krissy

I am now on my second greyhound puppy. Puppies are a TONNE of work, no matter what breed. Greyhounds as a breed tend to be very laid back and low energy, but that doesn't apply until they mature... and depending on the individual that could be as early as a year I suppose (not my experience) or it could be several years. I'd say Kili learned how to actually just turn off on her own at around 2.5 years old (she just turned 4). Prior to that I train them to be crate and ex-pen trained so that I can enforce down time. My current puppy, Kenna, would never stop if she was given the choice. Since that is NOT an option, if I need her to chill out I put her in her crate and give her a kong to work on and she will happily do so and then take a nap for an hour or two. Then when I'm done whatever it is I needed to do, and I'm able to supervise her, I bring her back out and we work or play. A brand new puppy is going to fuss and cry in the crate. You did not say how long you have had the puppy. The first couple of nights/days are the worst, especially if the puppy wasn't crate trained by the breeder (though, most good breeders do introduce them to crate training). Every puppy is an individual though. Both of my girls cried all night the first night home. Inconsolable, piercing crying. I crated them beside my bed and would put my fingers through the crate for them to smell and I would sing to them in my exhausted half sleep, but I did not take them out of the crate (except to potty once in the middle of the night). I try to reassure without coddling. Their place at night is in the crate, and so that is where they must stay, but I know it is scary and try to comfort them with my presence. Kenna stopped crying quite early on. Kili used to cry in her crate until she was a few weeks with us. I'm sure I have a video of her howling in her crate when she was 12 weeks old. But now she happily crates whenever needed and doesn't fuss. An Adaptil collar can help with the transition phase. It is a pheromone that helps reduce anxiety and stress so it's great for new puppies. You can pick one up at your veterinarian's office. I'd also strongly recommend enrolling in a puppy class right away. Puppy class is an invaluable resource for new puppies and their owners. Make sure you pick a trainer who uses positive reinforcement, and a class where the pups get to play with each other for part of the class. I love starting with puppies, and the cute factor totally makes up for how much work they are those first few weeks. Put in the work now and you will quickly have a great companion.

All my dogs end up on J/D and so far so good. I guess I'm lucky.

Yes, but remember that consistency is one of the most essential parts of training. If you start inviting her up it may become difficult to uninvite her. lol For example, our dogs are allowed on the furniture. DBF just cleaned the couches (they're a suede type leather) because his parents were coming for a week to stay. Well, once they were clean he didn't want the dogs on the couches until after his parents left, to prevent them from getting them all dirty again. Let me tell you how well that worked... not at all unless we blocked access to the entire living room. Then he got all upset about it, but as I pointed out to him... dogs have a hard time with exceptions. They don't necessarily understand "it's okay this time, but not next time". It's do-able to some extent, but personally I prefer to put my training efforts elsewhere and I don't really care about dogs on furniture and in beds.

No, it never is. That's why all we can do is cherish every moment we have when we have it, and make lots of memories we can hold close when it is over. Sorry you are missing your girl so much. I'm sure she's having a ball wherever she is.

So sorry for your loss. So very true.

We charge for bandage changes. The bandage materials cost money, and it takes time and expertise to apply a bandage properly. You have no idea how difficult it is to bandage a dog's ear to its head. You are paying for not only my ability to place a proper bandage but to also make decisions regarding the type of bandage. Does your dog need a Robert-Jones, a splint, or a cast (or surgery)? Does he need a light pressure bandage to cover a wound, or does he need a honey/sugar bandage? Depending on the type of bandage and size of the dog it could be $50 (large dog with a splint takes a lot more time and materials than a chihuahua that just needs a wound covered for the day). If a bandage slips off I will of course replace it at no additional charge. But overall I am not ashamed of charging for what I do. I'm good at my job, I spent a long time at school learning how to do it, and I have my own bills... I deserve to be paid. Shrug.

Her back and SI joints.

Kept forgetting to post the photos. Here they are.

Not sure. I get mine from Kili's rehab technician, and she orders it directly from the distributor. Also, apparently colour matters. I was told to always use "cool" colours (blue, green, purple) instead of "warm" colours (pink, red, yellow). Supposedly that impacts the anti-inflammatory effect. I'm not sure if it's about reflection of light/heat, but my rehab tech is not the type to disseminate non-scientific info, so although I'm not sure how exactly the colour makes a difference, I believe her and I save the hot pink for myself. Kili gets blue.

My patients are recommended to eat their regular diet if they had a routine cleaning (no extractions). If they had only one or two minor extractions, especially of non-chewing teeth (incisors) they are put on a soft diet for a few days. If they had major extractions (molars or canines) they are put on at least 7 days of a soft diet. A soft diet means either canned food or soaked kibble (soaked for 20 minutes in warm water or until mushy all the way through).

It depends on how long you leave it on. If you leave it on until it starts to peel itself then it mostly just takes off loose fur. If you remove it earlier it tends to take a bit more hair with it, but it's not like it leaves a bare strip... it doesn't take off THAT much fur. In most scenarios you could leave it on until it starts coming off itself. In my case, Kili couldn't wear it during shows so I would apply it overnight and remove it the next afternoon. I did that a few days in a row and it was never noticeable that she was missing any fur.

I use KT tape on Kili from time to time. Over stickiness is not an issue, in fact the opposite. The actual brand KT tape does not stick to fur pretty much at all. The one I was given by Kili's rehab tech was a lot better and stayed on. It's sticking to fur and not skin though, so aside from taking some fur off with it there's no issue with sticking to the skin (unless I suppose if you used it in an area with little hair like the belly). I have photos somewhere on my home computer I think.

Doesn't sound like a good match to me. It may very well be workable, but you have to decide honestly if you're able and willing to put in the time, energy, and resources (and there is nothing wrong if the answer is no!). If you were upfront and honest with the adoption group about what you were looking for in a greyhound, I don't think there is anything wrong with saying that this dog just isn't what you wanted/needed for your household. It sounds like you have put some effort into working with this dog and he may be a bit more than you are able to work with at this point. It's okay to look for a better fit. There is likely a better fit out there for him too!

I'm sure you're about to get a slew of replies to the negative. My only input is that I think if I put an e-collar on any of my drama queens there would be screaming and flailing and someone would probably hurt themselves. And other dogs I think would run through the shock after prey. I know plenty of people who do use e-collars on occasion, and although I don't necessarily agree I also don't necessarily disagree because they're being used conscientiously, but their dogs are a lot more bull headed than my greyhounds are. One person used it on her young lab to keep him from jumping up on people we ran into on the trails (dogs are off leash, running into people is completely random and variable so hard to enforce through more typical means). Worked great and the dog listened to the collar but did not seem upset at all by it. Another friend uses one on her field pointer who tends to chase after birds. Again, works great and the dog isn't concerned by the collar, he actually comes to have it put on because he knows it means he's going running. Very happy-go-lucky, bomb proof dog though. For the record, I'm one of those terrible owners that off leashes all the time. I think if the dogs are well trained, used to being off leash, and off leashed in sensible locations (i.e. those with limited prey and far from traffic) there's a fairly minimal risk of them running off or getting lost. As such I have not yet seen a reason to even entertain the idea of an e-collar. This does not mean I condone other people off leashing their greyhounds - most people don't put in the time to recall training that is required. And I know lots of people on this board probably think I'm an idiot, but my dogs are agility, disc, and SuperDogs... the ability to be off leash in unsecured locations is just a reality for them.

Sighthound experience is great, but not strictly necessary. Most of the trainers I have ever worked with did not have greyhound experience. Look for trainers who are flexible, patient, and creative with positive reinforcement methods. Also, trainers who are willing to listen to your concerns/difficulties and adapt.

That last photo.... I'm sorry for your losses.

Not to derail... but it is amazing how many people we run into just on the street that say something like "Ohhhh... poor things! Good for you for rescuing them. You can tell how they treat them so poorly by how scared they look about everything". I then let people know that only 1 is adopted and that's just how his face is. He has a vanity tag on one of his collars that says "This IS my happy face". So fitting!

Staring directly at a dog is an aggressive act. You can read up a lot on "space aggression" on this forum. Generally new dogs shouldn't be allowed on furniture until they have settled in and established a relationship with you. Even then, some dogs don't always like sharing their space. We have one that grumbles if you move or touch her while on the furniture with us. We simply ask her to get off if she's going to be grumpy, or we don't allow her up at all. Your dog probably got bumped or moved while on the couch and didn't like it. She let your husband know "hey, I didn't like that" by looking at him, and in response he was somewhat aggressive by staring back, so she escalated. Direct eye contact is one thing I teach all new dogs to offer and enjoy so we don't have misunderstandings, but I also don't stare them down. All of our eye contact is constructive and friendly. Someone got upset with her, so she turned on her appeasement behaviours. These are "you're upset and I don't know why, please don't be upset" behaviours. There is no guilt. I'm sure NeylasMom will pop by shortly with some good references, but dominance is way overrated in dogs. Dogs are rarely trying to dominate people. You'll have a much better relationship with and understanding of your dog if you let this one go.

Kili is Kenna's half aunt and they get on like gangbusters, but they just both really like to play. They don't know they're related. Kili also met her litter mate sister last year. They weren't allowed off leash to interact because of where we were (at a dog show), but there was no recognition from either of them really. They share a lot of traits in common, but that's just genetics. I think to recognize one another they'd have to have spent a lot if time together. Siblings that grew up on the farm together for 18 months for example. I know an agility competitor who owns a mother/daughter pair. The mother still treats her puppy like a puppy, but doesn't recognize any of her other puppies that were sent to other homes.

It depends on the individual dog I guess, but most dogs enjoy walks/hikes. This was last August in Jasper. Kili had just turned 3 and Summit was 10.5. We did leisurely 3/4 day hikes - about 10 km at a regular walking pace with lots of rest breaks. We did that 2 days in a row. He's now 11 and just suffered a herniated disc in May, so he won't be going on any more long hikes. But he really loved them up until last year. I'd say around 9 we had to start keeping an eye on him, making sure we didn't push him too hard and making sure we took enough breaks, but that's how my BF likes to hike anyway. lol And then this was in September of last year. Kili and I climbed The Stawamus Chief in BC with a friend. It's the largest Monolith in North America. It took us about 3.5 hours to make the 1.8 km round trip. This is some of the "easier" terrain (I was too busy spotting Kili on the hard stuff to be filming): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmWeFZdboP8 I think as long as you don't pick a dog who is truly a couch potato you should be fine.

Several puppies did choose the distraction of the open door, which is why we left it open. Good girl Kenna stayed with Momma. The door leads to the fenced outdoor play and potty area, so nothing bad happened to puppies who made a bad choice!

It's a survival mechanism. lol. It keeps you from throttling her for being a brat.

Kenna graduated tonight from her puppy agility class. She's 19.5 weeks old and I'm super happy with how she's doing. She saw the chute for the very first time tonight... no problem she says! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13uXgIWe7ak&edit=vd

Beautiful tribute. Perfect song choice.

You can't really make a dog like other dogs. They either do, or they don't. You can teach them to be tolerant and make reactive displays, but keep in mind that tolerance is not the same as amiability. Just like us, dogs don't always like everyone. Summit doesn't like intact males, and sometimes doesn't like certain neutered males (generally the big, boisterous ones). I can typically tell just by looking at the other dog whether Summit will like it or not, and I can tell from Summit's body language long before he actually reacts. Which allows me to step in and provide some guidance. For the most part now, he doesn't react to other dogs. I'm sure he's mellowed a bit with age, but mostly it's been positive reinforcement, controlling situations, and getting him moving along. He will never like male huskies with blue eyes. Ever. He HAS learned to tolerate them though. I would aim for tolerance, not for "liking", because it's probably a more reasonable and achievable expectation.