monmeehan

We use the command "gentle" too. I found that Cheyenne just got less grabby over time. It was like she settled in and figured out that she would get the treat and didn't have to lunge for it. I realize now we did a variation of the over/under thing. Instead of a closed fist, I would present the treat on my open palm (like kids are told to do with horses). I was tired of getting nipped, and figured there was less to "grab" on my palm. Looking back, that did make me present treats to her under her nose. Cool! [edited for speeling]

hello from New Mexico!

I have to agree with OwnedBySummer about putting something on the screens the dogs can see easily (assuming no vision loss). We put tape on the glass of our sliding doors, but Cheyenne plowed right through our (old, loose) screen, and bounced off the (new, stiffer) replacement screen a couple times before I wised up. The screens seem especially hard for her to discern at night (dark outside, lights on inside). One mini-sized string of Tibetan prayer flags tied to the screen = problem mostly solved! Sometimes she still does act spooked and I have to either coax her back in, or walk out and then back in, so she can tell that the screen's open. Edited 'cause eye cain't speel.

dog haiku: the cat is not all bad, she fills up the litter box with tootsie rolls!

Someone told me once that the overbites helped them "win by a nose!" I think they were kidding.

monmeehan (Monica) Santa Fe, NM

I got peed on once, but it was my own fault. On a walk, Cheyenne stopped short to pee, I wasn't paying attention, and stepped right under her rear end. eeeeeeew! : eta: in SANDALS, no less!

I know I'm late coming in on this. Lots of people told you that there were cat-safe dogs out there, but I wanted to add that there are people like me who (for whatever reason -- I'm allergic) will never have cats. And we're the people who adopt and love those high-prey-drive dogs. Our Cheyenne WANTS. TO. EAT. TEH. KITTEHS. (neighbor cats that we see outdoors) All the time. But there are no kittehs in our house, and she's not constantly on edge trying to leave something she really wants. I'm sure your adoption group will find Caroline a home like ours. You absolutely did the right thing. Photos of Stella, please?

Words are never enough, but I'm so sorry.

This was our experience with Cheyenne. Dog-proofing was a process: we'd come home to things moved to odd places, or chewed, or shredded. I really think she was just trying things out. We were lucky -- she messed with most things only once. I've also heard it described as a sort of "abbreviated puppyhood" as retired dogs explore the new things about home life.

In our house we refer to it as "That Other Dog." as in: - "Oh no! That Other Dog is in the oven!" - "Now, how did That Other Dog get outside?" - "How come That Other Dog gets to go into the grocery store?"

I just got a Dremel this week! I second the article by DoberDawn, especially the part about introducing the dogs to the Dremel. Cheyenne is very curious, so I got a pocket full of little treats, and we opened the box together. As she sniffed everything, I gave her treats and praise. The next day, I took the Dremel out, plugged it in (turned off), set it on the floor (carpeted - less noise), and put a treat on it. Of course she came right over and snurfed it up. Lots of praise, repeated a couple of times. Then I turned the Dremel on (no tool attachment, just empty), left it sitting on the floor, and put another treat on it. She came and ate it off! More praise, more treats on the whirring Dremel. Then today DH and I trimmed her nails! We got out the Dremel, DH had a bowl full of those dried liver treat bits (aka: "crack" ). We did a warm up with eating treats off the whirring Dremel again. Next, I touched the (still empty) Dremel to a couple nails - just a little touch, like not even a second - so she could feel the vibration on her nail. More treats. Then I put the sanding drum on and did her nails! Lots of praise, lots of treats. I was a little nervous it would get too hot, so I only did a couple of seconds on each nail and kept checking to make sure they were ok. She did greyt! I didn't make a whole lot of progress in the trimming, but I just wanted it to be a positive, not scary experience for her. Just so you know though, I was pretty nervous. Yesterday, DH and I were at our adoption group's meet+greet, and I asked the other owners if they clipped or Dremeled, and pretty much everyone said "Oh NO, I could NEVER Dremel! My dog would be too scared! He/She HATES that noise!" I was pretty discouraged. But I also knew that so far Cheyenne has been ok with the vacuum, drills, other weird noises (except thunder), so I hoped she would be ok with the Dremel. So if you think your dog will be ok with it, give it a try. You can do it! Just go slow. Liver snacks helped us!

Quite right! Thanks, everyone!

I call it Untitled 4: Rhapsody in Ferti-Lome Firepit Hmmmm... Santa Fe is the third biggest art market in the US... think I can convince some rich Texas tourist to buy it?

Sure! Notice how I'm KNOT showing any of the rest of my yard in that photo?

Well, as promised, here's our ghetto-licious contraption for keeping Cheyenne out of the stump area. It's doing the job, but please feel free to mock our craptacular setup!

Thanks for all the responses, everyone! We decided to try blocking it off somehow. So we upended our metal firepit insert (big metal bowl) over the stump, then put a bunch of chicken wire over the top, weighted it down with firewood logs and the upside-down firepit legs, and topped the whole shebang off with the firepit spark screen, balanced precariously on top. That way, if Cheyenne starts poking around there it will fall and A] make noise + startle her and B] let us know she's been poking around. We're really lucky that she's not very ambitious about getting into non-food-related things. I'll post some photos tomorrow -- the whole getup is hilariously ghetto. ahicks: re: suckers: I have no doubt there will be suckers, even with the stump killer. Dealing with just suckers would be preferable to dealing with both suckers AND herbicide. >sigh<

hi KF, yeah, I saw that, too, but it's not really very specific. I mean, it sounds like it would be ok, but it's from the company's website, knowhatimsayin'? Not that I think they're trying to whitewash their product either, it's just that our sweet, crazy greys are so SENSITIVE! Guess it's trashcan-and-talk-to-the-vet-tomorrow time. Teh neighbor kitteh iz safe for now.

hi everyone, We had a tree in our backyard taken out today. When we set up the appointment, we asked that NO POISON be used on the stump, knowing that greys can be more sensitive to stuff than other dogs (and also not wanting poison IN MY YARD -- yecch). The guy DH talked to assured him that they wouldn't use a poison, instead they'd use some sort of plant growth hormone that would accelerate the stump using up its reserves, and killing it that way. I've never heard of such a thing, but it sounded ok to me. BUT! The 2 guys who actually took the tree down today used something called Ferti-Lome Brush Killer / Stump Killer. Call me weird, but I kinda doubt something called "Brush Killer" accelerates plant growth. Sigh. If I'd caught them in time, I would've told the tree guys to just leave the stump alone. I'd rather lop off sucker branch sprouts for a few years than have a bunch of toxic crap in my yard. The active ingredient is listed as: "Triclopyr (3, 5, 6-trichloro-2-Pyridinyloxyanetic acid), as the Triethylamine salt ---- 8.8%" I've searched GT, and aspca.org, I couldn't find anything about Triclopyr. Most of what I've been able to find online are white papers that say it's "slightly toxic" to birds and fish. Yeah, that's helpful. Here's the problem: normally Cheyenne has access to the yard while we're at work (dog door), but I don't want her out there unsupervised until I find out if this stuff is harmful or not. Right now, I'm planning to cover the stump with a weighted-down, staked-down trash bin or something, until I can get an answer from our vet. Cheyenne is pouting because she can't go out and chase teh kitteh that likes to sit on the wall and taunt her. Poor baby. Here are some pix I took of the bottle. Any chemists out there on GT?

Thanks again for all the kind welcomes! Sheesh! Things get busy at work, and I'm away for a coupla days, and look what happens! Cheyenne is a very sweet girl, and we're very happy to have her. Her racing name was La Cheyenne, we never found out what her call name was (if anything -- she only ran 4 races!), and the DH and I liked the name so we kept it. We think it's a pretty awesome name. Her littermates all had various tribe names (Aztec, Seminole, Comanche, etc.). Drafters: Sorry for the geographic confusion!

greytpups: not to worry, DH is already quite smitten! Thanks for all the welcomes! This site has been a great resource, and a lot of fun to read, too!

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for months, as we prepared for (read: I convinced the DH we needed) a greyhound. Well on December 20th we picked up La Cheyenne from foster in Albuquerque. Dark Brindle, born in Kansas, raced in Tucson, rescued by Greyhound Companions of New Mexico, and loved by us! Monica -=-=-=- Her first day at home: Our very own Santa's Little Helper: Curled up in the sun on New Year's Day: