Night-time barking

[wendym]

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i could really do with some advice please. we re-homed a male greyhound Freddie who's just about 2 years old from our local RGT 11 days ago. the first 8 nights he was ok, a bit of whining for maybe half an hour then nothing til morning. during this time we progressed from shutting him in the kitchen at night to leaving him in the dining room, and hardly any noise at all from him. BUT 3 nights ago he just started barking, howling continually and scratching, chewing things.

husband tried to get him to come upstairs to sleep near us, but Freddie would not go and i wasn't about to force him.

we decided he had to go back to sleeping in kitchen where he can't do much damage. he was put in there during the day for abt 40 mins while we were both out and he was quiet in his bed when i got home. so...i decided that we would work on leaving him for short periods of time during the day to get him used to being left in the kitchen, this we did leaving him for 5, 10, 15 mins. ignoring him for 5 mins when we got back. we videoed him while we were out and after a short whine he would go to his bed. we also have tried to get him to associate the kitchen with nice things and have spent time in there with him feeding him treats whenever he comes in on his own to see what i am doing or calling him in to give him treats while i am sitting on kitchen floor near his bed.

unfortunately tonight he has now been barking, howling for nearly 2 hours. my husband has work this morning, so for the 3rd night now i am on the sofa, which i know is not right, but husband needs to sleep. I am ignoring the dog and he has just laid on lounge floor to sleep. We have left a light on in the hall so he is not in the dark and we have a radio playing too

i will persevere with the leaving Freddie in kitchen during the day and go out for short times, and give him treats in the kitchen. but i can't understand why he is ok when we leave the house, but not when we go to bed. Freddie has 2 walks a day, a fairly long one during the morning and another 30 minute one in the evening. He is left with a kong and toys to play with. He was not that keen on treats when we first go him, presumably because he had not lived with a family as he was a racer, but seems to like them now.

When we first got him he did jump up and follow us wherever we went in the house, downstairs only, but didn't bother him when we went upstairs. However now, he does not do this so much, & will go and lie in his bed in another room, in fact Freddie has spent most of the afternoon laying in the shade in the garden, so we thought maybe it isn't separation anxiety.

My husband phoned the rescue kennel for advice and they offered us another dog as company for him but we cannot manage 2 dogs, or we could swap him for another one. But Freddie is just what we want in a dog apart from this night time behaviour. my husband is starting to feel it may be best to return him but i don't agree.

any advice would be appreciated, sorry post is long but wanted to give all facts and what we have tried.

 

[gypsysmum2]

It sounds as if something is bothering him at night when he is alone that he finds distressing.

It could be he is not used to being alone at night. Greyhounds are almost always paired with another dog in kennels. This does NOT mean that another dog will comfort him now. It may be that he has bonded with you and now finds life, at night, too much to cope with if you are not there. It is encouraging that short periods during the day are fine.

The ideal solution would be if you could persuade him to come upstairs. I have had greyhounds in the past and they do not like stairs! We did, eventually, teach ours to navigate our, very steep, cottage stairs so it can, hopefully, be done. You would have to take it very slowly and reward each brave attempt with a fantastic treat. Ignore his fear and just be as patient as you can.

You could try Adaptil. Not sure if it is warm where you are but warmth sometimes settles dogs.

The fact that he is fairly independent during the day makes separation distress unlikely. If he were following you around and anxious when left then that would be the favourite. It is possible for it to be just night time anxiety when left though. It could be that his bond with you has grown the longer he has been with you. This would account for him being independent when he came and now needing to know where you are all the time because he does not want to lose you. Just thinking out loud now.

A Qualified Behaviourist would examine video footage of him at night and make a diagnosis based on his body language and behaviour at the time of being left. Some dogs are anxious, some are frustrated. Some need a cosy bolt hole while others need open plan. There have been cases reported where the dog was worried by certain noises at night. The house goes quiet and things like fridges etc can be heard more clearly.

If you decide to engage a behaviourist do use a properly qualified one from either COAPE or APBC. If he is insured this may be covered.

 

[dogmatize]

Freddie probably doesn't know how to work the stairs. Dogs have to learn this. As he's not lived in a house he's probably never seen them before.

I expect he is a really confused boy having been through so many changes in his short life.I wouldn't give up on him. Teach him how to use stairs - find steps outside somewhere to practice on - a few steps at first and then I would encourage him up the house stairs by luring him with food treats. I would then let him sleep in your room as I feel he may have separation anxiety.

 

[wendym]

thanks dogmatize. Seeing his absolutely rigid legs when we tried the other night I had just discounted trying stairs again, but I will add that to my box of tricks for today. He goes up/down few steps to garden ok, so maybe just patience and perseverance over the weekend.

 

[gypsysmum2]

Rigid legs would suggest you are trying too hard with him. Why not just put a treat on the bottom step to start with? Then the second step, then the third etc. He will just try and stretch to get it at first. Just wait him out and be patient. It take many sessions before he gets all four feet on the stairs. Only if he does it in his own time, without anxiety creeping in, will he be able to learn. Anxiety prevents learning.

Once up the stairs he will find it even more scary coming down I used to gently support my greyhound for the first few descents.