2hounds

Our Mia Bella had Erlichea shortly after she came home and it was pretty scary, she ended up with immune mediated poly arthritis from it and has been on a very low (5 mg every other day) dose of prednisone since then (6 years? 7 years?) Hopefully your girl will respond quickly to the medication and have no side effects!

We have houndguests from time to time and it has never been an issue. I do muzzle outside just to be safe and I feed them separate from my hounds just in case they are more protective of their food, but for the most part, it is just having another head to pet.

My Paradise (first hound) was a serious whiner. She would whine about everything! Tippy doesn't whine but he will give a big Barooooooo! if he thinks it is time for dinner.

We also include a short training brochure with the Freedom harness (2 Hounds Design is the manufacturer of the Freedom harness) that will give you some starting points to start working with your girl and I am happy to work with you as well. I will tell you the number 1 piece of advice we give is the stop walking and turn in the other direction when she pulls, reward her when she is walking with a loose leash. You can see the harness at http://www.2houndsdesign.com/Freedom-No-Pull-Harness/

Yayyy love seeing old friends popping back up! Miss Livvie has definitely figured out the bubbees (puppies) and the ditties (kitties) and loves every animal she encounters. <3

It has been a while since I've been here...not sure if I should reintroduce. We adopted our first greyhound, Paradise, in 2002, Iceman came along in 2003 and these were the original "2 Hounds" that I named my company after (http://www.2HoundsDesign.com) Then came Bandit and Mia Bella and Tippy.... Unfortunately we are back down to 2 Hounds (Mia and Tippy) but we've added a baby, who isn't so much of a baby anymore (17 months old) - Miss Livvie. So here I am. I used to be here a lot but business and baby took over and I haven't had as much time to check in as I would like. I see a lot of new IDs, but I am happy to still see people here that I recognize. So hey, let's catch up!

NO no no no, I don't want to read this. I am SO sorry Claudia. I know there is a hole in your heart tonight. Keeping you in my thoughts.

Obviously I am biased (I own Wiggles Wags and Whiskers and we make the Freedom harness ) But here are the differences - the Freedom harness has the swiss velvet lining on the underside of the harness, which helps prevent rubbing and chafing sores behind the front legs. Also, it sits higher up on the chest in the front, which is a better fit and does not restrict movement. It also has a front AND back connection, so you can connect to the front and back of the harness at the same time. You will hear from some trainers that a back only connection harness encourages pulling - however, we have a martingale on the back of the harness, which acts as a gentle feedback mechanism when the dog pulls. BUT the best part about it is that front and back connection - and APDT and CPDT trainers both like this because it allows you to steer your dog like using the reins on a horse. Lee Charles Kelley (author of several books and the "original" dog whisperer before Cesar Milan stole the term from him) says the front and back connection gives you a shared center of gravity with your dog and allows a very small framed person to control a very strong dog with very little effort. Alternatively, you can use only the front connection on our harness if you wish. This will help discourage pulling in the same way that the front connection on the easywalk or sensation discourages pulling - the difference is that our strap is up higher so it doesn't restrict movement as much. Hopefully this makes sense - and if you have any questions, you are welcome to email or call anytime.

We said goodbye to sweet Paradise today. We found out today that it was lymphoma, but she had been in ICU since Thursday with low platelet count and sky high liver values. Today she spiked a huge fever and was starting to have respiratory problems. She was extremely weak and was bleeding internally, her feet had swollen to the point that she couldn't walk, so we made the hard decision to stop fighting to save her failing body. My original 2 hounds are both gone now, my heart is in pieces.

Tami, I am so sorry. He was always one of my favorites.

I'm so sorry

My Paradise only has 2 teeth left and she does just fine Edited to add, I saw your last response, I am so sorry. Keeping you and Zoey in my thoughts.

Trudy, I am so sorry. Keeping you and Jeff in my heart.

Yes, her joints swelled up so bad that she couldn't walk. With Mia, the joints swelling up actually happpened as she was being diagnosed with Erlichea, so it was pretty much all at the same time and she stopped eating/drinking right around then so we were also dealing with dehydration. She also had a weird head weaving thing, almost like she was dizzy and she would walk in circles and then fall down. The vet said this was also probably related to the immune response. I don't remember her Doxy dosage, but in the beginning, she was on 40mg of Pred per day and we have now weaned her down to 5mg every other day, we just can't take her completely off of the pred because the head weaving thing comes back and her joints start to swell again. The bumps showed up when she was on pred and Imizol at the same time, the vet reduced the dosage of both medications and the bumps went away. The theory was that the 2 meds in combination were reducing her immune system TOO much so that is why the bumps showed up. The good news is once we got Mia completely stablized, she has been fine for 3 years now. Those first few months were scary, but she is doing great, she is happy, playful, and she eats great.

Sending lots of good thoughts for you. My Mia had Erlichea and it turned into immune mediated poly-arthritis. She is still on pred, 3 years later, because when we try to take her off of it, she has an immune response. She had bumps similar to what you mentioned a few months after she finished her doxy and she was still on a high dosage of pred. The vet just reduced her pred dosage and they went away.

Merlin is SO handsome!

I think of your sweet Iberia often. I hope he is enjoying the view, watching over you, and romping in the fields.

Sending lots of good thoughts for an uneventful dental!

Forgot to mention that we did have liquid valium on hand but thankfully never had to use it.

My Iceman had LP and we limited his time in any temperatures over about 75-80 degrees. We didn't take him for long walks (he couldn't anyway with his back end so weak) and in general we just kept him really calm. He was diagnosed at 11 years old and lived to be almost 14.

If you didn't hear a snark combined with the scream, I would be tempted to think it wasn't one of the other dogs. Paradise walked up to me once (this was several years ago) and she had a V shaped gash in her forehead. I never heard anything, no yelp, no growl, nothing. We searched the house and finally found a corner of a table with a little bit of blood on it, the only thing we can think of is that she gashed her head on that. We called her "Frankendoggie" for a while because the vet put staples in her forehead.

Congrats!! I can't see the photos but I am excited for you!

She is beautiful, I love the freckles on her nose!

I am so sorry.

I am sure he is still lingering by the ferns, comforting you and loving you.