arandomchic

Just thought of something else we are doing to prevent the "freezing". In addition to adding 10 minutes to her walk - we started to give Molly a really yummy/special treat when we get home from a walk the last few days. That seemed to help a lot - now she has a reason to want to get indoors quickly!

Molly will statue when she doesn't want to go home - so I try to vary the route so that we don't go the same way back to the house every walk. Sometimes it's as simple as walking on the other side of the street, and crossing to our house in the middle of the block. If she is being particularly stubborn, instead of tugging I will sort of run in place and give her a quick tug. She almost always forgets and starts jogging with me, and then gives me a look when she realizes she's been tricked.

I just downloaded it from iTunes (it's $9.99 there versus $14.99 at the site for a CD, btw). It's pretty soothing. We play it randomly when Molly is resting, not just when we leave so she doesn't associate it only with leaving. It definitely put ME to sleep when I was laying on the couch the other night. Not sure if Molly really cared one way or another

Oh boy. Sending healing thoughts to both you and your pups.

Welcome and congratulations! As a newbie myself, I have no idea what I would've done without this site to prepare for Molly!

No wrapper appearance yet. But who knew so much poo could come out of one dog. *lol* We found a few small pieces of wrapper near her bed, so we're thinking she chewed it up pretty good.

I just came home from work and asked the DH what he did with two sea salt caramels that were on the counter. He looks at me like I'm crazy, and says he thought I ate them because he found one wrapper on the floor. He assumed it somehow fell out of the garbage. So we head to Molly's bed --- and there are flecks of the cellophane wrapper from the OTHER caramel. It was a pretty small piece of cellophane, less than 2" square. The best we can narrow it would be around 11am when the DH was in another room and didn't put her in the crate (naughty DH). Should we be worried? She's acting normal (or as normal as we know for only having her for a week), so we thought we'd wait it out --- figuring it would make a reappearance. If it doesn't in a day or so or if she starts acting odd, then we'd call the vet. Any suggestions or input?

I could be wrong, but what I understand about potty training is that once they START going you say your cue phrase, not before. So the minute she starts to pee or poo, say "Hurry up". Then when she's done, you praise, treat, etc. That way she associates "hurry up" with peeing and finishing peeing with good treats/love. Right now she's probably blocking it out because you're saying it so much it doesn't mean anything. We're still new to it too (though Molly is pretty much potty trained - so we're working on the "cues") - and that's been working for us. Though honestly, she seems to like to walk a bit before going, even in the morning after 8 hours holding it. We wanted to try the going in a specific spot thing, but she likes to walk a couple of blocks, then go. Hard to do in a backyard

On another board I've seen people recommend three products: Composure Liquid, Rescue Remedy or Herbsmiths Calm and Anxiety Powder

I can't add much more than others have said. We're working on some mild Separation Anxiety with our girl right now. We did download a "Through a Dog's Ear" CD from i-tunes and have begun playing it. It's supposed to be calming for a dog, you may want to try it. Also, please don't use the citronella collar. I think it's just a horrible training tool bordering on cruel, and if it's not working, why bother.

We've only had Molly for a week, but even my husband says she's a total momma's girl. She follows me everywhere, even if he is right next to her when I leave the room and cries when I leave and she can't find me. She also listens to me better. For us, I think it's because I'm definitely the pack leader in the family --- and with the uncertainty during the transition to her new home she looked to me for direction, and I provided it. I'll be curious to see if that changes once she's more comfortable as my husband mostly works from home during the week, so they'll spend more time together.

Even though our greyhound only shows a mild interest in the litter boxes, we bough a hook and eye latch (I think it's either 6" or 8" long) and put it on the door. That way it stays open JUST enough for the cats, but not enough for the dog.

Thanks everyone! This site has been an amazing resource --- I don't think we'd be half a prepared without!

Congratulations - he's a beauty! We're new adopters, too --- and I think the discovering of quirks is one of the best parts!

Hi everyone! Meet Molly (racing name: Blue Sky Dreamin) - our fabulous 4 year old girl! She came to us just this past week from another family who had adopted her in early March, but it didn't work out well with an existing pet (unfortunate for them, awesome for us!). We got the call saying if we met her and loved her, she was ours immediately. And that's exactly what happened - it was a whirlwind of a couple of days! We were totally unprepared, since we were still on the wait list for a cat-friendly hound---figuring that we'd have at least a week once our dog found us based on the adoption process. Turns out, we had less than 24 hours to get everything situated Luckily the starter-owners gave us everything they had for her --- bed, crate, coats, collars, leashes. Thank the lord for that! She's the most amazing little girl I've ever met - so gentle, outgoing, friendly, listens well, a dream on the leash and a total momma's girl. She follows me everywhere, even if my husband is a foot away from her. The cats are slowly adjusting - and she's been pretty scared of them so far. Though this morning she was play bowing and bouncing around in front of Miles Cat who just hissed and walked away, but 30 minutes later she whined/cried when he stared her down again. *lol* And even though she only came with one toy (!!!!) she LOVES her plushies, the noisier the better. She'll sneak into the cat's safe room if the door is open and steal their larger stuffed toys, and the pirate chicken. She'll squeak to her hearts content and will toss and chase them around the living room. As first time greyhound owners, I don't think we could've asked for a more perfect baby girl!

On "It's Me or the Dog" they put up a section of free standing fence in a corner of the yard, then walked the dogs to that spot to do their business. When they went behind the fence, they got a very yummy treat. It took time and patience, but eventually the dogs went out there automatically when it was time to go potty.

I like some of Cesar's concepts, like "Exercise, Discipline and Affection". FYI - for those thinking discipline means physical correction, in his books he states repeatedly it's about rules, boundaries and expectations. I like that he talks about he trains humans, because I do think the majority of behavior issues in pets are due to us humans. I like that he reminds us that dogs have dog needs, not human needs. I like that he wants owners to be confident and consistent with their pets. I think the show tends to be more about entertainment. I enjoy watching it and am in awe of his talent and his connection with dogs. But like just about anything, I can take what I use from his training tips and pair them with other training methods to find what works best for my own pets.

Maybe it has something to do with how you talk her out versus how they take her out? For example, do your DH and dog walker if they *watch her intently* while they want her to go potty? Maybe she's just shy or feels too much pressure to go, and would prefer they look away? It might be helpful to have the DH and dog walker tag along as you take her out. They might notice things about how you do it, and be able to mimic that to give the dog some familiarity with the process.