a_daerr

I like this idea. Our dog park is divided into three sections- one of them is usually empty. I might try to walk him up to the fence in one of the empty areas (on-leash) and treat him for sniffing the dog through the fence. If he doesn't like it, he's free to back off.

We tried at Gettysburg. It was funny and sad. He was just looking around with his ears perked, then looking back at me, like, "Have you all gone mad?!" Eventually, he tried to kiss/biteyface rescue everyone he could get to.

I know, but look at the x-ray. ETA: Ohhh, okay. I was looking at that second toe. I see the break in the foot. Wow, that's totally snapped.

I'm a little surprised they're sending you to a surgeon for a broken toe. IME, not a whole lot can be done for broken toes. Just pad and immobilize, and give pain meds as needed.

My AKC boy, Truman, doesn't "get" rooing. If we try to incite a roo at home, he climbs on top of us and will try to lick our faces, smack us, etc. I get the feeling he's confused and thinks we're in pain. Henry, on the other hand, will roo up a storm once we get him going. I guess I'm just wondering if there are other greys out there who aren't roo-ers. Is it specifially a trait of track greyhounds? If so, why?

Giselle, is there anything you can recommend specifically for introductions? Truman's biggest trigger are the dogs (usually large dogs or ones that make eye contact), coming toward him. He doesn't want to be sniffed or approached. We're making great progress getting him comfortable with the leash and replacing the reactive behaviors with "watch me" at close distances. He's doing well with that, but he still does not like to interact. I eventually like him to be able to calmly and appropriately greet other dogs without feeling anxious.

Just seeing this now... Pam, I am so sorry.

I don't even know if it's worth it to correct him, especially in these very early stages of ownership. Once he gets used to commotion regularly going on outside, he'll probably just get used to it and stop jumping on his own.

I can only speak from the human standpoint, but I have OCD and anxiety with a lot of things. Meds have helped me become as close to "normal" as possible. A person (or in this case, a dog) does not understand they are thinking irrationally. They can only understand what they are feeling and how it affects them in that particular moment. So until you can find some relief from those feelings of anxiety and panic, it's hard to get past that into an area where learning can occur. Yes, I think alone training is great, but why should the dog have to suffer in the meantime? If a dog had a physical problem, we would try any medication that would help them, right? I don't know why the same isn't true for psychological meds. Just my $0.02. If it helps your guy, at least in the short-term, I think meds are worth a shot.

Truman steals enjoys a good iced latte every now and again.

Ahhh, okay. I can only speak from experience with my two boys, but one gets up on his hind legs ALL THE TIME at our fence (also 4 foot). He's never come close to jumping over it. I've heard of galgos jumping fences, and everyone once in awhile, a reaaally determined grey. But even then, they'd need a running start. I doubt they could get the upper body strength to pull themselves over while standing. In your case, I wouldn't worry about it.

Are you worried about the fence getting scratched, or about him escaping? I'm not real sure what the problem is?

A few new updates on Truman. Now that we are leash-walking everyday, I think that has taken some of the fear/anxiety out of being on leash. I will admit, the first two times were a disaster. Pulling, zig-zagging, frustration and reactivity to other dogs, prey-drive with squirrels and bunnies... But we pressed on, and I continued turning in the opposite direction for 10 paces when he started pulling. When he hit the end of the leash and trotted back to catch up with me, I rewarded him for being in the heel position. Now, I'm to the point where if he's pulling, I can just freeze for a few seconds, and he will put himself back into heel. We also did a lot of "look at that" training with people, bicycles, other dogs (from a distance), and anything else that he deemed scary. I started jackpotting him with treats when we encountered other dogs. Sometimes, he would just get too anxious and would not take treats. During those times, I amped up pets and verbal praise, which he really seems to respond to. The other day on our walk, we encountered a Rottweiler running around and barking on the other side of a chain link fence. Truman got amped up, jumping and barking, but he was quickly able to be distracted. We continued past with "hurry, hurry, hurry!" and he recovered much more easily. There were even more big breakthroughs for Truman last night. It was raining, so I decided to take them to PetSmart. I thought it was going to be over before it started, because as soon as we walked in, a dog at the registers started freaking out and barking at us. To my surprise, Truman walked perfectly on leash without pulling, and didn't even acknowledge the other dog. He just looked at me for direction. Also, I took him past the room with the adoptable cats. There were about 6 kittens running and jumping around in there. He was fascinated by them, but still maintained enough focus to "look" away when I asked him to. We did a few other challenges, like getting him up on the scale (which is closed in on three sides) using targeting. Truman got off the scale, then I praised him, and he was so happy, he got back on a second time! Almost like, "Look! If you like that, I can do it again!" We walked down the treat aisle and practiced A LOT of "leave its." He even had one nice introduction with a small dog and several nice introductions with people, so overall, I was absolutely thrilled. The true test will be how he does in class this week, since he's already had a few negative experiences there. My Patricia McConnell book yesterday as well, so I'm going to start reading that ASAP.

Adams makes a pet-safe yard lawn treatment for fleas. I use that a couple times every summer in the yard. I also started using K9 Advantix on my guys (kills AND repels), and that's been better than Frontline Plus.

Well this requires photographic documentation.

Hahahahaha! Yes! Dog Food Advisor and similar websites, IMHO, are a bunch of B.S. They favor the small, boutique-y companies that mark their kibble up to $70-$80 a bag because they throw in a handful of blueberries. I wanted to have success with a premium food. I really did. But I could not justify giving my dogs food that caused constant diarrhea and intestinal distress. We tried five different premium foods with tons of side effects, the least being diarrhea and the worst being a food allergy. As soon as I transitioned them to IAMS, we had formed poops, no gas, shiny coats, and good teeth. To me, those are the ultimate indicators of a food that's working. And if that's corn, or a 'filler,' or in organic, or not wholistic, then so be it. Companies like IAMS and Hills and Purina are all reputable and have been around forever. I find it hard to believe my dogs are going to get cancer and die just because they eat a commercial brand kibble. Once the 'grain free, limited ingredient, wholistic' trend passes, my dogs will still be eating IAMS.

I'm not sure what you mean by this? Maybe I'm interpreting it incorrectly, but I definitely don't do training with my dogs so I can have fun socializing with other people at their classes. In fact, I don't particularly enjoy waking up early on Saturday mornings to go. But I do it for the benefit of my dogs, because it makes them happier, more well-adjustable, and more confident, knowing exactly what I expect from them. It also enriches their lives so they can go places and not be, as Krissy mentioned, 'house ornaments.' Right now, I'm going through an issue with Truman. A few bad experiences caused him to start becoming leash reactive. I guess I could just write it off and say, that's just how he is, and we'll stop taking him anywhere. But I just refuse to do that. He enjoys going places, so we will continue working as hard and as often as we need to. That's 100% for his benefit, not mine.

Yes, he barks at them sometimes. He wants to play with them but doesn't understand they're cats. For you, I'd say muzzle back on and cat training. Chad (greyt_dog_lover) has a good cat training program on here if you look through his content. He would be a good resource to PM.

Debbie, don't get too discouraged. Truman is 100% cat safe (cuddles and cleans the cat), but he also tries to chase them. Jen's boy Django does the same thing. When they get close, they just stop. It's like a game to them. I would put the leash on Gracie and do some 'watch me' exercises. If you see her chase again, get a spray bottle and squirt her. That little bit of negative reinforcement will probably do the trick since she's so sensitive.

They aren't really mutually exclusive. You can have a grey that's fine with cats, but not small dogs (and vice versa). A housemate is a different story too. They may accept an animal as off-limits because they're a part of their household. But outside animals of similar size and appearance are fair game. Just depends on that individual dog. To answer your question, though... No, I don't think I could learn to fully trust a high prey dog with my cats, no matter how safe he seemed most of the time. It only takes one instance of aggression, and it's all over for the cat. I'd feel like I could never let my guard down. I'm a worrier, so maybe that's just me.

It's totally based on your particular dog. I can give you a comparison of Henry. Here was his adoption photo in 2010. Here he was last fall. He's filled in and his hips are no longer pronounced, but you can still see a good bit of ribs and spine. He's around 74.

How many sessions have you done so far? It took my dogs at least 2-3 to just get used to the room and the other dogs. We're on our sixth class with Truman (same venue) and after two classes, he's still getting used to this batch of dogs. My dogs shut down and stop taking treats when they're stressed, which may also be the case with your girl. Try to replace that with verbal praise, pets, or something else that she responds to. If you stick it out, I'm sure you'll see an improvement at the end. Also, I use hot dogs as training rewards, and I assure you, my dogs are in no imminent danger. This doesn't really have anything to do with the OP's original question, but I get upset when people write greyhounds off as 'untrainable.' My guys have done everything in all of their classes and passed their CGC/TDI tests with no modifications. Sometimes you have to be creative, but they really are no different from any other dog.

Welcome from some more fellow Pittsburghers!

That's a good idea, or Debbie, you can try positive reinforcement training with the leash. I'm working on that now with Truman, who is leash reactive. I clip the leash to his collar, give a treat. Unclip, then clip again, give a treat. I do this five times or so a couple times a day without going anywhere. I also will put the leash on my lap and let him take treats from on top of it. Sometimes I just clip him and let him drag the leash around the house. Try to counter condition the thought that leash = going out into the big, bad, scary world.

Good things. Just continue to be vigilant about muzzling while you're doing your training. The dog I had that killed a cat was fine until I let my guard down and took the muzzle off.