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PrairieProf

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Posts posted by PrairieProf

  1. I walk my dog on a regular schedule, she poops on her walks, she has never had a poop accident in the house. Give your dog a good walk in the morning and it should get her "emptied out" so she doesn't have an accident in the day. The food may be part of the issue but getting her on a regular eating and pooping schedule will help. I don't wait for my dog to decide when she has to go; we are out early every morning, and she goes then, at least once and sometimes twice. And if she hasn't gone twice in the early morning I make sure we walk far enough at midday that she has a chance to poop if she needs to. And if I don't think she's pooped enough on our late afternoon walk I make sure I walk her far enough for "last call" at night that she's really emptied out before we go to bed.

  2. If he seems fine in the crate, no signs of anxiety, don't get all sentimental and nuts about it. At the racing kennel (and if they've been in an adoption kennel) they are in their crates most of the time except for turnout periodsl, that's what they're used to, and they sleep most of the time anyway. You can wean from the crate if you want, but there's no point in rushing it after three days -- if your dog likes his crate you are, in fact, very fortunate. I still crate Beth when I'm out after four years (although I am not gone eight hours) -- prevents mishaps and she is in fact much calmer and more content there. And I have no worries in a strange place when we travel, or when she needed to be on crate rest for some weeks after an injury. When I get home she generally doesn't even come out of the crate right off until she's finished her nap -- the rare times she is eager to leave the crate are signs that she has to "go" really urgently.

     

    You are doing the right thing with the dog walker. Beyond that, the crate is your problem, not Henry's. It is a blessing to have a dog who crates well; don't discount it!

  3. I told Tracey to post here so she could hear all the broodie testimonials first hand -- I've read so many here but couldn't relay them from experience. :) Here are two pictures of the beauteous Lily.

     

    GableLillian2.jpg

     

    GableLillian1.jpg

     

    And her link: http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?z=xOJ8jR&d=gable+lillian&sex=&color=&birthyear=&birthland=

     

    I am very excited that Lily will be part of my extended greyhound family! She is closely related to Beth on both sides and even has the same birthday, two years earlier.

  4. Totally normal, if you mean black spots in the skin/fur. Your greyhound will get more and more ticked/spotted the older he gets. I bet he's pretty young now, right?

     

    I won't mention how I nearly rubbed Beth's one of Beth's nipples raw when it developed black pigment on the tip....

  5. Exactly. They have debunked this internet rumor umpty-gazillion times already on their Facebook page. It is a patent for a process. They do not now nor do they plan to add plastic to their food: they have stated this clearly.

     

    SD is by far one of the safer foods you can buy, in terms of their supply chain, their testing, the fact that they make their own food rather than contracting it, and the fact that they actually do feeding trials. Except for a tiny, tiny portion of their line in 2007, they have had zero recalls, something you can't say for lots of other companies.

  6. Yeah, sebaceous cyst. The way to be sure they won't come back is to make sure you get the core -- there's a firmer bit at the center, like a grain or rice or rubber. But with a big cyst like that it might need to be opened up -- lots of squeezing can create problems. I've had my vet slit a few big ones on Beth with a scalpel (laser probably) to really empty them. He put a staple or two in a couple for a week or so, one he let heal by itself. Wasn't a biggie, just done with a local.

     

    I am now pretty obsessive about wanting to get them all emptied, whether by me or by the vet, as Beth had a large one I just left and it ended up rupturing internally and creating a big mess. She goes in cycles -- for a few months she'll get multiples, and then for a few months she won't have any at all.

  7. How scary. Glad he's over the, uh, lump for now. I'm sure the vet didn't mean normal digestible cooked grain in dog food though, which wouldn't make his poop look strange, but something like a pile of raw grain Bunny ate directly. Could he have gotten into anything unusual?

  8. If peas are in the ingredient list, that could be your culprit.

     

    When our dogs were kibble fed, we tried everything and the only thing that worked (for a period of time) were digestive enzymes. Not a probiotic....but enzymes.

     

    We ended up giving up on kibble and switched to raw, which eliminated the gas and other problems the dogs were having.

     

    I'll leave it to you to decide if you trust the source for the following or not, but apparently Science Diet is adding plastic to their products to increase shelf life. May be worth some more research.

     

    http://www.petsitusa.com/blog/?p=5351

     

     

     

    No, this is circulating as an internet rumor that has been repeatedly explicitly denied by Hill's (I follow their Facebook page and this has come up with people asking it a zillion times in recent months). They got a patent for the process as a scientific/experimental thing but do not now actually do that and have no plans to. I'm not crazy about them even exploring it as an idea, but it is not the case that there is or will be plastic in their food.

     

    This is their statement: "Hill's does not add plastic to any of its pet foods and has no plans to do so. For any company that invests in research and innovation, it is common in a patent application to include broad descriptions of ingredients, technology or processes – even those that will not be used."

  9. Hi Tracey! Funny that I am the first person to see this. Shows you I am on GT too much. Great you joined, though. (I was sort of Tracey's greyhound mentor before she adopted Gus -- she is a graduate student at my university! Gus is a super sweet hound. And I've seen his poop -- I was very favorably impressed! :D )

     

     

    Most people here don't like Science Diet and will tell you to get off it. And they'll tell you to try yogurt, which I know you use already. Since I know you like it and you know I've had good results with it, I'll just say to consider trying the Sensitive Stomach formula, or the new Ideal Balance grain free. Different approaches but one or the other might work for the gas, and both have excellent reviews from people who've actually used them. Neither is prescription.

  10. You wouldn't be the first! I wouldn't go more than a couple of days beyond with heartworm meds. A few times I've shifted dates over a couple of months -- like, give it in a week from now this month, then move it out gradually. I really doubt that it's an issue if there is less than two weeks separating the meds -- 1st/15th (when I do it) is partly just easy to remember. But I'm not an expert so if you really want to be sure ask your vet.

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