greysmom

YEAH ADY BEA!!!!! Congrats all around!

She'll probably be fine. Copper is particularly prone to bumping his head and running into things - he's just a big, goofy knucklehead! - and he's never shown any after-effects for any of them. I think their skulls must be thicker or something.

If her feet are that tender then they likely won't toughen up enough to walk on concrete/asphalt. Is it an actual cut or are the pads cracking? Have you been using the Tuff Pad on all her feet? Many greyhounds use boots for walking an hiking and I'm sure they have suggestions of which ones are best. Seems like the best thing at this point.

I would say that he definitely sees you and your DW differently in the heirarchy of his home. It's OK for DW to move him but not for you to move him. Try using a leash instead of grabbing his collar. Many greys seem to view that as threatening. The other suggestion is to use a yummy treat to lure him off the bed. Plus training in a command - all mine know "off" which I use when I want them to move - and I don't even need to touch them.

She looks OK to me, though your vet seems pretty knowledgable. Generally, you do want to see the last 2-4 ribs, and maybe some hip points, but if she's holding her weight well and healthy overall, I wouldn't worry too much. In my experience, greys can lose 1-2 pounds pretty easily just with increasing their exercise a bit. So one more long walkie, or 10 minutes run-n-play session a day might do the trick for her.

I did the Beginner Obedience Class and it was fine. It depends entirely on the trainer you get, I think. Make sure you talk to them and ask them about their experience with greyhounds. You should feel totally comfortable with him/her. Some considerations to consider include that the space is VERY loud and distracting. The Training area at our store was basically a walled in section in the middle of the store - the bottoms of the walls were solid but the upper portion was clear so people were constantly stopping and watching. This can be super distracting for a people-oriented pup. You do have to sit through some time when they're pushing their own products, but it's not overly obnoxious. Good luck!

Poor little Dude! He's basically fine, but veeerrrryyyyy sleepy! And he fell off the bed twice last night! He got lots of sleep and I didn't! Thanks everyone!

So Dude got TWO - count them TWO!!! doses of Cash's alprazolam tonight. I fix her morning dose and take it upstairs so I can give it to her about an hour before we actually get up for breakfast - she eats better and is happier when the drugs have taken effect! So I fixed her morning dose in the pill pocket and put it on top of our tiki bar where I've been putting it for weeks now, go into the bathroom for 2 seconds, come out and it's gone. Coulda been Dude, coulda been Toni, they were both standing right there. Sooooooooo, fixed another one, and STOOPIDLY put it back on top of the bar, turn away and turn back to see Dude doing his African-antelope-eating-a-tree-branch pose getting the dose off the BACK of the bar. Dude's now had 3mg of xanax. Guess I'm gonna wake up every little while to see if he's OK. Jerk! I'm not overly worried, just feeling like a stupid Momma!

The only time Toni isn't vocalizing in some way is when she's totally, zonked out asleep! I really don't think she means anything other than "I'm TONI! Hear me GROWL!" when she does it. She's such a spoiled brat. The entire world is full of servants and toys and other dogs she can rule over! I do have to work some to keep her brattiness under control. She can really terrorize her brothers and sister if I let her. The classes sound interesting. Are they through a store or a trainer down there? I've seriously been considering taking Toni to obedience, so I'll be watching your progress with interest.

Don't feel bad and don't feel guilty! It's definitely a genetic thing! Toni LOVES people. Any kind of people. Strangers, friends, whatever - people are the BOMB!!!! But she's a *total* dog bully! She has a very strong personality and is very confident in all her interactions with other dogs. Sometimes too much. She growls at other dogs - including her two much larger brothers - all the time. For the most part, the rest of her body language is pretty relaxed (no hackles, no body stiffness, her head is held in a neutral position, she doesn't usually show her teeth), so I don't pay much attention to it. She's just trying, in her own Toni way, to get her point across. That point being that she is the one in charge. She's not really being mean. A quick correction sends her on her way with no problems. How did the class go last night???

You don't say how long Tank has been with you, but it's possible he might just be overwhelmed by the PetSmart store. If he's been with you only a matter of weeks or several months, he's still in the "settling in" phase, and needs some more time to make the HUGE adjustment that's gone on in his life. I don't know about your PetSmart, but ours is an enormous, noisy, echo-y, frenetic, loud sort of place. Even my greys that are super social tend to be anxious when we go there. You need to find a place that's more low key and quieter to begin getting him used to being out and about. See if you can find a greys-only walk or gathering in your area (contact your adoption group for ideas). Find some greyhound friends to invite over for a play date (muzzles everyone!). Walk him in quiet and safe neighborhoods. Also, while you can never rule it out completely, unless your greyhound has given you evidence of aggression in the form of growling or snapping at people, I would not worry so much about it. Most greyhounds are comfortable around people. You may have to be more vigilant in social situations if Tank is not cat- or small dog-tolerant. Many greys go to doggy day care and do quite well. A well-supervised and well-run day care will not allow fights to develop. However, if Tank is overwhelmd at PetSmart he may feel the same way about day care - which are also usually extremely noisy and rambunctious places. Good luck!

You can also check out the Littermates List as well. littermateslist.com is the website (I think).

Do it in smaller steps. Just leave it out where he can see it and has to deal with it. Don't refer to it unless he does and then only if it's a positive interaction, give him a treat. Once he's used to seeing, start handling it when you pet him, give him a treat for laying or standing quietly when you have it near him. Touch him lightly with it. more treats. You want him to associate being calm and getting a good reward for being near the muzzle. Once he's OK with that, try unbuckling it so it looks more like a cup and put the treat inside for him to get. Let him control putting his nose in there and you just hold it quietly and praise him. The PB smear would work well here. Next step is to slip the straps loosely over his head. Treats treats treats!!! FYI, most people leave the straps buckled and just slip them over the ears in one motion. If you're not comfortable doing it, practice on your other grey.

Sounds normal to me. A little whining is OK - she doesn't want you to leave! - and you already know what a bad reaction is. As long as the neighbors don't report excessive whining/barking/rooing I would try and relax a bit about it. How is Lexi doing when you leave?? Is she any calmer??

You know, your answer may be that there's nothing wrong with YOUR dog!!!! (Completely off the subject - are you guys going to make it up for the Valentine's Gala??? We'd love to meet up, and Toni's in the Fashion Show!)

Only one of my boys doesn't roach, all the others are roaching fools! I think body style, age, and ability are more reasons why some greys do and some don't. Copper - my don't guy - is 3 inches longer than Dude and 5 inches longer than the girls, and he's the oldest. He's also never roached since we got him in 06 right from that track.

I would guess that the barking dogs are not well socialized and don't have good dog social skills - something most greyhounds excel at since they are raised longer with their litters, and live/train amongst other greys. They're not removed from their mothers and siblings at 8-12 weeks and sent off to live on their own. Arrisa might be a bit put off by the loud barking and rough behavior, but that doesn't mean she isn't "safe" to be around them. Often greys get labeled as aggressive by other breed owners when they are only trying to administer a dog-to-dog correction for bad behavior - which can include growling, snapping, and even small bites. It's hard to say from her behavior whether she's not small-dog tolerant or not. She might be fine with some structured exposure, a muzzle, and gentle correction. In general, a not-safe grey will be very quiet and *super* focused on the "prey" animal. They cannot be distracted or corrected away, have an upright posture, with stiff body language and highly held tails.

Sounds like he has some issues with guarding his bed space. What you do and how you handle it depends on how comfortable you and your children are interacting with him. You will get answers from different people, some with kids and some without. You don't say how old your children are, but they sound old enough to follow a simple rule like "Don't pet the dog when he's on his bed." You've already started doing this and that's good. Have them call him to them - away from his bed - for pets and play. You also may want to move his bed so it's a little more out of the way. If you can, encourage your kids to not be afraid of him when he does react like that. It's very scary when thay snarl and lead with their teeth, but *most of the time* it's only for show. We had a girl here who would growl if you walked by the room out in the hall - to her way of thinking, it was ALL her's and she was just warning us away. BUT we corrected her gently but consistently and she did get much better over time. So if your kids can learn to say "Oh yeah! Big Dog!" and keep walking it will go a long way towards showing your new grey that no one is going to take his bed away. Add a gentle correction as you correct him for other bad behavior. Most greys are pretty sensitive, so yelling and loud voices are not necessary. A loud non-word sound like "EH!" or "AH!" will usually be enough to break their concentration and stop the behavior. And he's still very new to your house. Remember, greyhounds are NEVER startled on their beds. No one touches them without their knowing. No one gets in their kennel space at all. So all of this is very very different for him. He will likely relax as he settles in. Congrats and good luck!

We did do a switch from what she had at her foster home because they didn't tell me what she was eating and it took me a couple weeks to get in contact with the foster family to ask. We did have a very positive change in digestion when we switched from chicken to lamb. I did try cortizone cream, but it was so sticky and greasy on her fur that I ended up washing it off and using a spray with lidocaine. That's good to know about Toni... I can tell you that her sister certainly does share her enthusiasm for food, at least. Right now I'm working on teaching Arrisa to make eye contact with me and wait for the okay before touching food on the ground. So far it works great in the house, but once she's in the yard or on a walk and she spots something food-like all bets are off! I bet she's a pretty smart cookie! Toni picks stuff up very fast and I've been thinking of doing an obedience class with her to see if we could try for a Therapy Dog certification. Anyway! Good luck with the food. You may want to go farther and actually fast her for a meal or two to let it get totally out of her system, and then try a bland diet with rice and boiled ground beef for a few days.

He might do better with an acid reducer given regularly to proactively keep on top of the upset tummy problem. My Cash was a *very* picky breakfast eater at the best of times. We had to put her on famotidine for a time due to antibiotics and - low and behold! - she began eating breakfast regularly and with her usual dinner enthusiasm. Now she gets a famotidine every morning an hour before breakfast and it's really improved her eating habits in the morning.

You might have some residual limping if the break is relatively new, otherwise, you shouldn't have any problems. If the break isn't completely healed s/he may need to have some restrictions on exercise for a time. Arthritis is something to look out for down the road, but it would be anyway. My Toni came to us with a broken hock that had come out of the cast about a month previously. She limped for a while but it hasn't stopped her one bit. It's hard to say "Yes" or "No" definitively that you would NOT have significant costs down the road. That may happen whether s/he has a previously broken leg or not. But I would imagine that most owners here of formerly-broken-leg greys would say it's not an issue. I'd say go for it!!

Did you switch her food from what she was getting at her foster home? If so, I would suspect a food allergy right off. If you have some cortizone cream - anti-itch stuff for people - you can try rubbing that on the affected area for another topical product. FYI, Toni doesn't have any food allergies, which is good since she inhales anything that can even marginally be labeled "food."

I would agree that it's probably the change in bowl structure that is causing her to not eat. It sound slike you might have rushed the changeover just a bit. I would return her bowl to it's "normal" configuration and see if she eats OK. If so, keep it that way for a week or so, then try a MUCH more gradual changeover - start by using a slightly smaller bowl for a week, then a smaller bowl, etc., until you can get rid of it entirely. If she goes off her food, go back one level and start again.

Sounds like Cash - after over two years she's now great in the house but not so much outside, even in the yard. It's getting better but its slow going with lots of setbacks. At least her freaking out periods are much shorter now than they used to be, and she recovers much faster when she's been scared. Will she take treats at all when walking?? If so you can use them to reward the good, forward moving and looking behavior - or try to create it by holding the treat in front of her nose and walking forward. Is there any difference with or without a coat? Or using the collar instead of the harness? Cash will wear a harness but she acts like she doesn't know she has a leash on - she much more comfortable with that connection to her neck, I guess. Maybe try a coupler that can attach to both the harness and collar? You could also try some Rescue Remedy or other anxiety support 20 minutes or so before going out.

If you're not looking to fix the problem, you could try free feeding him. He doesn't have any housemates to worry about so this might help him move beyond his food "hoarding" issues. It could be caused by numerous things - behavioral, environmental and genetic. And some dogs do it just because. Seems like he has a pretty quirky personality to go along with it.