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vjgrey

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  1. She's still wobbly but she's walking entirely on her own. As of last night, we still needed to use a sling. We did a very slow walk around the front yard with a harness, and she peed and pooped with no issues. She ate all of her breakfast (a little kibble with chicken and rice + Burpdog topping) and took her meds with peanut butter like a champ.

     

    Now she's napping while I try to get some work done. SO grateful that I'm able to work from home.

     

    She did have a dry cough last night that I'm a little concerned about, but it seemed to stop for a while when I gave her water, and I haven't heard it since we've been up and around. I left a message for her vet.

     

    (She is taking Prilosec, by the way. Maybe it's starting to kick in, because her appetite is much better this morning. She even took treats, which she refused last night).

  2. The second MRI showed a herniated disc. Good news? Not-as-bad-as-it-could-be news? She's on prednisone and gabapentin and we'll check back in with the neurologist on Thursday. He doesn't think, at this point, that it'll need surgery. I may be looking for chiro recommendations.

     

    She's able to walk a little bit now, and he thinks she should be fully mobile when the meds kick in. Continued thoughts and prayers are very much appreciated.

  3. If all of her ribs are actually showing, she's a little too thin. However, I know you can't fully judge by a photo. Something about Cash's coloring or shape makes him look extremely ribby in pictures, when he's definitely not that thin in "real life." (Have had to explain to the "grandparents" more than once that we aren't starving the poor guy).

  4. Not all, but most greyhounds fall into the category of "mellow, easy to train." When they come to you as a retired racer, they've already had several years of being trained, following rules and routines, and learning and adapting to their trainers' expectations. The ones who can't/won't do that fail out of racing school and never race.

     

    It does take a while for them to learn YOUR rules and expectations, which are totally different than the rules and expectations they were used to at the track. They're still dogs, and ALL dogs take work.If you can't handle that, you should definitely wait to get any dog.

  5. I tried this the other day. I put 6 chicken legs in the crock pot and left it cooking for 30 hours. Started it on high for about 3 hours then on low. After 30 hours, the meat was falling apart. that was very nice. The leg bones were hard. Why didn`t they get mushable ???? I took the meat out and continued to low cook the bones, They stayed hard. Can you tell me why they did not get mushable .

    Not sure...Maybe the initial three hours on high did something to the bones? I cook mine entirely on low. I've also never cooked it more than 26 hours.

  6. As others have said, only people with issues post in the training and behavior forum, just like only people whose dogs have health issues post questions in the health and medical forum.

     

    I have three hounds, and none of them are crated when I go out. One is muzzled, because he chews, but the muzzle doesn't bother him in the slightest. All of them share the couch with us with ZERO issues, and at night, we often sleep with two people and three hounds piled in a queen-sized bed. People end up draped over hounds, hounds over people, hounds over other hounds, and no one has any space aggression or sleep aggression. All three know how to sit, lay down and shake, and they all picked those commands up within a day or two. I'm sure they could all learn "stay," as well, but I've been too lazy to teach it to them. They're all VERY loving and affectionate and very gentle. I could easily take food out of their mouths if I wanted to - and I've even seen them take treats out of each others' mouths.

     

    Two of these three (plus another hound I lost to Osteo) were with me during law school, and all of them were happy to nap while I studied.

     

    So I don't think greyhounds are necessarily the wrong breed for you. I think it's just a matter of 1) communicating your needs clearly to the adoption reps so that they can find a hound who's a good fit for you and 2) realizing that no hound is perfect, and ANY dog is going to take some time and some work to settle in.

  7. I had a similar experience with Cash. Crated him the first few times, and he FREAKED out and made huge messes (even chewed through an "indestructible," kennel mat). Left him baby gated in our bedroom with our other two hounds (muzzled, because he's a chewer), and we haven't had a single issue since.

  8. 1) Don't allow him in the kitchen or dining room. You can use baby gates for now, but you can also teach him to stay out - when he comes in, redirect him to his bed and use whatever command you want to use (e.g. go lay down). With enough patience and repetition, he'll get it.

     

    2) No couch or furniture privileges. If he jumps up and doesn't want to get down, clip a leash to his collar and gently pull him off.

  9. She's a bit immature and puppyish for her age

     

    That's completely normal for greyhounds. Most of them don't "grow up," until they're about three. My almost five year-old isn't even sure he's done with the puppy stage. :ghplaybow

     

    Alway, congrats and welcome to Greytalk! Adopting your first hound is SUCH an amazing, life-changing thing. I've always had dogs, but these guys are super, extra special.

  10. /Would you mind sharing how you do this? What part(s) of the chicken do you use and what else goes into the pot? Tx!/

     

    Not at all! It's super easy - we buy whole chickens from Costco (they come in packages of two) and stick one in the crockpot with a little water - maybe half a cup? You don't need a lot because it'll produce its own juice. When I first started cooking this regularly (two years ago?) I removed the skin, but I've found that leaving it on doesn't bother any of my hounds. If your dogs have sensitive stomachs, you may want to take it off.

     

    I turn the crockpot on low and set it for 24 hours. Sometimes that's enough, and sometimes it needs a few hours more, depending on the chicken. You'll know it's done when the bones are "mashable," with a fork. They turn to almost a paste with just slight pressure.

     

    When it's done, I'll fish out all of the bones I can see and mash them with the fork and put the "paste" back in. Then I go over the whole pot with a potato masher just to make sure I haven't missed any bones. Sometimes i add cooked brown rice (about half a cup), sometimes I don't. You could also add veggies (e.g. green beans) if you wanted to.

     

    I package it up in small tupperware containers and stick most of them in the freezer. For meals, I heat up about a 1/4 cup of the chicken with a little water and use it as a kibble topper/gravy. One chicken lasts us about two weeks (two meals per day for three hounds).

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