PET DOORS

Pet doors are a wonderful invention.  Jan had a pet door installed in her sliding glass door and feels it is worth its weight in gold!  (When there are four or five dogs in the house at the same time, they never want to go out at the same time!)  Jan used Hale Security Pet Door, (303) 649-1819.  The door was installed in less than 30 minutes.  This company did a wonderful job blocking up potential draft areas.  They also have pet doors that go in walls, panels for sliding glass doors, and can even put doors right in the glass panel of a door.  Make sure to size the door correctly -- Jan’s is an "extra tall large."

SLIDING GLASS DOORS AND WINDOWS 

Depending on if and where your dog was fostered, he may or may not know what a sliding glass door is. And those dogs leaving straight from the kennel may never have seen a window before. Be careful the first few times you let your dog out a glass door. You may want to tap on the door or put some type of decoration on the door to make it more obvious to the dog. Even when a Greyhound knows a glass door is there, they may get so excited they forget and bash their little heads on the door! Probably not good for the door, and definitely not good for their heads! If you have windows that are low to the floor, introduce the dog to them as you would a glass door.

STAIRS  

Stairs are probably the biggest challenge your Greyhound will face when it leaves the kennel.  They are not familiar with more than one or two steps at a time, and a whole staircase may be frightening.  Some steps may be scarier than others --  open-tread stairs seem to be the worst.  You may have to help your Greyhound learn to go up and down steps.  To teach your dog to go up or down, it helps if you can have a person on each end of the dog.  Encourage motion in the right direction.  One person should gently lead the dog by the collar, while the “rear guard” encourages from behind, and also assures the dog doesn’t slip and fall.  A fall down the steps for a Greyhound can very easily result in a broken leg.  Both front and rear guard persons may have to actually work the dog’s feet for him the first few times.  By moving the dog’s feet for them, they will catch on quickly and soon be zooming up and down the stairs with ease.  Remember to go slowly at first and speak encouragingly the whole time.

When learning to come down the stairs, make SURE you keep a hand under their chest to insure they don't fall. When going up, make sure you have a hand or a body behind them to prevent them from falling. BE FIRM! Remember, greyhounds are also great con-artists and will try and manipulate you if you let them! Don't give in when they whine and don't want to try anymore. 

SLICK FLOORS  

A linoleum or tile floor can be a challenge for your Greyhound.  They have never been on any type of slick flooring, so this too could be a learning experience.  When a Greyhound begins to slip, their natural inclination is to grab with their nails.  Unfortunately for the dog, all this does is have them walking around on the tips of their nails -- not conducive to navigating a slick floor; they just slip that much more.  If your dog tends to slip and slide his way across the floor, try putting rubber backed scatter rugs on the floor.  Don’t make a solid path of the rugs, instead leave spaces in between for him to start getting the feel of walking on the smooth floor.  When he appears to be comfortable with that arrangement, begin increasing the spaces between rugs and removing rugs as his ability increases. If you feed him in a kitchen with slick flooring you will be amazed how quickly he gets comfortable with it!