I am happy to report we have all survived our first week with Carson. So far, he's not destroyed anything but has "carved up" a tv remove (it's still usable); stolen my car keys off the hallway table which then resulted in a whole house search; had a few "accidents" which are to be expected; stolen potholders off the kitchen counter; run off with socks/undies through the house; was looking under the sofa and got his collar caught up in the lamp's extension cord and pulled the lamp off the table and down the hallway before stopping so I could untangle him - and so on, and so on, etc.

He is sometimes almost painfully shy/uncertain of things. He does not like the vacuum cleaner at all, but the washer/dryer noise doesn't bother him. He will stand at a distance and watch me dry my hair with the hairdryer, but if I make eye contact with him he will run away. (this may be okay...I remember another thread about a whippet expecting to be warmed up each morning this way, lol). This morning, I ground my coffee beans while Carson was standing beside me. Talk about running like a scalded dog!!! I felt so bad I had scared him so, I just turned on the grinder without thinking. At least he came back after the noise stopped and looked around the corner so see if I was still there!

I feel like we'll just have so expose him to as many things as we can. Greyson is pretty low key and should help him confront things. The dogs next door barking don't seem to scare him, but the dogs barking on the next street get him anxious. Since it's stopped raining and the temps are warming, we'll start walking this next week.

One thing that has me puzzled though is Carson cannot stand to have his back felt or legs touched when he's standing up. I had to clean the boys up after they played outside (they were a little muddy), and Carson was fine with his front legs and belly. But when I just touched his back legs, he went beserck! Jumping, twisting, fighting against me every way he could. But, when he's cuddled on the sofa or bed with us, he's just fine with having his back feet handled. I wondered if someone could have grabbed him by his rear legs to pick him up or catch him. I thought maybe each day while giving him a treat I could start touching his rear legs and try to work up/down from there. Anyone have any other suggestions on 1) giving him more confidence and 2) getting him over his fear of having his back feet/legs touched.

He is the sweetest little boy. Last night, he & my husband were playing and Carson would play bark and "roo" at him before jumping off the love seat and running around the living room before jumping back on the love seat and doing it all over again! Greyson just watched, like this was a game he didn't understand!!

Thanks for reading this long post!

Gracie was scared of a lot of things when we first brought her home. She is still very scared of the vacuum cleaner, and she will be 4 in April, but she has overcome most of her early fears of other loud noises and of cars when we take her for a walk. She is still wary of cars (which is good), but she does not come to a complete stop when they go by like she used to do. Whippets are very sensitive dogs as a breed, so I think they are always going to be a little more sensitive to noises compared to some other breeds, but they do seem to get better as they age. Exposing him to all kinds of noises (such as the coffee grinder) and not making a big deal about the noises should help him.

That sounds like a good idea to work with Carson touching his back legs and feet. You will need to be able to clip the toe nails on his back feet, and you should always be able to examine your dog for injuries and other health problems.

From your description of Carson, he seems like a typical whippet puppy and lots of fun!