Housebreaking

• The ex-racer just off the track was on a strict potty schedule. Remember he/she is crate trained and is used to someone coming at regular intervals, about every 6 hours, and letting him/her out. They haven not had to tell anyone they had to go out. If you keep this in mind and establish a routine of trips outside, your pet will be well on the way to being housebroken.
• When your dog first comes to your home, before bringing the dog inside, immediately take it to the place you want to have it relieve itself. Once the dog does go, make sure you give him/her lots of praise.
• At first, accompany your dog whenever you let him/her out and always make a big fuss over the dog right after they relieve themselves.
• Keep your greyhound on a true schedule. Keeping the dog on a schedule will solve most problems.
• Training your greyhound should not be difficult. Your dog may have an accident in the house. If it is excessive, call a Vet. Your dog may have a urinary/bladder infection or other medical problems.
• If on the first day your dog urinates in the house, soak up the urine with an old rag. Place the rag outside where you want your dog to relieve itself. Let it sniff around the rag. The scent of its urine will help it get the message about where he/she should eliminate.
• If your pet is male, he may try "lifting his leg" inside to mark his territory. Again, a sharp verbal reprimand will get the message across. Then take him outside and praise him to the skies when he goes in the right place.
• When your dog first comes home he/she may have loose stools. When it becomes accustomed to your house and its new food its stools should harden and become normal.
• The first couple of days take your greyhound out more often, every 2 to 4 hours especially if you see it sniffing or walking in circles. They may have to go out more due to their initial stress. Using your crate in the beginning when you leave your house and at nighttime will speed up the training process. Your dog will not want to soil in a confined area.
• Once your dog is trained we suggest your dog be given a chance to relieve itself every 6 hours including immediately after it wakes up, after breakfast, once in the afternoon, before and after dinner and immediately before bedtime.
• After your dog plays hard, wakes from a long nap or greets visitors take our dog out and give him/her a chance to relieve itself. After any excitement, any dog may have to relive themselves.
• If you are regularly away more than 6 hours each day you will need to plan for someone to take your dog out to keep him/her on its schedule, or train him/her to use a doggie door.
• Once they learn their schedule your hound will learn to sleep all night without going out.
• Do not yell or scream or hit your dog if it has an accident. It is the best way to lose your hounds trust. Ex-racers are raised in crates and can hold themselves easily for 6 hours. They do not want to have an accident and if they do its usually due to nerves, not knowing where to go, being taken off their schedule or a possible medical problem.
• When you have animals, it is inevitable that you will, at some point, have messes to clean up. Some cleaners are NATURE'S MIRACLE granules for messy cleanups, SPOT SHOT (aerosol, or Oreck's pet stain remover for messes on carpets. Follow up with NATURE'S MIRACLE to eliminate the urine or fecal smell. StainAway and Dog-Tergent works extremely well. ODOBAN (liquid that you mix with water) is very effective for pet smells, and is completely safe around pets. Home steam cleaners are very useful to help clean up accidents.

   

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