christinepi

I like Batmom's idea to do a lot of watch me's, I'll definitely try that. I don't want to use a squawker, since I'd like to keep that for emergencies only, like scullysmom said. I'm not even remotely considering walking him off leash, but I'm worried about emergencies like some idiot didn't close the gate or the leash carabiner breaks or some such nightmare. Vibration/citronella collar: that's an interesting idea. I'll look into it. And no worries, I'd NEVER use a shock collar. Unfortunately Tracker has ZERO interest in squeaky toys. I watch youtube videos of dogs that do anything (incl. walking tightropes, I'm not kidding) for a 10 second frisbee toss reward, and I just marvel. But then, I wouldn't want one of those dogs anyway... And he's definitely better in a group situation. But I don't have the option here. He's only with other dogs when with the dogwalker.

I've had Tracker for over 4 years now, and worked with him on recall for the first two years quite a lot. Where I would get stuck, and still do, is his extreme propensity for crossing threshold mentally, where he simply cannot hear me. Pretty much anything can get him aroused, even something as simple as going on a particular walk we've been on a gazillion times (we do that once or twice a week), but that a huge amount of other dogs go on as well. Generally they're not present, because of the time that we go, but of course he smells them. But even after 30 minutes he's mentally so revved up he won't touch his beloved tasty lamb lung treats. At home we walk along our rural road, and there it's much better; granted he's on leash then, but he'll reliably whip around when I call his name and come to me (he's on a long leash). I've never figured out to get his threshold higher. Higher value treats--nothing doing. He can't even hear me. I've tried to find situations that are somewhere between at home and on the aforementioned walk so I could gradually work towards a higher threshold, but these situations are hard to find, because almost anything will arouse him FAST. Training him off leash in our big enclosed pasture sans animals never worked , either, because once he knows I got treats in my pockets he won't leave my side, or, if I have him lie down, he knows what's asked of him after one repetition and goes on autopilot. I don't know how I could build on this in higher distraction situations because I don't want to let him off leash where it isn't safe, so how can I practice this? And I'm sure he knows whether he's on leash or not.

It took Tracker 5 weeks to sometimes respond to the clicker noise in a way that showed he was expecting a treat. I never could get him to be consistent, even though I worked with him every day of those 5 weeks for one or two quick 15-20 treat sessions each. And I'm just talking about making the connection between the noise and the treat! I did try that 101 things to do with a shoe box (even though I knew he didn't know what the clicker meant), and all he ever offered me was pushing the box around with his nose, and when he had done that 5 times in a row (and got a high value treat each time) he got bored and fell asleep. He probably thought this whole thing was utterly stupid and undignified, treats or not. And he's a very food motivated dog! So I don't have any real advice, other than IF Pixel at least shows an understanding of click means treat you should be able to get somewhere eventually. I've read a million times that once the light bulb goes off and the dog gets that his behavior can open the cookie jar, there's no stopping them.

Sorry, need to rewrite.

Lo and behold, the little red spot allowed the fluid to drain and now the blister is a blister no more and all flat. The opening that let out the fluid is slowly drying. Miraculously, Tracker isn't licking it. Seems like it was just a bruise after all.

It's very strange--I just went to grab the camera to take a picture and noticed for the first time a little bloody red spot smack in the center of the little swollen area. The swollen area itself is ca 0.5". There was a bit of blood. I cleaned it and squeezed it a bit, and Tracker didn't pull back. Could this be a foxtail? He just had one between two other toes (first time he ever had one), and that one irritated him all the time with his licking it, and a red dot where it had gone in visible. But with the blister/swollen area--there was no dot the first 6-7 days. Could this still be a foxtail or do they always show their entry point? I'm going to take him to the vet tomorrow if I can get an appointment.

About a week.

HTC504: Yeah, I saw your thread. Mysterious. I just googled this, for what it's worth: The Good NewsThe first reason that a dog may have a lump on its paw is a wart. In most cases, the wart will appear as a small mushroom shape or look like a small finger. When the veterinarian discovers lumps on dogs caused by warts, unless the dog has problems walking because of the wart, it is normally left alone. If the wart needs to be removed, it is normally removed by freezing it. While it is always good to have the lump checked, the good news for owners is that treatment is usually very inexpensive. The second reason that a dog may have a lump on its paw is a hematoma. These are very similar to blood blisters on a human. They are usually caused by an injury to the pad. Left alone they will usually go away on their own. The veterinarian may choose to drain the hematoma of the fluid that has built up inside of it. The good news is that the dog will usually heal very quickly from a hematoma. The dog may also have an abscess on his or her paw. When this is the culprit, the owner will often see a swelling in the paw almost immediately. If this is the culprit, your veterinarian will often prescribe a 10 to 14 day course of antibiotics for the dog. The good news is that after treatment the dog will usually not have any more problems with its paws. The Bad NewsThe lumps on the dog's paws can also be sebaceous cysts. These cysts are usually able to be removed with surgery. The cysts are caused by the dog's oil glands and are usually filled with white liquid. The bad news for owners is that the sebaceous cyst costs over $500 to remove, and the dog may not have enough healthy skin to structure the removal site properly. The lump on a dog's paw may also be a lipoma. While these are benign, the growth will still need to be removed. As with cysts, this can be an expensive surgery but must be done so that the lipoma does not continue to grow. Unfortunately, the lump on your dog's paw can also be a mast cell tumor. These tumors can be cancerous. The mast cell tumor is usually removed surgically and sent off for further tests. If cancer is found, then the veterinarian will discuss treatment options with you. His limp as such seems to be unconnected to the blister, because the blister came a week or so later. I'll keep following your thread and see what evolves. I'll take him in to the vet if this thing doesn't disappear soon. Preston the puggle's blister (he was diagnosed with histiocytoma) looks somewhat different. Tracker's is covered with hair. I just snooped around the internet and histiocytomas, like what Preston has, are described as hairless. Other photos online also look very different from his. I'll post a picture of Tracker's blister when my husband comes back on Thursday. I'm technologically challenged.

This is probably off, but maybe he has a parasite? My grey was just diagnosed with coccidiosis, and wouldn't touch food either, and as soon as he got the pills to eliminate the parasites, he started chowing again. But he also had diarrhea, which you don't mention with your dog. Still, if the vet didn't do a stool test, that might be worth a try.

A few weeks ago, Tracker started limping all of a sudden on his hind left. I had x-rays taken; no osteo, no arthritis. Someone here suggested corns. I checked, and there seems to be a little something. I put the Therapaw bootie on that foot which he normally wears on his front right where he has a corn. This seemed to help a little. Appr. 5-6 days after I started using the bootie, I noticed a swelling on the side of one of the toes of that foot. The skin is unbroken/no signs of chafing; it looks like a blister that's filled with liquid/hematoma. I stopped using the bootie, since I thought it might have triggered it by being too tight. But the blister is still there, pretty much unchanged. It does not seem to bother Tracker at at all. He doesn't lick it or fuss with it in any way. Any idea what this might be? Should I just let it run its course? How long should I give it?

I'll check for difference on asphalt vs grass. I just applied duct tape to what I think might well be a corn there. Question: I have a Therapaw for his front foot, but when I try this on his back leg, it sits on the foot so much more awkwardly than on the front (the way it has a hard time bending), that he hardly wants to put his foot down. Are there special rear leg booties that someone makes?

Minimally. We're in the SF Bay Area. It's mostly the American Black Legged Tick, but that's not supposed to carry LD (can anyone be sure?), and a little bit of Deer Tick, which does. I read it's very difficult to test for LD for some reason. One thing I don't get: while at the vet, she gave him Buprenex or some similar sounding drug, a mild opiate. This doesn't seem to help his pain, or not much. Is that indicative of something? And it still hasn't worn off, after 7 hours--he's still high, just isn't himself, whines occasionally which he never does otherwise and won't eat. Is this normal?

I don't know why I didn't think of it, since he has a corn on his front foot, so I'm really glad you pointed that out. I just checked. I wiped the pads off with a wet cloth, and on one pad there is a slightly darker, small area. When I pushed that gently, he lifted his head and stared at me, so maybe that is it? I have Therapaw booties for the front foot, so I'll put one on him for his evening walk and see how he does. I also have the cushioned indoor Therapaw slippers that I'll put on him right now. If that were it, it would solve the mystery, but of course it would be an ongoing, potentially awful battle...

Tracker started limping during his morning walk yesterday. It was a gentle at first, but throughout the course of the day it got worse. Whenever he'd get up, he'd hop the first two steps and as he kept walking, the gait became a bit smoother, but it's obvious he's in pain. He saw the vet today, and she took X-rays; fortunately they're all clear. She can't feel any swelling anywhere. He didn't yelp or make a peep during her moving his leg around. So now he's on Metacam and Tramadol. She feels it might be a sprain that hopefully clear up on its own. Do Greyhounds tend more towards sprains than other breeds? Tracker has had a false alarm on one of the front legs 2 years back with dramatic limping, and within 24 hours it was completely gone. Does anyone have suggestions for what this might be? I saw the thread about the possible connection between hypothyroidism and limping; Tracker was on the low side of normal when checked over a year ago. If this doesn't clear up, I'm thinking go getting his levels checked again. He's totally asymptomatic otherwise.

The vet just looked at him for something else and figured that since Tracker is missing one load bearing toe (had it amputated 4 years ago), the one with the enlarged area thickened because it has had to take on the extra weight for those years. And that it might become arthritic sooner than other joints. Nothing to do about it right now, she said.

Well, mystery solved. Vet just pulled out a major foxtail that had burrowed all the way in between his toes. Now the healing can finally begin!! I'm so glad I took him to see her--today he wouldn't even go for his walks because after a few steps he'd try to lick his toes like crazy and just couldn't stop. This would have gotten worse and worse, I'm sure. This was the first foxtail I've ever had to deal with; now I know what's up if this ever happened again.

Just now I discovered a swelling/enlargement on one of Tracker's joints. He came to us with an amputated second toe on the front right foot (second from the inside). The joint that I'm talking about is the one to its left, i.e. the inner most toe; and the thickness is on the joint where P1 and P2 meet (it doesn't look "swollen"--it's not warm to the touch, nor does it radiate outwards). Now me being me, first thing I think of is cancer (Tracker is 7.5 years). But he also had a trip and slide a few days ago, and he yelped, so maybe he just hurt that toe some. If this doesn't clear up within a few days, of course I'll take him to the vet. He's not limping, and isn't trying to lick that joint. So for now, I'm just hoping many people will write that osteo never starts that way... arthritis, maybe?

So I'll make that part of the routine: rinse with warm water and then use Hexadene. I'll keep using the sock method (darned things slide down all the time, but I don't want to tighten the velcro too hard), apply Bitter Apple and keep my finders crossed. The muzzle... he hasn't worn one in 3 years, I shudder to think what he would do. But it could be done.

Tracker somehow slipped and scraped the insides of the two middle toes of his back foot. He's not limping and walks fine. But he tries to lick the wound often, which keeps it from drying and healing. Of course, since the toes are so close together, there's not much air getting to that space, and it's humid in there; the toes start sticking together while he rests and as soon as he gets up they pull apart again. I put a sock on him, velcroed it loosely behind his hock, and put bitter apple on it, and that works for long stretches at a time, but invariably the sock sometimes falls off, or he licks the sock do long everything gets moist under it. I put antibiotic cream in the space between the toes. Sometimes he gets real irritated with the spot and dies to get to it, like when we go for a walk without the sock. The wound is superficial and clean, no sign of infection. I don't know what to do. Should I just let him go at it as he feels he needs to, keep doing the sock thing (this has been going on for 3 days now), or just take him to the vet--but what would she do? Wrap the whole foot up somehow for a week or so?

Tracker never showed interest in running by himself, either, nor with other dogs. But then I figured out, entirely coincidentally, what WILL make him run: a short bully stick, or anything edible and toss-able. He'll take off after the item, pick it up, and start going bananas. Zooming for two to three loops, then dropping the treat because if he doesn't open his mouth enough he can't suck in enough air, so he zooms some more, until he wants to eat the treat and gosh darn it where is it?! He has really good memory of the general area where he's dropped it, so he sniffs around frantically until he finds it, and then lopes off to plop down and eat it. In the meantime, I keep walking away from him. By the time he's eaten the treat, there's some distance between us, and he comes barreling towards me because he knows there's more. Same thing repeats, and then again, until his thigh muscles tremble! A sight to behold.

We've had Tracker for over 4 years now. He's my first dog, so I have nothing to compare to. He's still developing new and cute affectionate behaviors. We have a morning routine: right before his walk, he goes into happiness mode, which means he'll go goofy, I pet and scratch him, and he'll start growling/groaning/purring loudly. Most recently (just a two weeks ago) he added something new to the repertoire: when I stroke his back during these happiness fits he'll shudder his hind half, from the middle of the spine back towards the tail--just what dogs do when they shake off water. He did this today with two strangers who petted him, and he did it several times. I hardly could believe my eyes. He's not overly demonstrative, but he must have loved those two, and then to watch these shudders from a slight distance just cracked me up. Does anyone else's dog do this? It's like the pleasure just overwhelms him.

Sounds good!

Since they're all protein (I think) is there a limit how many one should feed a day? Tracker adores them, and I mostly give him bully bites, the mini ones, up to 4 a day. But the 6" ones of course last much longer. He doesn't have soft stool issues because of them--I just want to make sure he doesn't get too much protein. Any guesses? I asked Bestbullysticks, and they said, oh up to 12", but I'm not sure they base this on anything.

Here's a response from my friend: I like the outside fire idea and also the incense that was suggested in the other post, I will try both. Thank you, great ideas. We don't have an alternate behavior in place yet, so that part would come later, first we will try to confirm Casper's smoke sensitivity. At this point I am not sure if fire-phobia is the only reason for his behavior. There might be still the connection with food. In some ways it seams to me that we prepare dinner in the evening, and start the wood stove, kind of round the same time. So instead of dealing with one trigger, it might as well be that he is in a state of brain arousal due to the cooking activity (he loves food!!!) and that in this context the smoke pushes him over the edge. So this would go towards a sensory overload, rather than an anxiety. To help figure this out, we will all cook/have dinner first, then sit down and read, and then, when everything is calm, start the fire. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for all input and help, I greatly appreciate it!

Casper came off a race track, so I can't imagine one could even find the original owner (if that's what you mean by "owner") or trainer, or even if, I doubt they could remember anything or would be willing to communicate.