Help!

[ghost]

Good Evening all! 

I am in need of advice! I brought home my first 'rescue' greyhound 9 days ago and until today he has been unbelievably well behaved, the perfect gent indeed! Here is my problem, last night I put my Christmas decorations up and he was in the room the whole time ans was not bothered in the slightest by the new feature, Nor was he bothered first thing this morning, until I either put the snow spray on the tree or got the cinnamon scented Pinecones out, now he will not even come I the room he stands about a meter out the doorway crying, and has generally been fearful of the room, I'm not 100% sure on how best to deal with the situation do I allow him to come in in his own time, do I attempt to figure the root of his worry, or maybe be concerned that there is an disclosed reason for this behaviour? 

I am very concerned as I have a 4 year old daughter, and am aware of the actions he may take if he becomes to fearful and anxious and of course it has to be my daughter who is my priority here, being it The Christmas tree and my daughters age, I feel in a right todo as I am not wanting to spoil her first proper Christmas that she understands nor do I want to put her at risk by keeping the possible offending in the picture,

What would/could be a possible remedy or technique to try??? Any advice for a first timer is truly welcomed 



Gem 

[samburns]

I think from his point of view, 9 days is a very short amount of time and now his whole environment has suddenly changed which has massively unsettled him.  I would just let him be, don't push him to be in the room and if he does come in just ignore him so its no big deal.  Try to keep everything else in his life as routine as possible: feeding, walking etc  Greyhounds are very sensitive to change and if he has come straight from kennels he really does have a lot to adapt to and he is still very much finding his feet

[sharonhigh45]

Hope he settles down okay soon.
Shazx

[Tina 1208]

Can you get rid of the snow spray or pine cones.... See if that helps if it seemed to be the trigger.

[sammy13]

When we adopted Nell, black greyhound, she settled very well. We got her in September and a few weeks later started acting very strangely. She would jump up at things on the walls and cry a lot. We found out it was the lights reflecting on things. After lots of reassurance she was fine. Hope he soon gets over it. It is very early days yet x

[kamkay]

Not much to add except welcome to Gap and the weird and wonderful world of greyhounds. Time and patience are the key words here- good luck and keep us updated:-)

[ragsysmum]

Well I guess it would be easy to remove the pine cones at least, in case it is the smell that is upsetting him. Otherwise he'll probably come round in his own good time when he sees nothing else odd is happening and a few bits of cocktail sausage may well be enough to encourage him to join you in the room and forget whatever worried him....nothing like a bit of bribery with a tasty treat to make them forget all the silly little things that sometimes upset them.

[ghost]

Well wow to such a fab response! I have removed the Pinecones to no avail, unfortunately the snow spray is a little tricky as it's on the actual tree! We have been calling him to come in but only one call each time and allowing him to decide and he has a few times taken a few delicate steps past the threshold and then retreated, so he seems to be trying to be brave, but he has his bolt hole and escapes there when it's all too much I feel less worried for him now as he is calmer but still offended by whatever it is.

I thought I should give a little background on him too as I am hoping to become a little more active here being a first timer an all!

Our boy is called Ghost we know he was removed by a lovely couple who are show hound keepers and breeders they gave him his second life after being alerted to a man keeping a number in very poor conditions our boy we know lost most of his coat from his unkept state and being covered in feces (his own and the other dogs) and urine, he was malnourished but still friendly, trusting and loving, he came from a house and not kennels though the house he was in was very small so they could not keep him. The think he is around 3, know he was used for racing but very little else. We are finding our feet together and he is so well behaved, he is a lot of fun and loves to play is a dream (one of the best dogs I have walked) on the lead, is obedient and gentle , he loves to come and lay beside my daughters bed at story time before she sleeps and gives her a quick look and a sniff before we leave her. He really is part of our family already,

Thank you all so much taking the time to respond and advise it is heartwarming to know I have support if needed

Gem
X

[gvgeam]

Hi Gem, I'm relatively new myself to this forum, although not new to dog ownership. We adopted Maple, a lurcher, from GG at the end of June.

I would ignore Ghost's reluctance to come in as any acknowledgement of his fear/nervousness could inadvertently reward the behaviour and reinforce it. Let him make the decision to join you and give him a little treat to show how nice it is in the room with you all. 

He sounds as though he's already won your hearts. I love him helping to put your daughter to bed. I'll warn you now - the Gappers like pictures and lots of 'erm!

[sharonhigh45]

HI, I am also very new to GG having adopted Moss on 26.10.13 and from reading the posts can see that it is like being part of a huge family which is reassuring and quite sad at times as there have been a lot of hounds that have passed away in the last month, but there is so much support from people out there to help and sympathise and give good advice, hope your new boy settles down quickly, sending best wishes from Shazx

[Letty's Mum]

Hi, and welcome to Gap
Ghost sounds lovely, hope he settles with the Christmas decs soon.
I'd only had Moose a few weeks when I put my tree up. He just marched in, had a quick sniff and pizzed all over it!
Gotta love these Greyhounds
Seriously though, I wish you well with him x

[deborahburt]

Welcome to GG Ghost and Gem.
Hopefully Ghost settles himself soon and is able to enjoy Christmas with you.

[ghost]

Hello! Sorry it has been so long to fill you all in, he did eventually accept the tree it took a lot of treats and tree hugging though.

He has settled well, though I think he is still adjusting to life outside a crate and racing track, we have a little territorial issue with the sofa but nipped that in the bud! And found he HATES bells and fireworks he shakes so bad you'd think you left your phone on the table on vibrate, you really can actually hear him poor boy!

He is now so vocal! it's amazing if we talk to home he talks back in his own high pitched way :-)

[sharonhigh45]

So pleased to hear that things have settled down, they can be vocal my Moss who we have had since the end of Oct talks to me as well,quite amusing and sometimes feels like he is trying to outdo us.
Shazx