cleptogrey

yeah, felix needs corrections from time to time, but as you see...it basically WORKS! he picked up on us leaving for vacation and started the whimper...that has stopped due to the trusty ....you know what!

i haven't changed the water in my plant spray in over a year. all i have to do is just show the bottle to felix- even thru the glass storm door! one good squirt and a shhhhh....then other squirts should not have a sound associated w/ them. i had a foster who came to me after abusing all the dogs and humans in her first foster home. i placed the crate in my bedroom since she was such a screamer! after one night of "scattered showers" she learned not to cry at night in her crate. that night sleeping next to the plant spray was so rewarding!!! if done right, you will only use it on rare occassions to remind them "no noise".

mulch, 4-8" thick. I LOVE IT and so do the dogs. we had grass until felix roto-tilled it. no matter what i did, fenced off areas and grew new grass, watered, fertilized, tried every variation of grass seed....we had a rice paddy when there were heavy rains. i contacted a couple of local arbortist and found one who was reasonable. the only draw back is it needs to be replenished every 9-11 months and we have a short flight of stairs from the driveway( where it is dumped) to the yard. for christmas i hired some of the arborist's laborers, the best christmas present ever and they schlepped 15 cubic yards up and raked it out. w/o help it took dh and me 4 days to haul the stuff up. but our house is clean, paws dry and when the snow melts we won't have huge frozen puddles of muck. also, if i ever decide to plant grass my new soil is rich and well aireated. i had enough mulch to dress the garden beds in the front and side of my house, my yard is 40' x 75'. but this is my 3rd fill, so i would figure 20 cubic yards for an area that size.

it takes long term use for a dog's skin and coat to change on predisone. i had an addisonian pup who was on it for 10 years. it took a while for his skin and coat to thin. when i have had dogs on pred. for short term- 5-15 days there was no noticable change. i have also watched the same dog change color not only from season to season, but year to year seasonally. anything is possible coat wise. a skin scraping is fast, pretty painless and fast results. you just end up w/ a bald spot where they took the skin . i agree, omit suppliments, remove tag collar and even change to a really soft old collar.

looking at the neck pic it looks exactly like annnie's neck, she is growing winter coat, . she too is a red fawn w/ black tips and gets a blochy coat. i have seen the variation in coat color and texture in both dogs, felix has a real skimpy coat, totally bald butt most of the time.both of the pups change color in the winter, they go to a much lighter red fawn. we went thru a strange coat experince after felix was on flagyl for a good period of time. it straightened out his gut, but he developed bald spots in a couple of area. at first the spots almost looked like he was nipped by another dog who pulled the hair out- but as we all know they don't have enough hair for that type of nipping- the skin just tears. then more fell out and the hole got bigger and there were more spots. no signs of any type of mange, no fleas on him what so ever. i used this wierd ointment, goodwinal(sp?) on the spots, every night i dabbed him up- all over. it took2-3 months for his hair to grow back. as soon as he went onto flagy again, more bald spots appeared. my vet has never read anything about flagyl and hair loss, but when this happened a second time he looked at felix and said,"anything is possible" when we realized we were dealing w/ the same situation AGAIN. go know..... i would go w/ the older-semi-retired vet's opinion of wait and see.it is strange that both dogs are developing spots, but teddy's looks different to me. also maybe try a different collar.

stomach bugs run thru dogs in a house the same way they do w/ kids. one gets it and passes it on. i remember the last time i dealt w/ a stuation like that both dogs were kept in the kitchen to contain the vomit and diaharreh. SPEAK TO YOUR VET, each one has their own way of dealing w/ it.you can also check the pull in their skin to see if they are dehydrated. skin naturally has some pull, if you can gently pinch an area and lift the skin a bit, that's normal- if it really stretches then they may need sub-q liquids. some vets like pepto, some don't, some like to just hold back on food and slowly introduce white rice.white rice is all liquid so there is no need to worry about a dog drinking. generally a dog w/ a stomach bug will NOT eat or drink. a quick phone call and lots of paper towels anda mild disenfectant will be your best friend. in a couple of days it will have gone thru your house.

just wondering, what color is the interior of your car/suv?? if it's really dark, then the pup might not have depth perception and it might look like he is going into a big unknow space/hole. how about a light colored towel or sheet to brighten up the interior and putting the dome light on? a friend shared some info from a dog behavior book she is reading, her dog refuses to jump into her car, BLACK interior. that was one of the scenarios mentioned in the book- dogs not jumping into the back of large cars since they didn't have depth perception.mmmmmmm......

felix was part of a hand raised orphaned litter that left the track at 5 days. i got him at 7 weeks, but you are talking about a completely different creature since he had/has such intense bonding w/ people. as a pup it was basically dealing w/ his energy and keeping him tired. he trained really easily, never destructive, just grew a lot faster than even my salukis that i had in the past. the salukis may have primed me for having a greyhound pup. boy were they destructive! but i will say, he is the first dog that i took out accident insurance on. kamakazi, crazy runner w/ more energy and force than he could control. at 9 months we had a real scare and decided- as i would say,"to insure his legs like marlene deitrich's legs". would i do it again- YES...i'm a sucker the owner of his littermate adopted another puppy last summer, yeah 2 of us in the ny area! oh, felix jumped out of his expen at 9 weeks! that was it...and we did puppy, pre-novice, baisic 1,2,3, rally o, basic 3, novice, 3 sessions of agility training w/ him! he occasionally drops in at classes and has a blast. all that training consumed a ton of energy and kept him focused.

haven't met a dog who didn't go bonkers for HOT DOGS!!!!

musher's secret, check it out. excellent protective covering and it moistures the pads as well. one application usually last a day and it's not gunky or staining on the floors or rugs.

my crazy male always rips up his nail beds - usually an outside toe, front. the last time he screwed up his nail bed he also cut the flesh starting at the bed for a good 1/4 to 3/8s of an inch.he runs really hard in our yard which is all mulch. i tried soaking w/ epsoms, no luck but i was able to keep it clean. had a couple of suggestions here on line, but things were looking raw and not healing. i finally called my adoption rep, who i don't like to bother, but she is a vet. her answer...medicated powder and keep it dry. after nearly 2 weeks of soaking, leaving it alone- gently wrapped- some initial topical antibiotics... the nasty cut was healed and dry in a matter of days. ammen's original medicated powder was the answer. i think gold bond will work as well. i have used ammen's on raw webbing as well, my crazy guy really does his paws in at the beach.

i personally find the 2" collars are beautiful but decorative- i use them for meet and greets. 1" is a good size where a dog will feel something at the end of a leash, and that's for your sake. try a thinner collar,make sure it fits properly- when it is under his chin-top of the neck-behind the ears there should be a 1-2" section of collar between the 2 rings. the rings should NOT meet. i find if the collar is snug when you slip it over his head and when you remove it- go gently sometimes one ear at a time. glad to hear you are using a leather leash- the best! lots of good positive training can be done to correct the situation. i find working in a class w/ a couple of experience teachers around works well for me and my dogs. the experience of trainers who know people and can read their personalities as well as dogs and thier needs is always productive. akc and apdt are two organizations who have info about schools and trainers. be patient and positive. oh, i used to have a saluki who barked and growled at cows and horses when he was in the car! yes, they are sighthounds!

call me wierd, but i sprinkle coarse grain kosher salt on my icy steps and sidewalk. this started years ago, i tried sand, sawdust, kitty litter and have always stayed away from chemical stuff- but boy were all of them a mess. my scottie who had addison's disease was on tons of salt as part of his diet. so, i figured he was eating salt anyway, what the heck. well, it never bothered either his or willie's paws, so i stuck w/ it. basically i avoid streets when they are covered w/ chemicals, so it' the 4 steps from my back door down to the 20 ft. sidewalk on the side of the garage that i carefully sprinkle and sweep up as soon as the ice melts(that's they key). i do use musher's secret on the dog paws during the winter anyway and it protects them.

that technique worked for annie. it took her 9 months to finally get with the program!

mmm...fill the tennis ball w/ food! i think premire products makes a purple disk which can be unscrewed and filled w/ kibble. that will keep her busy and fed!

how about fake grass? a friend w/ a really old corgi did the fake grass and it worked! so if you can catch some peespill it on the grass which is on top of the mats...you got it made! i don't remember the names of the companies that manufacture it, but she found them on line. and they withstand rain and can be hosed down.now it's a matter of her being able to get out on deck as needed. opps, did not read the post directly above...yeah the fake grass works!

i tried fish oil capsules, they did NOTHING...went (as advised by the pres. of the rescue group adopted from)out and bought LAKSE CHRONCH (sp?) cold pressed salmon oil. with in 6 weeks there was a marked difference. 4 squirts for my dogs, (62# female and 77#male).I had tried everything, bacon fat, oilve oil, safflower oil, nupro gold, best change in coat was the fish oil.

been using ivermectin for the past 20 years. all of my dogs have been worm free for a long time- my vet even used it for mange years ago on my welsh terrier. it works, once a month and i haven't had any reactions with any of my dogs.i keep them on it all year long.

my welsh terrier was really sensitive to fleas and that is just about what he looked like. i called it "hot spots". they would get raw from him biting. i use aloe and hydrocortizone cream, that's what my vet recommended(costco sells it really cheap). even though the dogs love the taste of the aloe they don't get sick from it. i used generous amounts and rubbed it in, 2xs a day. the irritation needed to take it course, but raw areas came back with tons of hair. with as much hair as a welshie has, their skin can be really sensitive. one tick bite and it looked like a cigar burn!

annie refused to down,so i sat on a chair, tush at the very edge of the seat(caddie corner-one leg tucked around the chair the other in front),the front leg was bent at the knee(90 degrees),making a box/tunnel. i lured her under my leg- it took a while and she eventually crawled under the leg. lowered the food and she was down. i think there is a visual of this on the neversaynever greyhound site. find the right treat, maybe marshmallows and 2 minute training sessions. target- looking at you first, back to down and that's enough for one day.eventually lure the down into a sit and then back down. i tend to train in the kitchen while i cook, it works for me- focused dog, no distractions and lots of treats. once down, sit and targeting are polished everything else falls into place...in time.

dogs and kids get along just fine, it's a bite for me, a bite for you! lots of dogs survive childhood. fruit loops....has she turned into a toucan yet?? don't worry...it's just grains, sugar and food coloring

it never fails, either your kids or your dog will seem wierd on a national holiday or when you go away on a vacation! my welsh terrier, who lived to the ripe age of 14, had seizures(grand mal). there were irratic and i never medicated him. he usually snapped back a couple of hours later, usually after a good night's sleep. once our 11 year old dog walker came in and found him shivering in the middle of an episode. she figured it out, let him out in the yard and carried him to her house and kept him wrapped in a towel. nature will take it's course. if he is still acting wierd on friday, call or visit your vet. i personally stay away from meds unless it's a situation where the dog needs to be stabilized and is having recurring episodes very frequently. willies used to end his seizures w/ barf and diaherreah, he used to back up to the door trying to get out and poop on the door if i wasn't home@! keep your puppy (you have a young one )quiet in the kitchen and it's difficult, but try to enjoy the holiday.

hopefully this is just arthurrightous and he will now just have more to blog about- spitting out pills. i have never tried hiding a pill, i just open the mouth and slide it down their throat . greyhounds are the easiest dogs to pill since their neck/throat are the same size. i remember the days when heart worm preventative was given daily and i dealt w/ an addisonian dog for 10 years~ 4 pills, 2xs a day!!

willie wonka, my welsh terrier, lost his hearing when he was around 12 or so. he sensed vibrations and had no problems. things got a little tricky when his vision started to go in his 13th year.

is she sorta like trying to hack up some phylegm or maybe having a reverse sneeze??? it sounds strange, but w/ all the mold out there from the leaves and earth it could be a post nasal drip. l.p. is a wheezing where the dog can't catch their breath because of a swollen obstruction, it always calms down when they are put in a cold airconditioned room(my welsh terrier had it). post nasal drip is lots of thick mucous that can be cleared up for a couple of days w/ .....this is an old fashioned, low tech rememdy....a squirt of lemon juice down the throat. i use a baby's medicine dropper, like a teeny turkey baster. it holds around a tablespoon's worth of lemon juice. open the dog's mouth, squirt, and hold it closed. generally the heavy mucous will come out the other end later that day.