House Breaking Issues...

The key to housetraining is prevention. The best possible situation is if your greyhound never has the opportunity to use the house as a potty. Here are some tips to make that possible.

When you arrive home take your new addition on a leash to the area where you want him to regularly do his "business". You probably will not want your greyhound in the habit of going potty right outside the door, so we suggest you keep him on a leash initially even if you have a fenced yard and take him to an area more appropriate. If your dog starts to pee or poop, softly say "Go potty" or something similar. You can condition your dog to potty on cue if you say your key words consistently. As he is finishing up, say "Goooooooddddd boy (girl)" and give lots of praise. If he does not "go" after a few minutes, go on inside, but keep your new greyhound leashed as you both walk around, investigating the house. Be aware of any signs that you greyhound may eliminate in the house. After a few minutes, go back outside and try again. Keep repeating this pattern until he potties outside. You want to start him off with the RIGHT idea. If your new greyhound is too shy to potty on leash and you have a securely fenced yard, take the leash off. Stay close by and offer verbal praise when he does finally go.
For the first week, supervise, supervise, and supervise! Use your crate when you cannot supervise. Keep your greyhound in the same room with you. You can keep your greyhound leashed and tie the lead around your waist. If you catch your greyhound going potty in the house, distract him with a firm "NO" and clap your hands to divert his attention. Take him out immediately. Keeping him on a leash for a couple of days while indoors makes it easy for you to take your greyhound out in a hurry. Your greyhound does not know the rules. It would not be fair to punish him. You simply want to distract him from going potty and take him straight outside.
If there is an accident, clean using a good, "enzymatic" cleaner intended for pet accidents. Otherwise, pets will keep returning to the same spot. We recommend Nature’s Miracle (from PETsMart), Folex, Oxy Clean (from Home Depot), or Simple Solution. AVOID Woolite or Resolve.
Once you think your greyhound is becoming housetrained (several days later), drop the leash. Allow your greyhound to wander around the house dragging the leash and you close behind. Watch for ANY signs that he may eliminate. Signs may include suddenly getting up from a nap, circling, sniffing, pacing, panting, crying, or staring at you. If all goes well, gradually trust your greyhound more and more. You will never regret taking your time in housetraining, but you may regret allowing your greyhound too much freedom too soon.
Most greyhounds will not alert you if they need to go outside. They are used to being on a predictable routine, so we suggest you set a schedule as soon as possible. If your greyhound has been in foster care, be sure to ask the foster person what schedule the greyhound has been on. It may be necessary to adjust the greyhound's previous schedule to be convenient for you, but understand that you have to allow some time for this adjustment.
If you do not have a fenced yard, you will want to take your greyhound to the SAME spot of the yard every time to do their "business". Often owners make the mistake of taking their dog for a potty walk and turning around to go home as soon as the dog potties. This will teach your greyhound to "hold it" as long as possible, so that the walk is as long as possible. You want your greyhound to learn the difference in a potty walk and an exercise walk. I suggest that longer, fun walks come after your greyhound has eliminated in the designated area. This will teach your greyhound to go ASAP, so that the fun walk can begin.
Remember that you should not hit, yell at, or rub your greyhound’s nose in any messes that he makes. You are teaching your greyhound how to behave appropriately. Housetraining takes patience, timing, prevention, consistency and most of all...supervision.

Water Intake
At the racetrack, greyhounds have access to water only when turned out, which is approximately 4 times a day. Therefore, some newly adopted greyhounds do not know when to quit if water is offered all of the time. To help with housetraining, it may be necessary to regulate your greyhound’s drinking for a period of time. You may want to offer just a sip or 2 before work and before bed. Then offer as much as he wants when you get home from work. Understand that your greyhound will need to urinate 30 minutes to an hour after drinking large quantities of water.