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Gryffenne

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    New Mom Need Help: Hound Very Gassy And Loosing Weight

    in Food and dietary discussion

    Posted · Edited by Gryffenne

    If this is your first sighthound she is going to look too thin to you for a while. You'll realize one day that your perception has adjusted when every dog you see suddenly looks well overweight. (Oh.. and short, too! :lol )

     

    DH, only a recent member of the greyhound cult world, still thinks that Sammi- my 11 1/2 yr old- is too thin. And she is a very big girl. She also lost a lot of her tuck 3 yrs ago when she was very sick and put on steroids (gained too much weight) + age. With her having a broken leg from her racing days, I have always been very careful with her weight. Group and 3 vets said that 75 is her ideal weight and that is where she has remained for over 8 years, minus the time when she was sick and dropped to 63 and then shot to 88. :eek Now that we have Lynni (omg so tiny!) and River (very fresh off of the track and more "normal" sized for a female) he can see that Sammi is a large boned Irish girl. He freaks about Lynni -his baby- not eating enough, yet she's gained weight since adoption and River has lost 2 pounds. :rolleyes: I think he is becoming an helicopter parent :lol

     

    From what I can see in the pictures, I cannot see any sign of the last 2 ribs, but I can see her spine bumps. Some might say that she is on the high side of comfortable without the 2 ribs present. Some will say fine. Can you feel them just petting her side easily? Could just be the pictures & fact that she is brindled. (Even at 75 pounds and 11+ years, Sammi's last rib or 2 can be seen, all can be easily felt. She will also show you more ribs -and larger eyes- if you're holding something she has deemed yummy, and thus, wants. )

    Will She Get More Snuggly?

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    He also took 18 months to figure out he could TURN AROUND instead of walking backwards out of a room.

    I really laugh out loud every time i read this. The visualization just cracks me up. I don't think Sammi knows what Reverse is, and she is turning 12 in a few months! If she can't turn around, she stands there looking pitiful until you adjust whatever needs to be adjusted for her to turn around.

    Will She Get More Snuggly?

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted · Edited by Gryffenne

    If you're looking for affection and snuggling akin to a Lab, well... these are greyhounds. They show love a bit differently. All my girls, and every grey that I have met LOVE behind the ears! (I need to dig the grey chart off of my old laptop)

     

    As for snuggling, Sammi -my first- was stuck to my leg the moment I walked into her foster mom's house to sign the papers. That afternoon, right after arriving home my parents brought my son, who was 4 at the time, back home. (It was a long trip and we weren't sure how he'd handle a very large dog in the backseat so he was spoiled by Grandma & Papa for the morning/afternoon)

     

    This picture was taken a few minutes after he got home. He was on the futon first. She chose to get up there:

    SnG1a_zps0e414dc2.jpg

     

    That was the extent of her snuggling for the next few months. She was content with what you described. Coming to me for petting or kisses on her head. Then eventually imitating that kiss- pressing her nose lightly to my forehead, and leaning, and then snuggling... and then bedhog. She is also my shadow. If she cannot see me, she moves to where she can. She even has a dogbed in the kitchen to lay on while watching me cook or bake.

     

    Our newest girls didn't take as long. The first or second night River was curled up next to me on the dogbed. Lynni, you have to be careful getting her attention or being in her path during a zoomie attack, because she will launch at you with the intent to cover you in kisses and dog hair. (It's quite scary having a grinning greyhound flying across the room at you :blink: ) I guess that is close to Lab-like :lol It only happens during a zoomie attack. Rest of the day she is a quiet lovebug.

     

    If I sit on our couch for an extended period, they all take turns curling up next to me. I have a post going in Cute & Funny of River laying ON me. :lol They are also shadows. Lynni stands back, quietly observing, quick to step up if offered a treat while I am baking or cooking. River is laying right behind me with her paw touching my heal.

     

     

     

    Basically, I haven't gone to the bathroom alone in years unless I shut the door. I had a month where my son wasn't trying to be in there with me before bringing home Sammi who picked up where he left off <_<

    Top Of The Line Orthopedic Bed Options?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    When we took the egg crate mattress topper off of DS's bed (Twin), at the time we only had Sammi. Her "kitchen/travel" bed was the smallest... and flattest. We folded the egg crate up inside it after I felt an "Orthopedic" bed at PetSmart and realized it was the same type of foam. It became a favorite bed. Lynni loves it at night (It's Lynni sized!) Sammi's huge fluffy green bedroom bed that she loves nesting in was getting flat in the center from all of her nesting. It was like she was sleeping in the center of a fluffy doughnut. We took the egg crate from out bed (Queen) and folded it up in her bed. Her bed is 2x the thickness of that bed at Petsmart and it's hard to get her to leave it in the morning :lol instead she will watch me from it until I put her food dish in her raised feeder. THEN she gets up and walks the 4 feet for her breakfast (Bedroom is right off of the kitchen now)

    Returned Newly Adopted Greyhound For Bite, Need Advice

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted · Edited by Gryffenne

     

    Incidentally, some people on GT have trained dogs out of sleep startle by a little gentle 'stuffie tossing'. They've started with something light and soft like a pair of rolled socks just tossed onto the back end of the dog's body while he's sleeping, and when he's used to that, have progressed to small stuffed toys and then larger stuffed toys. The idea is to get him used to being suddenly touched while he's asleep, so that it becomes routine and no surprise. The way greyhounds are kept in the US means that nothing and nobody touches them while they are sleeping and they get plenty of warning of anyone approaching.

    *raises hand* I did this 8 yrs ago with my first greyhound, Sammi. (I don't remember who here on GT explained it to me :( But thank you!! ) I am also doing this with my 2 new greyhounds. Sammi no longer startles in her own home & around her pack (family). When we travel, she cannot get over stimulated, and she must remain in the room I am sleeping in at night. If not, she runs the risk of startling because she can't relax with the new people/new surroundings. Sammi also is losing her vision. Her night vision is worse than mine, so I think this adds to her anxiety in a new place at night.

     

    River is just about totally desensitized. She starts occasionally, usually when a noise that isn't normal occurs while she is dozing (A truck backfires going by, I trip/drop something, a bark, etc...)

     

    Now about Lynni :lol She's taken a bit more training and learning what her limits are. Between the sock/stuffy desensitizing training and observation, We've gotten her down to 2 situations that can set her off. 1- nighttime: she is in a deeper sleep at night, and can come awake swinging if one of the greys/DH or I are moving around the bedroom. No room for a crate, so for now we muzzle her at night. She is actually quite content in her muzzle at night and settles down/goes to sleep quickly with it on. I mused to DH that maybe someone had stepped on her nose and she sees the muzzle as protection 2- daytime/snoozing: as long as she falls asleep touching someone (be it me, Sammi, River or DS) she is fine. It's when she falls asleep solo and something touches her face that may set her off. (Working on this one, I will reach out and lean my foot on her leg, butt, back, etc.. hence why we're narrowed down to her face) How do we deal with it? Make sure that she is awake and aware before sitting next to her.

     

    Actually, for all 3, I have always had a rule -especially for kids & guests- to NEVER approach them sleeping or laying down, to always make sure that they are awake and aware before approaching. It becomes second nature after a while to just make a noise, or step a little harder while walking, to get a sleeping dog's attention. Kind of like saying "bless you" when you hear a sneeze. After a while, you sometimes don't even register yourself doing it.

     

    And please do not take a sleep startle snap personally!! As a human that has suffered from sleep startling my whole life I can honestly say that if I don't know what I am doing if I am startled and come up swinging, how can I expect my dogs to be more self aware than me?

    How Hot Is Too Hot?

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    How hot is too hot to walk the houndies? A real walk, not just 20 minutes around the block. Molly really needs a good walk and I'm trying to decide if it's too hot. It's low 80s but the sun is really shining.

     

    TIA,

    GreyhoundGirl and an Annoying Molly May :)

    Whichever is more sensitive- your bare hand or bare feet- go out and touch the planned walking surfaces (sidewalk/pavement/sand). That is what they would be walking on. A hot sidewalk, with the sun beating down on it, can damage paws.

     

    On hot days, I either do very early morning walks (7am) or late evening after the sun isn't directly shining on surfaces.

    How To Keep My Male From "kicking"

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted · Edited by Gryffenne

    Sammi used to love doing this when she was younger. Usually when I was wearing sandals <_<

    Now that her back end is getting weaker, it has become a very rare occurrence.

     

    River does this almost every time. If she is feeling extra spunky, it's a scrape, scrape, scrape, SPRING, turn and face me. She is also a little OCD about her pee routine. She HAS to scrape the ground with her front paw 2x in three different spots (so 6 total) if you disrupt/distract her, she starts the process all over again.

    One Walk Or Two -- How Do You Know?

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    Same here. On an ideal day, my boy gets a short walk in the morning before work (half a mile) and a long walk in the evening (about 2 miles). But he's a total baby when it comes to the heat. If it's above 80 degrees, he really doesn't mind skipping it.

    80? Sammi is glaring at me if it is above 75! :lol

     

    (It seems that Her Royal Highness likes the temps to stay between 68-72)

    Allergies

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    both my vets said it takes at least twice as much antihistamine in dogs than in people.

    I remember when our vet up north suggested Benadryl for Sammi. Our children went to the same parochial school and we were chatting outside while waiting to pick them up. When he suggested 2x the adult dose, I was stunned! He laughed at the look on my face and said, "Don't worry, it doesn't have the same knock-out effect on dogs as it does on humans." I look at Sammi, who was roached in the backseat of my car, all 4 paws in the air, head hanging off of the seat and tongue hanging out. I think she was even drooling. I looked back at him and said deadpan, "How would you even tell?"

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