krissy
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Posts posted by krissy
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I'm a vegan and while I would love to switch my dogs to a vegetarian diet - there is not enough known about the long term effects. If you are on Facebook, I suggest that you join the group Nutritional related DCM - it provides a great deal of information on the DCM cases and the grain-free foods many of which have novelty proteins and things like lentils or peas as a substitute for grains.
There are veterinary diets that are vegetarian, so it is certainly possible for dogs to eat a vegetarian diet long term and be healthy. I wouldn't recommend feeding a homemade vegetarian diet though.
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There are some breeders around, some for field and some for show in the US and Canada. If you're on facebook you can ask on Greyhounds for All, or Greyhound Puppies for All for potential leads on puppies. You can also look at the AKC website or the GCA (Greyhound Club of America). This forum doesn't get a lot of puppy leads. A few of us have raised puppies, but that's not a frequent event here. A lot of the pups that do show up here are from oops litters at the track that have gotten snapped up pretty quickly.
I would highly recommend only getting one puppy at a time though to avoid sibling syndrome. Not many people have the time and ability to raise littermates and avoid the potential problems that can arise. It's generally best to leave about a year between pups if you can to allow the time and training needed for proper social development and maturity.
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Certainly could be a disc in the neck. If the pain can be isolated to the neck it would be worth a CT or MRI. If your general practitioner isn't sure of the exact source of the pain it may be worth either a neuro or orthopedic consult to try to localize the pain so you know what body part to x-ray/CT/MRI.
Vets are not in the business of taking advantage of people, but we are human and can only work with the information we have. Some cases are very straight forward and others are not. We've all worked up cases where we've run every test in the book and after thousands of dollars still have no idea what's wrong. You should have a working relationship with your vet that is based on trust. If you don't trust your vet, it may be worth finding another one that you do. Vets are people and people have personalities, which means sometimes despite practicing good medicine you may find you work better with one vet over another. There's nothing wrong with that. You should be totally comfortable with your vet so that you can take their advice and recommendations. They're certainly more qualified and trustworthy than people on the internet that have never seen your dog and may have no medical knowledge.
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I crate or muzzle all fosters while I am gone for safety. Though frankly, even with my own dogs the only one who ever got to be loose and unmuzzled was Summit. Kili has graduated out of her crate but wears a muzzle, and Kenna we only leave out for short absences (muzzled).
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I just removed a bone from a dog's esophagus last week. It was pretty miserable and we only just managed to get it out with the scope. Almost had to open her chest to go in and retrieve it. Went over all the major concerns she was still at risk for. Haven't heard from them since so fingers crossed she did alright.
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If she's happy in a crate (most are right off the track, there are the occasional exceptions) I would use a crate for the time being while you are house training her. One she's reliably housetrained you may elect to do away with the crate. I know some people bring in new dogs and puppies without crate training... but for the life of me I'm not really sure how. Giving the dog a "den" area is the most reliable way to assure she holds her bladder as dogs are generally clean creatures who do not want to soil where they sleep. You put the dog in the crate when you cannot be supervising (overnight, when you're not home, when you're preoccupied with cooking dinner, etc).
The moment you let her out of the crate you take her directly outside to pee. If she goes you give her a reward and praise her before going back in the house. You need to go out in the yard with her and give her the reward the second she finishes. If you stand at the door and reward her when she gets back to you, you've just rewarded her for coming to the door and not for peeing outside. If you go out with her you can also put a verbal cue on the potty so that in future if you need her to go quickly you can ask her to go. I use "hurry up". As soon as the dog squats to pee give the verbal cue and reward when she finishes as per usual.
If she doesn't pee after about 5 minutes when you take her out, then you go back in and put her back in the crate for half an hour or so (go and make yourself breakfast or fold some laundry or whatever). Repeat until she goes when you take her outside. Do not leave her loose in the house unless she has gone because inevitably at some point when you're not paying attention she'll need to go. Once she's gone outside you can let her have some free time in the house. If it's the time of day when she should need to poop as well then you will also need to wait until she has pooped before you give her free time in the house.
It is also a good idea to take a dog out to the bathroom shortly after eating, after a long nap, or after exercise/play.
If you choose not to use a crate then the concept is the same but it requires more supervision. I recommend using the umbilical method (attach a leash to your waist at all times so the dog can't wander off somewhere while you're distracted).
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We've moved multiple times with multiple dogs. Summit moved 3 times with us, and Kili twice... one of those was across the country. Kenna has moved once. It's never been an issue. Frankly, the dogs are more anxious about me packing my suitcase than us packing the house up. They never get left behind when we move houses, but suitcases don't always mean they're coming along!
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My dogs all love grass. They'll go outside and just graze in the spring/summer. They're so happy when the new grass starts growing after a long winter.
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Hydrolysis is a process using water that breaks the protein molecule into small segments. Most food allergies are related to the protein because they are such a large molecule. Smaller molecules tend to attract less attention from the immune system. Since the body actually uses the amino acids that make up the protein, it doesn't matter if the protein is whole, halved, or in a million pieces since all the amino acids are still present in the smaller segments.
Most hydrolyzed idets use very common proteins such as chicken or soy as they are inexpensive while being nutritionally complete. The hydrolysis process itself is quite expensive so it makes sense to use a cheaper, easily acquired protein source.
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Welcome from Edmonton! Congrats on your new addition. Was he adopted from Northern Sky?
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Summit never asked to go out. Not once in his life. He never went in the house (until he got really old) and would just hold it and wait until we offered to let him out. The girls sometimes ask to go out... mostly just by going to the back door and looking at us. But we often baby gate them into the living room (Kili is a bit of a counter surfer) so they can't do that, in which case it can be more subtle... being restless and not wanting to settle on the couch, standing and staring at us, or sometimes standing at the baby gate.
A lot of dogs don't "ask" to go out, but most show signs of needing to go out. I would watch closely for these and take her out any time she shows them, praise and treat (if she'll take it) for going. You may also want to consider taking her to be checked for a UTI to rule out a possible medical cause, particularly if you feel she goes more often than normal.
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Have the dog on a leash and take him to a door. Start to open the door and if he moves towards it, immediately close the door. In the beginning this might mean that you have opened the door just a sliver, because any forward movement from the dog no matter how small should result in you closing the door. Progress to the point that you can open the door without the dog moving towards it and then give your release word and let him move through the door. You can reward the dog before the release with treats if you want, but the release itself is super rewarding because it's what the dog wants.
This process might involve opening and closing the door in varying increments for several minutes before you manage to get the door open enough to safely pass through. I wouldn't make the dog wait long once the door is open enough to get through when you're starting out. Later one as they understand this concept you can have the door wide open and have the dog wait for a few seconds before letting them go through.
Note that if you want this to be an automatic response you shouldn't be telling your dog to "stay" when you start to open the door. Just open the door and close it again if he moves. This results in a dog that doesn't need to be TOLD to wait when a door opens but automatically waits to be told he can go out an open door. This way if a door accidentally opens when not expected, the dog doesn't just run out the door thinking "no one told me to wait".
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My husband will firmly pull her back to show thats not OK with these guys.
I would not do this. The law of opposition is true in dogs... you know "every action has an equal and opposite reaction". Pulling back on a dog often has the tendency to increase desire to move forward. This is why pulling or yanking on the leash/collar does not help to correct leash pulling on walks and often makes it worse, why we use restrained recalls in recall training, and why we will often use a bit of light backwards pressure in agility or flyball to increase forward drive. It will also tend to intensify aggressive responses. Dogs that are leash reactive to other dogs often do better if pressure is kept off the leash, tightening the leash and essentially having the dog pull against the collar often escalates reactivity. And same in this situation. Pulling the dog back when she is on the offensive is not likely to decrease her uncertainty and could increase the reaction.
Visitors she is uncertain of should ignore her. Don't look at her, don't speak to her. I would use a crate or ex-pen in a safe corner of the room (one that is not too close to where the visitor will be sitting/spending time) but where you can sit near her. Then feed her especially delectable treats all through the time that the visitor is there. The visitor never acknowledges her in any way for the first few visits, until she seems completely comfortable while in her crate with the visitor in the house. Ideally over the course of a couple visits the person will sit slightly closer to her crate until they can sit right next to it without her being upset. At this point the visitor can now take over the treat giving. It is important that they are still ignoring her... they should just be dropping special treats into the crate every few minutes while you all continue to chat and interact with each other.
That's a starting point, but I'd also recommend consulting either a veterinary behaviourist or if that's not available near you, at least a good positive reinforcement trainer with some behaviour certifications. A professional really needs to see these behaviours to get the nuances in order to proceed with training that will keep everyone safe.
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You want something small and easily eaten. You don't want the dog to have to think about eating it... so ideally it should be something that doesn't really require chewing (cut or broken up small), isn't sticky (straight peanut butter out of the jar), and isn't crumbly.
Keep in mind that the highest value foods for most dogs are things like steak, grilled chicken, hot dogs, and cheese. Of course some dogs have strange tastes so it's important to experiment. I had a dog in one of my obedience classes that was absolutely nuts about fruits and veggies... the owner used to pick an apple off my backyard tree when they arrived, sliced it up with a pocket knife and use it for treats. One time he also brought cut up turnips which made me laugh. Although many chow hounds are pretty excited about all sorts of foods, and would still take a lower value treat in a highly distracting situation, they still have a hierarchy and we should reward accordingly. My dogs will work for kibble... but when I ask them to work against high distractions I give them steak, cheese, chicken, and canned dog food. The compensation has to reflect the dog's effort and/or the importance of the task.
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Felix
in Remembrance
I am so sorry for your loss.
It is so sad seeing all these familiar old timers on here recently. -
So sorry for your loss.
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"Letting the dog know who's boss" isn't going to work... it'll probably make it worse because the dog likely isn't statuing to be obstinate but because she's uncertain/afraid. There's a difference between "being the alpha" and just being confident. Sometimes just confidently saying "alright, we're going" and walking forward (or circling around) will work because the dog is reassured by your lack of fear. But in many cases we're talking about dogs that are new and don't quite know what to make of their new humans yet (there isn't a strong bond there that we can draw from).
It is best to let these dogs examine their surroundings while providing lots of positive reinforcement (praise, treats if they'll take them). We can also try going for a car ride. Sometimes if we get out of the vehicle in a random place things go more smoothly. Sometimes we live in a busy area and we can take a short drive to a quieter neighbourhood which is less scary so we can be more successful, and then as the dog settles in and becomes more confident we can start working on busier places.
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Work on the separation anxiety. Lots of alone training when you are both home. Practicing leaving but not going anywhere and working up to short absences. The idea is to work on leaving slowly enough that she never gets too upset about it, and to do it so much that it just frankly becomes boring to her. Don't fuss over her prior to leaving or upon returning. Let her settle before acknowledging her. Give her attention for being calm and relaxed.
As far as the routine goes, it does sometimes help the separation anxiety dogs, but more so in terms of your lead up to leaving. Your routine when leaving should be the same, not necessarily the times of day that you leave. They adjust to abnormal schedules and routines. My schedules have changed multiple times over the years. Currently it is basically the same every week but not every day. In the past it has been completely random. My dogs have never cared, they just adjust and go with the flow. My bet is your dog will too once she settles in more and once the separation anxiety is under control.
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Iker
in Remembrance
So sorry Robin.
Run free Iker. -
I'm too exhausted and emotionally worn out to write another one of these so I just copy and pasted from my Facebook....
Goodbye to the best first dog that anyone could ever have asked for. Goodbye to the dog that introduced me to the breed I love and to the sport I love. It's because of Summit's patient, willing, but slightly training challenged self that Kili and Kenna have been able to become the successful agility dogs that they are today, and the reason that I will always own greyhounds.
We adopted Summit while I was in vet school. He was 5 years old and the easiest dog you'll ever meet. He walked into our home and accepted the rabbits, the first time dog owners, all the dog festivals that I could now gleefully attend because I had a dog of my own, and so much more. He let me clip his nails, brush his teeth, sign him up as a blood donor, drag him around to ultimate games, collect blood and give vaccines on my own... even stitch and remove lumps without sedation or restraint.
And when I decided that maybe I actually could train a greyhound to do agility, he went right along with it. Although we never mastered the teeter or the weave poles, and he never trialed, he taught me so much... including that if I wanted an agility greyhound... I could have an agility greyhound. And so instead of getting a border collie when we were ready for dog number two, we got Kili.
I said this fall that I didn't think Summit would make it through the winter, but as the months passed I started to think maybe he would. Maybe he'd make it to his next birthday. But then about 2 weeks ago he started to be a little slow getting up for dinner. I thought his arthritis was progressing and increased his pain medication, but that didn't help. A few days later he refused to eat until I mixed in some canned food, and I felt the first twinge of anxiety - this dog had never refused food in his life. Then a few days after that he refused to eat even after adding canned food and cheese - and then I knew something was very wrong. Despite his bloodwork being normal, his continued picky appetite made me ultrasound him last week. There were some concerns about his liver and one segment of small intestine but no concrete answers. His appetite picked up over the weekend and I started to hope maybe he'd rally for a little longer.
Today I took Summit to work for another ultrasound, but an hour before, he suddenly couldn't sit up or stand, he seemed uncomfortable and anxious. He had to be carried to the ultrasound room for his scan, where Cam determined that he had a mass in his intestines and fluid in his chest, likely metastatic GI lymphoma or adenocarcinoma (x-rays of his chest last week were normal). Since he progressively seemed more and more disoriented (almost seemed like he was having an old dog vestibular event, wanting to turn/roll to one side) we made the decision to let him go right away. He never asked anything of us in all the time we had him, we certainly could not deny him a quick goodbye while he was suffering.
I knew that our time with Summit was growing very short, but I was not prepared for the possibility that I might not be bringing him home with me tonight. Hopefully you have found Caspian and Adrienne on the other side... I suspect Sebastian will not be long in following you so maybe don't go too far and the 3 of you wait for him until he's ready too. I will miss you, and will always be thankful to have had my good boy showing me the ropes of dog ownership. You are the standard against which all other dogs will be measured. Rest easy, my best of boys.
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Ditto to the above. I will also say that some of those behaviours are just normal dog behaviours, not necessarily even puppy behaviours. It's up to us as the humans to either train the dog or to manage their environment.
I'm a huge fan of training... my dogs compete in agility, disc, and rally obedience. However, there are some behaviours that I frankly just can't be bothered to train... like counter surfing and grabbing random items to play with. I can just manage that with supervision, crates, ex-pens, baby gates and basket muzzles. My puppies are always crated until they get to a point where they can be trusted to spend their time alone mostly just chilling and sleeping. For Kili that was at about 4 years of age, and my youngest is just about to turn 3 and she still goes in a crate. Kili is now graduated out of the crate, but she wears a basket muzzle when she's home alone.
My puppies go in ex-pens even when we are home if we're not directly supervising or interacting with them... usually until they're somewhere between 12-24 months of age depending on the dog. And after that... again, they wear basket muzzles a lot of the time. I'm just not interested in training my dogs to stay off my counters and it works for me to use other tools to just manage the behaviour. If you're not interested in having your dog in a muzzle a lot or having baby gates and ex-pens set up strategically around the house, then training might be the better option. But the great thing is that you have the choice to choose what works best for you and your household!
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She's lovely! Congrats!
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I would not do puppy pads. I do know people who have done litterboxes. What *I* would do is make a patch of indoor grass for your puppy... that way it's one less thing for them to adjust to with going outside because the substrate will be the same. And I would only use the indoor grass for when you absolutely can't take puppy out (if you work and have to leave pup for the day, or overnight since that's a huge pain in the butt in an apartment vs a house), and then I would be taking pup outside regularly in the morning, evening, and on weekends.
I have the luxury of working in a pet industry so I have always just taken puppies to work with me for about the first year of their life. However, there are MANY households that raise puppies that work full time (one might even argue that most dog owning households work full time) and so it is do-able to raise and housetrain a puppy even if you have to leave it alone for a full work day. Get a copy of Ian Dunbar's "Before and After You Get Your Puppy" - lots of good, practical tips in there. He's a bit alarmist about puppies having accidents - in my experience, even very well supervised and managed puppies have a couple accidents. Kili had MANY accidents because she had chronic UTIs as a puppy, and even she housetrained easily once we got the medical portion resolved. So I wouldn't get too worked up about what he says about never letting a puppy have an accident, but the rest of it is very, very good... and he discusses set ups for leaving puppies home alone.
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I've had 2 greyhound puppies. I really applaud anyone who successfully tackles raising a puppy of any size or breed in an apartment if it's not a main floor walk out. I stayed with a friend for a conference when Kili was about 5 months old. Due to some medical issues she struggled with housetraining (she had chronic UTIs so she understood the concept but had no capability of holding it long periods of time) and so even at that age I was having to take her out frequently and also overnight. My friend lived on the 10th floor. For our overnight trips I ended up just using a puppy pad on the balcony since it was only for a couple days, but it was even still quite the ordeal to rush outside every morning trying to prevent an accident in the hallway or elevator. I really don't relish the idea of having to do that every day!
Puppies are puppies. They're all basically the same regardless of breed. Larger breeds can do the overnight thing sooner than small breeds so that's beneficial for an apartment dweller.
The major issues with an apartment that I see are 1) housetraining 2) noise (how understanding are your neighbours/how thin are your walls) 3) exercise.
I think exercise is the least of the concerns though if you put in the effort. You don't have to have a fenced yard to raise a puppy (but it's a huge benefit, let me tell you) if you commit to walking and finding safe places to off leash.
It is so sad seeing all these familiar old timers on here recently.
Possible Lymphoma.
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
So sorry to hear.
Lymphoma is one of the cancers that often responds well to chemo so that may be an option. If nothing else even just pred can make a difference.