krissy
-
Posts
2,587 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Store
Articles
Posts posted by krissy
-
-
I never soften a dog's food unless there's a reason... like after surgery of the mouth, or diseases of the mouth (I had a patient who had cancer in her jaw bone that was very painful, it also ate away at some of her teeth and left a big gaping whole in her gums... I recommended her owner feed canned or soften kibble). Soft food is a great way to help promote dental disease, a problem that the breed struggles with already. A hard food will help a bit to keep those teeth in better shape (though of course I recommend brushing every day as the best defense against dental disease).
Summit eats 3 cups a day of J/D dry (kibble) split into 1 cup in the AM and 2 cups in the PM. He gets treats for training and the odd ones here and there.
Kili gets 2 cups a day of Purina Pediatric dry (puppy kibble). She eats out of kongs throughout the day so she doesn't really get fed meals. The kibble is stuffed into the kongs with canned dog food or baby food usually. I use some of the 2 cups for her kongs and the rest for training, though she also gets lots of treats for training as well.
-
Quick question for those of you who already compete in Rally-O. In class last night my trainer was reading through some of the rules with us and one is "No prong collars, choke chains, martingales, or head collars". Basically nothing but a flat buckle. Will they make an exception for a sighthound?
The way I see it we have 3 options:
1. Use a flat buckle as requested
2. Try to get an exception for a martingale
3. Wait to enter novice until I feel she could actually compete at the advanced level (i.e. off leash).
What have you done for trialing with your sighthound?
ETA: Just thought of a fourth possible option... use a fishtail collar? It's flat and buckles...?
-
All the judges at our first show were just amazing. I had never even been to a show. We'd gone to several handling classes which really helped but it's totally different at a show. They were all very kind and patient with me, very gentle with the pup. Good experience all around. I would hope that would be the norm. Hopefully that one judge was an exception!
-
So frustrating! I can't believe they would dismiss a puppy from the class due to timidness. The judge should know that's a normal phase and try to help you with it. I can understand not placing since the judge couldn't do an exam, but unless she was totally petrified I'd think it would e good for her to stay in the ring. Glad Kili didn't have a show during her fear phase!
-
He will knit on her all over her head and neck and clean her ears! It's so cute! Especially now that she's so much bigger than he is.
OMG. I wondered if greyhounds would knit each other, because that is what it looks like Summit is doing to Kili sometimes. He doesn't ever knit people, but recently I have noticed that sometimes when he plays with her he will take itty bitty little bites all over her neck and chest. Very animated. And she just lays there on her back. He only does it when he's super wound up and excited with her. It actually looks pretty awful but they both seem to like it so I allow it.
-
I would do a greyhound puppy before any other kind of puppy, but I don't think I ever want a PUPPY again, regardless of breed!
-
I regularly check in with other people who have puppies. Jen Bachelor's puppy is about a month and a half older so that has been really helpful. And when all else fails I check in with my breeder for reassurance.
I am showing her here and there for fun. We've only done one show. Planning for one in June. That's not why I'm keeping her intact. She's going to be an agility dog so I want her to grow properly and close her growth plates before I spay her, probably around 18 months before her first season.
She has definitely forgotten how to do just about anything she knew a month ago. Very frustrating. Just have to ride it out until she comes out the other side of adolescence. I hate puppies. They really are no fun at all. Lol
-
In the summer we just avoid walking at midday... which doesn't happen anyway since I work. I walk early morning and then around dinner time when I get home. In the summer we sometimes do 2 hour brisk hikes with a friend and her dog. It might be a bit warm when we start but it's getting cool by the time we get back. Summit loves it.
-
The general consensus, and what worked for me, was to continue exposure but at the puppy's own pace. Let her decide what she's comfortable with and don't let her get into situations where she's going to be overwhelmed. So if she wants to approach something she's afraid of, let her, but don't push her to do it. You can certainly encourage. Like I was trying to have people feed her as my "encouragement" but if she didn't want to go up to someone I didn't pick her up or pull her over. I let her decide to not see certain people or dogs if that's what she chose. Just don't baby or reassure her when she's afraid of something. I usually use a happy, excited voice and say "what's that!?" because if you try to say "it's okay" it almost always comes out coddling and reassuring.
It will pass. It was a long 3 weeks for us but it disappears as quickly as it comes... almost overnight. So weird.
-
You need to bring Kili to one of the greyhound events! I want to meet her before she's totally grown up.
I wish! They're all so far away from us. And remember, she's closing in on being a 10 thousand dollar puppy... I have no money left after all her medical expenses for a vacation! I guess we could fund raise. lol. "Puppy's Wish Foundation"?
-
If he's not super fussy I'd go with pill pockets personally. For Kili I use canned dog food, but that requires refrigeration once open. If I had to travel I'd use pill pockets. But she'll eat just about anything. Certain pills she'll even eat right out of my hand.
-
I did go through that puppy regression with all my pups, you know that phase where everything they learned goes right out the window!
Oh yeah, Kili can't do a darn thing any more. She went from 7 months old and knowing how to heel perfectly on leash to 8 months old and so distracted she can't even look at me for a split second on a walk (see "Environmental Distraction" on my blog for an example of how distracted she is). Ugh. So annoying!
-
Just an update.
If you are not a believer in fear phases... believe me you will be after you have your first puppy that does show one.
Kili is absolutely totally back to normal. Loves everyone and everything again. It is honestly like a light switch it is that instantaneous. I literally woke up one day and she had turned into a terrified little dog. I woke up 3 weeks later and she was back to her jubilant self. Go figure.
So glad that is over. Hopefully that was her last fear phase!
-
Summit was super interested in the smell of them at the store but never touched the whole one I bought him, so I gave it away. Then I found ones that were like a "bud". They're round and one whole side is the exposed good stuff. Summit was really interested in that but could not figure out why it was so hard to chew. It sat around until we got Kili. She occasionally chews it. Antlers are, in short, not a big hit around here.
-
Words really have no meaning at a time like this. Just hugs and good thoughts for you, and for your boy running pain free again.
-
Kristie, do you give Kili anything to eat before naps? I wonder if the combination of being tired + a full belly would help.
I never put her away without something to eat. Either a frozen Kong or a Bully stick of some kind. She might complain for a minute then she settles down and ears her snack and has a nap. She has puzzle toys too but I find the Kong is the only one she can eat laying down. The others all need to be rolled around and then she's up banging it around in her crate and being active. Though I guess that could tire her out too.
-
When Kili starts being grumpy she gets put away in either her crate or x-pen for a nap. If you leave her loose she's bound to just wander around and be a pain. She's less likely to fight the nap if she's put away on her own.
-
Proin is usually my first choice. Less blood monitoring. With DES blood work needs to be done many times in the first year to make sure there isn't estrogen toxicity causing bone marrow suppression. If Proin alone doesn't work then I double up with DES. Kili is on Proin following all her urinary surgery. Hopefully she will be able to come off it eventually.
The one thing that sucks about Proin is it is given 3 times a day. Many dogs can be taken down to twice a day. Versus patients that I DO have on just DES are lucky to be only giving it once a week.
-
I'm a Hill's girl personally. Summit eats the Hill's J/D, however if we get an open bag return of the Royal Canin Mobility Support or a bag goes out of date I will take it home and feed that. Summit likes it, his stools are good on it. I'm sure there's not much difference from the J/D, but what can I say... I like Hill's arbitrarily.
Now, I did try to feed the RC Development when I got Kili but she had mad gas and soft stool on it. Switched her to the Hill's Healthy Advantage Puppy and she still had gas and soft stool. Finally tried the Purina Veterinary Pediatric and that's what she's been on ever since.
The nice thing about the veterinary diets is you can return them if your dog hates it or doesn't do well on it, so whatever food you're thinking of you can try it and see what happens. It doesn't really matter what anyone here thinks, it's what your dog thinks about it and how they do on it.
-
I buy beef liver and heart and bake them in the oven on low heat. I check on it periodically since the thickness of the pieces is always different, but I find between 45-90 minutes usually does the trick. If you half cover it with milk before baking there is almost zero liver smell in your house.
I do buy training treats from the store. I also use kibble. A lot depends on your dog's food motivation. Both of mine are happy to accept lesser value treats in training which allows me to either reserve the really good stuff for important behaviours (recall) or for when a dog gets a behaviour we were struggling with. I also mix up my rewards. Not knowing what might be coming makes the dog more reliable. The extension on that later on is that the dog stops getting any reward for the behaviour every time, so the dog gambles to see if he will get a reward.
-
Summit is off the track 5 years and his butt is still bald as a vultures head. Nothing wrong with his thyroid (for a greyhound... he's low by other breed's standards). I'm on my phone but I'll post a pic tonight when I get home.
-
Summit has a patch of hair missing from his tail. Always has and I suspect always will. The skin looks totally normal and it never causes him any problems. He is not hypothyroid (well, not for a greyhound anyway).
-
Kongs and other food dispensing toys (usually total of 2-3 and then I come home at lunch to let her out and change out the toys for different ones).
-
I'm not sure that sounds like hiccupping. You might want to try to get a video of it. The way you describe it, it almost sounds like attempting to vomit without producing anything, which is worrisome but I'm not sure this is really what you mean.
Kili does truly hiccup. It literally looks and sounds like a human hiccup and often happens after she eats or drinks too fast or when she's been running around like a crazy dog and then stops for a drink or a snack. I don't have a video of her doing it but it is very obviously a hiccup. I've never seen Summit hiccup.
Rally Obedience And Martingales?
in Training and Behavior discussion
Posted
Just in the ring. The dogs would be on proper collars at all other times. My concern is the dog spooking, backing out of a flat buckle, jumping the ring and gone. I admit this is a very minor possibility that I don't really see being a huge issue... just seems to me that at the novice level there's a REASON you're showing the dog on-leash... i.e. off leash control isn't perfect yet. So why would I show in a collar that could potentially lead to an off leash dog? I just wasn't sure what most sighthound owners chose to do at the novice level... or if they chose to skip novice and wait until the dog was totally reliable off leash in case of an accidental off leashing.
Maybe this will be less of a concern by the time I'm actually ready to compete Kili in novice, it's just right now she works really well, but as a puppy sometimes in the middle of working something else distracts her and I could see her accidentally losing her collar. I'm not sure how long it'll take to decide to show her in novice. She has a conformation show in early June where they also have Rally-O and I kind of thought even if she's not ready it would be nice to get her in the ring just for the experience. But of course in that case she really might accidentally back out of a non-martingale.