krissy
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Posts posted by krissy
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The boyfriend is trying to veto me. Sometimes he confuses me. He loves Summit but has always said that we should also get a "real" dog.... He means it in the most loving way possible. Just that greyhounds are a little odd sometimes. Like how Summit backs away from the fridge door when it slowly keeps opening, or when you pass something over top of his head, and so on. But I had said I wanted a second greyhound. I started putting out feelers for said second greyhound in May, had a few pop up as possibilities but all fell through ultimately (one because in her foster home she started displaying aggression towards the other dogs in the pack, another we simply couldn't get into foster care, etc. etc.). Now, I find a great "real dog" instead and suddenly BF isn't sure it's a good time to get a second dog, doesn't know if we can handle it, etc. So I ask him why he let me look for a greyhound starting in May, and he says he was okay with a second greyhound but he doesn't think we should get a non-grey. Huh? Says we know what to expect with another greyhound. I pointed out that I was not looking for a second greyhound like the one we already have... I was looking for a super high energy one, so I don't see much difference between that and a border collie ultimately.
I have no idea where he's coming from. Very confused, but we can't go ahead if we're not both on board. Foster mom says she has someone else wanting to meet Stella, so hopefully she'll find a home soon. I could just slap the BF silly right now. Men.
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if you just use physical exercise, the dog gets fitter and harder to tire out.
OMG! DUH! I'm an athlete myself and somehow this never occurred to me. Gosh, I'm so smart sometimes. I would of course be giving her mental stimulation in the form of obedience training. I also have tonnes of treat dispensing toys and have always wanted to get one of those puzzle toys but no way Summit would have worked that hard at it (or maybe he's just not smart enough... shhhh!). I tried nose work with Summit which he wasn't so good at but I think he enjoys it anyway.
Also thinking I could get a Halti to use as a training aid to work on her leash manners, at least in the beginning until we make some head way, then we can lose the Halti and continue working.
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The only thing we did differently from what you are describing is we BOTH walked the dogs, one each.
Yeah, my BF has never been a walker. He loves all our animals but I'm pretty sure if we weren't together he would still have no pets right now. He's just not really into caring for them all. Which is fine. All the animals except the dog are mine from before the relationship began anyway, and I kind of like being the sole caretaker. If we were to go out for a "fun walk" or take the dogs somewhere he would definitely walk one. In fact, it's annoying only having one dog because when we go places he wants to walk Summit, but I don't want to give him up. If we had two I could give him the easier one to walk.
I worry too that with the extra time I'd have to put into the border collie that Summit would feel left out or second fiddle.
I know, I'm an over thinker.
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I definitely intend to play fetch with her in the morning prior to trying to walk them. And I think she may have been worse than usual when we met her today just because of the excitement. She listens well over all, she just lacks focus which is to be expected in a 2.5 year old border collie. And most evenings I could take them for a long walk. In fact, I do have a great trail where I could work with her while Summit goes off leash (no flaming please anyone, my dog, my choice
) in which case I can focus more on her and not worry about all the stopping and starting. Summit is a sniffer so he tends to be slow off leash anyway unless I hurry him.I may be overthinking... I dunno, but I just don't want to make the wrong choice. Our household is very settled right now, just in the sense that we're all in our routine and know what's going on. I'm very used to Summit and I KNOW that we're very spoiled with him. He is almost the perfect dog. He doesn't counter surf, he doesn't dumpster dive, he doesn't get into anything. From what I've been told about this girl, despite her high energy border collie breeding, she does seem to have an off switch and isn't overly hyper. I don't think today was a perfect demonstration of her true personality because it was a pretty exciting day and foster mom says she didn't take her out prior to coming over to meet us. Also, foster mom told us she has pretty bad asthma and can't do long walks, especially now in the summer, so it would seem that she's not nuts without lots of exercise. I just know that I can't deal with 50 lbs pulling on the end of the leash all the time so we are going to have to work on that. The boyfriend isn't totally sold. He thinks a second is biting off more than I can chew (I moved with all the animals about 3 months ago, he doesn't get to move up to join us for another month probably). I don't think a second dog is too much, I do think that the wrong dog could be problematic though. I just want to make sure we're the right home for this dog because she's been bounced around a bit (through no fault of her own... original owner could no longer afford her, next home sent her back after 3 days when she growled at the 4 year old who pulled her ears).
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So we've been thinking about getting a second dog for awhile. And in my head that second dog has been a greyhound. But I'm looking for more energy and an agility/jogging partner. Couple that with our need for rabbit and cat friendly... well, the search has been a little frustrating especially since we're in Canada where our access to hounds is limited.
Out of the blue a young border collie/lab cross has popped up needing a home. We met her today. She's not perfect obviously but in most ways she is what we wanted. She's young, she's got tonnes of energy, she'd make a great jogging and agility dog, and she seems quite safe with the cat and rabbits. But she needs some training. Which is fine because I love training, but I'm wondering how to deal with this. Training is easy enough with just one dog but how do I do it when I also have Summit? For example, the main issue I'm thinking of is leash training. She does pull and she's going to need some work. Two problems.
1. I don't really want to walk the dogs separately. I definitely don't have time for that in the mornings before work and I'd rather not in the evening either.
2. If I take the dogs together I'm going to have to be constantly stopping, asking her to sit or turning her in circles. I don't want to be doing that to Summit. And if we're stopping all the time we're not going to make it very far so they won't get much exercise. I could just throw a ball for her in the backyard for a little while to wear her down, but Summit likes walks.
Obviously I'd be taking her to classes, particularly for loose leash walking. She has her basic commands already and is pretty good though she needs to work on focus. We'd also be doing lots of agility and I'd like to try fly ball. I'd like to take her jogging as well, but that may have to wait until she has better leash skills because I have no intention of being dragged by a running dog (thank goodness she's little).
All in all she seems like a good fit, and if we didn't have Summit it would be a no brainer because she just needs a little bit of work. I'm just not sure how to manage her with Summit who doesn't have any of the same training issues and who is lower energy. How do those of you with multi breed households manage everyone?
Help!
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Summit has this issue. I see why you call it "dominance", though the way I think of it is more "wanting to be top dog" with the emphasis on wanting. I agree that it is an uncertain and insecure dog that feels the need to resort to such displays, and I also find it worse on leash and worst when only MY dog is on leash (i.e. being approached by an unknown, off leash dog). You need to work on building a strong bond with him such that he looks to YOU for guidance when he is uncertain.
For us we trained a "watch me" command. As soon as we see another dog approaching I start asking him for it and rewarding it. Basically I ask him to focus on ME and not the other dog. At first the stimulus (the other dog) has to be quite far away for you to be able to get your dog's attention. As you work together and he gets the idea though he becomes less interested in the other dog and more interested in you and you can get closer and closer to a stimulus and still hold his attention.
Summit is okay with many dogs, has a rocky start with others which can be worked out, and absolutely cannot interact with others. Over time I've learned to be able to fairly reliably determine which category a dog belongs in. Sometimes you'll be wrong, but you get pretty good at it. I have a pretty good idea based on the other dog's size, breed, gender, and body language whether there might be potential problems. If I think the chances there will be a problem are quite low I will allow a meeting if the other owner/dog are interested. If potentially a problem I will warn the other owner and we can do a brief meeting. If I think the other dog is likely to trigger Summit I give them a bit of space and ask him for his attention until we pass the other dog.
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First of all greyhounds do often have higher creatinine levels than other breeds. A slightly elevated creat would not get me very excited. Besides that creatinine is usually fairly markedly elevated and is generally accompanied by an elevation in urea.
Protein shouldn't show up in the urine even in greyhounds. However,Summit had an elevated UPC last fall. Everyone got very excited about PLN. I rested him and rechecked 4 days later... totally normal. It seems that sometimes INTENSE exercise can cause a transient increase in urine protein in greyhounds. Summit had been bombing around at the dog park for over an hour the night before. So sometimes apparently it can happen in a greyhound. But I'd be more excited about the UPC if it was elevated on multiple tests.
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I kind of disagree with people who suggest doing nothing about the sleep startle. You never know when an accident might happen. A child forgets the rules while your back is turned (few children follow rules 100%), or a child trips over a sleeping dog while playing.
You have to desensitize carefully and under supervision of a trainer in some cases, but it's doable and I think the responsible thing to do.
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Summit won't eat during fireworks or gun shots. This Canada Day weekend I tried out Anxitane and what an improvement! Eating, sleeping, no shaking. I have tried everything else and none of it worked for us.
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We have an array of coats, sweaters and pjs. This winter was mild but the winter before that I was pairing fleece pjs underneath thick winter coats. This winter I bought boots (MuttLuks) but it never really got cold enough, not even when we headed up to northern Ontario for Christmas. We walk 30-45 min twice daily almost regardless of temp. It has to be 30C or -20C before we really cut back. Any temp in between we just adjust routes (shade if it's hot) and outfits.
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Absorbable suture is not less "hard core" than non-absorbable, you just don't have exposed suture to take out later.
It is quite standard to use either to close the skin.She may have opened the first layer but that doesn't mean she needs antibiotics. Certainly she has a higher risk now but I've seen a few do it and never needed antibiotics. My own rabbit actually did it the morning after her spay. She didn't get any antibiotics and had no further problems. I would just keep a close eye on it for any signs of infection and get antibiotics if you actually need them.
I remember being nervous new spay mom. Hang in there.
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Greyhounds are dogs, and ultimately you can train any dog to do almost anything that is within their physical abilities. I took a greyhound who wouldn't even LOOK at a toy and trained him to play fetch. I took a greyhound who couldn't jump (he actually climbed very ungracefully into the backseat of my car) and took him through agility (he also now jumps into the backseat of a very tall truck).
If you have the right dog and you put in the work you can train almost any dog to do almost anything. Some dogs just take a little more patience and sometimes a creative approach. But it's do-able.
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Just re-iterating that you be sure you have a truly hypothyroid greyhound before medicating. I've never run a T4 on Summit because he's never had any clinical signs. I ran bloodwork on him last week and my clinic includes a T4 as part of their most comprehensive blood panel. His result came back "<3.8" which was really really low. So I sneakily showed it to everyone at work (at my clinic) and asked them what was wrong with my dog, knowing full well myself that there was nothing wrong with him.
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Great advice so far. I have nothing to add since I don't have a lot of experience with timid dogs. Just wanted to comment though that not all greyhounds are timid. Mine has pretty much never met a stranger. Everyone is his best friend.
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You're going to have to specify the activity level you are looking for. When I was adopting Summit I specifically asked if he liked to walk because I am a walker and I LOVE hiking. The group listened to what I wanted and gave me a dog that fit my lifestyle. At 5.5 years of age he wasn't a youngster with a tonne of energy, but 2 years later he still enjoys long walks with me. In the city we don't usually go for more than an hour. But when we go camping we go for almost a full day. The heat does take a bit out of him on these all day hikes and by the end of the day he's trotting along behind us instead of in front of us, but the next morning he's raring to go again.
Now I'm looking to add a second hound and I am specifically looking for HIGH ENERGY. I'm looking for an agility dog and jogging partner.
Tell the group you're working with exactly what you want. Tell them what kinds of acitivities you would like to do with the dog and they'll find you an appropriate energy level.
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I was shocked to see her name here. Lots of good thoughts and gentle hugs to everyone in the family.
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We're in Pickering.. so a little far from Kitchener- but who knows, I might make a trip to meet different greys!
So sorry I forgot a vital piece of information: her racing name was Sendahl Kass.
I'm moving to Lindsay tomorrow. Still kind of a trek to Pickering but maybe we could meet somewhere in the middle sometime for a run or hike! We are leaving our big greyhound crew in Guelph/Kitchener and looking for new grey buddies!
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Lath
in Remembrance
What a cutie pie. I can see why you had to rescue him and take him in. I'm sorry for your loss. I hope he is reunited with his siblings at the bridge now.
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It sounds like you may be able to solve at least some of your problems by not bringing him back in until YOU feel he is sufficiently empty. He doesn't get brought back inside until he has peed several times (if he is a marker like my boy) and has pooped. He shouldn't get distracted by your praise to the point that he doesn't do anything else. You praise him, give him a reward, and then it's back to walking. Unless he's in your backyard, then I could see how a dog would forget what he's doing. If he will potty on leash I'd honestly be walking him for his morning and evening breaks. After you praise him you go back to walking in which case he has no need to be distracted anymore and if he's a marker then smelling all the pee mail will definitely encourage him to empty out.
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As far as the fluids- thinks he was referring to lactated ringers solution (small amount of dextrose LRS)
I don't think LRS has dextrose in it unless you specifically add it in. I'm sort of confused by the way it's written; looks like the suggestion is to add dextrose to either 0.45 NaCl or Normosol-R. Also with the recommendation for only an 8 hour fast. Interesting. I'll definitely have to keep those in mind.
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I attended Dr. Radcliffe's seminar at Sandy Paws last year and wanted to find out the name of the anesthesia he had mentioned using (he felt it would be less common because of cost, but I wanted to see if my vet has it or could get it if we need to do a dental on Zuri). Just thought I'd share what he sent back in case others are interested in using it to start discussions with their own vets. So here you go:
Greyhound anesthesia is a process;
1. Pre-anesthetic blood work.
2. 8 hour fast- (not 12)
3. IV Fluids 2.5% Dextrose/ .45 NACL or Normosol-R
4. Temperature taken pre-op, post-op, and every 30 minutes until recovered,
then every 12 hours until discharge.
5. Propofol is my anesthetic of choice for short procedures that are not
singularly painful.
6. Acepromazine and Butorphanol with Ketamine and Valium to induce anesthesia.
7. We use Sevoflurane as our gas anesthetic.
Does he say why the 8 hour fast and dextrose? I didn't know greys had issues with hypoglycemia (supposing that's the reason).... Just curious as I don't remember that from when I was at OSU, but I was more in on the surgeries than the anesthesia while I was there. Thanks!
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Everyone else has already said it, but I'll reinforce. He sounds pretty normal for a newly adopted greyhound... or a not so newly adopted greyhound for that matter. But I'd get on top of that growling business. No furniture privileges, and when he does start getting them (not for a few months at least) he needs to be invited up and asked to get off.
We've had Summit for 18 months. He is turning 7 years old in a couple of weeks. He had a home before us for 2.5 years. Fully adjusted from track to home life, right? We were told that he liked toys. He even came with his "favourite teddy bear" which had holes in it and looked pretty beat up. He wouldn't touch a toy. At first I thought it was just adjusting to a new home. But months down the road he still wouldn't look at a toy. I had to actually train him to pick up toys. Now he gets pretty excited when I turn him loose in the yard with a stuffy, but he still rarely picks them up in the house and plays with them on his own.
He was pretty outgoing when we adopted him but now it's like he's never met a stranger. He was affectionate when we got him, but now he greets me every morning and when I get home with tail wagging and muzzle rubbing and leaning, and recently he even started chattering!
They are constantly evolving. The greyhound you have now is not the greyhound you will have in 6 months. The greyhound you have in 6 months is not the greyhound you will have in 6 years.
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I'm so sorry to hear this.
Give the beautiful girl a hug and kiss from everyone on GT.
) in which case I can focus more on her and not worry about all the stopping and starting. Summit is a sniffer so he tends to be slow off leash anyway unless I hurry him.
Managing Different Energy Levels
in Training and Behavior discussion
Posted
I didn't actually mean there's no difference between a border collie and an agility greyhound. But as far as my boyfriend is concerned it really is. When he's thinking of a second greyhound he's thinking it's going to be two of them laying around instead of just one. Half an hour walk twice a day like I'm already doing. My point is just that this lab border collie versus a high energy hound is still going to be more work than just having two of Summit. This dog isn't a pure border collie either. I wouldn't entertain that idea. The BC is thankfully mellowed out by the lab. Foster mom reports she actually has an off switch at home. I think the BF is just freaking because he has never lived with anything other than a greyhound. I thought he'd want us to take her on a trial basis for a week or two and then decide, but he's all of a sudden saying we can't handle two dogs. It's usually my job to be the over thinker and over reactor (hence this thread wondering how I'm going to manage both of them) so I'm surprised that he's done a 180 on me. Even after acknowledging that this seems like the kind of dog I've been looking for in order to have a jogging partner and agility/flyball dog.
Anyway, this is becoming more of a rant about my BF confusing the heck out of me. I'm going to keep that harness in mind for whenever BF decides we can handle a non-grey. Sometimes I miss being single.