Bringing Your New Pet Greyhound Home

Bringing home a new pet is an exciting and rewarding experience. For the Greyhound, adjusting to the life of a pet from that of an ex-racer can take several weeks and up to several months. Following are a few suggestions to make the transition easier.

• Once you get home, you should first offer your Greyhound a chance to relieve itself. Walk your dog back and forth in a small area until it does so.
• Allow the dog to explore its new home at its own speed, but always under your supervision. It will be much easier to establish good habits early than to correct bad ones later.
• Although your dog is used to living indoors, everything is new to him in your home. As he sniffs his way through the house, you can offer words of encouragement or discouragement.
• The patterns you set in the first few days are the ones you will live with the rest of your pet's life. If you do not want your pet on the furniture, do not break down at three A.M. and cuddle him on the couch!
• Verbal commands are generally enough to train your Greyhound. He/she will know by the tone of your voice what is acceptable and what is not.
• This will be a very stressful few days for your Greyhound. It is best to keep things quiet - delay the welcome home party for a week or two.
• It is not unusual for a new pet to refuse to eat for a day or two. He will probably drink more water than normal and consequently need to go out more often. Also, he will need more rest then normal.
• The change of diet and excitement of his new home may cause your new pet to have diarrhea. Should this occur, give your dog two teaspoons of Kaopectate every hour for four hours or until the diarrhea stops. If it continues for more than a day, consult your veterinarian.

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