GeorgeofNE

They sent you home with an unspayed dog?? Wow. That is not how groups up her do it. No siree!

My second hound appeared to be terrified of everything, but walked up the three flights of stairs into my condo (no one taught him to do stairs, he just did it) and jumped on the couch, and has pretty much been laying there ever since! Relax. They're not all difficult at the beginning!

Now this is a new one! I guess an STD is out of the question? Does he lick it a lot? Dogs can suffer from OCD and just lose control of their normal cleaning routine. My boy does tend to lick his man bits more than any other dog I've had. I just tell him he's being disgusting and he stops.

My first hound's foster home did him more harm than good, of that I am certain. The gal meant well, but she was clueless about dogs and he was her LAST foster (she was 'let go' by the group when I told them what I observed at the home and how she had been treating the dog). I would have been far better off getting him off the track. My second dog was in a kennel for a looooooooooong time. He was taken home by some volunteers for a couple of days when I expressed interest so the could gauge how well he would do with cats and being a single. He gave them no trouble, and he hasn't give me a lick of trouble either. He didn't seem to need to learn a whole lot, other than his general fear of all things! He's awesome now.

I'm so sorry. You were so lovely to adopt a senior. I'd put her down, myself. I always ask myself what I would want if it were me: a few more weeks/months of pain and poking and prodding, or a mercifully quick end in the arms of someone who loved me. I know which one I'd want.

Imagine your have a very painful sprain. You have the option of 1) relaxing at home with your person, and having treats and loving, or 2) being taken on a greyhound walk with dogs and people you don't know, when every step is painful. Which do you think your boy would pick?

Yes, when Kramer gakked up a pile of wriggling foot long night crawlers, it was very much like a horror movie. I didn't have my glasses on (at first) and was very sorry when I put them on and realized the worms were freaking moving!!!! I threw them in the disposal and ran it for at least five minutes just to make sure they were dead! Ick....creeps my out just thinking about it!

What a lovely well written post! Don't be angst ridden: just baby gate him into a room away from the children, and all of your problems vanish. Toddlers make ME anxious. I head for the hills if someone totes a baby along with them. He has made it perfectly clear he would rather not be around them. They aren't your kids, they don't live there, but HE DOES. It's not just your job to protect the children from him, but you need to set him up to succeed by protecting him from them. Which is easily done while they're too young to figure out a baby gate. Just put one up in a room of your choice, let the children perhaps feed him some treats from time to time, but just keep them separated. He may eventually come to see them as friends (and they will continue to get bigger!) or he may not. Your anxiety is probably something he can sense, so gating him away from the kids will serve another purpose and allow you to RELAX. My dog is terrified of children. Not a problem for me, as I don't have any and my youngest nephew is in his 20s. I just keep him away from children, and keep children away from him, and it's all good.

Just thought I'd share this: my first greyhound, George, pictured in my avatar, was what they refer to as a "breed snob." He HATED dogs who were not greyhounds. My parents, who I did not live with, had two English setters. They also lived on an island, and the only practical way to visit them was for a weekend. First trip over, George immediately snapped at Dad's dog, and he pretty much told me he wasn't going to stand for his dog being assaulted in his own house. I put George's muzzle on. He wore it for the first 12 hours, and then I could see him just relax and forget they were not greyhounds. Never had another problem with them getting along in the several years that came next, but they were never friends. It was weird. They didn't even sniff butts (although they did pee on each other!). Davy and Lily just did their own thing, and George acted like they were just beneath his contempt--but at least he didn't try and rough them up!

You're doing great! Just be patient. 4 days is nothing. My current greyhound was afraid of EVERYTHING when I adopted him, and now he's much, much braver. Still afraid of men (please don't read anything into that or let people tell you he "must have been abused by a man." Some dogs are just afraid of the deeper voice, etc. of men) but generally a fairly normal fellow now! Congratulations and enjoy your new friend.

If they stayed on for more than 5 minutes I would be stunned! Seem like a great idea, but anything that would really stay one would hurt the skin when you tried to remove them--that's just my 2 cents. I have not tried them. But I did have my cat's nails professionally covered with claw caps once. They were glued on. Cost me $45 to have them applied. Took her 10 minutes to get them all off!

It's totally normal. She is used to greyhounds, and all retired racers have the benefit of being much more "dog saavy" than "regular dogs." I assume you purchased your ridgeback as a puppy? So he had approximately 8 weeks to learn everything he needed to know about speaking "dog." She has had her entire life to spend interacting with other dogs constantly. She's speaking a language he was too young to really understand when he left his family and joined yours. After you got him, you expected him to learn to be a good pet and companion, and you spoke a totally different language. He just doesn't understand her, yet. You really need a LOT longer than a couple of days to see how they will work things out. Just monitor them constantly and intervene if she seems to be pushing him past his tolerance.

Simple answer: she doesn't like your parents old dog. Do you live with your parents? If not, the simple answer is to not bring her over there for now. At 16, their old dog hasn't got much time left and it deserves to have a safe an peaceful home free of growling whippersnappers. If you DO, then you need to make sure that they are never alone unattended. Growling is her only means of telling the old dog "stay away from me," so I would not suggest you do anything except keep her away from the old dog.

Looks like a worm--my Kramer used to eat enormous night crawlers (huge earth worms) like they were spaghetti. The vet said it wasn't a problem. Well, one night he vomited, and when I went to clean it up--it was a pile of still wriggling worms. Most disgusting thing I've ever seen. That was the end of his worm eating.

Most of my family members have had Lyme's disease or other tick borne illnesses (they used to live on Nantucket, which is a horrible hot spot for tick diseases) and I have been vaccinating my dogs with it since it came out. No reaction of any kind in any of them. Nor has my dog ever tested positive--so I'm not sure why someone said that--maybe the tests differentiate?? I don't know, but since it is rampant in this part of the country, I opt to get it.

You've seen what I've observed: most greyhounds love all other greyhounds. Many greyhounds don't know what to make of other dogs. I would not send her back to daycare. Most dogs happily sleep the day away, and you can't force it. Go to greyhound only events when you can, and play plenty of attention to her yourself. My guy only gets to socialize with other hounds a few times a year, but he enjoys it. Does not like other breeds AT ALL.

I sent a six year old cat in for a dental once and he ended up having only his tiny front teeth and his canines! SIX YEARS OLD! Siamese cats have the same periodontal issues as greyhounds. Anyway, the cat was just fine. He ate kibbles on day one home from the vet. Most critters don't seem to chew their kibble much to start with. He'll be fine!

Two boys will almost always end up best of friends. I personally don't care for female dogs as pets--there is a reason the term "bitch" means what it does!

Man, those "designer dog" folks will breed anything to a poodle for a buck. No advice from me. Your greyhound either likes puppies or she doesn't. Aside from crating the puppy when you are not ACTIVELY supervising, I wouldn't worry too much.

You can't focus on a behavior matter BEFORE ruling out medical. So off to the vet you go for a urine culture. If that is clean, then you know it's a behavior or even a "husbandry" problem (meaning perhaps he is simply being left inside too long). Irregular schedules are very hard for dogs. They are creatures of routine. And I agree. It's not reasonable to expect a dog to hold it during the day for 12 hours. At night when they're sleeping they seem to do it regularly, but then again, we humans tend to "go" more during the day, right? If she can't get home to let him out on those 12 hour days, a dog walker is your best bet. Do you have a neighbor with a dog who has more regular hours? You could offer to trade walking services for something like weekend dog sitting. I've done things like that with success in the past.

I totally disagree "CountryPaws." I would take the dog in a heartbeat. There is really very little chance this was just "out of the blue." Those of us who have had dogs all of our lives and do not have children would not be put off by the dog biting a person once. Maybe I'm stupid? But I am confident I know how NOT to get bitten. I also hate to say it, but this message strikes me that it might not even be real. People do occasionally show up here just to stir the pot. You notice she hasn't been back?

For what it's worth, I NEVER go out at night without a very bright LED flashlight. If you had one, you could see where you were walking and what you were walking on! They're small, light, and easy to tuck in a pocket, and super bright!

It's the adoption groups who tout the "five pounds over race weight." Not the professional trainers, vets, etc. Some dogs race heavy, some dogs race lean. George lost significant muscle mass over the the years once he was adopted. He weighed less than race weight but looked good. Buck barely raced at all, and I'm having trouble keeping his weight down. He's just one of THOSE dogs.

Well if you've allowed him to do this for three years now, he assumes you're OK with it! I never let my dog lag. I'm not out there for MY benefit, I'm out there so he can get some exercise, not crawl down the sidewalk at a snail's pace! I just use the horse noise (horse people know what I mean!) and give him a gentle tug and say, "Let's go!" and he'll start to trot for me.

Why would you do a sad face at the idea of medicating her? Consider that at her age, in human years, she'd be well into her golden years. Who DOESN'T have aches and pains after a certain age? If you can make her feel better, that's a good thing!