Fruitycake

Our dogs get their daily food ration split between 3 meals, one in the morning (7:00 AM) one at our dinnertime (between 5:30 and 6:00 PM, and the last *right* before bed (usually around 10:00 PM). That way we don't get the 'gacks' and can usually have a more relaxed morning. We do an even split between them.

Even if a greyhound does know a command, it won't like having to perform arbitrarily and repeatedly. That is more of a sporting group characteristic. If you ask your average hound to sit, walk three steps, sit again, walk, and sit again, most will roll their eyes and believe that you are an idiot that can't make up your mind and tune right out. Even with really good treats, repetition is *boring* and if there is anything else more interesting (the dog half a block away, a blowing leaf, a crack in the sidewalk...) they are mentally gone.

I thought Monty was the only one stupid (and gluttonous) enough to eat an entire jar of peanut butter! I'm a lot more careful now, because although Monty looked like he wanted to die after eating about 2 cups of peanut butter, I know he would do it again in a moment. He had no ill effects, other than looking like he felt miserable and not being hungry for dinner that night. I expected noxious gas emissions and horrible poop, but everything was fine. (The poop *did* smell like peanut butter, though. Kind of killed my appetite for it for a while...which was fine since we had none!)

Monty probably has about the same ratio of 'stretching' to 'lifting' to pee as the OP. He *does* hit his legs if I am not there to help direct traffic no matter whether he lifts or not (his leg-lift form SUCKS and he sags as he pees, swinging the stream across his right front foot...while when he stretches his aim is for his left front foot). I 'help' by catching his right knee when he lifts and holding it up - he also only lifts his right leg - and make sure he doesn't water his foot and hold it up when he moves forward one step so he doesn't put his back foot into the puddle. If he stretches, I will nudge his left knee toward his body so he aims between the 'goalposts', or nudge it back slightly so the stream is to the left of his left front paw. (He dangles to the left.) I don't want to think about how gross his paws are from when my husband walks him....

Wow, you showed real restraint, because any dog attempting to bite me would have been tossed when I punted it into next week. If animal control doesn't care, or there is a local homeowner's association that is also not responding to it, I'd try to avoid that area. And if there is no other option, I would be the one to run interference and prevent my dog from feeling the need to protect me by blocking the two of them.

I feel your pain! Allie (nongrey) has issues with certain dogs in the neighborhood and she just will not let it rest! The dog I called "Allie's Enemy" has died (that one scared her *once* just after we got her, 5 years ago, and she hated him with every ounce of her body) and now she hates another dog that looks nothing like A.E. (a third the size, female instead of male, and white instead of black) who has never done anything to her and who doesn't even acknowledge that she exists. Sometimes you just have to shake your head at dogs and their issues. Sorry you had so many aborted potty trips, and I wish you no messes when you get home!

You may want to look up treatments for phobias, because you sound like that may be what you are battling. Phobias can be horribly hard to 'rationalize' away, but there are things you can do to help. I agree that your automatic tension when others are doing things like petting her on her bed or whatnot may be transmitted to her (and make her wonder what there is that is dangerous...and should she be nervous too?). I agree that you should leave the area when you get tense about things that don't appear to be bothering the others, so your tension doesn't spread and *you* can relax. That will probably help you deal with those situations later, after you have gotten more relaxed in general around her. That said, be absolutely certain that everyone agrees that at the first sign (and there may never be any) that she is uncomfortable that people back away from her and give her space. I agree with the suggestions of your setting up situations where you both are comfortable, like easy walks, tossing (or hand feeding, if you can) treats to her when the two of you are happy and calm. Seeing her happily munching on a treat can make you feel good, because it feels good to be the giver of good things! Our Monty hasn't got an aggressive atom in his body, and from day one we have been able to do anything with him. That doesn't mean we bother him, but we can move him, trim nails, put our hands in his dish when he's eating, take anything from him, and he trusts us enough to let us. We don't abuse the privilege, but in an emergency we can. Some dogs are this placid. I am a little disappointed that your husband seems to be making fun of your nervousness. That is NOT going to help. He should be supportive, because phobias can be hell, and being mocked (even gently) just makes the phobic person feel bad about the fear, adding a layer of bad feeling (embarrassment and shame) to an already bad feeling (fear). That decreases the odds that the fear will easily be surmounted. Like punishing a dog for being afraid of thunderstorms, or fireworks, or other dogs, or slick floors doesn't help them. (I have been working for years on acrophobia, and my husband is a great help in supporting me, but letting me tackle only the things I feel I can - he never pushes because 'you won't fall! Shesh!' like some people have.)

One greyhound, never has shown a startle response.

I understand better now how you are using 'heel' and it doesn't strike me as harsh as I initially interpreted it. I have a somewhat similar cue to tell Monty when he is done sniffing or staring at something -'too slow' (actually, usually it is said ''too slow, Toot!') said in a happy voice and I give him about a second before I start firmly stepping forward and he has until the leash is tight between us to decide to move on his own. It isn't really a command, more of a warning that we're moving on. I also use 'nope' when he is aiming for something that he isn't allowed to sniff (garbage cans, lawn and leaf bags waiting to be picked up, plants or other things that he isn't allowed to pee on) or when he asks by leaning in a direction that he wants to go but we aren't going to (he always seems to want to cross busy streets, and some times there would be danger in trying because of heavy traffic or the inability to see down the road). He pouts, sighs, and follows his little non-grey sister in the direction we were heading. Yes, I talk to the dogs continually when I walk them, which is how they have picked up so many weird phrases that I use to tell them where and when we are and are not going somewhere. I am sure the entire neighborhood thinks I am nuts.

From my reading of this and my interpretation of 'heel' it sounds like a walk is more of a military march-in-step. That kind of walk doesn't sound like any fun at all to me. It may be boring and frustrating for him, too. Is there a specific reason you have to have him heel, instead of just walking calmly and loose-lead near you? Does he regularly get to do loose-lead fun walks, and is there a difference that he knows between the two (different signal when starting the walk, different routes, no 'heel' command given)? I know you were indicating that there was less time this morning, but instead of 'heel' to direct him to stay exactly at just the right spot, could you work on maybe training 'right turn' and 'left turn' signals - which could also be used with a dog not at a strict heel position to give an indication that you are turning one direction or the other so you wouldn't have to worry about pulling him with no warning of the direction change? Well, you don't have to worry when they start to understand it, anyway....

I am sorry to hear of your loss, and hope the memories of him help heal your heart.

It could be that she was so excited that she surprised herself by the bark and was worried that things had gotten too intense and she wasn't sure how to deal with it. I'd suggest calming down the play a bit when she seems to be getting really amped up, as NeylasMom suggested. No punishment, just letting things come down from the really heightened energy a bit. Better to have every playtime end on a happy note, even if not as excited as they might get to otherwise. She's still pretty new, so you may need to figure out how much excitement is too much for her to handle. (My position is a cautious one because our non-grey likes to play but easily gets overstimulated and goes from 'just playing' to overwhelmed by the energy and used to get snarly/snappy. We just stop before she gets that amped up now.)

Congratulations to all of you! Glad Truman has a buddy.

My sister had a terrier-cross that had a significant heart murmur all his life. The vet said he wasn't expected to live much beyond 6 years old...but he lived a great long life of 16! He coughed when he exerted himself and sometimes had episodes of fainting spells, but his attitude and joy of life was great. Good on you for bringing this cutie home!

Thanks for posting this and keeping it up to date. Poor Monty needed a tooth extraction, and this information has been very helpful. I read the info to our vet, and since their compounding pharmacy doesn't 'do' the tranexamic acid, my vet called Dr. Couto's office, he was paged and took the call and gave her some other suggestions 'from the Dr's mouth' as it were. I can see why so many say Dr. Couto is so wonderful, and I am so happy he is out there for us (all dog owners)!

I am sorry for your loss. It is so hard when they have to go. I am glad that you have so many good memories with him, and am sure that his love for you was just as precious to him.

Some male dogs NEVER lift their leg to pee or show any of the "dominant male" behaviors, because they just prefer to do the 'stretch' to pee and are not 'dominant'. So waiting for those behaviors may mean never neutering him! (I knew a terrier who lived to 16 who never lifted his leg, who wasn't interested in breeding behavior, and was never neutered - he had a heart condition and they thought surgery was too risky. But then again, they also thought he would only live to 6 years old, so....)

For the garbage: a SimpleHuman 'butterfly open' (opens from the center when you step on the pedal) metal trash can. I absolutely love ours! It is heavy and opens from the center, so it is hard to tip but even if it does fall over it doesn't fall *open*! Worth every penny and more!

I am sorry to hear about Tibbie! Thank you for sharing her with us, and know that she'll be missed by a lot of people. You are in my thoughts.

I'm sorry that you have to deal with prednisone! Our non-grey was on it for almost 6 months and it was a nightmare of trying to curtail her drinking (causes extreme thirst) and yet let Monty have enough access to water himself. And the peeing!! My husband and I were just about dead from lack of sleep because even with our attempts to limit her water intake somewhat, she still needed to be walked every two hours. Day and night. It did take a couple of days to get that bad, so hopefully a short course will not have that extreme of an effect. That said, you might want to dust off that beautiful belly band, just in case. I hope he is feeling better.

Glad to hear things have improved for you both!

Maybe she didn't like the being roughed up with a towel? Hair roughed the wrong way? Although it could be just that, like our long-haired dog, she just dislikes towels for some reason. Al gets all growly and grumpy and snarly when you even just pet her in the hair direction lightly with a towel or even towel 'hand mitts' - even though she loves that kind of roughing up with just hands. *shrug*

Monty had someseizures and seemed to revert to puppyhood (including obnoxious shrill puppy barks in our faces), and I think I manages to cure that by laughing out loud at the ridiculous noise from a 75 lb dog. He was never rewarded for it, though, so it took only a couple of weeks of laughter at him to cease that behavior. I am about 98% sure that he knew I was laughing at him and not 'with' him because when I did it he'd get this disgusted/disgruntled look and sigh and go back to his bed. It wasn't a fake laugh either, because a bark that sounded like it was coming from a 10-week old 10 lb puppy coming from a 20 month old 75 lb greyhound was really funny and I actually couldn't not laugh. Is there a way you could encourage playfulness before the sharp bark comes into the picture and if he does bark immediately ignore him to indicate your disapproval of the barking? So quiet on his part gets fun interaction and barks that pierce the eardrums get the silent treatment? You might use a cue to indicate barking is wrong (not a yell or the overused 'no!' but just a word for quiet) before ignoring. Sorry I can't be of more help, but laughing at Monty was our cure for that! Thank goodness....

I agree that she isn't being 'cranky' so much as she's telling the oncoming or belligerently friendly dog to mind its manners because she doesn't like rudeness or in-her-faceness. A well dog-socialized dog when given an opportunity to greet other dogs will do it obliquely, by swinging out and approaching from an angle instead of head-on. Humans, and dogs trained and socialized to a human perspective, approach face-on, and that is a lot more like a frontal and maybe aggressive assault. Good reason for a dog-socialized dog to warn someone off from that sort of approach! I highly suggest following through with visiting meet-and-greets with other greys as you are able, and watch her approach and interaction with other greys to get an idea of her comfort level with them. And realize that she may be great with company and yet never playful, or thrilled with a playmate and BFF, all the way to the other end of the spectrum and super disgusted and actually grumpy at sharing her space/toys/beds/people with an 'intruder' to her house. Good luck!

Is there the possibility of training him to get up in the evenings by withholding a fairly good sized portion of his meal until nighttime? And then randomize whether he is going out first or eating before you take him out? Our Monty isn't terribly fond of his last night outing, but if you open the food cupboard he comes running (about 80% of the time he gets fed after walking that last walk, but it used to be less often). Actually, any time someone bumps into or otherwise makes noise with that door he comes running! We use that to encourage him to move, even if we don't end up giving him anything. That said, Monty is also a super enthusiastic eater (thanks, phenobarbitol!), so he's easy to reward with food. He will also come running when he hears me scrape out any food can (cat or human), because he gets the rincing water from canned cat food or tuna or even vegetables. Crazy dog is crazy about food, even if it is imaginary.