krissy
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Posts posted by krissy
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Summit has pannus. He also has iris atrophy so his eyes do not constrict well in response to light. With the pannus his corneas always looked a little cloudy.
Should be able to distinguish pannus from PRA, though ophthalmology is a bit daunting and I myself am not super comfortable with it yet either. Pannus is corneal... lots of little blood vessels growing out across the surface of the eye. PRA the surface of the eye is totally clear but when you look at the retina things aren't quite right. The colour won't be normal due to hypo reflectivity and the optic nerve doesn't look right either.
First sign the owner usually notices with PRA is vision trouble in low light (so called "night blindness").
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My dogs are always crated for the first couple of months that they arrive home so by the time they start not sleeping in the crate they've already gotten the hint that nighttime is sleepy time. Beyond that I ignore anything unless I really think there's a problem (needs to go out, having diarrhea, etc.).
If your dog is not sleeping in the bedroom with you that might be the first thing to try. I definitely wouldn't be going out and sleeping on the couch, but that's just me. If you want to confine his movement a bit without crating you could tie 2 leashes together and tie him down to the bed post. Might be controversial but I don't think that really counts as staking out. If you're worried he's really going to do anything crazy in the middle of the night and jerk his neck you could use a harness. Personally I'd just use a crate. But I'm mean to my dogs!
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Here's how I feel about dog training and dog trainers. Take it for what it's worth.
You can have the best trainer in the world. They can know everything there is to know. They can have all the right information and all the right techniques. But if they make YOU feel like crap and like you're not a good dog owner then they can't really help YOU help your dog. At the end of the day a dog trainer is just teaching YOU. And YOU are teaching your dog. So how you feel when dealing with your trainer is just as important as the information they are giving you. You need to be always in a happy, confident, optimistic mood when training dogs. Frustration, anger, hurt, sadness... while you may do your best not to portray those feelings, they will still impact your training and be picked up by your dog.
If you look in these forums you'll see people who have changed vets because of personality conflicts/poor bedside manner even if the medical knowledge and care was stellar. I would argue the same goes for a dog trainer.
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Does someone have a therapeutic laser unit near you? I haven't used it on a tail yet but I have used it on lots of other patients with infected, poorly healing wounds. It s amazing what a difference it can make.
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While some dogs do probably have a general preference for one gender over the other... in my experience a dog will bond to the person who acts like his master/owner/leader/caregiver. My boyfriend always likes to joke that he could disappear and neither dog would be overly depressed. Which isn't to say that they don't greet him at the door or enjoy his company. They do. Just if given the choice of me or him... it's me every time. Kili I raised alone from the time she was 8 weeks until she was almost 20 weeks (boyfriend was living away from us for a period of time). Summit, however, was a bounce from a previous home where the MAN was his primary caretaker. At first I noticed he would check men out more if we were on a walk or at the dog park. He seemed to have more of an affinity for men. However, now he is MY dog.
The reason why both these dogs are mine? I do EVERYTHING for them. I walk them. I feed them. I give them their treats. I TRAIN them. I take them to the pet store. I take them to my sports games. Anything and everything they do/get comes from me. Why would they bother choosing my BF over me?
So if you want to promote your son as being the "master" the easiest/fastest way is probably to just relinquish any and all responsibilities from you/your husband to your son. He feeds all meals. He takes the dog for all his walks. He trains the dog exclusively. He takes the dog for car rides. That may not work with your household/schedule but I think the more your son does the more Dak will acknowledge him as his primary caregiver.
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Sorry Buddy had to leave so soon.
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Summit would never roo. We've been working on training a growl. And if he gets really excited he'll come up to you and stare at you and then bark once. But roo... never. Kili used to never really be able to bark properly. She had this really weird roo-y kind of bark when she would want someone to play with her. Now she has a big dog bark finally, but she sometimes still uses that weird roo-y voice. We could probably convince her to roo if we wanted to, but I don't like to encourage barking so we just don't.
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Believe what your eyes see.
Have to be careful with that too.
Most of my clients believe their eyes that their dog is the right weight even though the poor lab is almost obese. :SReally, OP, if you're not sure the best thing to do is either have your vet see him, take him by his adoption group, or post a good side profile photo on here.
For some reference here are my two.
Summit
Summit is on the thinner side of the normal range. I like my dogs to err towards leaner because of agility. Some people like to see a tad bit more cover over the ribs. On him you can see probably 4-5 ribs (just barely 4 and 5 but 1-3 are fairly obvious). This also tends to be his own "happy weight". You know how everyone has a weight that their body tends to settle at and for some that is thinner and for others it is heavier? Well, Summit is happy at this weight. I used to feed him more but he didn't actually put on weight he just pooped more! He's active, healthy, eats well, glossy coat. I like him at this weight.
Kili
Kili is not quite 12 months old and is impossible to get weight onto. She's a teenager. She eats well, she's extremely active... I'm not concerned. She'll fill out. She's also stacked for conformation so her hind legs are extended a little farther back than when she stands normally, which does stretch her out a bit and make her look a bit thinner than she really is. But for a reference to an adult, mature greyhound this would be considered thin. If this is how your dog looks you want to slowly try to add some weight onto him.
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We went through several vets and found that the ones that were best, were actually students at a practicing veterinary university! While we only went there for a specialized reason, it made me realize what to look for in a vet. Aside from their knowledge, there is one key thing we look for. Our very first vet was fabulous for this and I sort of regret leaving, however distance was the issue.
The vet greets the dog first. The vet makes friends with the dog first. The vet gets down on the floor and interacts with your dog to gain their trust and friendship first. Then the vet greets the owners. I'm not saying the vet doesn't enter the room and not say hi to you, but doesn't get into crazy specifics and introductions without loving up on your dog first and foremost. IMO this is paramount and you really see what makes a vet shine when they put the dog and their best interest first.
Of course you can't find this in everyone, but I ensure that every new vet I meet, I express how important this is to me.
Greyhounds are different, and need to be treated differently via injections, anesthetic, etc.....as I'm sure others will add here and you will likely read. I just thought I'd touch on something that is different other than knowledge.
It's very personal and I think depends on how people view their pets. I have had some clients who only want to see me because they perceive that I care "more" since I come in and fuss over their pet. There are other clients where I can start to sense as I'm cooing over the dog that they're getting annoyed so I cut things short and give the owner my attention. Personally when I have to take my own animals to a specialist I'm in between. Say hi to my dog, tell me how adorable she is, tell her she's the sweetest thing, then get on with it. Lol.
Reading PEOPLE is the hardest part about being a vet!
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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.
Agreed. Though to be fair I have a biased opinion because I specifically look for more trainable hounds. That said, they do still have challenges compared to other breeds. I have to sometimes get creative... more so with Summit than Kili. But that's half the fun. I kind of like the problem solving and "trouble-shooting" aspect of training. I do find too that they become more eager to train and figure out what you want the more you work and the stronger your bond gets. Summit is even more fun to train now than when I got him because he works even harder and with more persistence now. He doesn't give up as easily because he knows from past experience that I do have a point!
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Kili wants to play with rabbits and kittens in the house but I don't totally trust her outside. It is totally possible that she just wants to play with the squirrels or get closer to see what they are. On the other hand I don't really want to find out.
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Need a side profile picture me thinks.
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Wow. Really glad I got to work with him in my final year of school!
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Prey drive is a deal breaker for me. I have three rabbits and I frequently foster cats and kittens. My number one priority when getting a new dog is that they be small animal safe. If they aren't Zi don't look at them and if they cheated on their original test they go back. Prey drive was the main reason that I went for a CKC puppy instead of an ex-racer for my second dog. It proved difficult to find work drive for agility combined with low prey drive.
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My breeder started all the pups on both kibble and raw before they went home so that the new owners could feed either. Not sure what kind of raw she offered the pups though.
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Most of the topical products have an alcohol base that can cause a weird skin tingle. I notice it with some products but not others. Summit doesn't seem to notice with Advantage Multi but does if I use Advantix. Kili doesn't notice the Advantix.
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Good points above. Also, take her out on a leash. That way she can't decide that she's going to go and play.
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Welcome from cottage country, Ontario!
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I might be tempted to banish her to the foot of the bed if not entirely, not because it was her fault but because I don't like being bit in the face! You must have hurt her when you rolled onto her, so it's totally understandable.
Actually I'm surprised DBF hasn't kicked ME out of bed yet as I sometimes wake up from nightmares screaming which freaks him out (understandably). The one time, I woke up screaming and scared the heck out of him. So HE yelled in surprise. Which scared the heck out of me all over again (still in a panic and half asleep) so I punched him repeatedly (screaming the whole time) until I realized he wasn't a murderer who had broken into the house. He still lets me sleep in the bed.
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The basic concept of alone training is that the dog is never left alone long enough to become agitated. That's the concept. It works very poorly in real life because how many of us have weeks to months of never leaving the house for more than an hour or two? It sucks. That said....
Do you have the financial ability to take him to doggy day care? Or a friend/family member/home daycare setting where he could be baby sat and have a human with him all day? If yes to either of those here is what I would do.
When you work or have to leave the house at all you send him to his day care. When you are home you work on alone training. You can crate him, gate him, leave him loose, it doesn't matter. I'll use the crate to explain but it all basically works the same on different scales. You crate your dog and give him his Kong. You step back for two seconds and go back and let him out. You take away his Kong as soon as you let him out. Put him back in, give him his Kong, wait 5 seconds and let him out. Put him back in, Kong, wait 15 seconds. You alternate how long he is in the crate so that it is random, but working up to increasingly longer times (2 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 4 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 10 seconds, etc.). If the dog becomes anxious at all you're going too fast... back off to less time. Eventually you start stepping out of sight for a split second and coming right back. Then you're working the time up on being out of sight. Eventually you're leaving the room. Then you're leaving the house and standing outside the front door. Then you're just going around the block. Then you're going to the movie rental store and back. If the dog gets anxious at any point you're going too fast!
You can see why this isn't feasible in real life and why you need the pet sitter. Medication can help but you still need to do all the steps in the training. Playing around with how you confine can help a bit as well. Maybe he's a LITTLE better gated instead of crated.
Remember to practice at all sorts of times of day. In the morning is not always when you leave. And you might not always leave in the morning. Get up early on Saturday and go through your whole routine as if you're going to work. Take a random day off work and sleep in as if it is a weekend. The goal is to make your routine and your absence boooooring!
Ultimately some dogs do end up needing a home where someone is home most of the time. But I'd say most dogs can learn to be okay with being alone, some just take more work than others.
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I agree with all the others that this dog needs to be rehomed. An attack to the back of the neck is an attack to kill. There's no way that was accidental, or just a warning or correction. Inter-female aggression issues are very difficult to resolve, since it's all about one dog saving resources for her and her potential offspring. Two bitches with litters means that resources would need to be shared. Yes, your dogs will never have litters, but they don't that. If you don't rehome JJ, you are looking at managing this situation for the rest of the dogs' lives by ensuring that the two females are never in a situation where they can be loose together. At that point, I personally feel it's best to rehome, so that each dog can live a fulfilling life.
The dog I just rescued (pictures of her and her puppies in Off Topic!
) came from this exact situation. They had two littermate siblings who got along great. Both got pregnant and had litters at the same time last September. Ever since they have been at each other's throats and the owner had to keep them separate at all times. One was in the crate all day then they switched for the night. He finally decided he had to give one away before something really bad happened. Of course, Daisy managed to get pregnant again right as he was looking for a new home for her! -
The best thing you can do for your dog's teeth is to brush them daily. Most greyhounds are pretty laid back when it comes to handling so we're pretty lucky that way. If your dog absolutely will not allow you to brush the teeth then try HealthyMouth. It's a water additive that is clinically proven to reduce tartar and plaque. As far as I know it is the only water additive with clinical trials. It's only available from your veterinarian.
Also kind of neat, Dr. Jean Dodds did most of the clinical research on this product and she is involved in HemoPet.
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Yes I know how annoying it can be as my Borzoi Misha managed to get me slapped once while we were walking in a crowded little mall with a some 40'ish random woman just in front
Ah ha ha! That is awesome!
Neither dog really sticks their noses in people's crotches. However, Summit does with me. When he's really happy he rubs his face against the outside of my leg, but he also LOVES to stick his head between my legs and have me rub his head/ears.
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I wouldn't wait until someone complains. There's no reason to increase your stress levels by coming home to a letter from management. I'd go directly to any neighbours who might be affected and let them know what's going on. You can even bring a peace offering. When we got Kili she was 8 weeks old. I brought her home from the breeder and put her in her x-pen for bedtime. She proceeded to (like most new puppies on their first night away from their mother and siblings) howl, scream, and launch herself at the top of the pen over and over throughout the night. I hadn't warned my downstairs neighbours that we were getting a puppy (we live in a house and we rent the main floor but someone else rents the basement) so the next evening I baked cookies and left them at their door with a nice note apologizing for the noise explaining that we had a new puppy. They were very nice about the whole thing and thanked me for the delicious cookies. Do not underestimate the power of cookies!
Molly's Hurt
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
I'd take her now. It's not that a broken bone needs to be dealt with ASAP but the pain sure does. Here's to hoping it's just a sprain.