Laurenbiz

I wondered that, too. When we took Bernie to the vet for the first time in October, he did a fecal test that came back normal. He gave us de-worming pills since he said the fecal sample may not always show the presence of parasites, if there are any. We didn't have any proof that he'd been de-wormed prior to this. When our vet saw Bernie's fecal sample in the plastic bag, he questioned if his poop was always that soft as it was in the sample we gave him. He seemed surprised, and immediately told us to get away from the chicken, chicken meal, chicken-by-product, etc., in his food. So, just from my experience with my vet's reaction to soft poop, I find it a little odd that your vet says your Greyhound is totally normal with runny poop.

What is Amelia eating right now? Bernie had, not runny, but 'soft serve' poops, for the first month or so that we had him. He was eating Nutrisource Chicken and Rice. Our vet suggested we get him away from any chicken, chicken meal, chicken by product, etc., in his food. When we changed him to Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain (all lamb-based protein,) the difference was like night and day! He has healthy, firm poops now. Another Greyhound owner told me at a Meet & Greet recently that if Greyhounds do not do well on chicken, that their digestive systems usually welcome lamb. I don't know how true this is, but it was true with Bernie! Our vet told us, also, that when switching foods, we should be able to see a difference within three days (even three days with gradual switching,) if the food is going to cooperate with the digestive system. Hope that helps

Hello- http://www.dog-treat-recipe-exchange.com/dog_birthday_cake_recipes.html I made these cupcakes for Bernie for his birthday! I changed up the recipe a little, though. I used yogurt as the icing, and I used shredded carrots and kibble as 'sprinkles' on top. He LOVED it, too. Each cupcake took about 20 seconds to gobble down

Everything Stripeyfan said is correct. Bernie just started a Greyhound-only obedience class. There are 7 Greys, and he is the one with the most SA problems, so the trainer is corresponding with us outside of class about Bernie, as well. One thing I've been doing just this week is a very easy, painless method she called the 'Do Nothing Exercise.' The goal is to condition him to understand that being calm and quiet is a good thing. So, whenever I catch Bernie NOT paying attention to me and just relaxing quietly on his own, I throw him a treat. When he follows me around the house (which is a pretty big indicator that a dog has SA,) I ignore him and don't give him any treats. Once he suddenly walks AWAY from me, and lays down on his own by himself, he gets a treat. I've already seen progress with Bernie in a few days of doing this. (Many, many, many times a day, of course!)

I apologize that I did not mention all the specifics in my first post. Bernie is 4 years old, and he raced in 61 races. To my knowledge, he has no previous injuries. I sure am hoping it's the cold weather. These responses make sense to me! To PrairieProf- I must have missed your post because I would have already been talking to you!

What's wrong with a cold butt?

Hi everyone- Our new guy Bernie displayed some odd behaviors this morning, and I'm not sure whether I should be concerned or just skeptical. We took a 10 minute walk this morning as usual. During his walk, he wanted to make some snow yellow. He raised his left back leg a little, marked, and then we continued the walk. After marking until we reached the end of the sidewalk, though (maybe 50 feet?) he limped a little. I figured that maybe he stepped on something in the snow that hurt his foot. For the last few minutes of the walk, he trotted around just fine - like normal. Back home, I let him out in the backyard. When he wanted to come back inside, I saw him standing at the doorway on three legs - holding up his left back leg off the ground. This was the same leg that he lifted to mark on the walk, right before he started the limping this morning. I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary on that leg or foot. He's my first Greyhound and first dog, so I'm not sure what to think. Any feedback is appreciated!

What negative info have you heard about TOTW? Bernie eats TOTW Sierra Mountain. His coat feels like cashmere, and he poops once in the morning and once at night. He has nice, firm poops. The Sierra Mountain is all lamb protein because various chicken foods and treats seem to give him runny poops. I just bought a new bag of it last week. I paid $40 for, I believe, 30 lbs. It may have been a 35 lb. bag.

While we are still working with our Bernie boy with separation anxiety, I can't offer you much about crate training. I have a dog who completely freezes when we get him to stand in front of it, as well! We are forced to use the crate with our situation right now because of his peeing in the house while he is alone. But, in your case... - I must echo the question another poster asked about the cat testing. Did your adoption group actually cat-test this Greyhound? If the dog wants to chase the cat when the cat gets moving quickly, I question whether this is truly a 'cat-friendly' Greyhound. Bernie is cat-friendly, and when our cat gets on her crazy kick and runs all around the house, Bernie just looks at her like, "Huh? What is that furry thing doing?" and then closes his eyes and returns to his nap as she continues to bounce off the walls. - I haven't seen that anyone else has offered you advice about the dog following you everywhere in the house. This is a huge indicator that the dog has separation anxiety. IF you are giving your Grey affection/attention because she likes to follow you around, I would discontinue this. If she gets any indicator from you when she follows you around, she may think that you are rewarding her for this behavior. When she follows you around, I suggest you totally ignore her. Good luck!

Make sure you're not projecting your emotions onto him. When he's standing in the hall looking around, he may just be thinking about what he wants to do - Hmmmm. Should I lay on *that* bed or go get a drink of water? By calling him to you, you help him decide. But I doubt he's really sad or indecisive at that point. Mine will often stand around, and if I leave them alone, they will go do what they want - lay on the bed, or get a drink, or step on somebody else's head, or some bug me for pets. As much as we anthropomorphize greyhounds on GT, they really don't feel emotions like sadness - they deal in the here and now, and sometimes the near future or the near past. Let me tell you that Bernie does this a lot! (And we've had him exactly 2 months and one day thus far - he came home on October 2nd.) He will stand in one room and stare at different things - or he'll stand somewhere else while I'm trying to tell him that it's dinner time and he has a whole bowl full of food! I guess that, because I was told by so many people that the full personality of a new Greyhound emerges in nearly a year, I'm not really concerned about his odd behaviors within his first two months. I don't see the post right now - but I think you mentioned that someone told you to expect to see his personality within a few weeks? Possibly because you went into his adoption with that in mind, you are more impatient But, keep in mind that Greyhounds are a more 'mopey' breed of dog. They don't always keep their heads up, and they can have sad expressions on their faces. ...Recently, Bernie has been interested in us rubbing his snout. We figured this out one day as he was laying down, but more recently, when he's walked up to us, we've been rubbing it then. He stands there, still, and lets us rub it. I think a lay person may say, "What's wrong with that dog?" because he's not wagging his tail, getting excited, etc. But, even with a typical sad look on his face - when I see his tail curled, and with the fact that he stands still to let me rub his nose, I realize that he is happy Hermes and Bernie are still both adjusting, and I think we are adjusting to them!

Strange...I've never thought of duck feet to be a chew toy! Where do you buy them? Do you cook them at all before feeding the houndies?

I think you are fretting too much about Hermes When Justin and I first met Bernie in September at the rescue group's kennel, we met an outgoing, confident, friendly guy. When he finally stepped foot in our house in October, that charm that attracted us to him in the first place seemed to disappear. The EXACT same thing happened to us during the first week, as well, in which you said that Hermes was very playful and excited on the first or second day, and then he suddenly stopped that behavior. When this happened with Bernie, I was convinced that - somehow - reality had set in for him that he was no longer living and playing with 30+ of his other Greyhound friends. I thought he was actually depressed! But, I kept reminding myself of something that every other adopter I've spoken with from the same rescue group has told me: "It takes approx. a year for a Greyhound's true personality to emerge." So, with Hermes not opening up the way you'd like him to within the first three months is something that I don't see as a red flag, considering that phrase that I've heard time and time and time again! Also, another phrase I've heard repeatedly is that Greyhounds are known as 'the cat of the dog world.' So, him not being terribly interested in squeaky toys - or you - is a behavior that, I think, is expected of Greyhounds! They aren't Goldens or Labs Bernie had a fairly rough first week with us, but I think the second week was a little easier. The third week was better. By the time he was a month into living with us, we had obviously seen some changes, even though they were small changes. Now, he's been with us two months - TODAY! - and we are still seeing changes. Hermes is just three months into his new life. Give him time

I have to ask... How long have you had him???

I noticed the night/day difference when we first switched over to TOTW Sierra Mountain, too! We've been eating it for a month or so now, and still doing great

Good for Jeff! I'm starting a Greyhound-only obedience class with Bernie this weekend. I'm very excited!

As you said, you found 'a little bit' of pee - so my first guess is that he is marking, since marking is typically a smaller amount of tinkle. Perhaps because that room is new to him because he hasn't had much access to it, he may have marked to claim that room as his. This is my opinion, but I've only been a Greyhound owner for the past two months!

Hello all- On our drive back home today from Thanksgiving at my grandma's house, I noticed some strange discoloration on the inside of Bernie's left thigh. I felt it, and he did not seem to have any reaction (he didn't act like I was bothering him or hurting him when I touched it,) and it does not have any different texture than the rest of his leg. So, it's not bumpy, rough, raised, etc. This developed just today because he did not have that on his leg this morning before we started our drive. We have not changed his food, treats, or water. Bernie is my first Greyhound, and I've had him for about two months - so I'm not quite sure what to think! Thank you in advance for any advice!

Giselle gave some great advice here! While you work on that training, though, you may want to take your Greyhound somewhere else fun while you run the dishwasher. Have you tried getting her in your car, running in and turning on the dishwasher, (so she's never even in there as it starts,) and then take her to a pet store or just go joy-riding? This may be an alternative to letting her outside since it's now getting cold. If my guy had this problem, I would try that. He loves car rides, though, but I'm not sure about your doggie. What a strange phobia. I rarely use the ceiling fan in my living room, but if I do, Bernie looks at it strangely, and then he leaves the room! But, he's not really frightened.

I didn't know that TOTW's Sierra Mountain formula was fairly new... Bernie is our first Greyhound, and we've had him since October. After going through a poop saga with foods disagreeing with him for weeks, our vet recommended to get rid of any and all chicken, chicken by products, chicken meal, etc., in his food. Also, our vet recommended that we feed him a food with only one protein. (Not several different protein sources.) After spending an hour reading labels in the dog food aisles at my local pet food store, I tried the Sierra Mountain. And, it's been a big hit with Bernie in the last week or so that we've tried it! He has nice poops. It's a great food, and I'm absolutely sticking with it.

To answer your question, I'm not too sure what 'holitic' means, other than that it is an extra buzz-word thrown onto packaging for marketing purposes. Last week, when I went to buy another bag of dog food at my local pet supply store, a man who was a rep for Earthborn Holistic brand of foods was there. He asked what type of dog I had, and after I told him a Greyhound and after I politely told him I was content with my current food, he wouldn't stop talking to me about how great his food is for Great Danes. ........

Get him de-wormed! Get him de-wormed! Get him de-wormed!!! I believe you saw a hookworm, if it looked like spaghetti. Some visiting outdoor cats who used to hang out around my house occasionally ate mice and little birds. ...And, they vomited them up later! Your Grey may just vomit, but other than that, the mice won't hurt him.

I feel like I am the dog food expert after the issues we had with my Bernie. We had him on Iams Weight Management originally because that's what his foster home fed him. (They had older dogs on this, so they gave him the same thing.) We gradually switched him to Nutrisource Chicken and Rice. And we had soft serve poops for a few weeks. We then gradually switched to Evo Red Meat formula after a recommendation from our vet to get away from any and all chicken, chicken by-product, chicken meal, etc., in a dog food. At this same time, we also tried Wellness Whitefish & Potato. Finally, we have settled on Taste of the Wild's 'Sierra Mountain' formula, which is all lamb protein. His poops look great, and he is doing great. A friend of mine told me once that Greyhounds do best (digestive-wise) with lamb. I don't know if that's true across the board, but it is true with my guy!

I have actually heard the argument before that dogs may have a hard time deciphering the difference between plush squeaky toys and cats. ...From my mom, who has never owned a dog in her life. Bernie loves his plush squeaky toys - his favorite is a ladybug. He doesn't love our cat, and he really could care less about her. They don't really pay attention to each other. If he ever does do anything to her, he usually walks up and sniffs her butt. That gets a big hiss! As originally posted: So the question then is whether one should let a grey have squeaky toys, if you have cats. I say yes, considering that you have a Greyhound that has specifically been cat-tested, and has been deemed 'cat-friendly.' If the Greyhound may not be cat-friendly, or may not be small-dog friendly, I would use caution.