 every morning before we get up, and in the evening when we go upstairs to put the children to bed.

I've read with interest about the greyhounds' daily schedule (he was racing until last July) and imagine the fact that we have no curtains in our house could be making the problem worse! Would a crate with a cover at night be useful? Do they make them big enough? He is 35kg and the size of a small pony! We have a utility room where the spaniel has always slept and it makes a nice den but it doesn't have windows to the outside world and on the few occasions he has been in there he has started to panic and scratch the door. I am a bit concerned as to how he might cope with a crate if he is becoming claustrophobic in a small room.

Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated thanks!

[alexandsteve]

What about putting some baby gates up?

Hello and welcome by the way xxx

[em1ly]

Hi, yes we have a baby gate between the kitchen and dining/living room which is useful for separating dogs and children but don't know how it can help with early rising. Do you mean try a baby gate in utility room door? I am considering this option although will have to find the right gate. The frame is too narrow for a pressure gate. I'm just trying to work out how to create a darker sleeping space for him that he feels comfortable and secure in. We can't really consider letting him in our room as we already have a two year old and often a five year old in with us... Just not sure we're prepared to add a 35kg greyhound to the mix!!

[alexandsteve]

Is he crying at 6.30? Maybe he needs a pee break? Xxx and yes you could put the gates else where to stop him following you x

[em1ly]

It doesn't seem to make any difference whether we give him a pee break at 2300 or even 0200 (I sometimes work v late!) he's still whining at 0630. I have wondered if it could be hunger? He seems to be permanently hungry compared to the spaniel but he is getting plenty of food and the vet assures us he's a good weight. He's quite naughty at pinching any food we might accidentally leave in his reach but I think he might just be more food orientated than the spaniel, and hasn't learned the boundaries yet.

I notice some people have mentioned pyjamas for their hound, just to make sure they're not getting cold at night, but then he only wakes in the morning when the heating has come on so not sure about that. I suppose ultimately I have to treat it as SA and get back to basics, and if we can get to a stage that he's comfortable in the utility room I can make it darker in there.

[alexandsteve]

Maybe he has just made himself a little routine.
I'm sure someone with lots of knowledge will be along to help you xxx

[em1ly]

Yes, I think you're right! He's the only one in the house who has! Maybe our slightly irregular hours don't help. I suppose he's been so used to everything happening at the same time each day and now he's moved in with us and doesn't know who's coming and going and when. Now the kids are back at school I think it might be a good time to establish a better routine, and hopefully he might settle back down again. Thanks!

[greybeard]

He could be cold ?PJ's.Re hunger -our 1st grey had never raced,but was always a counter surfer.Now on our2nd retired racer - and just observing them(probabley wrong),they just seem to think they'ved never had enough food and we're just starving them.After 3 years Perry now eats nicely and seems to enjoy it,and doesn't ask for more.Jem only recently retired last year still thinks she's starved,wolfs her food down and always wants more.She's only a littlie - give in and she'd be a huge sausage.It does get better once it finally sinks in they are being fed regulary and usually a better quality food.Cath