Hawthorn

I'm so sorry to hear this Rest in peace Treasure

So sorry for your loss ~ what a sweet face he has. Rest in peace, Trevor, always loved.

I'm so sorry . Rest in peace Shelby.

I'm so sorry for your loss of Milky Way .

Sending sympathy to all who knew and loved T-cup.

I'm so sorry Rest in peace, Cal

I don't know, but Sophie seems to choose the most inaccessible places - under a spiky shrub (ouch!) or in the middle of a clump of flowers for example. She takes forever to select the perfect spot and then has multiple goes at achieving her mission - I think the record is 37!

I remember those feelings very well. The grief and emptiness you feel now is a measure of how much you loved him. If only all greyhounds could be loved so much that they leave such a void when they pass. It will get better and one day you'll be able to walk in those bluebell woods and remember all the lovely times you had there with Frisby. I lost my first greyhound the same way and at the same age, too, 12 years and 7 months. It was February when he passed, and snowdrops were everywhere. I think about him frequently, but especially so when the snowdrops appear.

I'm so sorry. That picture of him with the bluebells is just beautiful. Rest in peace, Frisby, loved and remembered always.

She was beautiful ~ so sorry you had to say goodbye Rest in peace, Aleeya

He was beautiful ~ so sorry you had to say goodbye to him .

I'm so sorry for your loss .

Charlie ~ time goes so fast . My first greyhound (in my Avatar) was called Charlie too - he passed away seven years ago but I still miss him and think about him every day.

I remember - it was so sad .

That's quite a story. She took her time making her way to you but ended up where she truly belonged eventually. So sorry you had to say goodbye to your special girl. Rest in peace, Sadie, loved and remembered always.

For my boy, it was very much dose-related. When he was on a high dose (100mg daily) we were having to get up several times a night, and he occasionally also went in his sleep, but once we got down to the lower doses we had no problems. For us, the pred saved his life, so getting up in the night seemed a small price to pay.

If Birdie's appetite is reasonable, I think I'd just try to add in a couple more meals so she's getting five in total. I agree it's best to avoid fatty food as steroids increase the risk for pancreatitis, but chicken, extra lean beef mince, sardines, eggs should be OK if she likes them. We had the same thing with our boy when he came back skeletal from two weeks at a specialist hospital for a severe case of IMPA (Immune Mediated Polyarthritis) but he had a very poor appetite too which made things doubly difficult. We fed him five times a day, but he would only eat a little of any one thing, so his meals would all be about 10 courses. We'd start with kibble and see how much of that he'd eat, then move on to canned food, then real meat, then a few biscuits, then a tripe stick etc. For weeks the fridge was full of things we'd bought to see if he'd eat them and little plastic containers of things he'd eat one day and not the next. We got there in the end, though, as I'm sure you will too.

Real meat every time - chicken, beef, liver, sausages (low-fat, no onion) and plenty of it! Different varieties of cheese go down well too but I don't like to give too much of that. Hot dogs at a pinch. For training classes, I'd take a mix of the above. I've never really worried about whether or not it goes nasty in the heat because we're never out long enough for it to be a problem in hot weather. I just stick it in a food bag inside a waist bag and zip it up. Freshly cooked, warm meat seems to be especially high value. I think of all of these, the sausages are possibly the top favourite. I remember once going on a small group walk where the dogs were all off-leash. I had some warm, freshly-cooked premium angus beef and garlic sausages in my bag which were particularly smelly. Shortly into the walk one of the other owners pointed out that I had a small string of dogs following intently behind me .

Do you give her a small meal/snack at bedtime?

What a nightmare for both of you . I hope Leah heals quickly and won't be too traumatized. Will you be able to avoid walking past that house in the future?

This is a good point. It is possible to teach recall in such a way as to achieve a history of 100% recall (http://www.brisbeethewhite.com/id26.htm), but this is not the same thing as saying “I guarantee that my dog will always have 100% recall in any situation". No-one can ever say that. I'm not saying it's easy to teach (a history of) 100% recall, but it is possible if you have the motivation and the aptitude, plus the time and persistence and patience etc, which realistically many people do not. BUT, even if you've done the training, and continually practice recall to maintain it, this does not mean you can rely on it and stop being sensible and cautious and vigilant about your dog's safety. Recall training your dog is no guarantee of safety, but it is a very good tool to have in your box. Teaching a history of 100% recall is the best you can have, but any degree of recall training is better than none, and you never know when it might just save your dog's life.

Beautiful tribute and slideshow - so sorry you had to say goodbye. Rest in peace Spencer.

I'm not a behaviourist either, but to me it's just common sense that a dog who knows it's going to get a super-tasty treat every time it does something is going to be more motivated than one who doesn't. I've always trained mine that way and it has worked well for me. We don't leave the house with the dogs without high-value treats, whether we're going for a walk or the vets or wherever, and we have small plastic containers containing less high value treats (kibble) in the kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and one on the bookcase by the front door, so we always have something to hand. The plastic containers are particularly useful because they make a nice rattling sound which quickly gets the dog's attention. Also recall is something you train hoping that you'll never need to use it in an emergency situation. In the six years I've owned Sunny and Sophie I've only had to use it once in a potentially dangerous situation when DH accidentally let Sophie out the front door (this was before we had babygates). I called her and she immediately rushed back in looking expectantly for her reward. I didn't have a high-value treat immediately to hand but I was able to grab a kibble container and give her some of that, closely followed by a high-value treat.

I don't really see what the problem is. Hester doesn't have to like other dogs or want to play with them, and he's perfectly entitled to let them know this, especially if they are being a bit too energetic (ie rude) in their approach like the vizsla. The vizsla needs to learn some manners and it sounds as if Hester gave it a good lesson. It's not as if Hester's being aggressive in any way. Maybe he'll mellow a bit with time or maybe he won't, but I certainly wouldn't consider it a "major character flaw" - that is unfair to Hester in my view. Hester seems like a very well-adjusted dog to me. The only possible issue I can see is that other owners might erroneously consider Hester's behaviour (the growling) to be aggressive. Or are you worried that one day a dog won't back down and there'll be a fight?

How unbelievably heartbreaking - I'm so sorry .