We got out dog as a four month old puppy. Crated him during the day, hired a dog walker to let him out mid day and take him for a walk for the first year or so. He’s happy to go for walks and happy to be a couch potato. Once he was older, he was fine home alone for ten hours at a time (he does have an iron bladder though - he will hold it for three days rather than go out in heavy rain) - and doesn’t need a crate. Now that the kids are in middle school, he really is only home alone for about six hours.
We’ve trained him not to go upstairs. Or perhaps he trained himself. He has bad hips, so he doesn’t like stairs. He’ll come up if someone is hurt up there, or if something exciting is happening (like the kids get a new hamster), or if something is really wrong downstairs and he needs to get our attention (the door is open).
With bad hips, I can’t take him out on a 5k run.
I DON’T think a retired racing greyhound is a good fit for you. They are sprinters, not in it for the long haul of a run. However, they are LOVELY dogs - like large lazy cats, quiet and they tend to be very well behaved. And they do arrive housetrained.
No name-calling; it’s an insult. Don’t do it again.
**To everyone: **please cool it. Disagree all you like but you are required to express yourself without resorting to name calling, insults and other jerkish behavior.
I had your schedule before and owned two dogs. The border collie was fine, what a lovable good-natured doggie. The rot-Australian cattle dog on the other hand tore up the entire house a few times, so after doing the big cage thing, it really started becoming sort of nuts and wouldnt behave even after being let out of the cage.
Some dogs fare well being alone, some don’t. There’s tons of websites out there nowadays that lay out all the characteristics of dog breeds.
Good luck.
My sister-in-law had a husky/malamute mix. The dog would stay outside almost 24/7 in the yard, and well was well trained. The only time she would howl was when she heard a siren. Climate wasn’t an issue either, those dogs are awesome outdoors in winter (she had a doghouse still of course). Also accompanied my brother during his marathon training!
The lurcher (the large greyhoundish fella) is Bowie, and the black and tan female (who looks like rottieXlab but the vets best guess was GSDxLab) is Púca. (pooka)
Two weeks now, and they’ve settled in pretty well, Bowie can be a bit tough on walks if he sees a small dog running in front of him because BANG! prey drive kicks in and omigod he wants to chase them so very much, but clicker training is proving useful and even after only two weeks he’s much improved.
You wouldn’t say that if you saw me when Bowie is throwing a fit & jumping to try run after something People actually cross the street! I’m always mortified and want to run after them to try and explain that he’s had no training until we adopted him two weeks ago, but I suppose no one cares except us. He’s actually a dote though, mad for affection and loves nothing more than to bury his head into your armpit. He’s got huge bite inhibition as well, so even when he’s lunging (not so much anymore!) and jumping on the leash to chase things he’s never so much as snapped at any of us. (Although he used to try and chew the hell off the leash, but he has thankfully given up on that too). Except for when he sees small furry things running he’s actually pretty nicely behaved:)
Púca on the other hand is a bit of a sob story. She was found wandering with pups dead inside her, and she’s just terrified of everything. We’re hoping she’ll come out of herself a bit now she’s away from the stress of the shelter. She’s up to the point where she’ll come up and sniff a hand of her own volition, and will even wag her tail on rare occasions, but she’s still very nervous. We’re trying not to push her too much too soon, and I’m going to start trying some simple counter conditioning to help her gain a bit more trust. I’m utterly amazed at how nice of a dog she is though, even in her worst irrational terror moments (trying to get her into a car was a handful) she’s never so much as shown a tooth to us. Bowie is like her helper courage dog - it’s adorable, she’ll follow him anywhere.
Such a great ending! I’m so glad you chose rescue dogs. And I’m in love with Bowie! Puca’s a cutie, but Bowie’s magnificent. And just give Puca some time - she’ll learn to trust and love you.
He is a sweetheart. And completely bonkers in the most adorable way - when we’re walking him, if he’s going past a wall that’s just a leeeetle too big for him to see over he’ll start jumping instead of walking. Not straight-up jumping, more like pronking - imagine something like this ->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ba3UxqXiXU. And I have to continue walking alongside him trying to hold a straight face:)
People actually cross the street! I’m always mortified and want to run after them to try and explain that he’s had no training until we adopted him two weeks ago, but I suppose no one cares except us. He’s actually a dote though, mad for affection and loves nothing more than to bury his head into your armpit. He’s got huge bite inhibition as well, so even when he’s lunging (not so much anymore!) and jumping on the leash to chase things he’s never so much as snapped at any of us. (Although he used to try and chew the hell off the leash, but he has thankfully given up on that too). Except for when he sees small furry things running he’s actually pretty nicely behaved:)