GeorgeofNE

Sounds like he's "tanking up." Filling up the pee shooter for maximum pee mail leaving! I never let my dog just stand and drink and drink and drink. If he's really thirsty, he'll go back after I've stopped him, but I do think it may be a leftover habit from the track where they don't have water in their kennels with them all the time.

We had TWO flap doors in our old house, side by side. Nothing ever came in except the dogs. Course had it, I'm sure they would have done something about it! We had a security system in the entire house, so when we were not home, the dogs were enclosed in the mud room/laundry room area so they didn't set off the alarm. Had a person come in through the door and tried to go into the bulk of the house, they would have been in for a very loud suprise!

I have a cordless one. It's pretty big--but a charges lasts me for MONTHS doing George's nails every Sunday.

How would the dog scream if he was sedated for the x-ray? I second the OSU idea. Greyhounds rarely have hip displaysia, for one thing, and that kind of pain for days is not likely to be a "hip strain." Sounds like your vet was just guessing.

It's a bruise--but you really should take any newly adopted dog to the vet when you get it, if for no other reason than for the vet to see it healthy. He needs to be checked for parasites, etc. Unless you're lucky enough to have adopted him from a group that does all that for you?

Pick meal times that work for YOU. Feed him then. Period. I find it very amusing the number of people that tend to respond that they do things like keep food by their bed to hush the dog up, etc. Which is exactly how you teach a dog to whine when it wants food. Unless a dog is sickly, they are NOT going to come to any harm if they feel a bit of hunger from time to time. When George asks to go out in the middle of the night, I get up, take him out, give him NOTHING (except a "good dog" as he's peeing) and go straight back to bed. I don't ignore it (he has pee problems) but I do not reward it with affection or playtime or snacks. This greatly reduces the "reward" in his mind, and he only asks to go if he really has to because there's not much in it for him if he doesn't.

I disagree with the suggestion of one on each side. We had four English Setters, and as a 12 year old, I could walk them all easily. They all walked on the proper (or should I say traditional!) side, together. If each dog understands "heel," then they're probably competing with each other when they're together. Let's not forget--they are bred to race! You just need more training. I find working on heel is best done with a lot of quick and sudden changes of direction. You need to keep a brisk pace and be calm, quiet, and firm. I grasp both leashes with both hands (right hand through the leash loops and holding the body of the leash, left hand clasping the leash a few feet from the buckles). Maybe because I rode horses, I have no problems controlling which leash I'm making a correction with. I also find that narrower, leather leashes give MUCH better control than the thick nylon ones that are so popular. Not sure what you're using, but consider narrow leashes.

I didn't hear a word about "and we took him to the vet." That should be your first trip. Trust me: you would much rather treat a UTI than deal with a behavioral peeing issue.

I happen to believe picky eaters are made, not born. You need to re-train her to eat what she's fed. I had to do this with my last dog. He was very, very sick when I adopted him off of death row at a shelter. I had to hand feed him, and for the first 18 months of his life, people threatened to call the police on me he was so skinny (they had no idea he was at the vets at least monthly!). When he finally got through it, I had created a MONSTER. He wouldn't eat unless it was out of my hand. With my vet's encouragement, I put him on a strict schedule. He ate within the 15 minute time frame, or he got NOTHING else until the next meal. Took about a week of tough love, and I never had a problem with him again. And he ate DOG FOOD with water in it, and the occasional left over meat, veggies, etc. Nothing added in regularly.

The typical greyhound space aggression has to do with the way their raised and kenneled while working. Your puppy has never experienced that. My guess is your pup was playing and you misunderstood his "tone." Many puppies are extremely vocal when the play. My Greyhound sounds like he's going to kill someone when he gets going with his Greyhound buddy!

I can't imagine that a thyroid issue would cause him to suddenly be afraid of ONE thing. It's far more likely that the bird just scared him, and like many dogs, he's over reacted to it. He'll get over it. Sounds like you're working through it well.

Yuck! But I agree--a dog is a dog when it comes to round worms.

Any chance at all the bird bit him?

My father used to be a bird hunter--his rule was one syllable names, but not because longer ones confuse the dog. It's because you sound pretty ridiculous trying to train a hunting dog hollering "Supercalefragelisticexpealidocious!" over and over when you're training a puppy in the field. Our dogs were Sam, Jeb, Matt, and Bo. After he gave up hunting, he really branched out with Josh, Davey, and Lily! There was also an Abby in there, but she was way too timid for hunting so he figured it didn't matter. The reasoning has kind of stuck with me. Long names are best saved for cats, who won't listen to you anyway! But it truly doesn't matter. If you like a longer name, go for it!

I also don't have kids, but the responsibility to keep your little girl AWAY from the dogs is yours. Obviously she's too young to understand a whole bunch of instructions and rules, and your dogs are...dogs. Right now she's making them uncomfortable, so you have to just make sure she leaves them alone. I'm sure it's very difficult to be there all the time, but if you can't be, then the dogs need to be physically separated from her to avoid "nips" turning tragic. I think there's a recommended book--something about Childproofing Your Dog? You might Google that. My parents had dogs before they had kids (sounds like you did too) but they were fortunate that the dog we grew up with, Sam, was a 100% bomb proof English Setter. We could have done anything to dear Sam, and the worst he would have done is get up and walk away. Since many Greyhounds don't grow up around children, it seems like some of them just don't do too well with them when they're little, so you'll have to work out a way to get through this phase, and baby gates are your friends!

Wow. I have never left the vet after George's annual checkup having spent less than $200! A dental, with no extractions, is probably a minimum $400+. I paid almost $700 for my cat (he had a lot of teeth pulled).

Doesn't sound like aggression to ME, but I would lose the harness. Harnesses are great for spooks, but you really have LESS control of the dangerous bits (the teeth!) when your method of control is affixed to the most powerful part of the dog--the chest/back. My dog IS leash aggressive. I cannot walk him with a harness because I need his MOUTH to be well out of reach of other dogs who pass, and that's simply not possible on a long necked, needlenosed dog wearing a harness. If she were mine, I would do one-on-one walks with her, using a properly fitted martingale, work on "heel," and what has worked for me (more or less) is as soon as we see another dog, BEFORE my dog starts to get tuned up, I shove a treat in his mouth and just keep moving. This has made the issue workable.

I know your heart is broken, but I am CERTAIN Zoe knows you loved her and had no idea what was happening. You gave her six wonderful years and you made all your choices based on what you felt was best for her. I am so sorry for your loss. Truly.

Blue Buffalo gave my dog the worst case of diarrhea he's ever had and it was really hard to get rid of! Just didn't work for him. Try canned pumpkin instead of rice to firm him back up.

Maybe you could ask OSU to send you the proper dose if you made them a donation??

Exactly--thanks. I have NEVER met a dog, aside from a toy breed who jumped off a bed who just spontaneous broke a leg while home alone. About 40% of osteo cases are not discovered until a leg "spontaneously" breaks.

You need to see a specialist, cause for your vet to suggest that running 111 races may have contributed to heart failure is just absurd.

I don't see how running after an object and handing it to his person is mentally stimulating. I mean it's really a rather DUMB activity if you're a smart dog. I recently saw a cute cartoon where the dog was "speaking" to his person saying, "OK Dave, I'll get it one more time, but if the stick is that important to you, you should learn to take better care of it!" It's really something instinctive in certain breeds, and sure, there are other dogs who do it too (my last dog was an awesome retriever, and he was a pit bull mix). I grew up with English Setters. They're pointing dogs. They don't retrieve. Then we got a Lab. Retrieves, does NOT point! George is my Greyhound. Doesn't point. Doesn't retrieve. Doesn't do tricks. His idea of mental stimulation is seeing how early he can get me to feed him by annoying me with the BIG EYES.

You're housebreaking him. Just because he's an adult doesn't mean he "gets it" any better than a puppy! I would suggest that you keep the dog with you when you're working at home. We all have to "get things done" but until such time as the dog is truly housebroken, one of those "things" is keeping your eye on him! And most dogs DO have to go after they eat. The 4 AM wake up is probably more related to being woken early at the kennels and not about bladder control. My dog used to do that too. This is when you teach, "Go lie down"! I think you're mostly doing things right--but please don't get frustrated so soon. It sounds like he's really trying.

Why is she wearing her "winter coat" inside? Maybe a nice pair of jammies would be more comfy? But no, I don't think that's what is causing the stiffness. You need to take her to the vet if she stopped eating after a dental. She could have an infection. Also ask about arthritis. What you're describing sounds like arthritis.