greysmom

Cool!

Puppies grow too fast to really evaluate them by how they look. As mentioned, they can be chubby little butterballs one day and you'll wake up to a leggy, awkward string bean the next. Plus, each individual will be completely different in how much they can safely handle and how fast they grow. I go more by behavior - Is he constantly searching for more food? Is his energey level sustained through exercise? Can he concentrate on training for appropriate time periods? Does he eat enthusiastically but not TOO enthusiastically? You want him to have enough food to grow, but not grow too fast, as that can cause a larger issue. So it's really a balancing act until their growth levels out - sometime around 12-18 months. And since yours is a cross, and smaller dogs mature faster, he may reach that threshold sooner. What does your vet say??

Jerky is also a good high value treat and less messy to carry around than cheese and ham. But each dog will determine what their own high value treat is - whatever they will do *anything* for!

It could be. Or it could be just a blood blister - a hemangioma. Best to have it checked out though.

She needs a creative outlet!!!

Forgot Get some DAP Diffusers, and maybe a collar, for your home to help calm her down too.

It can indicate a UTI or bacterial infection, so it may need to be seen by a vet if it persists or becomes smelly or changes color. Otherwise, just use a baby wipe to clean her after every potty session.

This is mostly beyond our capacity to help, at this point. I would suggest contacting your adoption group right away and ask if they have a recommendation for a positive reinforcement only, certified animal behaviorist. They can come to your home and observe your interactions with Leeloo and give you better advice. Your vet may also be able to provide a recommendation. I would speak with him/her anyway about trying a course of anti anxiety medication asap, as this is the root of her issues. If she's mostly doing fine in the house with normal day to day activities, I think you can begin to block her from her safe spot in the bedroom for a short time every day. Move her familiar bed downstairs and block her way up, or just shut the door. Do something she likes, give lots of praise and treats, and then let her go back to her safe spot. Increase her time away from it as she gets comfortable in other parts of the house. Reduce the number of potty trips - after meals, getting up in the am, before going to bed. Don't worry about exercise at this point. Leave her leash attached, if necessary, unless she'll be left unsupervised (alone in the house). And remember that it's her fear and anxiety making her behave this way. She's not being aggressive, she's scared. She needs time and patience. Good luck.

OK. Stepping in to this. Fine. Not your son's fault. It IS your fault for allowing your son to approach a dog - any dog - that is minding its own business, laying on its own bed, sleeping or not. It should be a very hard and fast rule that children DO NOT approach a dog in this situation. Ever. If your son wants to give attention to your dog that is laying down, the dog should be called over, and rewarded with a treat, to the child so it is on its feet and awake and aware. Issues like this are the reason many US-based adoption groups will not adopt to families with young kids. Your son is old enough to understand rules and how to follow them. Your dog, who sounds like he's dealing with everything and settling in just fine, will always react according to his instincts. Your first mistake was in disciplining the dog for growling, taking away what it was guarding, and punishing him by sending him away. Now it *may* assocaite the child approaching with being negatively affected, and so is proactively growling to keep the child away - so it's not scolded and sent outside again. Growling is one of the only ways a dog has to communicate verbally with humans, as you've said. It's not, in and of itself, a sign of aggression or even of anger. It's a signal that your dog is uncomfortable with what is going on. Moving his beds is a fine way to start, but some basic rules for all humans in the house will help. If you need to take *anything* away from a resource guarding dog research the concept of "trading up." Use a higher value treat than what he's guarding, show him the treat and either throw it far away or lure him away from what he's guarding, and pick up the item. Don't ever just try and take away anything from a resource guarder - that's a recipe for getting bit. If you want some further common sense advice about house rules with kids and dogs, get the booklet (or ebook) "Family Friendly Dog Training" by Patricia McConnell.

I would not freeze the chicken legs - makes them too hard for little teeth and jaws - but raw occassionally should be fine. My biggest issue is with the Acana kibble. Here we are dealing with an epidemic (no, not THAT one!) of diet-induced Dilated Cardio Myeopathy (DCM) causing many dogs to die prematurely. Currently the FDA is investigating the cause, but initially it is linked to boutique diets not containing whole grains. The Acana doesn't have any grains, and the use of legumes as a substitute is to increase the protein levels - something a growing puppy doesn't need, as outlined above. Please choose a different kibble if you're going to hybrid feed. We've raised two puppies on two different kibbles and they definitely do better on a large breed adult kibble like Purina. Not too much protein, additional whole grains, scientifically tested and balanced diet. A puppy needs access to all kinds of nutrients to grow properly. FWIW, I would add in whole grains to a raw diet, commercial or home made, as it has also been linked to DCM.

The only better holiday picture is the one of all the dogs sitting at the table set for their holiday dinner! Grammy and Batman for the win!!

Several things. It's about helping him learn self discipline, so yes, what your behaviorist told you was right - reward the behavior you want, ignore the behavior you don't. But it's a little more complicated than that. You always want to come into the house calmly, and not greet him over enthusiastically. No high squeaky voice telling him how much you missed him, and cooing over him. Be calm and quiet to help his excitement level stay low. Ignore him until you get in, take off your coat, put your purse down - whatever your coming home routine is. Then, when he's calmer, turn to your dog for a low key greeting. It's the opposite of Alone Training. If you're crating, it's simple - just ignore him until he's calmed down. Redirect his excitement on to/in to a more acceptable type of play. Keep a toy or chew treat next to the door and toss it into an open area for him to jump on and play with when you come in. Have the area as dog proofed as possible so things don't get broken. When the worst of his energy has burned off you can greet him when he's more calm. Alternatively you can scoot him right out the door to the yard and let him get his zoomies out there. You can sometimes accomplish the same thing by giving him a command (sit, down, something that *might* keep him still) and practice some training right away. He wants your attention, but you need him to not be crazy! With the jumping, the classic defense is to ignore him and turn your back to him, crossing your arms. Don't react to his antics while he's hyped up and only turn back to him when all four feet are on the floor. Any guest coming in should do the same thing until he gets the idea. Keep some small training treats in your coat pocket to reward good behavior when you come home. He will eventually learn acceptable behavior and how to greet appropriately.

Shower curtain? They also make bowl/feeder systems with a sort of molded hood around the bowl for sloppy eaters/drinkers, but if she's walking away with water dribbling those probably wouldn't help much.

Awesome!!!

It's very, very common for the plates to need to be removed at some point after their purpose is done. One of my girls just broke her hock about 10 days ago and her surgeon is already thinking down the road about her plate removal. Good luck!

This happens sometimes, and no one can really explain it. I tend to think of it like cat behavior, where you're just sitting there petting them and then suddenly seem to reach a threshold and snap into murder cats, attacking the hand that's petting them, biting and scratching. Then they go right back to being sweet. Couple things though. If you can swing it, in these times, find a good positive reinforcement only, certified animal behaviorist to come into your home and observe your interactions in person. They will probably catch behavioral cues that you might miss, and can give you good advice about how to deal with this for everyone's benefit. Second, take over as much care as you can from your wife; Do his feeding and walking, take over his play sessions and training. He needs to learn to see you as his caregiver as much as he does her. When he's quiet and resting comfortably, just sit near him on the floor (at his level), don't pet or touch him, and just be there. Read a book or magazine, something quiet and sedentary you can do for an hour or so. Every little bit, speak to him and get his attention, calmly todd him a small but high value treat. This is so he becomes accostomed to seeing you as a "giver of good things." Third, If he knows and can reliably do any behavior - like sit or down or touch, something easy and fast - make him "pay" for everything he gets. He has to do do the behavior before he gets a treat, before he gets fed, before he gets let out for potties or plays, before putting on his leash for a walk. This is called NILIF training (Nothing In Life Is Free) and bsically, again, puts the humans in more of a leadership position without reinforcing him negatively with punishments. In the meantime, make sure he's awake and aware and standing on his feet off the furniture whenever you want to pet him. If you have small kids over, have him watch from a secured doorway and closely surpervise any and all interactions. I would advise this with kids anyway, since many dogs are just not comfortable around small children - don't force him to interact, and let him decide when he's had enough attention from them. Fourth, teach him a command to get him off the furniture so that you don't have to grab him to move him. All our dogs learn an "off" command as one of the first things when they come into the house. We also teach them to "scoot" so they can make room for another dog or human without much fuss (you do get a huffy sigh or two, but that's better than bared teeth! ) Fifth, take some comfort from the fact that if he *had* wanted to hurt you, at any point, he likely would have already. Remember that growling, snapping, and biting are all very common ways for dogs to speak their minds dog-to-dog. They say their piece and then the incident is forgotten. So in and of themselves, the act of growling/snapping/biting doesn't mean the same thing to us as it does to them. We often see these behaviors as newly adopted dogs begin to settle into their homes, open up their personalities more, and begin to communicate with the humans they've bonded with. Think about what he's trying to say to you, and what an appropriate response would be. Get the ebook/booklet "Familty Friendly Dog Training" by Patricia McConnell. She has good, easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions for training any new family member. Good luck and keep us posted.

How bad her kidney issues are will be the determining factor. If her values aren't super high then a dental will likely help her. Poor dental hygiene can contribute to all sorts of health issues. We just had one of our girl's first to molars on either side removed due to the same issues and she's been so much happier since then. She's 9 years old and fairly sensitive to anesthesia issues, but it needed to be done. Imagine having a whole root of a major tooth exposed like that and trying to eat! Have a really indepth conversation with your vet about his anesthesia protocol, and his other safety precautions for post dental monitoring, pushing fluids, and keeping their vitamin K levels steady. And having Amicar on hand just in case.

It's very difficult when you've had a dog with cancer, not to think/see cancer in every health issue, but sometimes a limp is only a limp - a soft tissue injury somehwere between her toes and her head, a corn, a calcified muscle as Ducky described above, some sort of muscle injury in her neck, arthritis. other aging issues. Repeat her xrays in a few weeks, if you can. If it *is* osteo in her shoulder or long bones it will have shown up by then. If there are no changes, I would think an nsaid would be appropriate for treating her on-and-off pain issues. A Chondroitin/Glucosamine supplement, and/or adding in some Omega 3s through fish oil may also help her get around. Good luck!

The only thing wrong is the cat culprit ran out of the room!!!! Annie!!

Perfect accessorizing!!!!

It sounds like this was the right choice for you and your family, and also your dog. He will now have the chance to find a home where he can thrive, and you have a chance to have a dog who loves living in the city. FWIW, our first greyhound, Libby, would have been perfect for your situation. She *loved* the hustle and bustle of city life, but she loved meeting the people we met even more! She would - quite literally - accost people walking towards us by stepping in front of them and making them stop to pay the "petting toll" before she'd let them go on! She'd stop in the middle of the crosswalk to poop (how embarrassing!!)! She got along well with every single dog we met. She didn't care if there was a blade of grass in sight and as long as she got her walks she was perfectly fine with city life. So there *is* a greyhound out there for you!

I would say not. As long as he's quiet(er) and not destructive, I think you're on the right path with his Alone Training. He's getting the idea and he doing great! Does he eventually lay down or relax? Work on his Kong and take a nap? I would maybe start to stretch him out some and see how he does. Good job!!!