rascalsmom

Go and meet him. that's the best way to see if he'd be a good fit.

What a cutie.

About a year and a half ago, a couple who live down the street had a baby girl--they named her Aria. My first thought was "that's a dogs name!" because of your Aria.

We are related---Phoebe's mama is Johnson Belle!!

We had our first greyhound for less three months when we got the second. Despite the foster family's contention that he (2nd dog, Buddy) "wanted to be top dog", we never saw that. Our first was a two year old female, Buddy was over four when we got him. A year later we added our girls litter sister. Those three dogs were awesome together. It really depends more on the dogs personality than their gender. A friend had three females and we'd dogsit for them--bringing our total to five females and one male--and everyone got along just fine.

It could also be that, when you are petting him and your husband joins in, it's just too much stimulation for him. He's still pretty new to you and maybe that'll change in time, or maybe not. Think of it this way: you're having a conversation with someone, and a third person comes up and starts talking too. That can be distracting, even overstimulating for some people--could be similar to how your dog feels.

I am by no means an expert, but my first male greyhound was a little like that. He had what I think was a fear of other dogs (those not greyhounds), and it took him YEARS to get over it. He finally got a lot better after a family with a really nice, gentle, calm Lab/Golden moved in next door. I always said that Maddie made Buddy change his mind about other dogs. Buddy was a growler initially, too. Usually if we got too close. We'd tell him "No growling" firmly when he growled, and then ignore him. With Buddy I think it was being bounced from two homes prior to him coming to us; he just didn't know how to trust. It took awhile, but he eventually quit with the growling and would even accept hugging and cuddling. But only from those he knew extremely well. I think he finally realized that he wasn't going anywhere, that we loved him....and then he began to trust us. But there are much more experienced folks here, certified trainers, etc, who can better give you suggestions. My simple advice is be patient, love him, accept him, and be patient. Oh, and be patient.

I'm so very sorry. What a terrible time for all of you.

Blood clots can cause blue patches. Keeping you and your pup in my thoughts.

Robin needs to post the picture of Loca in her red-with-lace panties!

I regularly give Phoebe raw eggs. We have four chickens and sometimes they peck a hole in one of their eggs. Phoebe gets those (same day as they're laid). In fact she will take a whole egg out of my hand and eat the entire thing, shell and all. My husband was horrified the first time he saw her do that.

I completely agree about the trust thing. Our first male greyhound was bounced twice before we got him, and he did a lot of growling at us in the first six months, maybe even a year. It was always when we got in his "space" too much and hugging was way too much for him. After awhile he was fine with it and was very affectionate, even cuddly. I am convinced that he just needed time to trust us, to know that he was with us forever and we weren't going to "take him back". He was still very selective about WHO could hug him; for example my sister always tried but always got a little growl--he just didn't see her often enough to think of her as "family". But he turned out to be a totally awesome dog--it just took some time. It's hard to know what goes through their minds when they're bounced around a couple of times. Patience is your friend.

It says he IS neutered.

He is beautiful. Congratulations to all of you!

Is she related to robinw's infamous Loca??

I'll be thinking of all of you. Prayers for a peaceful passing for lovely Tess, and peace for you and Doug.

This is what sticks out to me. If she were my dog, I'd probably send her to the bridge. She won't get better, only worse, and if she truly is in the end stages....well, you don't want to wait for that crisis moment that Jan spoke of. The steps just compound the issues she faces, and you can't have Doug getting hurt carrying her up/down. It is certainly never easy, and Tess' journey brings back memories of Jack for me--he also had a protein-losing disease, and it's awful to see them wasting away. You and Doug have given her such a happy, loving life. Never ever forget that!!

Phoebe is built a lot like Jake (above) and indeed even LOOKS like him! [bTW, he is GORGEOUS!!] She eats four cups of food a day (ProPlan), and gets very few treats. She would LOVE to have 5-7 cups per day, as she is a hog. We've had her for a bit over a year and a half, and her hipbones and spine are still in evidence. In the right light (because it's harder to see on brindles) you can see her last few ribs, too. She's in great shape. That being said, my first greyhound, a small female (58 pounds at her heaviest) was a very picky eater and never ate four cups a day. And she wasn't quite as slender as Phoebe.

Some of you may remember when my Ruby had her accident. We'd moved, and our new house had a patio door. Since we moved in February, the dogs weren't used to the screen door. Well, on a sunny April day, the dogs were outside, and the patio door was open (with screen in place). Ruby decided it must be time for dinner, and proceeded to enter the house THROUGH the screen door, not seeing it. She was not running, just sort of walking fast to the house. She hit the screen with her nose, and down she went. She stopped breathing, and I thought she was dying before my eyes. My daughter did some rescue breathing, we packed Ruby into the car and headed off to the emergency vet. On the way there she seemed to revive, but could not get up. She was at the emergency vet for a couple of days, not able to walk at all or even get up. We brought her home, had to sling-walk her, were doing syringe feeding. A few days later I was at church, and talking to someone about her, saying how we might have to have her PTS. Another woman overheard, and suggested a chiropractor to me. Said this guy really helped her dog. This was a regular chiro, NOT a vet chiro. He just happened to also work on animals, dogs, horses, etc. Well, we took her there, he said her neck was really messed up, and did an adjustment. He said to bring her back the next evening, and by the third treatment he'd be able to tell us if he'd be able to help her. The next day, as we were getting ready to take her in, she STOOD UP AND WALKED about 30 feet! It wasn't pretty, but she was back on her feet! I was completely amazed. I took her back a couple of times a week, then monthly, for awhile. She was never able to really run again--she'd try and her back end would kind of get ahead of her front end---but she was on her feet. It bought us another eight months or so with her, and then we had to have her PTS because she was again having trouble getting around--but this time she was crying out in pain (which she had never done with the original injury). I still have Dr. Dave's card, just in case. He was so compassionate, and he did wonders with Ruby. Odd thing, though--Ruby never barked again after the injury.

I'd like to find a good chew thing for Phoebe too. She has an antler but I worry about her breaking a tooth on it. She does seem to enjoy chewing. I got her a medium size Himalayan dog chew and she finished it in about 20 minutes! That's way too expensive for me! I hesitate to give her rawhide though I suspect she'd love it. Ditto stuff like pig ears. She has a kong but that's more for when I'll be away for awhile. She'd enjoy something for intermittent chewing but I don't know what.

I am so very sorry.

My bridge boy, Buddy, was a HUGE 'fan' of motorcycles. He got so excited when he heard them, which was quite a challenge on walks. He barked at all of them, but Harleys held a special place in his heart. Nobody told me about this till after we adopted him (he was a two-time bounce). His foster mom had Buddy's litter-brother, and Zip was the same way. It led us to believe that perhaps there was some motorcycle 'training' or something in their pasts. Buddy also loved Dodge diesel trucks. Didn't care a whit about Ford or Chevy diesels, just Dodges. I suspect maybe the dog truck that took him to race was a Dodge, so hence the excitement when he heard one. I was never able to 'correct' Buddy's obsessions, but I wish I had. Walking three dogs, one of whom goes nuts over motorcycles, is not easy. And Rascal, being the younger, impressionable 'sister', learned from Buddy and would join in the barking and carrying on. When my friend would dog sit, she would keep Buddy's leash in one hand during walks, and the other FOUR (my two girls and her two greys) in the other hand, just because of his motorcycle issues. Phoebe, fortunately, has no such issues.

Jack's illness wasn't PLE but it *was* a protein-losing disease nonetheless. We were told ONLY the rx diet, nothing else, no treats, NOTHING ELSE. Hard to believe she isn't ravenous, being on pred....

Nancy, when Jack was on the prescription food (ultra low fat...is that what they want Tess to have?), I found he was ravenous--probably due to the pred. Dr butler told us to give him nothing else at all, to even use the food for treats. Not even his favorite thing, apples, was he allowed to have. .

I'm so sorry to read about this. I was really hoping it was a simple break.