GeorgeofNE

I'm sorry, why would you give him milk? Most dogs are lactose intolerant and milk is certainly not a normal part of their diet. Now some ICE CREAM...that's a treat!! A few days of pain meds are not going to harm him. Were you perhaps thinking of milk thistle, an herb, that can help protect a dog's liver? I would URGE you to send the x-rays and biopsy results to Dr. Couto as soon as possible.

Please try to stop imagining all sorts of things that MIGHT have happened to him. Dogs are quirkly. Greyhounds are extra quirky. Just because he reacts to something NOW doesn't mean it has anything to do with THEN. Case in point: I had a dog who was found after being thrown from a moving car. You'd think he'd be afraid of cars, or open windows. Nope. He was afraid of the ironing board, Hassidic Jews, and the ROTC. Like I said: dogs are quirky.

Yikes! GreysMom always has good advice. IMHO, this is what "prey drive" really is. An irresistible urge to chase and catch. It MIGHT be that you can manage this, but it also might be a disaster waiting to happen. I can't even imagine the stress of having three animals you need to protect from a fourth. Truthfully, even if I'm wrong and she IS just playing, what does it matter? She could still cause serious injury or even death faster than you could get to her. The behaviorist is a wonderful idea. Good luck. And I love the name Willow. So appropriate for a lady hound!

Vizlas tend to be, uhm, energetic. They also have a docked tail, and my former dog park friends and I (when I had a mutt who I allowed off leash) noted that dogs tend to mistrust dogs without tails! I don't know how true that is, but it did seem to hold true throughout the neighborhood. I think it's a great idea (as a condo dweller who also has a dog who doesn't like non greyhounds) to just go knock on the Vizla owner's door and introduce yourself properly, and ask that the other person also attempt to avoid you. You might end up friends, who knows! But instead of stressing about it and as Mary Jane says possibly passing on your tension to your dog, maybe give it a try?

OK, it's called "housebreaking" and it's the first thing you should have started to teach her. Just because you adopted an adult dog doesn't mean she has even a faint clue where she is supposed to go. I'm not going to write out a long thing on how to housetrain a dog because there are probably hundreds of books out there that describe it in detail. You must assume she is a puppy for the purposes of housebreaking, and start out with the understanding she has no idea what you expect, and teach her!

I think you're overdoing things. It's cool that over in the UK you can take dogs into bars, but it's hardly near the top of the list of things a brand new pet should be doing with his new family! He needs to know and trust you before you expose him to such potentially nerve wracking activities. Work on things like leash manners, and casually meeting neighbors and such while out and about. There will be plenty of time for him to hone his social skills with strangers later on!

We had a dog with confirmed IBD. He ate a commercial Hills diet AND NOTHING ELSE and took his Flagyl (he also had a thyroid problem, so he took that too) and he did great. When he died, it was of totally unrelated issues. Not a greyhound, but an English setter. We did pay for the biopsy, and if you aren't willing to do the test, you may find vets aren't all that interested in "helping" you since in their minds you haven't actually confirmed what the problem is. I hope you can find your boy some relief!

Rude AND wrong! I'd say I was hurt, but I am not. Your wish is my command. I will add you to my list of blocked people.

Where do you get styptic powder if not from your father's shaving drawer???

Feed them exactly what they're used to at first. Please remember: you're not adopting a picky toddler. You're adopting a dog. Most dogs will eat what they're served, and be pleased about it. A little bit of warm water, the kibbles, swirl it about, give it to the dog. Keep meal times simple and basic at first. The more stuff you add in, the more "what gave her the runs?" questions you'll be asking later!

10 weeks is WAY too young for "5-6" training sessions a day. All that matters at that age is housebreaking. You can do perhaps TWO short short and FUN sessions. Pick ONE command. Sit is probably the best bet. Work on that. It's never sounded to me like you particularly enjoy having a dog. I'm not sure what you thought was going to happen with a puppy in the house. It almost seems like Ruby wasn't any fun for you so even though you were pretty sure a puppy would annoy her, you got one anyway. Which is now annoying YOU. I don't mean to sound harsh. All I can suggest is that you need to take a deep breath and try to enjoy it for what it is; a brief and fleeting puppyhood that is SUPPOSED to be fun for all of you. She needs exercise, food and water, and LOVE to become a great adult dog, but it will be up to two YEARS before she "calms down."

I feel like we should add a note to NEW adopters, especially those with no greyhound experience: a long line is a great training tool IF you know how to use it. If you do NOT, please don't do this. Greyhounds can get up to speed in three strides. As someone who has had to grab a fast moving rope on a 75 pound dog (did NOT have gloves on), it is the most incredibly painful burn you can imagine, and few people could actually hold on to a rope if your hound picks the wrong time to try zoomies, chase a rabbit, etc. This lady (the OP) is exerienced with both greyhounds and training.

Seems to me as if the food aggression will vanish once people stop trying to take his food while he's eating. Is this REALLY something groups consider abnormal? That a dog can "fail" a test like that and therefore be what, unadoptable? As long as someone who understands canines adopts this dog, I don't understand why this is even an issue.

It's interesting to me that vets are still pushing "supplements" for joints. Because human orthopedics do not believe they work on people. I never saw any results with either of my dogs I tried them on, one had major surgery on his ACL and severe arthritis. It did jack squat for him. Also did nothing for George. I ask my orthopedic surgeon all the time, "should I try XYZ?" and he always laughs and says only if I want the manufacturer to have my money. All of my joints and my connective tissues are weak and failing, and not a single doctor has suggested that I take anything other than my medication. Your mileage may vary.

Well, we didn't use "marking" and rewarding back in my day. You petted the dog, told it is was a very good dog, and moved on. Not a lot of timing involved. Like so many activities today, I think people tend to overthink obedience training.

You have to housebreak him like a puppy. It's no different for males dogs than females UNLESS he isn't "peeing," but marking. However, soaking the belly band indicates to me that he can't hold it. You need to do the urinalysis routine before stressing too much. If it all comes back clean, there isn't much you can do when you aren't there, but when you are, the tether method seems to work well for older dogs.

Try to set up the new place as much like the old place as possible. And if you can, have someone take care of her for the day while you actually move. That way she is safe, you can move without worrying about her getting out, and you can get her beds, food and water, and toys moved in and placed where she can easily find them. You can try a DAP diffuser or collar on her. If you have someone watch her, you can get that plugged in BEFORE she comes in. That might help. Keep your routine as similar as you can, and you might be suprised. I moved with my SA dog, and I was pleasantly suprised that his anxiety got no worse. In fact, it's how he finally mastered stairs! He just followed the movers right up into the new place. I had them move his crate in first, and he waited out the move in there.

I agree with Jerilyn--sounds like normal shedding. A "hound glove" or similar tool for short haired dogs, a few minute every day, and he will no doubt like it, and look good as new soon-ish (just in time for winter!). All other things being equal, in a dog that age, be happy if he is eating well, maintaining weight, etc.

I appreciate you wanting to help him with his fear, but you can't let the dog make the schedule. He needs to go outside before bedtime, fear or not. Call me a mean spirited so-and-so if you must, but there is NO WAY I'm letting my dog skip his evening constitutional and then getting up in the middle of the night to clean up after him. I agree he needs to see the vet first, but then get him back on a schedule and stick to it.

You know, it's not difficult to teach a dog yourself. Just find a book you like, and follow the instructions. The key to training is consistency and practice. It doesn't matter what command or hand signal you use as long as you use them consistently. It doesn't matter where you are, everything you do is training the dog one way or another. So if you can set aside two 10-15 minute sessions a day and work on things like sit/stay/come/down/heel (or whatever you feel is important) you can teach her anything you want for the cost of one book! I trained my first dog when I was 10. It's not rocket science, and it's fun!

How is it possible I had a dog with high creatinine for seven years and never heard the term "SDMA"? Well, I just looked it up and it's a new test--that's why! OK, good to know! I think your vet is jumping the gun too, and I would not wait six months to have the tests rerun--and in point of fact, if he is so SURE it's kidney disease and his plan is to do nothing at all, I'd be concerned.

Increased drinking and increased output are in fact reasons to take your dog to the vet.

What do you mean "the cage and harness"? Are you walking her with the muzzle on? Why? And why, if she is doing well without a crate, would you bother getting one now? Just guessing--is this the first dog you've ever had? One thing you don't want to do is let her set the schedule, route, etc. Being gentle with her at first is one thing. Letting her dictate her daily routine is another entirely.

I don't think any product is 100% against any of the pests. I would not be too exercised about one tick. Most tick "preventatives" don't repel ticks, they just kill them. I can't speak to Bravecto's claims. I found the Seresto collars everyone is so happy with did NOT work on Buck and he got fleas. Only dog at my vet's practice they didn't work for1

This is sure to be a hot button issue. People have very different ideas as to what "quality of life" is. I've seen cases of people literally carrying their dogs around because they cannot walk even to relieve themselves and their people are convinced it's in the dog's best interest. Mental frailty is no different than physical, IMHO. If my dog wasn't himself anymore, if I did not believe he was happy and relaxed and enjoying life, I wouldn't have any problem with putting him down. Until you've watched a beloved family member disappear into dementia, I'm not sure you can completely understand that even if a physical body is still functioning, if their brain is shot, they're already gone. Someone wrote: I have to say, this is a bit absurd to me. We may love them deeply, but they are NOT children. Their lifespan is markedly shorter than ours, and we have to be strong enough to let them go when it's time. It's a gift we can give our pets that we cannot current give to terminally ill people.