tydyelady

That is too Frickin' funny!!!!!! I can just see it now!

I am heartbroken for you, it is so damn hard. How do you do this, you asked? Nothing magic, you just do. You do what will be right for Ava, when the time comes. I pray that Ava still has some good time left, and that you find some peace. Just love her, live in the now, and the rest will follow.

Our boy sleeps on his bed in our room, next to our bed. We don't have a huge bedroom either, but we just step over the bed. Its in front of the long closet, so sometimes I have to move it a bit either way to open the closet doors, but no big deal. Opie is our baby, and he wants to sleep by us. I think its telling that your boy slept on the floor in front of your closed door. He wants to be with you. I would say, make it work somehow.

Good healing thoughts for James coming from the PNW.

We had a crate hater too. When we brought Opie home (it was a Sunday), we had a crate. He hated it, the first night was torture with the crying and whining, even though I slept in the room with him. Second night, same thing, so we let him out and he slept next to our bed on his bed. But, when we went to work, were afraid to leave him out, same fears as you. We crated, and he broke out 3 times, bending bars, scratching himself, bleeding, pooping and peeing in the crate. By that Saturday (6 days later), we had all had enough, and decided to leave him out while we left for 2 hours. He was good as gold, just slept on his beds. We got rid of the crate and never looked back. Some dogs just don't like the confinement, as others above had said. We do babygate off the kitchen and dining rooms, as we have birds in there. But Opie has the run of the rest of the house. He has NEVER touched or destroyed anything, nor pooped or peed in the house. He just hated the crate, and being confined. Don't necessarily equate destructive crate behavior with how your girl would do on her own not being locked in a crate or bedroom. You might want to give it a try for short periods, like we did, and see how she does. And as the above poster, if you are still nervous, muzzle her. They are used to wearing muzzles, it is not cruel.

Opie has really bad manners with the ladies - he acts very uncouth! He will go over to a new female, try to nip at her neck, and then paw at her or jump on her (not really mounting, just jumping). This usually get a growl in his face, or a snap back. Poor boy, then he hangs his head and walks away!

I've been using Salmon oil I get from Costco for about 2 years now. Opie has a beautiful black shiny coat.

Prayers for Onyx from the PNW. Hang in there Onyx, spring is coming!!

I was lucky enough to find a memory foam bed at Costco. Its 4 inches thick (I just went and measured) and it has held up quite well. Its Opie's living room bed. We have had it almost 2 years, and its as good as the day we bought it. And yeah, it was like $25 or something like that. Washable removable cover. Great buy if you can find one.

What time do you feed him dinner, if he is getting snack at 7PM? Perhaps moving the whole feeding schedule later? Or as others have suggested, a snack later, right before bed. We feed on a later routine. Brecky is about 8-9 AM. We don't usually get up til 7:30 during the week. After we get home from work and Opie has his walk, pee and poo, he gets a turkey neck piece (around 6pm). Dinner is usually about 8-8:30 pm. If we are out late on the weekends (DH is in a band, so we could get home 2-3 AM occasionally on a Sat nite) we are hungry and have a snack, so Opie is usually given something then too. Maybe 1/2 cup kibble. We adjust down his dinner if we know we are going to do this, so he doesn't get too much food. Oh, and FYI, he is also on the Kirkland food. I don't think its the food, it sounds more like when you are feeding him.

Prayers for King from the PNW.

OMG!!! 2 socks!!! Good thing you went in. And yes HIDE all the socks!!

I hate when that happens, something you like and works for your dog. Have you tried the Kirkland Lamb and Rice (Costco)? Just a suggestion for another lamb and rice food.

Glad to hear this!!!

Just seeing this - and prayers for Wendy from the PNW!

Oh no! Prayers for you and Dude.

I take enzymes! From what I read, yes humans make all their own enzymes, but as they age, they make less - leading to all sorts of digestive changes. Since I have IBS, I have added enzymes to my diet at night, before and after dinner. I can tell the difference when I miss a dose. I have often wondered about greyhounds, since they seem to have such sensitive stomachs.

Our Opie seemed to have a preference for men when we first got him. Although he is a big momma's boy now, he used to growl occasionally at me - regarding cookies, his bed, etc. We worked through this, and he is fine now. But he will occasionally growl at a woman on the street, someone in a park, although is less frequent now. I could never figure out what it was with women - he has NEVER growled at a man. I just learned to be very vigilent when he was around women he did not know. Oh, worth noting that he has NEVER growled at a child either.

We use Kirkland food for Opie, the lamb and rice one. He doesn't do well on chicken foods. He has nice firm poops. no gas, and the price is right - oh, and he likes it.

I am not a food snob - I believe in what works for your dog, whether that be the most expensive food, raw, homecooked, or Science Diet. I too tried a variety of foods for Opie when I got him, believing more expensive was better quality and would produce those firm poops I had only heard of at that time!! In my search (about 4-5 different foods) I also found out he does not do well on chicken based foods. We finally switched to Kirkland Lamb and Rice and things are great - he likes it, and nice bouncy poops. Do what works for your dog, and don't worry about what others feed. As an aside, I used to feed grocery store food (WAAAYYY back when there weren't all these designer dog foods). Not that I would recommend that now, but it seems we have become obsessed with all of this. On that grocery store foods (whatever was on sale that he liked) I had an Afghan hound that lived till 16, and was never sick a day in his life, until a few months before he passed. My advice is do what works.

Prayers and good thoughts for Goldie. Do everything in your power to see if she can be helped.

Opie gets sardines almost every day with his breakfast - sometimes in oil, or water. But he only gets like a piece - a tin of sardines lasts about 5 days. His current favorite is the smoked ones. I will have to try the tomato sauce ones. Can't imagine that he won't like it.

Renton, WA resident chiming in with Hello and Welcome. Not far from you either.

Just seeing this for the first time, and so happy to see a (getting better) happy outcome. Keep on keepin' on!!

Opie gets a piece of a turkey neck (they come cut up from the store I buy from) every night after we get home from work and he has his walk. There is a nice one sitting in the fridge from the turkey just waiting for my son to get here so he can eat it. He LOVES turkey necks! And yes, to the OP, do NOT cook it, feed it raw, as is. It may look disgusting to you, but your hound will love it!!