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krissy

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Posts posted by krissy

    Any Other Puppies With Constant Diarrhea?

    in Food and dietary discussion

    Posted · Edited by krissy

    UGH! I am at my wits end with Kili. Seriously, some days I am VERY tempted to just boot her out the door. Her urinary issues finally seem to be resolved after almost 10 grand. Great right? A month later she starts waking me up every week or two to go out in the middle of the night to have liquid diarrhea, several times in one night. Then the next morning she'll be fine. No problems for a couple days then repeat the cycle. Now she's not waking me up to go out but she's having soft serve consistency poop EVERY SINGLE DAY. This from a dog who 2 months ago had normal dog poop... not even "greyhound normal". Nice and firm.

     

    I am so frustrated. She has been checked 3 times to be clean of parasites. I dewormed her for whips anyway just in case since those don't always show up on a fecal. I did a course of Flagyl with her with no results. I tried adding pumpkin to her diet which has always helped Summit on the rare occasion that he's been soft, but all that did was make her poop orange. She's on Forti Flora, my favourite probiotic, but I also tried her on Florentero as well. Neither has helped. I switched her from her Purina Veterinary Pediatric diet to the Royal Canin Intestinal Puppy with no effect. Yesterday I decided to switch her to a non-chicken based diet. Went out and bought a bag of TOTW Salmon Puppy Food (whatever they call it). Started it yesterday at about 20% of her total intake mixed with her Purina and Royal Canin. This morning in the first 3 hours after getting up she has had almost liquid diarrhea 3 times and she was almost liquid last night right before bed.

     

    Anyone else go through this with a puppy? I am REALLY trying to avoid having to do expensive testing until absolutely necessary since we JUST went through that with her urinary problems. I am also REALLY trying to avoid having to do a total exclusion diet because she's in full training right now, obedience and agility starts in a month for her. I would love to try the IAMS "green bag" but she's a puppy so my alternative would be the IAMS puppy (I think that's a yellow bag).

     

    ETA: I also tried to switch her to raw and that made things a million times worse. She woke me up 4 times in one night and then I came home at lunch to diarrhea all over her, the bedding, the crate, and the floor/wall around the crate.

    New Separation Anxiety?

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    (as he was getting his teeth stuck on the the wire)

     

    From this statement I question whether Clem has had some separation anxiety all along. Sometimes a dog just hates a crate and will try to get out then be totally fine. But it may also be that the dog doesn't mind the crate but is anxious about being left. Given that he is now having issues I think it's reasonable to question the crate biting as being crate related or separation related.

     

    Regardless, given the current situation I would muzzle and go back to alone training 101, not leaving him for more time than he can handle. Always return to him before he can get worked up. If stepping out of sight is too much then simply standing on the other side of the gate at first. Then farther away. Then finally ducking out of sight for a split second. And so on until you are leaving the house for very short intervals. If at any time the dog becomes anxious you are going too fast and need to back up one or two steps. Ideally during this training you never leave the dog alone so he can't get anxious. That's usually unreasonable for most people's schedules so finding someone to watch him during work days or sending him to doggy daycare might be in order for a short period of time.

     

    I always leave the radio on, and for newer dogs I'll sometimes even sleep in an old T-shirt I don't care about for a couple of nights and then leave it with the dog when I leave. A frozen Kong or chew of some kind is definitely a good idea, as you are already doing.

     

    It's also important to practice the motions of leaving without actually leaving. Think about your routine. Get up early on Saturday (I know, I know!) and walk the dog, feed him, take your shower, put on your work clothes, make breakfast, pick up your keys... and then sit on the couch and watch cartoons. You want to desensitize him to all the motions you go through before leaving so the dog isn't really sure that putting on work clothes means you're actually leaving.

     

    There are tonnes of threads on SA here. If you search the forum you'll find a lot of more detailed posts on how to handle it. There are at least 2 other active threads right now addressing it that might be helpful to read through. :)

    Is It Safe To Tie Up A Greyhound With A Harness?

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    I tend to do lots of things you are NEVER supposed to do with a greyhound. I off leash both my dogs (gasp) and I also tie them out (double gasp)... all the time (scream). But I should clarify before anyone has a hernia.

     

    I do not tie the dogs out in the yard and leave them (we have a fence anyway). I tie them to an in ground stake when I play ultimate. I am within 100 meters of them at all times. Random prey is unlikely with all those people around (and honestly I've never had them take off after anything). And I have never had them tangle themselves up so badly they tripped, fell, or freaked out. They just lay down and go to sleep... including the 9 month old puppy.

     

    Do I think tying out is a good idea for every person or every dog? Absolutely not. But it works for me in the few situations where I find it necessary... namely at ultimate practice/games/tournaments. I already lug a sun shade for the dogs, not lugging an xpen as well.

    Are We Going To Damage Our New Arrival Who Has Separation Anxiety By U

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    I won't repeat all the great advice already given. What I will touch on is the "woe is me" attitude you are concerned about. I guess there are two main things to consider.

     

    1) She's very new and she's overwhelmed. Most dogs that come right off the track keep to themselves for a little bit. They like to watch the goings on of the household and slowly start to interact more and more. The bolder the dog the shorter this time period, and the more timid the longer. We had a foster dog who came to us straight from the track. He was a pretty confident fellow but we had some crying in the crate for the first week and very little personality for the first couple of days. He slowly evolved to be a confident, friendly guy by the end of our 3 weeks together. And I know he continued to evolve in his forever home. Even our first dog, Summit, had a settling in period. He had a home for 2.5 years before us. He knew about homes and pet living and it STILL took about 6 months for his full, permanent personality to unfold itself to us.

     

    2) "Permanent woe-face" I believe is the technical term for greyhound expression. To me it is VERY obvious when my dogs are happy. However, EVERYONE (even friends who know my dogs well) comment on how sad they look ALL the time. One friend the other day said that Summit looked like Eeyore. To which I remarked "that's his happy face, don't you know?". Like I said... permanent woe-face.

    Activities For Broken Leggers

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    I wouldn't course a previously injured dog. It's a punishing sport. I won't even run my healthy hounds because I don't want them injured for agility (and Summit has seen a lure course being run before and showed absolutely NO interest, lol).

     

    You can certainly have injuries in agility. Summit isn't even competing and he has a huge scrape on his bum that I think was from agility class. Jen Bachelor has had her share of injuries in her agility dogs but fortunately catastrophic injuries seem to be rare. The worst I've heard of have been dogs falling from the dog walk and handlers trying to catch them. That has resulted in broken bones for dog and human. But in general I think major injuries are uncommon. Especially if you only intend to do a few classes for fun.

     

    I'd consult his surgeon before doing anything though.

    Rally Obedience And Martingales?

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted · Edited by krissy

    Thanks guys. :) I ordered one from LongDog. It'll be her show collar. I'm not going to let her wear it except for showing and special occasions. It's should be really cute. Purple leather with her name in rhinestone crusted beads. :) But good to know of some other options. I may want to get one for Summit as well down the road if I decide to do Rally with him (jury's out on that).

    Rally Obedience And Martingales?

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    Have you considered the CKC shows?

    Or is there a specific reason to do the UKC?

     

    She was also surprised that CARO does not allow them, and is going to check with her trainer, who is a judge for both CKC and CARO.

     

    I can double up Rally and Conformation at a UKC show. Showing CKC conformation I'd have to get all her points through group wins since at this time there are basically no other greyhounds showing CKC. And I'm not so interested in either Conformation or Rally at this time to travel to multiple shows. I'd like to double them up whenever possible.

    Greetings

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    Basically she gives me an exuberant greeting but if I ignore her she gets more and more excited.

    The key is you can't necessarily expect them to settle completely. With Kili I now wait for a down in her crate for several seconds. But in the beginning we're talking about letting her out the SECOND she stopped crying, then later the second she stopped bouncing around, then the second she offered a sit/down.

     

    The instant the dog shows the slightest bit of calmness that is when you reward. She likes to jump up? The second all 4 feet are on the ground you stop ignoring and reward with a bit of affection. Barking? The second the dog pauses for breath you reward. Eventually you can turn that into a 5 minute sit stay when you walk through the door(not that you would just demonstrating where you could go from an over the top greeting).

     

    This may all seem super anal to some people. Maybe it is, but my dogs are performance dogs. I want them to have self control, focus, and work drive. I can't do anything with excitement that involves jumping all over me. But if you watch my dogs work you can see they are excited and happy to be doing it. Self control does not remove excitement or happiness, it gives the dog something constructive to do with it.

    Greetings

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    I think the important thing here though is that the OP says that her dog does have some SA. I agree that with a dog who doesn't you can enjoy being greeted at the door with some enthusiasm, but I would never make a big deal with a dog who has any SA. Ignoring them completely is usually best, but as cometdust has said, sometime a very subdued acknowledgement works for some dogs. But personally I wouldn't reward an anxious dog for jumping up or being over the top as the OP reports with their dog.

    Greetings

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    I will give Summit attention now when I return home. But we have had him long enough to know that SA is not an issue. I would never make a fuss over a new dog, especially one that is showing signs of SA. The point about not making a fuss is to show a dog that your absence is nothing exciting or stressful. If you make a huge fuss then a dog who has, or is prone to, SA thinks that you also think being gone has been a big deal. Your return from an absence should be the most boring thing ever. Once you've had a dog for awhile and s/he doesn't seem to care then sure, you can greet the dog... I still wouldn't make it a big deal. Summit meets me at the door and I say "Hi big man, how are you?", give him a pat on the head and a thump or two on the chest. I put my stuff down and go open Kili's crate. I might say hi to her but I don't pet her or give her affection yet. Then I take both dogs out into the backyard, let them do their business and THEN we play and have a party.

    Rally Obedience And Martingales?

    in Training and Behavior discussion

    Posted

    I do recognize that a martingale is a choke collar of sorts, my "objection" (I wouldn't go quite that far but not sure what other word I'm looking for) is that I'm not using it as a training collar so it's no different than using a flat buckle except she's less likely to back out of it.

     

    Long Dog does make a European buckle collar that has no martingale. My impression was that was the same as a fishtail, but maybe that's not true.

    Example Of Your Daily Greyhound Dog's Meals

    in Food and dietary discussion

    Posted

    If you look above, the poster with the username Krissy is a vet, and she feeds her dogs Hill's and Purina.

     

    I also supplement their meals with rice, oatmeal, cottage cheese, ravioli, bananas, greek yogurt, lean meats, bones, and lots of different homemade cookies, muffins, and biscuits. They won't touch vegetables (some will). It's all trial and error for the most part.

     

    Guess I'll add to this that I feed "vet brands" because I'm a vet and it's convenient way for me to feed a "premium" food. But I think what others have said about finding what works for your dog is important.

     

    Kili now eats the Purina Veterinary Pediatric formula. However, I went through several foods before we settled on this one. She came home from the breeder on Purina Pro Plan Puppy, and I already had a bag of Medi-Cal Gastro Puppy because it was going out of date soon. She actually did pretty well on that but I think I forgot about it when we started having issues. Not sure why! The only puppy food we typically carry is the Medi-Cal/Royal Canin Development. This was right as the companies were merging. So the first bag was original Medi-Cal and worked great. Bought the second bag which was Medi-Cal/Royal Canin and the formula must have changed because it gave her terrible gas and soft stool. Switched to the Hill's Healthy Advantage Puppy, even worse. Finally tried the Purina Pediatric and that has been the golden ticket ever since.

     

    And I used to feed Summit some IAMS Lamb and Rice (the "red bag", lol) when I was still a vet student.

     

    Feed what works. Don't get sucked into advertising. Don't fall for marketing gimmicks like "holistic" since there is no legal definition of that. Just pick a food you feel comfortable with and try it. If it doesn't work, try something else. Give a good 7-14 day transition if she tends to have a sensitive stomach for foods.

     

    Kongs are awesome. I use them for both my hounds. And they get lots of supplemental foods in those just like Alicia was mentioning... cottage cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, baby food, soft dog food, etc.

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