greysmom

I think pools in Cali have to be securely fenced off?????

Doggie dooleys are a bust for large breed dogs (too much waste per day, generally), so don't waste your money there. The first place to investigate is with your municipal garbage district to determine how they recommend disposing of dog waste. Most will probably say to double bag the poop and put it in your regular garbage weekly. We have a five gallon bucket - cheap at hardware or big box stores - and use that. We used to anyways. Now we use a service called "Green Pet Compost Companies." For a monthly fee they will deal with your pet waste on a sliding scale depending on the level of service. The fee is totally worth it for us to not have two five gallon buckets of poop a week going into the landfill. They take the poop to their facilities and, using special high temp digesters, turn it into compost which they then sell. You might see if they have a service area down there: greenpetcompostcompany.com No info on a doggy door since we don't use them. Congratulations and Welcome!!

There's at least one. She has adopted from Oregon Greyhound Adoption a couple times, I think. If you're on Facebook you can post on their page and she should see you. If you're not a FB member, PM me your contact info and I can try and facilitate.

If his treat of choice stops working, up the treat value to something really yummy that you use only for this purpose. Then use the event to teach him a command as described above. It only takes them a few succesful repetitions to get in the swing of things. You're not reinforcing the wrong behavior you're reinforcing the behavior you want.

Your problem isn't really separation anxiety. It's that you feel you're not bonding with a dog you basically spend no quality time interacting with in the mistaken belief that will turn him into a quiet confident dog. If you had a toddler would you ignore it until it miraculously grew into a responsible adult? Throw the "tough love" out the window. It doesn't work any better with dogs than it does with kids. A quiet, confident dog doesn't just happen. It takes time, and training, and trust. Time for him to get used to this completely foreign living arrangement. Training to give him a framework for behavior and a bond with his new pack. Trust that he knows what's expected of him, and that you know what he expects from you. Bonding and trust is a two-way relationship. He wants to be with you. He needs to feel connected to you. But you are continually shutting him out. Let him sleep in your room. Be as happy to see him when you get home as ge is to see you. Walk walk walk together as it's one of the best bonding activities (and he needs the exercise). Sit near him when he's laying quietly and read a book or the paper (out loud if possible). Find a beginning obedience class and see how he does (he may not do well the first time). Give him support and encouragement and watch him blossom! One word of advice when you're reading all these responses: attitudes are different in the US regarding many aspects of dog training and keeping than the UK. So keep that in mind if you are asking your adoption group for advice. It will likely differ from ours in certain respects. Pick up any basic training book by Patricia McConnell- "I'll Be Home Soon," "The Other End of the Leash," or her book on family friendly dogs. They will help you get back on track to a happy loving relationship with your dog.

Sassy sweetie!

What an awesome vacation spot!

What a pretty girl! Congratulations!!!! And welcome to the Cult of the Greyhound!

Most newly retired greyhounds have spent their whole life either at the farm, the track, and the adoption kennel only with other greyhounds. Many have never even seen any other breeds of dogs - they don't recognize them as dogs like themselves, and other dogs don't speak their language (quite literally as greyhounds learn dog language very well from staying with their littermates and mothers months longer than most other dogs who are removed from their family groups at 8-12 weeks). So you need to go very slowly. If possible do NOT allow other dogs to run up to you. Step between the two dogs and stop the other one from approaching. Other owners will be perturbed or even upset, but you need to advocate for *your* dog, and he needs to know you will protect him. If you have some friends with calm stable dogs of their own, start socializing him with them. Walking together (on leash) is a good way for dogs to get to know one another. If he has a lot of gas you can try giving him a human acid reducer pill like omeprazole. Or even a Gas-x gas reducer product. Make sure the pills don't have any xylotol in them. You should also evaluate if the new food might have too high a protein percentage, which can also cause excess gas. Most dogs here do well at about 20-25% protein content. If you haven't yet, you should get the book "Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies." It has a lot of great information for new owners. Some things will be a little different between the US and UK, but the basic info is the same. Congrats on your new family member! Welcome!

Sweet!!!!

Since I don't have any additional suggestions, I was going to say try a certified animal behaviorist or positive reinforcement trainer, but it sounds like you've done that as well! It really does sound like he is quite a bit younger than you were told, and/or not a purebred greyhound. Greyhound puppies - and they are puppies for upwards of 3 years! - are notoriously active little sh!theads! I've got one at home now, just turned a year old this week, who is much like you describe. Mostly we just try and stay out of his way when he gets a spell of naughtiness on him! We've had 8 adult retired racers, and one other greyhound puppy (who's now 7 1/2 years old), and this young one is driving both my husband and I insane! He whines, he barks, he growls, he jumps around and on and over and through everything and everyone! Plus he has the patience of a hyperactive flea! Everything is nowNowNOW!! The only thing we've found that works at all is "Nothing In Life Is Free" training, 24/7/365. He has to work for everything he wants using everything we've been able to teach him. Training basically never stops if he's interacting with us. We do try and tire his mind out too - nosework games, food puzzle toys, snuffle mats - any kind of non physical game or training we can think of or discover. I don't know what you have in South Africa, but he sounds like a good candidate for Flyball, Agility, and competitive lure coursing. These are overseen by the American Kennel Club here, a national organization. The only other thing I can think of to mention is to have him neutered if he isn't already. It *may* help to calm him down some.

Possibly. Did your adoption gorup cat test her before they let her come to you? Even if they do, sometimes dogs lie, and their true feelings about small fluffies don't come out until after they have been in a home for a while. You need to contact them and let them know this dog *may* not be be appropriate for your household. I would say you are pushing the intros too fast for an iffy cat workable dog. It can take weeks to safely introduce them. Do a search and read through the threads about cat intros.

The trick is to not wrap it too tight. That results in swelling. You might contact your vet and see if one of their techs can give you a demo on how to do it correctly.

I don't know. She seems pretty stressed out.

He's such a handsome lad!!

We haven't had sardines in ages! Good reminder for me to pick some up!

Just saw an update this morning on FB that their fundraiser for the repairs has covered their current costs. So that's something.

Lots of dogs have trouble walking with a harness, even ones that are well settled. Somehow they don't understand how it works, or they miss the guiding pressure on their collar. Most of us end up using either two leashes - one for the collar and one for the harness - or use a short "coupler" to attached one leash to both collar and harness. That usually seems to fix the issue. If he's still statueing after doing that read through the two or three threads on it that are active in this section now. There's a tutorial for posting pics on the top of the Cute and Funny section. Short version - you need a third party photo hosting site like Photobucket, Imgur, Flckr, etc.,. Upload your photos to the site. Copy the img code provided by the site and then paste that code directly into the "reply" box. Hit "Post."

In my experience, if a dog needs an actual rx drug to help with anxiety, most over the counter (non rx) products - supplements, calming aids, Rescue Remedy, chews, even DAP, whatever else - do little to help.

Looks like a tag bag maybe??? Great shot Steve!!

There are lots of different alternatives to keep dogs from wounds. What you use is going to depend in part on how determined your dog is and what, if any, supervision he will have. For many wounds a greyhound does just fine wearing his basket muzzle with duct tape or a stool guard covering the front holes. I don't like to use it with staples as they can sometimes get caught, but it's great for stitches. I have also used the clothing covering - toddler pants and shirts - but not if the dog will be unsupervised. Many dogs will push aside, or chew holes in cloth to get at a wound. There's a commercial collar that blows up that many people have success with. And many home made versions on YouTube using bath towels and cardboard. There's also a relatively new one which is shaped like a normal Elizabethan collar, but it's soft and drapes down over the dog like a cloak. This one might work well for you depending on how flexible your boy is.

So my answer ismlong too! First, a couple thoughts about food: One, there's no law that says dogs *have* to eat twice a day. If she's only wanting to eat once a day, then you can give that a try and see how she does. You should increase that one feeding though to make up the nutrition from the meal she isn't getting. Second, conventional feeding means you fix her meal, set it down and walk away. Leave the food down and available for a set amount of time - 10 minutes or so - then pick it up. Offer her the same food at the next feeding (or, if you can afford to throw the old food away, offer fresh). A healthy dog is NOT going to starve herself, so when shes hungry enough, she'll eat. It sounds like she has bonded with you husband more than with you. You said he gives her a lot of affection, and in your list of things you give her it's all rules - so just from that, I would say you and your DH need to meet somewhere in the middle: you *both* need to provide boundaries and rules, and you both need to give her affection and attention that's just for fun. If full body cuddles aren't your thing, try a daily brushing session, or just sit with her and pet her gently. Sometimes even being in the same room doing something quiet can help with bonding. As far as midday walking goes, she may not really need one, and so she's getting cranky about getting woken up from her midday nap! Particularly with strangers. Unless shes having accidents in the house, or can't hold it overnight, I would stop them and see if she's more eager for longer walks early and later. It also sounds to me like she's beginning to guard her space/bed. Not uncommon for this to develop as the dog becomes settled in and is relaxed in their new home. But it does mean you will need to monitor her and the baby VERY VERY VERY carefully as he becomes mobile. He should never be allowed to crawl around her on her bed - that's her space. She may get over this or she may not, but you don't want any accidents. On walks there's a time for walking and a time for pottying. Once shes potties and you're going on for exercise, keep her moving and don't allow too many stops for sniffing. OR let her sniff and go wherever she wants. Sniffing and using their noses can be just as tiring as a ling walk. Boring for humans, but good for dogs. Treats can solve a lot of issues. But they have to be really worth it! Something she will respond to every time, whatever that is - roasted chicken or lunch meat or hotdogs or cheese or whatever is the YUMMIST THING IN THE WORLD for her. While you're bribing her, teach her a command to go with the behavior you want so you will eventually be able to phase out the treats. If you continue to have problems, ask your vet or adoption group for a referral to a certified veterinary behaviorist who is experienced using positive reinforcement only training with greyhounds. This person can be right there and observe your interactions - something we cant do over the innerwebs!

You should read through both the "Hookworm" thread and the other thread about yard maintenance. Hang in there!