[Red/hot Ear]

Bu gets this relatively often. I think i mentioned it to the vet and i just wath it. His never swells,goes into the ear or breaks out and goes just as sudenly as it comes.its kinda like he has solar panels sometimes.

[Eating The Leash]

It is a puppy thing. She should teach the dog to sit and bring treats on walks and when it starts going nuts, have it sit. Or bring a toy on the walk and distract the dog with the toy when misbehaving.

 

Also, tell her to find a Lupine dealer around her and buy a leash. The company has a life time guarantee even if chewed.

[I Love My Vet]

I spent all weekend at the Hartford Jazz festival. Sailor spent the first 2 days with me. I decided not to take him yesterday. Poor guy had major diarrhea yesterday due to getting into a friends dog food. I got home last night exhausted. I walked the dogs and got ready for bed. That's when I saw the nickle size hole in his side. It looked fresh. The only thing I can think of is that on our walk he rubbed agaist a bush and a branch got him. I brought him to my friends house and we decided that since the skin on the bottom was bunched funny that I should take him to the evet to make sure there wasn't a foreign body in there. I got there and the gave me an estimate for $600-$800 to do blood work, sedate and suture this small wound. I said I don't think so. I asked if they'd try it without sedation and they said no. So they gave me an estimate to clean it out and to get antibiotics, It was $200ish. $133 just to walk in the door. I agreed because well, he's my baby and I really wanted to make sure there wasn't anything bad in there. So they cleaned him up and home we went. I brought him to my vet today to see what they had to say. My vet went and grabbed his staple gun and while I help his (muzzled) head and a tech held his body still, Sailor got 4 staples. He cried with each staple, but was pretty happy for the treats afterwards. My vet also put him in a body wrap thing that looks like a onsie. My bill for this was $88. Not having to put my sweet boy under and keeping him safe even if he felt a little more pain was priceless.

[How To Discipline This Dog?]

I just adopted Sailor. He's shy with strangers, but confident and sorta goofy in a serious way with me. He's also smart. He picks things up pretty quickly and if I say a firm "no" he pretty much never does whatever I've told him not to do again. He is overall very well behaved, but he has some things I can't get him to stop doing. Some examples are when he wants dinner he kicks me and he'll try to steal toilet paper out of my hand when I need it to wipe. All the issues behaviors I can't get him to stop are really funny even though they are unwanted. Here's the main problem, he seems to be more intune with my emotions than any dog I've met. For example, I had a somewhat physical altercation where I was at a disadvantage (it was minor I'm fine). We were at my house so there were 3 greys sleeping in the room including the one I've had for 2 1/2 years. While this was going on I heard a dog moving around. When I could finally look around, Sailor was right next to me. I don't think he growled or anything, but he was the only dog that even woke up. So I'm pretty sure he knows I find certain behaviors funny which I'm sure is the reason he's not listening to me say no. How do I get him to stop doing his funny, but bad behaviors?

 

Just an aside-My sually discipling is either a "no", "uh uh", clapping my hands, water bottle(mainly for cat training or excessive barking), or gently grabbing a collar and pulling the dog away from a situation. I'm not into harsh or physical discipline. I also praise or thank a dog when they walk away from something when I say no or clap my hands.

[How Do You Dry Yams For Treats ?]

I used sweet potatoes, but I'm sure yams would be the same. I sliced them up and put them in the oven at 150 degrees for a few hours. I took them out when they were pliable because I'm a little impatient . I seasoned them with some cinnamon occasionally because I shared them with Bu otherwise I left them plain.

[Lameness]

My foster dog has tendonitis in both shoulders. Is there an orthopedic specialist near you?

[Experience With A Possible Uti?]

It could also be a bladder infection or even a kidney problem. Diabetes and Cushings also present with lots of peeing. I would get some blood work and a urine sample in. I hope he feels better soon.

[Leashing Your Grey]

I'm actually glad this was posted - I was thinking about asking a question about this earlier today. Andy is leashed 100% of the time, unless in our backyard or for the first time today, in a baseball diamond (and he had no idea what to do lol)....I also signed a leash clause in my contract. I unhook his leash IN the car, and he doesn't step out of the car without it on. Andy has snuck out the door, once by me, and once after my BIL left the door open and he was "fairly" easy to get back. BUT, I panicked. I was terrified of losing him. SO, that being said, yes, I leash all the time.

 

My original question was to be something similar - I've seen video and pictures (not so much on here but on you-tube, other grey sites, etc) with dogs froliking in the ocean, around fields, rivers, etc and even one romping around in the snow in their front yard next to the street . I was puzzled because I have always been told it's a big no-no to have one off lead. So, aside from fenced areas, are beaches or watery area supposed to be more secure? You'd sure think so with all the video out there.

 

 

My boys are leashed.

I have pictures of my boy loose in the ocean because I swam him out to a sandbar and let him go. He does swim, but we were pretty far from shore so he really had no place to go. The sand bar we were at is HUGE!!!!!

[Please Explain Kongs]

Try putting just some small loose treats in it and show her how it works. Once she gets that gradually make it a bit harder until it's sealed off. Sometimes there's a learning curve.

[Zippy Has An Involuntary Twitch]

I've seen that happen once or twice when a bug or something lands on them and it's itchy. The muscles twitch and the dog bites at it. I've never seen it as a continious problem though.

[Anyone Witnessed Excitability From Cephalexin?]

My answer would be no--I've never heard of any antibiotic causing excitability.

 

And my dogs have been on a LOT of them, and often for a long time!

 

What is he taking it FOR? I suppose the others are probably on to something--maybe he feels better?

 

 

Antibiotics caused my foster dog to be hyper. The vet said he'd never seen it before, but that since everyone responds differently to meds that it is possible. Every time he went off of them his energy level dropped significantly and I was worried they weren't working because he went on ABs right when I got him and I didn't know what he was normally like off the meds.

[Anyone Witnessed Excitability From Cephalexin?]

I'm pretty sure that my former foster was on this AB. He was on it for 6 loooooooooong weeks. It made him hyper. It was like living with a pack of labs. He exhausted me and never seemed to stop going. A week or 2 off the meds and he seemed to level out.

[Nightmares And Sleep Aggression]

I think you're on the right track crating while sleeping. Also using an ex pen if you don't want a crate everywhere can be helpful as well. Good luck.

[Itchy Feet]

It could be allergies, it could also be scarcoptic mange. I saw a dog pulling his hair out because of mange before.

[Bone Changes But Vet Feels It's Not Osteo]

Awww... Berk.

I don't have any advice, just hoping for my cuddle buddy to feel better and not to have Osteo.

 

Berk, if you stop worrying your mom I'll bring another care package over.

[Lumpy-Bumpy Trey]

The belly bump looks like a Lipoma (sp?) to me. It should be fine waiting the 2 weeks. If it grows drastically, bring him in sooner because it could be fibrosarcoma.

 

The ear lump looks like a histiocytoma to me as well.

[Snake Bite]

Damn. I hope he's ok. And you too.

[Gassy Girls]

My boy used to be so bad that he could clear an entire house. I can't tell you how often we took walks just to get away from the stench. He is much better now. It's probably a combination of stress and the food. Good luck and invest in clothes pins.

[Rickie Is Limping]

My foster has tendinitis in his shoulders that goes into the elbows. Is that a possibility?

[Leg Grazes]

I personally wouldn't do anything for that scrape except maybe clean it when it first happened.

 

As for covering weird places, I like k9 voyager boots.

[Carpet Clean Up]

I use hydrogen peroxide. It can bleach the rug a bit. Usually though, it's the cleanest area of the carpet.

[Feeding Times]

It will be fine. I'm a pet sitter and it's common for dogs to eat at 7/8am and 4-6pm. The dogs are all fine.

[How Much To Feed?]

I also feed TOTW and my boy gets 6 cups a day. I know other greys who get 2 cups a day on it. It depends on your dog. I don't think there's a formula.

[Pounds Of Poop]

Damn. I don't want to have to switch foods again. It took us almost a year of diarrhea to get a food that was somewhat ok for him. I've also been using Natures Domain from Costco since it's almost the same thing. I hate coming home to multiple piles of poop that looks like a cow was loose in the place.

[Pounds Of Poop]

I'm not really sure what's going on. Bu has always had a sensitive belly. For the most part its been under control after finding the right food. I could leave him 8 hours easy without a problem. Even 10 hours on ocassion wasn't a big problem and a couple times up to 12 hours if something came up. But now, the amount of poop that is coming out of my dog is out of control. He's been eating 6 cups of TOTW Pacific Stream for well over a year. He's always pooped a lot and is legendary for it. I'm a dog walker and even newfoundlands and great danes don't poop as much as my 85# grey. That was as of the past year or 2. Now cows don't poop as much as him. I'd say he needs less food but he's not gaining weight. He was tested for worms a couple months ago and so were my fosters and everyone came back negative. He's starting to have accidents. I was gone for about 6-7 hours today and came home to 2 good sized accidents. He had already pooped twice earlier today. I don't know what to do. I know 6 cups sounds like a lot of food, but he has a crazy high metabolism and I get comments from greyhound people even about how skinny he is. I plan on taking him to the vet next week and 24 hours ahead of time start stocking up his poop so my vet can see how much poop he makes in 24 hours.

 

Any advice would be great. TIA