sarabz

wow hope that isn't what happened to my DH's watch Huh (no, not seriously - he's just misplaced it yet again and now has a four-legged to blame. Much like any gas )

My mom is utterly fascinated by this whole rigmarole. She keeps saying things like, "When I was a kid and we had dogs, you put them out in the morning and let them in at night and they just kind of...trained themselves. I had no idea it was so complicated these days!" And then I remind her that when I was a kid, she did the same to me in the summer and I turned out fine, but if she tried that nowadays someone would call child services on her! : : :

You know, reading this thread again this evening, I've come to just one solid conclusion. You can drive yourself nuts trying to find the perfect food! The food that works best for you and your hound(s) is the best one. I've got to stop looking at the comments, reviews, websites, and calculations otherwise Bella will be on a different food every month!

Hmmmm.... either your math or mine is wrong - I came up with a mid-90's score for that food. Makes me wonder if my 110 score for Earthborn Holistic is really accurate (Excuse any typos - I can't see what I'm typing with this outdated browser that I can't update because it's at work) OK, just saw your updated post with the revised score - disregard what I'm saying OK, going home and not responding on GT for the rest of the day if this is how it's going to go

Yay!! : Badger, SO proud of you! Fluffy, you did so well!! A greyt story of how patience and positive reinforcement can get the job done!! for Fluffy for Badger

Bella is incredibly bonded to both DH and me. She comes 100% of the time in a small dog park. We haven’t had the opportunity to go to a larger dog park. Have absolutely no intention of letting her off-leash in an unfenced area – just not worth it. We’re headed to the beach next weekend and have a long line so that she can get a bit of a run and we can see how she does with a recall in a strange area, but she’s still not getting off leash intentionally. She is learning “wait”, reliably knows “sit”, “leave it” and “off” (as in, “off the bed”, “off the sofa”). It’s important to me to have a well-mannered dog.

I guess I should specify that we've only had Bella 6 weeks, so she's constantly developing new behaviors. I'm not super-concerned because she's not showing any other signs of a UTI and has gotten progressively more frequent with urinating, but will keep an eye on her and probably take a sample in to be tested this week. Thanks!

Curious about symptoms of a UTI vs marking. Bella used to have one big pee and then one smaller on our walks, and in the past few weeks the first pee has gotten much shorter, but then she'll stop several times (anywhere from 2-3 on a 10-minute walk to a dozen if we're out for close to an hour) and pee in small amounts. I'm pretty confident that she's marking, as it's always after sniffing and she definitely has some spots that she will ALWAYS pee in, no matter how much she's already gone. We do live in NYC, so there's lots of other pee-mail to check up on and reply to However, I don't want to get complacent - what are symptoms of a UTI that I should look out for? She's not straining, no visible blood in urine, no visible discomfort of any sort. Thanks!

Sounds pretty normal to me! We get a few bursts of energy in the morning and in the evening, but that's about it

Thank you everyone for your thoughts! Swifthounds, no apologies for the “book” – it’s all greyt information. I was away for a few days and came back and really saw Bella with fresh eyes. Suspected that she was too heavy, so really appreciate everyone’s honest feedback. It’s sometimes hard to see when you see them every day. She’s really lethargic with the current heat wave, but will try for more exercise and cutting back her food and especially her treats a little. Luckily she thinks one Charlee Bear or a piece of kibble is a treat instead of always giving her larger biscuits. Recently introduced her to cheerios and banana, so a couple of cheerios or a nibble of banana seems to do it, too. We also switched her to a different food, so still working out the quantities, as well as adjusting for her daily Kong. We’ll get there! I’ll post pics again in a few weeks and hopefully will get thumbs up from everyone!

Hmmm..... it looks like Bella's racing weight was about 57 pounds. When we took her to the vet for her checkup, she was 66 pounds, but with all ribs and hipbones prominent. I haven't taken her back, but would guess she weighs at least 70 now. Took a couple of photos last night - would love your honest opinion. By the way - look at how shiny her coat has gotten! (Proud mom moment over)

I ran into one of our maintenance men this evening and he told me that he had tried to come in and fix our AC today.... and Bella growled at him! I'm sure it was fear-based, because she's not really big on strangers, but I was really surprised to hear that. When he came in later when I was here, she was perfectly fine and even approached him. It's not really an issue - when we have anything that we need to have done, we can crate her or arrange to be around. I'm just concerned if there's some kind of emergency (e.g. burst pipe) and the crew HAS to come into the bedroom - then what? Any suggestions? UPDATE - he came back again, and I think this is the first time that Bella heard the door bell, as most people knock. She let out a growly woofy growl - sort of a grumble, woof, growl - one of the funniest noises I think I've ever heard.

I think it’s going to take me a while to really get a good “eyeball” on what Bella should look like at the right weight. Could someone post pictures of a slightly underweight hound, one the right weight, one slightly overweight and obese? I know I’m supposed to be able to see the suggestion of her last two ribs, some of her spine, and hipbones shouldn’t have disappeared but it would be great to have a visual reminder. I’ll also post a pic later of how Bella looks now – I suspect she’s now slightly over, after having been away for the weekend and getting a fresh look at her. Thanks!

The time you gave her sounds like the best of her life. You did wonderful things for her.

We got tired of the 2 am whining after a couple of days and a couple of squirts with a water gun changed that. No sounds from us, no reaction, just a squirt. Can't wait to see what others recommend, but this worked for us. Maybe give a Kong before you finish your morning routine, so that he's distracted?

Bella is allowed on anything, but needs to move when we ask her. We're still working on waiting to be invited up, but honestly, it's not a big deal. She always gets off when we ask her to, and I figure, it's her house, too. Besides, there's dog hair all over everything whether she sits on it or not, so might as well let her enjoy!

This is great. For a minute I swore you had gotten pictures of Bella - she's got about the same amount of baldness. She's been started on melatonin, too, so we'll see. (1) 3mg pill per day. I give it in the morning - the first time I gave it to her at night we couldn't get her to wake up and go potty and then had an anxious houndie at 4:45 the next morning!

Oh, she's DEFINITELY thinking "Entertain me, Woman!". Didn't you know, that's what our greys think we humans are here to do? Bella doesn't get near that much exercise - it really depends on the day. Most days she probably gets a total of an hour to 90 minutes walk, maybe a little zoomie time in the hallway, and on weekends we'll often take her around to whatever we're doing so she's active most of the day. Right now she's zonked out on her bed. We do make sure she gets Kongs during the day and has something to chew on to keep her entertained. For her, she needs something to do or attention more than physical activity, so when she's board she'll collect our slippers and whatever else she can pick up and gather into her crate. She'll walk around seeing what she can pick up - anything from the tv remote to the dustbuster

Bella learned to sit pretty quickly, but will only sit on a soft surface She'll now sit if she wants a treat

Gorgeous! I've got a black girl, too, so of course I think she's pretty

So sorry to hear about Badger! No insight or help, just an ear

After about a week with Bella, we started having the same issue. I was advised by several people that she may just be testing us, unless it's a medical issue. We had a vet appointment anyway, so she was thoroughyly checked out and nothing was wrong. She went back into her crate at night with the door closed, and the first time she whined at an ungodly hour, the squirt gun was employed. Only had to use it two nights in a row and she got the message just fine. Now we keep her crate door open at night (with the bedroom door closed) and she doesn't make a peep until she's aware that one of us is awake. So - rule out medical issues first, then know it may be a test or asking for attention on her terms. Good luck! PS - excuse any spelling errors - I can't see the whole message I'm typing so hard to go back & correct

Just one side note on a crate, if you do end up purchasing – I bought ours through PetEdge. We got a Midwest that folds flat for storage & carrying, and it was under $100 including shipping. Came very, very quickly, too. Have also seen them on eBay for under $80 including free shipping, for new ones. Good luck!

I am so sorry

Thanks all - I knew everyone here would have some answers!