PrairieProf

I am so terribly sorry for your sudden loss. What an absolutely gorgeous, sweet-looking girl, with a beautiful name.

Welcome! Phantom is very handsome -- love his jowls!

Congratulations to you and your beautiful new girl! I look forward to many more pictures and stories, and wish you many happy years together!

Welcome from Iowa, and congratulations on delurkitude -- and of course your soon-to-be adoption!

I'm so very very sorry. What a terrible, unfair early loss.

I agree about the Onie Jones thing... spooked me too, yet of course there are surely vast numbers of hounds with him in their ancestry who have lived long lives and died from other things. [And Beth's sire, who has the lineage, is evidently hale and hearty at 12, as I learned on another recent thread....]

How warm is it now? Mine lags when it gets above 70 or so. Is he less laggy in the mornings or when it's cool out?

I am so very, very sorry. Mel looks like a wonderful kitty. He was obviously happy and loved and enjoying his life to the very end. He looks so much like my cat Carey, who's also getting on in years. I'm so sorry, too, that you're catless ... I could never live without a cat.

I am very sorry for your loss. Especially that you didn't get enough time to say goodbye. :f_white

Oh, I am so very sorry to hear this news. :f_white

Hmmm, all this is very interesting but my sense has always been on this board that it's "not done" to name dogs/lines associated with osteo (or, in theory, other illnesses) in a broad public way -- because if you have a dog with those genes there's nothing you can do about it and it's just depressing information, and in theory it could prejudice people against adopting certain dogs.

Beth typically poops 4 times a day, and at least 3, so 5 doesn't sound like too much (though it's most typically just on two occasions per day -- 1-2 poops on her morning and her late afternoon walk; sometimes she'll go midday or late evening if she's missed her "second installment" on one of the earlier outings). The quality of her "output" is firm for the first morning poop, then declines to a greater or lesser degree after that -- but it's all about how long it's been since the last time. Volume doesn't seem excessive. She eats TOTW. Peeing I can't even count, since my dog pees to mark as well as when she really has to go. But she typically pees before and after each poop, which doesn't seem to be part of the marking. Anyway, well over 8 times a day.

Welcome to GT and congratulations!! I live in Iowa but my family is in Orange County and I visit there for a couple of weeks twice a year (with my greyhound, of course!). The hounds I know who have Be My Bubba as a daddy are really sweet. Check out Houndstooth4 and her Tails and Tales blog http://houndstooth4.blogspot.com/, starring Bunny, a half-sister of Badger's.

The "instructions" were just to try asking your dog for the sit with her/him facing downwards on a hill. I noticed my dog would often sit spontaneously on hills, and after struggling for several weeks to teach the sit during our first training class, I thought of asking her that way -- she immediately got it and, like Jayne, was quickly able to generalize to doing it on the flat. The signal for a sit is holding a treat in front of their nose then raising it up and backwards over their head. So far as I know positive-reinforcement training techniques don't ever physically push the dog into a sit, though it does work for some. Beth says hi and congratulations to Jayne (this is one of her many spontaneous sits):

Who me?? It worked?! Wahoo!!! :clap :yay Well I knew that the hill tactic that worked so perfectly for teaching Beth to sit on command would have to work for at least some other greyhounds. Now Beth frequently drops into sits on walks to bribe me for treats -- I sort of created a sitting monster.

What a gorgeous lady and the greatest name ever! At least there's no question about what color she should be wearing. Wow, I see she's a TNT Star Wars baby too ... Beth says hi to her half-sister! I see traces of similarity in their faces.

Since no one else has mentioned it yet, I'll recommend Patricia McConnell's short handbook I'll Be Home Soon for a excellent review on training techniques to deal with SA.....

They sell baby gates with cat-size door inset near the bottom -- seems like this would solve your problem with cats-only access to the laundry room. http://www.amazon.com/Carlson-0941PW-Extra-Tall-Walk-Thru-White/dp/B000JJFNJK (they sell them lots of places)

That's an awfully long time for him to go without a potty break or a chance to stretch his legs. Can you get a petsitter/dogwalker for a midday visit? I still crate my girl after a year and a half (she really likes the crate) but I never leave her for more than 5 hours without a break. If it's going to be longer, I have someone come in. Even if you weren't crating him, that's a long time to expect him to go without a potty break before he's used to living in a home, though some dogs can probably acclimate to it over time -- I wouldn't ask my dog to wait that long, though, except overnight when she's asleep anyway. Did you discuss this with your adoption group? This is an issue I'd imagine you'd think through before bringing a dog home...

I brush daily with dog toothpaste, use a gel from the vet when I think of it, give raw meals a couple of times a week. Beth's teeth are excellent. OK, I just checked the gel I use, Maxi/Guard, and see that I can probably get it cheaper online! Anyway, it's what my vet sells: http://www.vetdepot.com/MaxiGuard-OraZn-Pet-Dental-Care-2-oz.html If you want to give her something to chew, CET Hextra chews (chemically-treated rawhide pieces in various sizes) are specially designed to help clean teeth. I've read a lot of bad things about Greenies here and elsewhere and would never feed them.

Oh no! I hope you get good news. You've been through too much lately.

I am so sorry for your loss. Soldi :f_white

Yes, Frontline is fine. You could put on some EMT Gel if you can find it; people here will recommend other products as well I'm sure. Worth ordering some to keep on hand -- it works really well. Bag Balm, which you can find easily at most drugstores, is good for small/shallow scrapes (and great for moisturizing dry/cracked paw pads). But whatever you put on, be aware that your dog will probably try to lick it off!

That's cool -- that hill trick worked like magic for us and I was so proud of myself for figuring it out, I'm convinced it can help others!

How very nice for you! Good girl Jayne! I've taken several levels of obedience classes and Beth has always done very well -- she absolutely keeps up with the other breeds. Took a while in the first one for me to get her to sit on cue, but she too sometimes sits spontaneously and did learn. (FWIW, she most often sits when facing slightly downhill, and that's how I finally taught her to do it, by asking her on a hill; she was quickly able to generalize.)