Fife Greys Forum
This is the place to chat about your rescued Greyhound.
Hi everyone
As you all may know we have 3 magnificent Greys that we adopted from Celia & Jimmy; Grumpy Forth, Mental Minnie and the Jack Dog.
Jack is the oldest (7 and a half) and we are actually his 3rd owners. He was rehomed twice by Jimmy and Celia and returned twice. In fact on the first occasion the poor lad ended up in an Edinburgh dogs home with no sign of the owners, Jimmy and Celia were unable to trace them and they took Jack back into the kennels.
It has always shocked Lyndsey and I that anyone could return Jack as in the house he is an absolute angel. He has never chewed anything, never done the toilet in the house and all he wants is to be loved and to cuddle up next to you on the sofa.
Outside of the house/garden he is a very different dog. He can be very nervous, does not like any other animal (Dog, Cat...) and can get very aggressive. He would also just randomly stop (numerous times each walk) and refuse to move. He would be walking along then he would simply slam on the brakes, crick his neck sideways and refuse to move. We would then have to coax him along to get him going again.
It's now 18 months since we took Jack in and we have tried varying things to make his walk better, most with little effect. UNTIL we tried him with a harness! It's quite simply like walking another dog! He trots along beside us, he DOESN'T STOP, he bounces along with a smile on his face and actually appears at ease. Hell we even went past a cat this morning and although I could tell he really wanted to explode but he didn't (he almost did but something stopped him)! I also managed to calm him down as soon as the cat was out of sight (before it would have put him right off the rest of the walk and made him almost impossible to walk).
I'm not sure why the harness is working so well but I have a feeling he maybe resented being led by the collar. We don't know what happened in his previous life, it could have been that something happened to his neck and that memory stayed with him. I really don't know what the reason was/is but the harness is here to stay!
I guess the moral of the story is - never give up on your grey.
I know that sometimes there are extenuating circumstances and sometimes a certain dog will not be the correct dog for you (something Jimmy and Celia are very understanding about) but there was never any chance we were going to return the Jack dog. Since the day he brindled into our lives we knew he had eventually found his 'forever home' and we were committed to making every aspect of his day the best it could be. It's taken almost 18 months but eventually Jack is not scared or fearful on his day to day walks 
Now if only I can get Minnie to stop chewing our slippers.......
That is the plan Steve. He would still rather sleep than go for a walk but we will make sure he drags himself out of his bed for the next walk 
Great news that Jack is happier with his harness, Our Billy and Lassie both have a harness, Billy has many fears and backs away which is why we started using a harness, I had hoped he would not be able to get out of a harness as easily as he could his collar (yes a greyhound collar) but he can even get out of the harness BUT not as easily !!! he also hates having something over his head so he has been happier since we started using his harness, and I think it makes him feel safer
Maybe Jack feels safe too
P.S. Well done Bambi 
Hi there,
This spray may a help to prevent dogs from chewing things.
http://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/site.aspx?i=pr327150
This may help make Minnie stop chewing your slippers 
