During the COVID-19 Lockdown in 2020 Bec fostered Coby the greyhound and put together a realtime video update of the settling in process along with some tips and training techniques.
Below are the videos in order and we hope these help you with settling your new greyhound into your family.
Day 1-2 - Keeping it small to help settle from Day 1
Day 2 - starting basic attention
Day 3 - starting to expose your greyhound to more in small steps
Food enrichment - the muffin tin
Day 4 - going at your greyhound's pace and introducing games
Day 5 - dog treats, offering choices, clicker training and starting 'on your bed'
Day 6 - the importance of taking it slow & starting clicker training
Day 7 & 8
For the last couple of days we’ve worked on creating a bit of a routine. Outside wander/sniff then breakfast, rest time in crate, lunchtime walk (slightly longer today at 15mins) rest time out of crate, evening outside time, toys, rest time, dinner then more rest time with bits of training stuff thrown in around outside time.
Also I have started to use his name inside, just to get his attention.
Got the chickens sorted so we now have a safe place outside in a small paddock to play in.
Last night and this morning in the paddock Coby was not interested in me or treats, at all. At all! Which was exactly what I expected.
I also expected much the same tonight with maybe a bit more interest in treats. Was hoping to get a zoomie on video but it wasn’t to be.
The video below, from this evening, really shows how allowing our dogs to process things is so important. Plus how if we allow them this time, don’t expect too much and don’t move on too fast, how they can then move forward. Often quite quickly.
Day 9
Today we talk about growling - this is a must watch for adopters and those looking to adopt.
Day 10 - training games! Fun!
Day 11 & 12
Tips for socialising with other dogs - a must watch for new adopters. Building behaviours you want - loose leash walking and attention
Day 13 - First night sleeping alone & alone time during the day. Treats and the importance of body language plus nutrition and feeding for enrichment. Check out our Nutrition blog here.
Day 14 - Coby's day - routine and training times
Day 15 - Today Coby continues his ‘on the bed’ training and Bec talks about stoping and avoiding jumping up behaviour with your dogs
Day - 16 Bec talks about raising criteria and default behaviours
Days 17 & 18 - We see how Coby’s getting on and Bec demonstrates how to start teaching targeting with a nose touch and teaching your greyhound to stand on something. Both are super fun to teach and a nose touch is very useful.
Note from Bec: if your hound doesn’t touch your hand to start, as Coby does, just pop a treat in that hand and as your hound gets it and touches your hand mark/click at that moment and repeat a few times.
Day 19 - today we talk about whining and also ways to continue to work on focus with adding distractions
Day 20 - learning to be left alone. Check out our blog with some tips here as well.
Day 21 - three weeks in, what Coby has done and what he hasn't. A reminder of the importance of taking it slowly.
Day 22 - 23 Today we look at car training
Day 24 & 25 - Coby's chicken training continues and Bec talks about creating good sleep routines
Day 26 - More chicken training
Day 27 - Coby takes us on a walk
Days 28 & 29 - Food enrichment and playing with your greyhound
Day 30 - The final instalment and we check out how far Coby has come in his pet journey