It’s true. Our easy going adopted greyhound retirees can get stressed out due to a variety of factors. We don’t think about it much, since our current three adopted greyhounds are pretty laid back (now that the puppy is settling down) but they do get stressed out by different things and we’ve learned how to soothe them.
Boo has a classic case of adopted greyhound fear of thunderstorms. Her symptoms include hiding in the half bath, panting, trembling. She doesn’t like fireworks either, but thunderstorms are by far the worst. (The Thundershirt helped, but I had to stop using it when she started seizing for fear of overheating).
Our oldest adopted greyhound, Brody, has a classic case of fear of fireworks. He pants, shivers, refuses to lay down, and refuses to go outside while there’s any chance of noise. As he ages, his tolerance for thunderstorms is decreasing too. And lately we’ve had some doozies. A bummer, since he’s restless with whining, pacing, and trembling, rather than following Boo’s ‘find-a-cave’ example.
Bandit, fortunately, has not picked up any bad fear habits from the other two greys in our adopted greyhound pack. He's mostly afraid Daddy will come home and leave again too quickly (without him! gasp). This involves a bit of whining, but for the most part is a tolerable situation for the rest of us.
Everyone knows when a cat gets stressed. The sounds, maybe the inappropriate behavior or marking. But while adopted greyhounds nap enough to be considered the ‘cat’ of the canine community, their stressed behaviors aren’t always as pronounced as Boo and Brody during storms and fireworks, respectively.
Sometimes, the greys won’t eat when they’re bothered. Sometimes, they shy away from new situations in or out of the house. An example is our daughter preparing for another school year. She’s packing and it seems our greys have set up a rotating schedule to pass by her room, get lovies, and covertly check on her progress.
You can’t always rely on the tail or ears of adopted greyhounds to show stress. Or boredom. In greyhounds stress and boredom can look alot alike in ears and tail expressions. I’ve been at meet and greets when people thought my adopted greyhound was upset because the ears were flat or the tail was down. In reality, the grey was just in an open stance, waiting to see if the situation warranted getting excited.
Excitement however, is pretty obvious across the breed with perked ears, a tilted head, and often a high, wagging tail.
Three tips for soothing your adopted greyhound:
1. Use a steady voice. If your commands to your dog are steady and normal, you send the signal that the situation is normal too.
2. Use a gentle touch. The ears are good soothing pressure points, as is that space between the eyes. Most of our greyhounds have enjoyed gentle neck massages too. Combined with a calm voice, a soothing, repetitive touch can be a grounding point for your adopted greyhound.
3. Use a diversion. If the stress causes your adopted greyhound to act out, give them something positive to put that energy into. A safe bone, chunk of rope, or even a stuffed toy they can cuddle or destroy as needed.
Live the greyhound adventure!
