# Retired greyhound sad



## DavidDavison (Aug 8, 2017)

Hi,

Our greyhound has been with us since the middle of May this year. Initially he was surprisingly well mannered and seemed very happy. He would always be really happy to see us in the morning and have a mad 5 minute running in and out of the house, and then again later on in the day, generally loving attention and seeming very content. Admittedly we had a few issues with him, mainly toileting in the house and not playing appropriately, lowering into a stalking position etc. We’ve addressed the issue of the inappropriate play, but he still does have accidents probably at least once a week during the night usually, or when we go out. He doesn’t give indication that he needs the toilet during the night by say barking loudly, he isn’t really a loud dog and very, very rarely barks anyway, but it would be great if he would give us some indication! Other than this he was very respectful and picked everything up quickly.

In the last couple of weeks/month he just really doesn’t seem happy in himself. He won’t get up from his bed in the morning to greet us or even bother to get up to eat his breakfast sometimes. We went out on the weekend for a family day out. I had arranged for my parents to come and let him out at lunchtime, where he was at home by himself for about 4 hours. In that time he had ripped his pillow to shreds (which is fine), but also ripped the electric cables out of the socket for our heater (not fine). Earlier in the week, he’d caused similar damage when he ripped the curtains down, had a poo and had then trodden this all over the room, curtains etc.

He does seem to have a sensitive tummy, particularly on the dry feed. As such we generally feed him mince beef, chicken, potatoes and vegetables and a fish oil tablet. He gets this meal for breakfast and then again at dinner.

We are a family of 5, myself, my wife and our 3 children (2, 4 and 6 years old). I work full time but am at home every night and my wife works Monday and Tuesday. On Monday and Tuesday we pay for a dog walker who takes him out for a good 2 hours and my wife returns home within 4 hours of this. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday my wife is generally at home or certainly not out for a whole day.

He gets a good walk with me every evening across the fields, where I let him off the lead when appropriate. He’s generally ok on recall unless he gets side-tracked by another dog in the distance or deer where it’ll pretty much be me running after him. Though he has come back several times on his own accord.

So I just don’t really understand why he seems so depressed and almost going backwards in himself by causing damage to things in the house and toileting more often (they are always loose, he has never toileted indoors where it’s been a good solid poo). We used to be able to go out and leave him quite confidently without worrying he would cause damage, but now you’re leaving the house hoping you don’t come back to chaos, and I wake up every morning hoping I don’t see poo on the kitchen floor.

He has clear boundaries, as we have young children so he gets free roam of the dining room and kitchen, which is cordoned off by a stairgate and when we’re in he’s got access to the house when we can ensure the children aren’t on their own with him etc.

He likes to sit right in the hallway where people are constantly passing through but I’m trying to get him to respect the children more by moving out of the way rather than them stepping over him. He has had an incident where he was asleep and my wife accidently startled him where he went for her. Similarly with my daughter, she accidently spilt a small amount of drink as she was going past and he reacted badly to that.

He’s not a particularly affection dog, he doesn’t want to sit resting on you, but he does like people to be around. Since he has been with us we have made sure we haven’t always been in, making him get used to that and then leaving for several hours. The routine has largely stayed the same. We have followed the guides in the DVD as much as possible. It seemed to suit him quite well and gives him some quiet time where the children aren’t around making noise as they do etc.

It feels like we’re giving him the best we can and that he is well catered for, but my gut feeling is that he just isn’t happy, and I don’t really know what do to. He’s so serious all of the time. I really don’t want to return him, but if he is unhappy then it would seem the fairer thing to do.

The only other things to mention that I can think of is that he was neutered a week prior to us collecting him (mid May 2017).

Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated as currently this is a big problem, and becoming bigger!


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

You don't say how old he is or, as he is a retired racing greyhound, whether he has ever been house-trained or lived in a home.

From what you've said it sounds like separation anxiety. Have your read through the 'sticky' at the top of this page?


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## Laney_Lemons (Mar 23, 2016)

I agree it sounds like separation anxiety... the toileting and destroying the furniture seems like hes distressed when you leave.. it seems hes not coping on his own, you have maybe started out too long getting him used to being on his own? 

Do you know his history & age? and as twiggy has said, is he a retired racing greyhound? was he used to living in a house? 

Is there anywhere in the hall where you could put his bed that hes not in the way? say under the stairs or something where he can see the going on's of the house but is safe from being stepped on? if not, is there anywhere else he could have his bed?


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## ZiggyB (Mar 5, 2016)

My first thought is also separation anxiety as the others have mentioned. The sticky is well worth reading and helped me when I had this issue with mine. He's great now, although still has a bit of anxiety with me leaving in some situations, where he'll whine, particularly if he knows I'm near by, but no wrecking. I had him from a pup and knew his background so it was an easier issue to deal with initially. Start off leaving him for very small amounts of time, and slowly adding extra onto it, I think mine was an extra 20 mins each week, very slow! But built him up gradually.


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## Calvine (Aug 20, 2012)

If he was in racing he would have been in kennels with other dogs for company; is it possible he misses that? Kennels would explain why he isn't 100% housetrained too.


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## planete (Jan 21, 2012)

I have found with my lurchers that they are far happier to be left if they have had some exercise first. If you do not do so already try and take him out for twenty minutes or whatever time you can spare before his breakfast. One of mine will not eat any breakfast if he has not been taken out first, even if it is only round the block. It will also make him look forward to getting up!

Same thing before leaving him for any length of time, make sure he has been exercised first. It may help with cleanliness as well. I know it is a pain when you are rushing around in the morning before work and getting the children ready as well but it is worth a try. He may also be getting a bit stiff as most running dogs do as they get older and a vet check might highlight any issues which could be helped by some medication.


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

Also, I would let your Vet give him a thorough check up.

As he has diarrhea, you would have to assume he may well be in some pain or discomfort and this could cause him to be depressed.

I would deal with his digestion issues first.


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