New Greyhound Owner

[gina56]

Hi Everyone,

I have been lucky enough to adopt  a 2yo male Greyhound boy from G R W. He has been with me since Monday and is a real darling.

Nelson has never lived in a home before and is doing very well although he sometimes seems very stressed and starts panting and his nose drips. I have given him a quiet place to sleep but he stays close to me and if I move so does he.

I know they are very early days but is there anything else I can do to reassure him ?

[samburns]

Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of greyhound ownership, and to Greyhound Gap


If you have not done so already have a read through this information: greyhoundgap.proboards.com/thread/29756/new-hound-home


Its not unusual for a greyhound to pant when they first come home and are getting used to their new surroundings.  Sometimes it can be a sign that they need to toilet, they don't necessarily know how to 'ask' to go out to start with. 

If he is following you around a lot, it can be useful to put a baby gate up in the room where he is so that you can practice leaving him in there and him not being able to follow you (a baby gate is what many of us use because they very often don't like to have doors shut on them) he just needs to learn that it is okay if you are not with him. 

[sharonhigh45]

gina56,
Welcome,you will find lots of support and advice from the Greyhound Gap, good luck with your new boy.
Shazx

[kamkay]

Welcome to Gap-there is a wealth of information on here , which I found invaluable when I adopted my greyhound 2 and a half years ago. Good luck with Nelson, who is probably finding it all a bit strange at the moment.

[gina56]

Thank you all for your advice. I think I'm a bit over anxious to be honest and considering he's only been here a few days  he's coping very well. x

[greybeard]

Hello and welcome to Gap.Like others have said there's loads of advice and support for you here.Just be warned - sighthounds are addictive and 1 may not be enough.Cath

[ritab]

My greyhound girl developed a strong attachment to me which I failed to deal with appropriately. The advice about using a child gate so he can see you but not follow you everywhere is excellent. Also practice leaving him for very short periods (2 mins to start). My lovely girl has severe separation issues and I can only leave her for short periods. If I'd known what I know now I would have taken my own advice!!!

My other advice is that you persevere, try not to get stressed, and after a year you look back and feel all warm and fuzzy when you see what a difference there is to the dog that first arrived.

[sharonhigh45]

gina56, all good advice above,it is natural to feel anxious, believe it or not I was anxious when I adopted my lurcher five months ago and that was after having adopted a young lurcher thrown out on a country road about ten years ago, bringing her home to a staffie X and having no back up as we had found her abandoned, I might say they were interesting times and yes stressful but we got through it, unfortunately she passed away suddenly last October and that was when we got Moss our new boy and yes I was anxious even though I had already had years of experience before,but this time we had all the advice we could want and am so glad we decided to have another hound, so fulfilling when you get over the initial settling down and yes Moss is very attached to me but now he knows that he is in his forever home he has settled down and we love him to bits, so patience and persevere and you will win through.
Shazx