Fruitycake

Do you always walk the same direction? Can you change directions or do loops that bring you past the house and that only sometimes mean the walk is over? Our Monty likes to walk away from the house and tends to 'pout' when we turn around to come home, even at 11 years old. But now we have the other dog who doesn't like walking away from the house (she's become a real homebody) so our walks are shorter loops. If we walked Monty's desired routes I'd probably have to call for my husband to pick me up on the other side of the metropolitan area! Can you make homecoming a great thing by feeding him after his longer walk (with maybe a shorter trip for potty after he eats)? Or jog with him some, to help use up some of his energy? I assume you don't have a fenced yard for potty breaks and you're stuck with walking for all elimination trips outside (we are too). Something else might be to drive him somewhere new and walk loops in new areas so he doesn't know he's heading back (to the car and therefore home), but that would mean a whole other set of fussiness to deal with. ETA: I hear and understand your frustration and doubts! Monty took a long time to actually accept that he should potty when on leash when we got him, so we walked for hours at first to get him to potty, and he never wanted to pottyn the same place twice. Eventually he settled in and learned, but we too had huge frustrations and doubts. If you can weather this, it does get better! Any newly adopted dog requires at least a week, sometimes months before settling in to your routine. Good luck!

We found that adding about 1/2 cup of water to Monty's kibble slowed him down enormously! Those kibbles get slippery and it takes him over twice as long to finish. (Might help the belly feel fuller, too.)

Neighbor's dog had circling incessantly to the right when walking, swinging her head and shoulders side-to-side when standing, and flinching back from nothing (like you would if you saw a baseball about to hit your face). She was 16 by the time I started caring for her, so there could have been other things going on. It was the sudden onset of circling and headswinging that caused her to be brought to the vet when she was diagnosed "likely stroke" by the vet.

It is NOT a failure to not have the experience, home layout or family makeup (other pets, children, even adults) to be able to take care of a dog who has bitten (especially when they show little control of their bite strength). There are people out there that have the ability to work with such a situation, and thank heaven for them! Keeping everyone as safe as possible is the most important thing we as adopters can do. Sometimes that means accepting that our life situation doesn't work with a particular pet, as hard as that may be. It is heartbreaking that the two of you are going through this situation.

I know. I've volunteered at humane societies and seen the large numbers of cats that are surrendered due to 'inappropriate elimination' - and would hate to see that number jump because of hormonal urges. My friend had a neutered boy who was stressed by visiting neighborhood cats and marked in response. She should have bought stock in Nature's Miracle, she used so much of it. Ugh. He was so sweet otherwise though (lived to 17). I would think that strays ('vasectomized' or not) might be more inclined to visit and spray your house if your female smelled like she was in estrus. Yuck! Our house has had enough of those kinds of visitors, and our cats are spayed & neutered. Maybe these concerns wouldn't be an issue. But we already have people that can't handle other 'normal' pet behaviors that I would think adding hormonal behaviors to the array of possible 'problem' behaviors would increase animal abandonment or (if they are lucky) surrender to shelters. If it became a primary method of sterilization instead of selected by a few select people who are ready and capable of dealing with the potential issues. (Part of my view is knowledge of gelding versus stallion - or 'proud cut' gelding - behaviors. I know we're talking about different species and sizes, but there is precident.)

I would be concerned with the hormone-driven behaviors of animals that still had their major sex-hormone producing organs left behind. I don't know of many people that would be all right with altered 'tomcats' that had the urges to spray (not to mention the urine stink!), the altered 'queens' that went into heat, or the dominance displays (and marking behaviors) of male dogs who have the urges to mate. (I've not dealt with unaltered female dogs, so don't know about their behaviors.) I would think it would be frustrating for the animals to have such a basic biological drive as mating throughout their lives and not have the ability to perform it. Not to mention the difficulty of not being able to easily tell if it has been done (especially males, but females too if they do 'go into estrus') and are found as strays. Would there have to be something like a tattoo or ear tip (wouldn't work for ear-cropped dogs) or something to certify it was done and they were to stray?

Sounds like what you have is a bad match. Puppies fuss and whine and need a lot of work and training. I don't think it is a 'greyhound thing' I think it is a 'puppy thing'. The puppy was probably used to siblings and his mother to tussle and play with until he decided it was time to nurse or sleep...but now he is thrown into an area with no siblings, no mom, feedings on an arbitrary (to him) schedule, a new place with new smells and people and he just doesn't understand. Whining would be completely normal in that situation!

Pam, I wasn't suggesting that you had said to use aspirin on her dog! The OP seemed to be desperate to do something, since the vet wasn't, and latched onto your stating that *for a stroke* your vet had told you to use aspirin...though what was described by the OP sounded more like a seizure to me and you had stated that your vet had diagnosed a stroke. I wasn't berating either you or the OP, just trying to clarify that aspirin isn't a cure-all, won't work if the two instances were indeed seizures, and the washout period is so long that dosing with it 'just in case' without the vet's knowledge and concurrence that it is a good choice is a bad idea. I know how sometimes we want to just fix things, and *doing anything* seems so much better than doing nothing...but it can be so much worse if what we do could impair a proper treatment later prescribed or change test results or create other problems.

I agree that your description sounds more like a seizure, and that it is a lot more upsetting for us to watch than for our pets to experience. Vets really don't like medicating for occasional seizures, but you should definitely be recording their frequency, duration, and symptoms when episodes occur. And a seizure looks like it lasts a lot longer than it usually does if you time it with a second hand (in my experience). How old is she? Your vet is looking at frequency, but may also be looking at age factors. Monty 'retired' before making it onto a racetrack to race because of 'a seizure' and then he had five or six in 24 hours four months later (might have had one in his kennel when we were at work) and was then put on phenobarb. Had it just been one or two, the vet probably wouldn't have prescribed anything unless it happened again. Considering that by the time he had finished his 5th seizure he was completely rebooted back to 'factory settings' (he'd lost everything: from walking on a leash, to potty training, stair navigation, understanding of windows being solid, all comands, what cats were...) and it required home training him all over again. Diagnosed - after blood tests - as idiopathic epilepsy, no known cause, and luckily phenobarbitol has prevented any more seizures. That said, my cat had a seizure at 18 years old, and his vet didn't prescribe anything because it was probably something age related in the brain and medicine was unlikely to help and recurrance was unlikely...and even if it had recurred it was a sign of something that had been working fine suddenly not working so fine. Our neighbor had a ten year old grey who started having seizures, and it turned out to be a brain tumor - not something that throwing anti-seizure medicine at could fix or help. Do not put your dog on aspirin without your vet's specific ok, because it takes weeks to cease affecting their system if they need to go on something that cannot be taken with it. And throwing a medicine that some people have been told to use with their dogs for a specific diagnosed problem (stroke) could be very bad if you need to put her on something else and it wasn't a stroke afterall. Aspirin does nothing for seizures!

Our nongrey has been on Apoquel for...three, maybe more (?)...years and though it isn't cheap, it never has been and we have not seen a price jump. There is greater availability than there was two years ago when we were buying it every two weeks because that was the only amount they could get for us and still have it in stock. It has been a godsend for us, because Allie was first put on prednisone for an absolutely miserable six (6!!) *months* and as soon as she was taken it off her itchies and lumps and chewing on herself came back. She was tested and prescribed Apoquel by a dermatologist, and the money spent is a lot better than the misery of prednisone. I think Spend the money to see a veterinary dermatologist, have allergy tests taken (both are $$ themselves, but you'll know what you're treating and can use the right medicine for the job), and discuss things from the position of knowledge. Who knows, maybe you will find that she is allergic to something you can eliminate (food ingredient or something), and save money and stress that way. To respond to the money concern, pets are expensive! We have Al on Apoquel and now Rimadyl and Cosequin (she's 11, and her breed typically lives to 14-15), and Monty, the grey, is on phenobarbitol (since he was 1.75 years old), Rimadyl and Cosequin (he's 10). He needs regular blood tests for pheno levels and also liver function tests twice per year, while Al is getting liver tests twice per year. So, yeah, pets can get very expensive very quickly. Making sure you're using the best medicine for the job does help in the long run, though!

It sounds like he has an issue with the back door or the conservatory for some reason. Does he go through that area on his own when you are there, or do you have to take him through? Is there anything that moves or makes noise out there that might have scared him, or anything that might spook him outside the conservatory (in the yard), like neighboring dogs, or even foxes? Even birds or bees can spook some dogs.

You can train a dog to stay on a certain side of you, even without 'heel' training. Choose which side you would prefer she stay on, and when she tries to switch sides, try body blocking her (leg in the way) and pull the leash back toward the side you want her on. You can work on it in the house, too. And you may have luck giving her treats when she's staying on the correct side and pairing the leg-and-leash correction with a verbal direction like 'stay right' (or left, whichever). It certainly won't be instantaneous, but if you use it consistently she will begin to understand it as a direction/command and you won't need to physically correct her as much until she's reliable. Then, if you want to let her cross, you can turn your body to give her access but stay on the correct side of you. It does help if you can walk where the 'good sniffs' are (more) consistently on the side you want her to stay on, as difficult as that may be. Our boy has always peed to his right, which means that we almost always go counter clockwise around blocks, and keep the boulevard (easement/grassy strip between sidewalk and road) on the right. It doesn't help much when yards have retaining walls or fences right next to the sidewalk, but he heaves a sigh and looks longingly at them and sometimes I'll stop and tell him to go ahead and do his sniffing. As soon as we're walking again he goes back to his side, though.

Allie is dog reactive, and when barked at will find a place to pee. I think it is her nonverbal response to the dog that we don't let her bark back at. Monty, who is completely non-reactive to all dogs, no matter how much he's barked at or snarled at, likes to take his time sniffing and pretending to be interested in the ground or trees or whatever...and then pees. There's a beagle cross that sits in the front window of a house down the street that goes insane barking and giving 'whale eye' at us, and I swear that the ground by that tree is more Monty pee than dirt. I feel sorry that the dog was so poorly socialized when it was younger (they got it as a puppy, and I have never even seen it on walks).

Monty has always been a whiner. He whines about everything, even when he is 'talking' to himself and not trying to get us to do something for him. It has reduced some over the past 8 years, but he still whines a lot. The reactions to other dogs when on lead could be excitement to meet others, some leash frustration (not wanting to greet when constrained by the leash), or a bit of telling the other dog to back off from her and give her space, or telling them that you are hers so not to push in where they weren't wanted (what's mine is mine, what's yours is mine too - or 'I can go up to your people but stay away from mine'). Or it could be her reacting to subtle body language of the other dog (grumpiness, intensity, enthusiasm, playfulness, etc.) and telling them to cool it.

Sounds like a great reason to celebrate. Carry on!

This is what we had to deal with when we got Monty. He had never learned it was ok to potty when on leash, so coming to our unfenced-yard home was a learning experience for all of us. He required long walks, sometimes multiple hours, and whenever he seemed to be thinking of doing anything he'd stop if we moved or said anything or even looked in his direction. We would freeze, pretend to be on the other side of the universe and face away so we could barely watch from the corner of our eyes to see if anything happened, and just keep walking if he hadn't. Different routes, because he did (and still does) need new places to leave his pee every time, and making sure we had at least an hour every morning and multiple hours in the evening and night walks. It got so we could actually watch him after a couple of months, and eventually everything was fine. Though training him to pee on command failed miserably, our other nongrey is trained to go pee to a command (as was our prior). The two were both nongreys and girls, which might have been working together to make them more trainable in that way. Monty still is a fussbudget about where is good enough for his precious, precious pee, so training him was given up on. He keeps 'adopting the pose' and yet not peeing, so tying the command to actually *doing* it was doomed. Patience will be a godsend, and maybe by hanging out with her on a longer, maybe double-length leash in the backyard and getting her comfortable going there on leash will help.

Totally normal. He's just responding to the other dogs' pee.

I have a cat that does this, which I think is even more unusual. Just something that she does!

At that age she is still very much a puppy and has way more energy than many retired racers. We got out Monty when he was that age and he didn't really calm down to "couch potato" lazybones until he was about three. More walks and more mental exercising with reward-based training can help her tire out if done in the mornings. I understand your dislike of the idea of shifting your wake up time earlier, but adding things to tire her out in the mornings can really help her (and you) now.

Sorry for your loss. You gave him a great life and will be able to treasure his memory.

Is there any possibility of you going out and bringing a bed or something so you can be just outside of the zone where he won't cross and just settle there for a while and you can relax and pay no attention to the actual vehicle? See if he would lie down within sight but not need to approach or get in, and maybe eventually have someone else do things with the car (open doors, get in and out, pull things out of it or put things in, while paying no attention to him) while you and he watch? Then get him up and call him away happily and do it repeatedly while shifting the bed closer and maybe tossing him treats (really excellent ones, before breakfast when he'd be hungriest and most likely to eat) but not pushing. And doing the walking around it that others mentioned. Is he afraid of all cars, cars of your vehicle's type, or only cars in your normal parking spot? You could also try parking elsewhere and approaching it calmly and walking away without forcing real interaction, if it is a combination of your car in its normal location. If it is location and car based, you could also invite someone else with a completely different car to park in your normal location and see how he does when you approach it. Slow and steady and you can help him beat this.

How many stairs are there, how good is the traction, and is there the possibility that she slipped on them at some point and that has made her reluctant to use them by herself? Maybe she slipped going down or maybe she slipped going up, but whichever it is they might be stressing her out. Or, maybe she was 'interruped' when pottying by your other dog and that has made her reluctant. Have you been letting them out together or separately? Do you walk her in the mornings? Maybe she is one of those dogs that wants to do her business away from home, either as marking for other dogs or just keeping her own area 'clean.' Our Allie does a lot of marking (more than Monty by a huge amount!) and Monty himself is very fussy about finding exactly the perfect spot for his precious, precious urine and looks and looks for the best spot so it takes a while. We have no fenced yard, so ours get walked for all potty breaks.

I an sorry for your loss. It sounds like he had a great home and lots of love.

'Bring it' is going to be very difficult to train a dog that has little play drive and isn't driven to retrieve or very focused on you. That is a very advanced command for an independent breed! And we took a long time to train 'watch me' and did it by using Monty's wait before being given the ok to eat and actually waiting for him to look at *us* before we cleared him to eat. He is, however, a VERY food motivated dog, so that worked for us. If she waits at the door to go out and is excited about that, you could just try to wait her out and maybe trigger a glance at you (make a weird noise or something) and then make the opening of the door or release from her wait her reward. If she likes when you get excited, you could even use that (our nongrey likes when we chirp and clap our hands and jump around, but Monty looks at us like we're insane). Have you done a taste test to find out what kinds of treats she likes best? Some swear by tiny pieces of hot dogs, or stinky cheese crumbles, or something similarly very highly scented. I don't know how much scent there is to chicken. And switch the treats up, so sometimes she's getting something great and sometimes merely 'good' so it is more like a lottery and she isn't sure what she's going to get. I love doughnuts, but if they were my only reward I'd stop thinking they were so great and lose interest in 'earning' them, and I think dogs can also get bored with a single type of reward even if they are food motivated.

Rewards are only rewards when the *dog* thinks they are great things to work for. You need to discover what she wants and use that instead of trying to convince her to work for something that doesn't appeal. (You never hear of children being 'rewarded' for good behavior with broccoli or liver!) It is great when they want food, because food is easy for *us* but you may need to get a lot more creative with her. Affection, toys, walks, going outside, brushing, different kinds of food, getting dinner..... See what she really likes and see if you can work that in. For my one dog (nongrey), sitting was required to watch squirrels when on walks, and sometimes we would chase them together as a reward! Our prior dog worked for fresh carrots, not so much for meat or dog treats. Also, greys are very smart and have not been bred to want to please people - they are bred to be independent thinkers. There are a lot of dogs like that, and training them requires that you find what they truly love and use those things...and training itself needs to be fun, not stressful or forced. Most dogs would find general training fun because they want to please, but independent breeds don't approach things that way. It forces the person to have to work a lot harder and do a lot of thinking about how to make it fun. And repeating things is boring and will cause them to disengage and find training itself to be a chore. Short, short training sessions done at random times when the dog is already showing that she is engaged works better than repeats until she is bored. If that means *one* successful sit and then you reward and release, you can leave her happy instead of frustrated. Force, implied with a leash tying her to you for training, will often cause resentment and not learning because of the stress. If you have to force her to stick around, she's giving you a huge clue that she's not engaged and learning isn't likely to happen anyway. What are you trying to train that is that essential that you need to force her to stay near enough to you?