Anxiety specifically on walks - noise?

[craigy]

Sorry if similar has been answered before.

We adopted a 4 year old retired greyhound (retired after an injury but OK now) about 6 weeks ago. She settled in really well and we have had no particular problems at all until this week.

This week she has become really anxious when we are out on a walk. She is now reluctant to go out and once she has emptied she is desperate to get back home. She turns round and heads for home and although I have got her to stand still with a 'calm', once we start moving she tries to race off again. If I wait longer she eventually howls and starts off again pulling like crazy.

It may have started when we walked past some people playing football and a ball hit a wire fence nearby (tonight she became super anxious when we walked past a part with a wire fence even though there was no one playing).

She was a little nervous of noises before generally OK and it was possible to calm her. Now it is distressing to watch so I can't imagine how stressed she feels. I've tried treating her when she is out but I can no longer get her to focus or take treats.

We have been pretty careful about separation anxiety and routine and the problem at the moment appears to be only on walks.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Craig

[Flaperoo]

Firstly Craig a very warm welcome.

Can you walk her to avoid this particular area? If so is she better on these other walks?

You have only had her six weeks and greyhounds get spooked by many things that to us are everyday, but to them are truly scary

I will reply more fully tomorrow (I have to walk my own dogs now), but I'm sure others too will come along and offer very good advice.

Greyhounds are not the easiest of dogs to understand and work with, but they are truly worth it .

Maryx

[harrie]

hi Craig, I've had some great advice from here already so I'm sure some help will be on the way soon. It does sound like you've found the root of the problem with the ball thing - poor wee thing is so new, it must have been such a shock for her.

good luck and great to hear you have adopted a new pooch

[julies]

Hi Craig
Just to say - in case it helps that I find ex-racers tend to have a blip in behaviour after about 6-8 weeks in a new home ... it's as tho they first retire and are often quiet and shut down in their new environment then after 6-8 weeks they get a bit braver and a little more confident so start to notice things about them and may react more I would guess you're right that the ball and wire incident was a bit too much for her Can you walk elsewhere or put her in the car and take her to a quieter place to walk say a country area with lots of nice smells to encourage her to walk - and probably more like the places she's been used to You could sleep on a small tee shirt and put that on her so she feels hugged with your smell around her which may help her confidence tho I'd bet if you could find another greyhound to walk with she'd settle better ...

You can get some calming herbal things from good pet shops or Dorwest Herbs on line which might help her and take really high value treats with you like liver

Mary can offer loads of good advice too so I'[m sure you'll find something to help

Best wishes and welcome to greyhounds and Gap

Julie

[mickey]

hi, totally agree with julies. I noticed a huge change in my 4 year old after a few months. Had sort of got used to all the house noises but a bit wary on walks (live inner city unfortunately), then improved on walks until we hit october last year and the fireworks started. she refused to go out after 4pm, quivvered and shook and i was terrrified she would have a heart attack- she wouldnt even wee in the yard after 4pm. we daily just tried to do a little walk, on a short lead with lots of reassurance/treats and she improved in a couple of months.
She still hates footballs being kicked, anything that sounds like a bang/shot, windy days and cricketbats and balls. teenage boys or anyone walking too close behind and shes ready to run. ( she also hated it when i once threw a ball for her) I think you do sort of have to become your dog and look for these things and avoid and reassure. It also helped mine gain in confidence when i got number 2--- she goes out in the dark no problem now, hes not timid, he's a mr keen and thats a whole different story!! Keep them on the lead and keep them safe.

[mickey]

forgot to say, we did a few weeks of coming home when she started twirling, and just letting her be, then walked her for a few minutes through her twirling, treats and praise. pirouetting down the street my partner called it - and he ain't no ballet dancer! ;D slowly slowly catchy and all that. and praise the positives. keep her away from what's spooking her as its such very early days in her life from the world that she has so far known.

[Nettie]

Since she is so stressed out you may find it useful to get a DAP/Adaptil collar for her. The collar releases pheromones that a bitch will release to calm puppies, while she's wearing the collar use treats and positive training when she's calm out of walks. Wearing the collar will keep her calm enough for you to treat and train her that things are not as scary as she thinks. Don't push her too much, let her take her time but just push her a teeny bit out of her comfort zone and reward her for staying calm. Little steps and she'll make progress.

[Flaperoo]

She clearly associates danger with being outside, probably brought about by the incident with the ball and wire.

My Flash was unfortunate after about 6 weeks with us to have a banger thrown at him by some teenagers - I lie not but he kept on leaping 10ft into the air to run away. Others in the park had to help me manage him, the kids ran off and things appeared to calm down so we tried to walk back home. He was uncontrollable . I eventually called my partner to collect us in the car. As soon as the car pulled up he literally dragged me over to it and just dived in.

After that he refused to go out, even to the garden anytime day or night .

We bought a harness mainly because I was concerned about him slipping out of his collar and at first we would sit on the back doorstep of the garden and just bring him out with us for a few minutes at a time. To begin with he would not relax and wanted to rush back inside, but we would keep him close to us so he could feel secure. After a week he plucked up the courage have a pee and poo very quickly and then rush back inside. Very pleased with this result we allowed this to continue for several weeks and at least until the firework season was over.

We then took him to the front step and just sat with him there, gradually we got him to travel down the street and increased the distance slowly, and after 3 weeks he would walk to the end of the road and we would come back. We gradually increased the distance and he became more confident.

We avoided that walk, as we had alternatives and very quickly after this he calmed down and started to enjoy his walks .

This turned out to be a valuable experience; we got to know our dog and he got to know and more importantly trust us to keep him safe .

After six weeks out of kennels they are still in fight/flight mode . The world is a very scary place for them . The most important thing is they learn to trust you, that requires to begin with that you to fit in with your dog, not your dog fit in with you. This may cause disruption for a short period but it doesn't last long and the rewards are immense.

One of the difficulties of answering a thread like this is not knowing your circumstances and what is possible for you to do.

By taking it slowly and with patience and tolerance (Flash made quite a mess of the kitchen whilst he wouldn't go outside), we were rewarded with a heart dog .

Flash turned into the most wonderful dog. He was confident, laid back ,and the leader of my pack until he died two months ago.

The work we put into Flash on this and other issues in the first year is the reason why I love this breed so much.

What I am saying is everytime you ask her to get out of her fear/comfort zone is walk that journey WITH HER very slowly and at a pace she can cope with .

Please keep us informed we would love to know how you are getting on...and a few pics would be lovely

Welcome to the wonderful world of greyhounds

Maryxx

[craigy]

Thanks so much for all the advice. I feel a lot better.

We had a great session with a dog trainer this evening. We spent 15 minutes just sitting on the front step feeding her occasional treats until she was calm and then went for a short walk. We had lots of other tips and advice and have a plan for the next few months. Lots of routine, short predictable walks, lots of slowly reintroducing her to the big wide world with lots of reassurance. Although it sounds like we need to leave the country around Nov 5th!

Updates and pics to follow.
Thanks again, C

[craigy]

No a great pic but here is Mini

[samburns]

Oh my what a beautiful girl

Really pleased to hear that the dog trainer has given you some reassurance and sounds like some really appropriate advice

My girl Sibs is very noise reactive Probably not to the extent that Mini is, she copes okay on walks unless there are loud bangs but fireworks and thunder really freak her We give her Scullcap and Valerian tablets and Valerian tincture - natural remedies but they do help her to stay calmer