Settling In

Our expectations on pet dogs is huge and when you take your greyhound home, they have a lot of new things to learn just in your house. New people, new sights, smells and sounds and often other pets. This is a lot for a dog to learn about and often when they first arrive, they will be feeling very stressed and anxious so our first steps must be allowing them to settle in the home. It will take at least three days for your new greyhound’s stress levels to come back into normal ranges where they are able to process new things rather than just react to them. 

The first steps when bringing a new dog home are to build a secure and strong attachment and integrate them slowly into their new surroundings. Any fear or anxiety related behaviour while the dog settles in is completely normal and a degree of stress is to be expected. Almost all hounds have lived rurally in kennel environment for their whole life and there will be so many ‘firsts’ they’ll need guiding through.  

Initially, just being present and available to guide your greyhound is invaluable as they navigate this strange new world, however it takes more than that to build a rock-solid friendship. 

Our expectations on pet dogs is huge and when you take your greyhound home, they have a lot of new things to learn just in your house. New people, new sights, smells and sounds and often other pets. This is a lot for a dog to learn about and often when they first arrive, they will be feeling very stressed and anxious so our first steps must be allowing them to settle in the home. It will take at least three days for your new greyhound’s stress levels to come back into normal ranges where they are able to process new things rather than just react to them.  

If we start adding new things and the dog is already in a stressed state, then they are far more likely to cause issues like freezing on walks and leash reactivity. These are preventable if we take it very slow and don’t rush into adding new things to process when the dog is not relaxed enough to do so. 

Here are our top 10 steps for success setting you up to have the best relationship with your new greyhound: 

  1. Be proactive in helping your greyhound make the right choices by using a crate, playpen, or baby-gate when you can’t supervise them.  
  2. Make sure your greyhound has somewhere quiet to rest undisturbed
  3. Leave them alone when they are on their bed, sleeping, or resting
  4. Spend time building a relationship through play, enrichment activities, and fun training games 
  5. All interactions with children are supervised and at the greyhound’s pace  
  6. Leave them alone when they are eating and separate them from other animals at meal times 
  7. Keep them off the furniture for at least three weeks while they are learning the house rules
  8. No walks for at least 3 days, then only in an area that is quieter away from traffic, lots of people, and other dogs.
  9. Keep them on lead – especially in unfenced areas. Instead use a harness and a longline to give them more freedom to sniff and explore.
  10. Use a muzzle when introducing new dogs or other animals.

What to expect when you are expecting - a great guide for the first few weeks of your greyhounds new pet life.

Please watch our Settling in 30 day Video Diary for tips on settling in a new greyhound.

Check out our behavior guides below:

For more training advice see our training section full of useful articles and videos to help you and your hound.

First Steps

The first steps when bringing a new dog home are to build a secure and strong attachment and integrate them slowly into their new surroundings. Any fear or anxiety related behaviour while the dog settles in is completely normal and a degree of stress is to be expected. Almost all hounds have lived rurally in kennel environment for their whole life and there will be so many ‘firsts’ they’ll need guiding through.  

Initially, just being present and available to guide your greyhound is invaluable as they navigate this strange new world, however it takes more than that to build a rock-solid friendship. 

Settling In

Our expectations on pet dogs is huge and when you take your greyhound home, they have a lot of new things to learn just in your house. New people, new sights, smells and sounds and often other pets. This is a lot for a dog to learn about and often when they first arrive, they will be feeling very stressed and anxious so our first steps must be allowing them to settle in the home. It will take at least three days for your new greyhound’s stress levels to come back into normal ranges where they are able to process new things rather than just react to them.  

If we start adding new things and the dog is already in a stressed state, then they are far more likely to cause issues like freezing on walks and leash reactivity. These are preventable if we take it very slow and don’t rush into adding new things to process when the dog is not relaxed enough to do so. 

Here are our top 10 steps for success setting you up to have the best relationship with your new greyhound: 

  1. Be proactive in helping your greyhound make the right choices by using a crate, playpen, or baby-gate when you can’t supervise them.  
  2. Make sure your greyhound has somewhere quiet to rest undisturbed
  3. Leave them alone when they are on their bed, sleeping, or resting
  4. Spend time building a relationship through play, enrichment activities, and fun training games 
  5. All interactions with children are supervised and at the greyhound’s pace  
  6. Leave them alone when they are eating and separate them from other animals at meal times 
  7. Keep them off the furniture for at least three weeks while they are learning the house rules
  8. No walks for at least 3 days, then only in an area that is quieter away from traffic, lots of people, and other dogs.
  9. Keep them on lead – especially in unfenced areas. Instead use a harness and a longline to give them more freedom to sniff and explore.
  10. Use a muzzle when introducing new dogs or other animals.

What to expect when you are expecting - a great guide for the first few weeks of your greyhounds new pet life.

Please watch our Settling in 30 day Video Diary for tips on settling in a new greyhound.

Check out our behavior guides below:

Further Advice

For more training advice see our training section full of useful articles and videos to help you and your hound.