helena29
Active Member
I am feeling very guilty, I thought Noodles (nearly 8 year old greyhound) was fine on his own, he does not chew or urinate/ defecate in the house, always settles with a frozen kong (in fact he gets excited when he knows the kong is coming out).
When I get home he is usually asleep on my bed, I do not make a fuss when I go out or come back. Today I went out but had an allergic reaction on the bus so turned round and went home, when I got back, he was barking / howling, he had been alone for around 20 minutes. There was a similar incident a couple of weeks ago but I was not sure if it was him or a neighbor's dog, today it was definitely him.
I have had him for just over 4 years, when he first came, he had very mild separation anxiety but once he settled he showed no signs and my neighbors said he did not bark or howl after about 3 or 4 months of living with me.
He has had his exercise cut down slightly recently due to mild arthritis (old racing injury) but this morning we were out for about 45 minutes this morning so still a reasonable amount - no one told him that greyhounds are ok with a couple of 20 minute walks a day!
Other than less exercise, the other thing that could have caused it is that I am unemployed at the moment and so do not have such a regular routine, some days I am in all day, others I go to the stables for a few hours (he can not come with me as there are cats and he is not cat safe) I am also helping out at a local business who cover the cost of the dog walker so yesterday I was out all day but he had a walk at about 2pm.
Does anyone have any ideas of how I can help him? I hate the thought of him being unhappy. I would eventually like to get another dog, that may help but first I have to get a job and pass my driving test as 1. I can not afford another dog and 2. I can get away with one dog on public transport but two would be very impractical.
Would crate training help? He has had Zylkene and DAP before for fireworks but I am not convinced they helped, perhaps they just took the edge off. I used to leave the tv or radio on for him but again, I am not sure it made much difference.
He usually seems like a relaxed, happy dog, but he is prone to being a bit stressy, especially in unknown situations.
Sorry for the long post.
When I get home he is usually asleep on my bed, I do not make a fuss when I go out or come back. Today I went out but had an allergic reaction on the bus so turned round and went home, when I got back, he was barking / howling, he had been alone for around 20 minutes. There was a similar incident a couple of weeks ago but I was not sure if it was him or a neighbor's dog, today it was definitely him.
I have had him for just over 4 years, when he first came, he had very mild separation anxiety but once he settled he showed no signs and my neighbors said he did not bark or howl after about 3 or 4 months of living with me.
He has had his exercise cut down slightly recently due to mild arthritis (old racing injury) but this morning we were out for about 45 minutes this morning so still a reasonable amount - no one told him that greyhounds are ok with a couple of 20 minute walks a day!
Other than less exercise, the other thing that could have caused it is that I am unemployed at the moment and so do not have such a regular routine, some days I am in all day, others I go to the stables for a few hours (he can not come with me as there are cats and he is not cat safe) I am also helping out at a local business who cover the cost of the dog walker so yesterday I was out all day but he had a walk at about 2pm.
Does anyone have any ideas of how I can help him? I hate the thought of him being unhappy. I would eventually like to get another dog, that may help but first I have to get a job and pass my driving test as 1. I can not afford another dog and 2. I can get away with one dog on public transport but two would be very impractical.
Would crate training help? He has had Zylkene and DAP before for fireworks but I am not convinced they helped, perhaps they just took the edge off. I used to leave the tv or radio on for him but again, I am not sure it made much difference.
He usually seems like a relaxed, happy dog, but he is prone to being a bit stressy, especially in unknown situations.
Sorry for the long post.
