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How to get a rescue greyhound potty trained once he is home?

We just adopted a 3 year old rescue greyhound. We can't get him to even take a walk as he stops and refuses to walk. He is getting fixed this week and needs to get potty trained. Any advice on how to go about this? Anyone have this problem and how did you get yours to walk?

Public Comments

1. There's not much you can do to force him to walk. He may need some time to adjust to his new surroundings. You can try getting his attention with a fuzzy critter on a string, maybe his prey drive will kick in just enough to get him to walk? As far as potty training, train him like you would any other puppy. Take him out every hour, praise and treat when he goes outside. Get on a schedule.
2. I just adopted a boxer puppy who wouldnt take walks and was hard to potty train as well. What I did for walking was just attach the leash to her collar and put it around my wrist when I was playing with her in the backyard. That way she got more comfortable in the leash and moving around in it. As for the potty training, puppy pads are a must. I've found the cheap generic wal-mart brand to work the best. Puppies relate the smell of them to urinating somehow. Place the puppy pad by the door. If they have an accident somewhere else in the house, soak it up with the pad and put it by the door. Eventually he will get used to going to the door when he has to go, and you can take him outside. Good luck!
3. Housetrain him in the yard and get him to go for walks separately. Housetrain him just like any other dog - go out with him, tell him "go pee" and give him a ton of praise the split second he does. Greys are very clean dogs, my 2 males that I got straight off the track were housetrained within 3 - 4 days. When you go for a walk, keep him off noisy streets until he gets over his fears of traffic. Take along a pocketful of high value treats and use them as rewards for all progress. Encourage him along, pat your leg, talk to him, be upbeat, give him a couple of little tugs to get him going then over-the-top praise when he does. If this is a greyhound rescue he came from, they should be your best source for advice. If it isn't, find a racing greyhound rescue group in your area and contact them - they'll be glad to help. You can also buy the book "Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies" - lots of great advice in there.