GeorgeofNE

Hopefully it's nothing, but I would say clearly your vet is NOT Greyhound savvy or he/she would have suggested the x-rays alreaady.

Sounds good, but my #1 request was "cat safe" dogs, and I did pretty much nothing except keep the muzzle on the dog for the first couple of hours. Didn't even do that with the second dog. Neither dog had ANY interest in my cats from the get go.

There is no medical reason to feed a dog probiotics unless they are actively taking antibiotics. Just because something is "natural" does not mean it's harmless. I was told to try my old dog on Valerian Root for anxiety, and it sent his liver enzymes through the roof. The vet was horribly embarassed as she had suggested it without researching it. She no longer suggests it, as his enzymes normalized after I stopped giving it to him.

Please read a book on Greyhounds! Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies is a fun and informative read. Just because he is an adult dog doesn't mean he is trained, and "no" means NOTHING to a dog until it sinks in. Let the dog sleep in your room. He's never been alone in his life, and he wants to be with you. Someone please post that thing about greyhounds and how everything is new and strange!

He'll get used to it. Time for a little tough love!

I had ONE dog who liked his crate, and two who hate it. The two who hated it never caused any damage in my home once I accepted that they didn't want to be in their crates. Ditch it. Dog proof your house, and realize that the VAST majority of dogs in the US do not live in crates all day. We recommend them to new adopters of retired racers because, in theory, they are used to confinement and might find it comforting. Seems rather clear your dog has just announced this is not the case. You cannot compare him sleeping in it while in the bedroom with you to him being trapped, all alone, while no one is home. For the same reason you really cannot compare a dog using a track crate (surrounded by his buddies on all sides) to being confined, all alone, in the living room in an empty house.

I have those boots (came with the "winter package") and they're a fabulous idea, but they just don't stay on if there is snow more than a few inches deep. I don't bother. Once in a great while my dog will stop and hold up a paw. I bend down, blow on it, rub it, and off we go!

Wow. I have never heard of this. Truthfully, even as a omnivore, lamb is something I'm not comfortable eating, so it will never be an issue for me. I would have guessed it was the SOUND of the meat sizzling, but you learn something new every day!

It's a training issue, IMHO. When I was a kid, I could safely walk our four English Setters myself. Because they were all trained to walk at heel. You need to be consistent with her, and not allow this. There are a lot of things you can try--pick one, and stick with it. What helped me with my two Greyhounds (neither of which was any good on a leash at all) was to do the first half of our morning walk on MY terms, and then the second half at the local park and I let them sniff to their heart's content and decide where we go. That way they get both exercise of their body (and so do I) but they satisfy their doggy urges as well.

I think most of us would consider Dr. Couto the expert on Greyhound health, and he says he has never treated a TRULY hypothyroid Greyhound. The behavior issues oft discussed on this forum as possible bad thyroid symptoms are not considered symptoms of thyroid problems. Those are what they call "anecdotal." My family had TWO dogs with thyroid troubles--a mutt, and an English Setter. And my mother had her thyroid removed. Other than Mom being a bit of a nut, trust me, none of them exhibited odd behavior. Just bad skin/fur issues.

I have been leash walking 365 days a year for the past 19 years, come what may. I have no choice. It would never even enter my mind to allow my large dog to use my home as a toilet. I suppose if I was disabled, well, I wouldn't have a large dog--I'd have a little dog that I could paper train and not worry about! However, I choose to have a large dog, and I live in a small condo on the third floor with NO fenced in area anywhere in town, so leash walk it is! Do I enjoy going out when it's really cold? No! But I do it. The key is proper attire! Long underwear pants, ski socks, and wind proof pants (or even snow pants) on the bottom, with some insulated boots. A good down jacket on top and a warm hat (that's key). Gloves, and maybe something to cover the face if it's a blizzard, and off we go! Dog gets a winter coat (Voyager K9, Chilly Dogs both make good ones). When it's truly hideous and the snow is deep, we may just walk the parking lot. But we go out. And we do not come in until he has done what he is out there to do. Hot coffee when I get inside, and somehow the enjoyment I get out of having a dog in my life makes it all worth it!

Bear in mind that hounds at the track and in training generally eat out of a bucket or bowl on the floor. There is no actually NEED for elevated feeders, so whatever your dog likes is fine.

You can't "have issues" because it's raining when you have a pup. Not sure what you mean other than you didn't want to (or for some reasons cannot?) go out in the rain. I says invest in a Gore-Tex jacket and hat, and hit the road!! It's not that big a deal when you're dressed properly. And exercise is your friend, for sure, with a dog that young!

I would not attend clicker training class myself, as I think the clicker is more trouble than it's worth. Praise seems to work just as well and you don't need a free hand for it!

Give the brand new dog a break and turn it OFF for a while? Use headphones? Wait a bit until he actually knows you're his friends, and then try again at a nice low volume.

Poison control???? Nah. My cats LOVE to lick my hand when I've put bag balm on my fingers! In fact I believe they used to prescribe ingesting Vaseline Petroleum jelly for constipation in cats! The stuff is made to slather on the udder of a cow. It's not toxic.

I've been on Tramadol for years. Even the article quoted said that hallucinations are NOT one of the side effects, and has been reported only by patients who stop taking it suddenly. Giving your dog Tramadol for a week or so and then discontinuing it is not the same sort of deal as, for example, ME who takes it daily, and has for years.

Teaching a dog to go up the stairs is not all that hard, and you could accomplish it in one afternoon. Teach the dog to get up the stairs, move the crate to your bedroom, problem is solved!

A cat-safe hound won't care how your cat walks! They just seem to accept that the furry thing with the claws is part of the pack! Good luck!

I'd skip boiled chicken and use something more difficult to finish off. Like peanut butter--a very popular option! If you have a studio apartment, I am not sure why you're bothering to baby gate her somewhere. She'd probably be more relaxed if you just give her the run of the place. For some dogs, confinement of any kind is a stress trigger. I know for my George, even having a HUGE bedroom to be in wasn't workable. He crawled under the gate on day 1, and jumped over the gate on day 2, and on day 3 I gave up and he never howled when I left again!

Doesn't sound like the best match to me--I also have a dog who I describe as "cautious," but too much activity frightens him. He would not be a good choice for a city dweller at all. There are plenty of dogs that are not bothered by things like noise, so if this is a brand new adoption, it might be wise to speak to the group you got her from about swapping her-- If this is perhaps instead a new living situation, and you've had the dog--that's a different story. You'll just have to hope she gets used to it. And please buy a harness to wear when you take her out.

That was a rather uninformed thing your adoption group said! There are many, many cats and Greyhounds that live peacefully together, including mine. I'm on my second Greyhound, and in my Greyhound owning life have been through an assortment of approximately 5 different cats, all of whom were left on a daily basis with the dog. Not a whisker was ever harmed! Here is one example! I've had this dog since August. The cat is a very, very pesty one. This was a peaceful moment. As long as the cat behaves, my dogs have both been absolute gentlehounds around my cats.

No dog "needs" a snood. As a New Englander, to me, you live "down south" and I think a fleece coat is more than enough!

Yeah, if your vet didn't even bother running a fecal exam, I'd love to know just how he diagnosed a food allergy to soy and wheat... Food allergies are typically to the protein source, not the grain despite rampant belief that grains are now evil in a canine diet.

This is a matter that requires the adults in the room to change their behavior, since what the dog is doing is perfectly reasonable, and you cannot expect a baby to understand. Put the dog in another room when the baby is crawling around. Problem solved. I believe there is a good book about dogs and babies? Like Greysmom, I don't have kids, but I was a kid in a house with dogs, and since my parents had their dog well before they had us, and loved him like family, they knew it was their job to protect him from us, and not vice versa!