How important is getting a routine from the start? General Chat

I'm more-or-less committed to getting a retired greyhound soon and just wondered what people's thoughts are of getting the routine sorted from the start?

Sleeping arrangements
Because she's soft as clarts, and to help her settle in, when we had her for a trial last weekend, she slept on the floor next to me in the bed. Should I allow this, or might her sleeping downstairs be a more sensible arrangement? Will sleeping near us make it harder for her when we leave her for work?

Feeding arrangements
During the trial-run we fed her at 1pm as that's her arrangement at the kennels. If it suits us better to feed her at 7pm, how gradually to we adjust the time? Is two meals better than one? A light breakfast half an hour after the first walk and a big dinner after the last?

hi we have two greyhounds
when we got millie(no1) she used to sleep on the floor in the conservaty and used to get us up 3 or 4 times a night ,got her a plastic bed with an old duvet and hey presto prefect night sleeps(if only children were as easy). we tend to spilt there food to about a third in the morning and 2 thirds in the afternoon , if we feed them to late the wake up in the earl;y hours wanting the toilet.
good luck

Yes I think a routine is important for a dog particularly a recue.

With the feeding i would recommend that you feed two smaller meals a day rather than one large one...and I personally leave an hour at least before i feed after excercise.

With regards to the sleeping i would say its completly up to you and what you prefer. We leave our dogs downstairs at night as they have each other for company and I have children upstairs who need their sleep!!!
I know of a lot of other people who let their dog sleep with them and i dont think it makes them anymore clingy.

The thing is to get routine and stick to it.
Yes the dog may find it hard when you leave them at first ( I would leave some treats hidden around the room or a kong to occupy) but she will get used to it.

Good luck

I agree with what the others have said.

With our first rescue (although not a grey) we started out with him sleeping downstairs (to give the cat upstairs to himself). However, i felt guilty at him spending some of the day and then all of the night by himself, so we let him sleep in our bedroom.

Its different for those who are around their dogs all day every day, but I found in our case, allowing him to sleep in our room (not on the bed though) definitely strengthened the bond we had with Kip.

The only other consideration though is if you may think you will get a 2nd dog at some stage...then having 2 (or more!) sleeping in your room becomes less practical. We made this 'mistake' in that when Hoki joined us, I didn't have the heart to start making Kip sleep downstairs, so they both ended up in our bedroom!

But personally I usually prefer to start off stricter and relent on things rather than the other way round.

I would let her sleep with you if you don't have a problem with it, she will feel more secure and even though you're sleeping it's less time for her to be by herself. Most retired greys will never have had experience of being on their own before so it can be scary for them. It won't make it harder for her when you leave for work, if that is going to be hard for her it will be hard regardless of where she sleeps, though it would be a good idea to let her get really comfortable and give her a bad in the space that you're going to leave her when you go out.

Personally I don't give mine anything to eat for two hours before and after exercise as they are very prone to bloat (where the stomach flips over and stops food from moving through, it's life threatening) if fed close to exercise. That might be paranoia on my part but I wouldn't feed a dog for an hour before exercise at least. Giving two meals a day reduces the risk of bloat too, and she'll have a more stable energy level. I would say you could probably move the feeding to 7pm straight away (so long as she has breakfast too or she might think you're going to starve her! They don't half whinge when they think that!!) but it might take her a few days to get used to it, it is better to establish a routine and stick to it from the start imo though. good luck, i bet you can't wait

Hi just to pur my tuppence worth in....

My girl sleeps upstairs in my room in her own bed, sometimes she will wait until you get up and take it upon herself to get in the bed ! norty girl

I feed at 8am and then again at around 4pm - i don't feed too late otherwise they have you up in the night. I think two feeds are better than one and i second what Reisu said about feeding before and after exercise.

Thanks for the fast and useful responses. Sensible suggestions which I will take on board.

And no, I can't wait!

We will need to see loads of pics
Mo sleeps at the foot of our bed but I guess it is a personal thing and what ever you feel happiest with.
I think routine is as important for dogs as it is for humans, then we all know where we are
Oooo I feel excited for you now

I have just been down to the farm store and ordered some complete dry food for her. I was tempted to go down the raw/BARF route after doing some reading, but it sounds a great deal of hassle, especially with the other half being vegetarian and she's not keen on handling raw meat etc.

They didn’t have it on the shelves so I couldn’t check the nutritional information myself, but they said it’s formulated for adult greyhounds and it’s nutritionally complete. It’s only 15KG so if it doesn’t work out, we can try something else. I was hoping to switch her off the soaked kibble sooner rather than later as she seems to go extremely frequently and it’s never particularly solid.

I've order some tinned fish (without brine), lean mince etc to start mixing in once she's happy with the new dry food. Those that do this, do you mix in the extras with every 'main' meal or just a few times a week?

be careful what you feed them at first .in the kennels they are fed crap food so the sudden shock of decent food can upset them ,so it s best to go on the side of caution

Also sorry you need to make sure the protien content is not too high - greyhound maintenance dry food is for retired/non racing greys - as Gazza says sometimes they have the runs for a while until they settle down. Its trial and error with food, i ended up changing from what the kennel advised which was Beta Greyhound as it upset her stomach and the protien was too high. I put mine on a sensitive dry food and tinned Chappie and shes fine.

Yeah, but like I say, I wasn't able to see the nutritional information. At the moment, she gets the same as the racers, so I'm guessing 22 - 25%, since this is formulated for adult dogs and racing isn't in the title, I'm hoping it's going to be around 18 - 20% protein. In any case, I will be brining this figure down by mixing in other things (most oily fish being closer to 15%, likewise with mince).

Are we saying gradually move to this or just switch cold turkey? If gradual, I'm sure I can get a few days/weeks worth off the trust.

Ideally its best to switch gradually but its not always possible is it...don't worry if you can't get any of the kennel food but she might have loose poo's for a little while until she settles. Sometimes they get this anyway because of changes in their environment etc. Sure you'll be fine.

Sorry i didn't read your post properly, didn't realise you couldn't look up protien, just wanted to draw your attention to the levels if you didn't already know.

No worries, thanks for the advice all the same. ;-)

I'll certainly be getting enough racing food to see me over the weekend (still have some in the cupboards, in fact), so I can just mix this instead of giving it as is.

Poppy (formely Ash) on day two. She loves her new dry food, especialy with chicken!

Aw she is gorgous!!!

Aww, she looks like she's settling in well

What a sweetheart Poppy is

Isn't she just! She looks so sheepish on these, but she certainly picks up out on the lead, especially if a rabbit is spotted. She does her pirouettes when she realises she can’t get to them to try and break free!

She's a beauty

I agree with all the good advice on here. I would add that I have found Skinners hypoallergenic salmon and rice kibble to be just perfect for all three of mine and may be good to look into.

I always add something to the dry kibble.. Usually Gelert country choice tripe mix tin, or some tuna in spring water or chicken. They love it... I'm not sure they need it, but it makes me feel better

Oh and as far as sleeping in the room... I actually encourage mine to get used to sleeping in my room, on their beds on the floor. I often travel with them, visiting relatives and friends and staying in hotels. It's much less traumatic on them as they are used to being closed in my room at night. For a week or so before we head out on holiday I start closing the bedroom door at night to get them into the routine of keeping clean over night.

Enjoy your new girl, she looks just a babe! and welcome to Dogsey

I should warn you though... Greyhounds are known to be highly addictive! You may not be able to stop at just one

I should warn you though... Greyhounds are known to be highly addictive! You may not be able to stop at just one


she certainly is a beaut,same warning you will be luckly to stop at one two are such good company for each other ,