krissy

I fill the kong up with kibble mixed with either peanut butter, cheez whiz, yogurt, or cottage cheese. Then I freeze. The sticky stuff between the kibble makes it take a lot longer to clean out. This works for Summit. Usually takes him about 20 minutes to empty a Kong. If you leave her with two of those you've got 40 minutes maybe.

Agreed. I know mine is food motivated. My BF calls him the "food mongrel" because if he hears me opening a bag of treats, opening the fridge, etc. he comes running. But sometimes when he's outside and something gets his attention he doesn't care what food I have, he won't take it. Until whatever it is passes and then he's like, "wait, where was that treat?". Put him on the table for x-rays and he actually spits out treats that I put into his mouth. The second he's off the table he's looking at me waiting for his treat.

I have been on the quest for a safe, long lasting, healthy chew. I have yet to find it. I have tried the following.... Edible nylabone type products: I give these occasionally but they don't last long and they are fairly hard so I do worry about his teeth sometimes. Pizzles and bullysticks: LOVE these for being safe and healthy but they get a thumbs down in the stamina department. Maybe 10 minutes. He goes nuts for them though so I do keep them in stock and he gets one every week or so. Raw marrow bones: He likes these pretty well, they're cheap, they last the longest of anything I've given him. They're healthy enough, though I'm not nuts about raw things, and because it is bone I do worry about his teeth. I take it away when the meat is gone and most of the marrow is gone... i.e. when he starts really going to town on the bone itself. I don't want any broken teeth. I have not tried rawhides nor will I. They're not digestible and I've heard too many horror stories about dogs choking. So these get a thumbs down for us. Pigs ears (natural ones, not bleached or covered in oil) and tracheas are liked here but again, last about 10 seconds. We just got some IAMS dental chews from his first blood donation goodie bag. Have yet to try those. I've given him greenies before. They don't last long but he seems to like them. Zukes dental bones are awesome. I haven't actually bought any for him but our foster dog loved them. They don't last though. Maybe 5-10 minutes. Just bought him an antler last week. Zero interest.

Thanks guys. He was definitely having an off day for whatever reason. Yesterday and today so far have been much better. I think being to school with me for vet appointments 2 days in a row probably had him a little tired. I've never given blood before (was deferred for a long time because I lived in the UK as a child, and more recently I got a couple of tattoos) but from what I know it can leave you feeling a little tired. So I certainly can't blame him for being off that night at obedience class. I was slightly bothered that he was so difficult in the morning before he went to donate blood though, but again, he had x-rays the day before and probably just wasn't totally up to it. He had also just had breakfast not too long before. I do give meaty left overs as treats if they are available, but I'm almost vegetarian (I don't particularly care for a big slab of meat), and whatever I don't finish my boyfriend is usually too happy to take off my hands. I did originally start teaching him his down (his first trick) with steak bits, and I've used pork as well. It's just not particularly available in this household. I also will give sandwich meats if we have any, or cheese. I usually leave those kinds of things for teaching him new things though. I sort of expect to lower the treat value for tricks that I know he knows. But I suppose the odd high value treat for a sit or down will keep him gambling for next time! I'm going to try to always have something "new" on the go for him to learn. I think he likes that. It's just hard because he mastered the hardest thing I had to teach him (retrieving) in 2 days... there's only so many new things I can think up for him to do! I've also noticed that he seems much happier to work if I'm really excited. I've been trying to not get super excited with him because I find it gets him too amped and he jumps around and really exaggerates everything he does (and nearly takes my fingers with the treats), but I have noticed that when I get really excited and give him some good thumps on the bum or sides that he seems very pleased with himself. So maybe he does work for praise and approval. lol

Thanks. I'm definitely not a perfect trainer. He's my first dog and though I've always had an interest in training and behaviour and have a fair bit of exposure to dogs, he's the first one I've had to really train so it's kind of a learning process for me too. Though, I think it's a bit of a learning experience with each new dog because they're all different, but still. I guess sometimes I put pressure on myself that if he's not getting something or not doing something that it's my defective teaching methods (which it probably is, but it can be a moment of despair). I definitely try to pay attention to when the right time to quit is. I like to finish on a high note, but sometimes he shuts down really suddenly and then I have to make do with not getting that good finish, and I just ask for something else he knows well so he doesn't lose confidence and we have a good ending to the session. We've got obedience class tonight, so hopefully he'll be on his game. I definitely notice he is on in the evening. I just got him home from his blood donation this afternoon and he's been following me every time I get up hoping to be asked to do something for a treat. I guess he's just a night owl...?

I should clarify a few things. I do not get frustrated with him. I either find one of his treats that he will work for and try to coax him into working which worked today and I eventually got him to accept the rest of his treats as well. When he's like this I ask for a couple of things done well and then call it quits instead of pushing him. He gets a variety of treats. I didn't want him to get bored. He gets dehydrated liver, dehydrated beef lung, dehydrated tripe, Zuke's little training bits, dehydrated white fish, and I just got a bag of grain-free biscuits (venison stew flavour). I kind of just buy whatever and have a couple of bags on the go. When I run out of one thing I open a new bag of something else, so treats are changing over time and there's always variety. We do training sessions in the sense that we will get up and do some work for a couple of minutes about 5 or 6 times a day. I don't train him for 30 minutes all at one shot once a day. We do have a specific room which is the "training room" (i.e. the bedroom) simply because it's the only carpeted room so he feels more comfortable offering behaviours, but he does get taken out to school and pet stores, friend's houses etc. and he gets asked for behaviours there too. So yes, he is learning to generalize. I doesn't get a treat every time for behaviours he knows well (i.e. down) but considering we've only had him for 4 months and I only started training him about 2 months ago, a lot of his tricks aren't consistent enough to remove treats yet. Especially right now I'm training a play retrieve and quite frankly I will probably give a treat for that always, or at least every other retrieve. I doubt it's ever going to be too inherently rewarding in and of itself and to keep him motivated I'll likely keep giving treats for that. He is VERY food motivated. Just not when he's "OFF". He's food motivated enough however that unless there's a reason (like at the clinic when he statues) I can usually convince him to work for treats. But it sounds kind of like a greyhound thing I guess. I suppose he just has his moods. However, I'd like to get the point across to him that even if he doesn't feel like it, he still needs to do what I say. Maybe not in the sense of learning something new... I'd abandon ship on that. It's just irritating when I ask for something I know he knows and he just decides he doesn't feel like it. How do I make a point of "okay, you don't feel like it, but do it". I mean, it comes down to one day he might not FEEL like coming back when he slips out the door by accident, but he needs to know that when I say to come that he does it. I've never had a problem with the recall and "not feeling like it", but if it can happen with a down or sit, it can happen with come. That's what worries me.

Does anyone have a grey (or other breed) that does this? When Summit is on he is ON. I mean he will work incredibly hard and do tonnes of repetitions. But when he is off... he is OFF. I just tried to do some work with him and it was like pulling teeth. I mean, I asked for a sit and he did it but then wouldn't take the treat which was my first clue. And then he was just refusing to do things. It's not like we were learning anything new and he just didn't know what I wanted. We were working on things he knows. I finally got him working and taking treats but he still wasn't quite on. I don't even really know how to describe it. He has done this before but there's usually an obvious reason. If he knows I'm about to leave he won't listen, or if he does he won't take treats. Yesterday when he was getting his x-rays done he more or less statued and wouldn't take treats. He did lay down on the table when I asked but he wouldn't take anything for it. But this is totally random. I'm still in my PJs, I haven't done my makeup, I have done none of the usual "I'm leaving" routine so that can't be the problem. It was honestly almost like a "I don't want to, I don't feel like it, you can't make me" attitude. Is this normal for all dogs, normal for greys, a personality thing. Any reason why he would not want to train in the middle of the day? Yes, he was sleeping on the couch when I called him, but other times he's been sleeping too and he's been very eager to train. Just weird.

No real advice, just lots of sympathy. I would be so upset and frustrated coming home to that. Having to clean it up, having to deal with the financial burden of replacing/fixing things, and all the while wondering how I'm going to help my dog. That's really awful. She's clearly got some very serious separation anxiety. If she hadn't escaped from a crate I would suggest crating. Is it possible to take her to a doggie daycare, or find someone you know who would be willing to take her at least some days to reduce the financial burden of daycare? I'm sure some more experienced people will have better advice for you.

Yes, I think you can teach any dog anything. Check out my blog to see some videos of Summit's retrieving training. He's actually doing even better than that last video, but I haven't gotten one of him getting some distance just yet. Next blog entry I'll include that. Still, I'm impressed. In 2 days he learned to retrieve. And this is a dog who didn't even look at toys.

I certainly don't think of the greyhound as a "trick" dog like a border collie or something who pick up random little tricks in a 10 minute training session, but I certainly don't understand why anyone would think they can't be trained to do "normal" activities. Not that they can't learn cute little tricks of course, because they can. It's interesting how people think of greyhounds as dumb. I think it's because most owners don't bother to teach them much because they're so well behaved. I love seeing my dog's "aha!" moments where the lightbulb goes on. And it's so funny to see him offering behaviours in the hope of getting a treat.

Yes! I am a genius. I've already been able to remove the chewies out of the toy and he is still grabbing it. Success!

I'm not sure soaking it would work for Summit. He'd probably just try to lick it... although, come to think about it that requires opening his mouth. Actually, I wonder... I think I just came up with the best idea I've had so far. He's got a stuffingless toy that has a velcro opening to put a water bottle in. I'm going to take the water bottle out and stuff it with food and treats or a chewy. No idea if that'll work but it's worth a try as I have tried everything else so far. I have done the whole keeping toys away from him and taking them out and playing like a mad fool with them, squeaking them in front of him and then putting them away. I picked up a cloth frisbee for $3 yesterday and my BF and I threw it around in the living room together pretending like we were having a grand time and praising Summit every time he followed it's flight with his eyes. I also bought him this bird toy yesterday because I have never seen him show so much interest in a toy. Instead of squeaker it has a mechnical bird chirpping noise. He stared at it so intently with his ears up. Never had any reaction to any other kind of squeaker (and we have lots, the high squeaky ones, and the low honking type), so I'm hoping if this stuffed toy idea works that the next step will be this birdie toy.

It's so exciting to read about so many people doing some serious training with their greys! Most of the people I know who have greys don't train them. I understand on one hand because they're just so well behaved (most of them) that they really don't require religious obedience. On the other hand I think that regardless of their already good behaviour that it's a fun thing to do for both and really helps to build a relationship. I do need to get my BF to do some training with us though, because at this point Summit won't listen to a word he says. He really has no use for my BF anymore since I'm the one that walks, feeds, and trains him. We will see how he picks up on the agility when we start actual agility classes. I think once he gets through each of the obstacles a couple of times he'll be fine, it's just the initial "you want me to do what?" moment, especially with covered things like the tunnel. He never raced so I don't know if he's ever been in a starting box for training or anything. He also has no interest in toys, so all we have is food to try to entice him. For retrieving I was following the instructions from Never Say Never Greyhounds (neversaynevergreyhounds.net) which are great and will work for any dog that will actually show some interest in a toy. Problem is that my boy will not under any circumstance pick up a toy. The weirdest thing is that his previous owners told me that when he got really excited he would bring a toy and he would chase it and bring it back if they threw it. Yet here he has lots of different toys with different squeakers... rubber toys, plush toys, stuffingless toys, and he hasn't barely looked at one. Go figure. Strange dog!

I started training Summit around Christmas. We started with down and moved on to sit and stand. His down/stay is amazing now as well. We just had our first Grade 2 obedience class on Wednesday which was so much fun! And Summit was one of the best in class. We're learning to heel, drop on recall, recall with distractions, and at the end of every class we do an introduction to agility. This week we did the jump which was great because Summit didn't know how to jump so it was nice to finally teach him. We also did the table and the tunnel, but we never did get him through the tunnel. I want to teach him to retrieve, and that's part of grade 2. I've taught him to target a toy, but he has no interest in toys and no prey drive so getting him to grab it has proved challenging even with shaping. We're going to take agility level 1 after we finish obedience, and hopefully will have time to get agility level 2 in as well this summer so that we can start going to trials next year. We'll see how quickly he progresses though!

I don't have a tonne of experience so I'm sure but I'm sure you'll get lots of great responses from others. For me we've had two outgoing greys, our first foster, Sunny, and then our own first dog, Summit. In both cases though they went through a bit of a phase of sort of hanging out by themselves in a different room. I think even the most outgoing grey has a bit of an adjustment period. If your boy is truly shy then he might take longer to adjust. Our boys both became very outgoing within the first week, so beyond the initial adjustment I don't have much experience with shy greys.

I just had some of my wisdom teeth out last summer. I only took the prescribed medications (I think I got codeine... can't remember) for the first day, and after that I just took the odd Advil if I was feeling any pain. I was up and around and doing things, hanging out with friends and such. Every individual is different though. I didn't get a lot of swelling or "chipmunk face", whereas I had friends that were swollen and sore for days and had to eat mush. It'll depend on how bad the teeth are, why they're coming out, etc. Obviously they'll do their best to extract them all in one piece, but they're coming out because they're not healthy so they may not come out in one piece and they may cause more inflammation trying to get the fragments out. It all depends. If you're not sure I'd reschedule her therapy visit for another time. I don't necessarily think it would be too much to ask of her, but I don't know her or her exact dental situation.

This is probably not going to be helpful since this is a new fear, but I just thought I'd mention that there are sometimes things that animals perceive that we just can't. We have Summit who is a 5 year old GH that we adopted in October, and we have 3 rabbits. We also had a foster GH for 3 weeks immediately before we adopted Summit. We have hardwood floors everywhere except in the two bedrooms. The hardwood is the same throughout. Or is it? NONE of our animals will go farther than halfway through the kitchen. Actually, the dog is the only one who will go into the kitchen at all. The rabbits refuse. And even the dog will only go as far as he has to because his food and water are in there. Our foster dog was the same. He would follow me to the bathroom for the first week, looking nervous the whole time, and once he was settled in and comfortable he would follow me into the kitchen and stop and wait until I came back. They all look horribly uncomfortable on the floor. It's the same to us humans, but clearly there is something different about it such that none of the animals like it.

I usually only take Summit out twice a day. Partly it's due to my schedule, partly due to weather right now, and partly because he seems to do fine. I walk him early in the morning before school. I'm usually gone from 8:30-5:30. I could walk him right when I got home and again a couple of hours later, but with the cold he doesn't want to go out in particular, he doesn't ask to be let out to potty, and if I make him go out that third time late before bed he doesn't really do anything. So I usually just end up walking him at an inbetween time, like 7 or 8. He's got a bladder of steel. He is also crated all day. I leave a bit of water in a bowl in his crate, which he'll drink before I get home. I don't leave him tonnes just because he's a nester and he gets his blankets into the bowl and then he has no water and his blankets are soaked. On weekends when I can take him out at better intervals (i.e. at midday) then I will give him at least 3 walks.

I have been on a bit of a quest for the healthy, safe, long lasting chew (which it is now my opinion doesn't exist). Bullysticks are awesome, but I wouldn't call them long lasting. They last about 15 minutes here with a moderate chewer. I can see a strong chewer getting through one in about 10 minutes. Everyone I know with a greyhound that I've asked about antlers has said that their dogs have absolutely zero interest. Obviously, every dog is different, but it seems like many greyhounds don't like the antlers. I did finally buy some marrow bones for Summit. I'm not a big fan of bones because I think they're tooth chippers. He chewed the meat off and then went at the marrow and some of the softer bone around the inside. Once he was done that and started trying to chew the outside edges I took it away. I'll give them occassionally, but they still make me nervous because they're bone.

Our foster pup was our first dog, and we were counting on quiet because our getting our own dog (who we have now, so you know this has a good ending) hinged on our "trial dog" being good. The first few days we had some anxiety for sure. He'd never been alone before, so it made sense. He barked and whined the first day I was gone (it was a short day, a couple of hours). He would start when I would leave but was always quiet and calm when I came home, so I knew he wasn't working himself up for too long. I would crate about 5-10 minutes before I planned to leave the house, and planned to leave the house about 10 minutes before I needed to. The first 5-10 minutes gave him time to settled into his crate and start working on his frozen Kong and to be ignored completely by me. We live in a basement apartment and this was back in September so I left the bedroom window open and when I locked the front door I went out to the backyard and stood outside the bedroom window. From there I could see him and hear him but he had no idea I was there. If he was just whining a little bit I didn't do anything, as soon as he started ramping up to some barking I would give a good stern "Enough!" and that would snap him out of it. He had no idea I was there, it was just a disembodied voice. I ignored him when I put him into his crate, and I ignored him for 10 minutes after I got home (occasional vocal correction from a different room if he started to make too much noise) and only let him out once he was quiet and calm. After letting him out of his crate I ignored him for another 10-15 minutes or until he was calm. We always leave a radio on so there's background noise, and I would leave my PJs in the crate as well so he had something with my smell on it. What also helped a lot I found was to crate and ignore while we were home, especially days when we were only gone for a couple of hours versus a normal 8 or 9. It seemed to help him understand that he had to be alone and that he couldn't always be with us, even when we were home. After the first week we really had no more trouble with the separation anxiety. He was really just understandably upset for the first couple of days after having his world turned upside down. Once he learned the new routine he was great.

I second this. Not to scare you, but hearing that he can't get comfortable lying down makes me think congestive heart failure as a differential diagnoses. When they lie down and aren't moving they don't have gravity or muscle movement and blood flow to the heart/lungs increases (because muscles aren't using it) and the failing heart can't handle the increased blood and they get fluid seeping into their lungs, so they can't breathe as well and therefore aren't comfy. Again, not to scare you because it could easily be something as simple as he's got a kink in his neck from the surgery, but just something to think about. If he's going in for xrays soon I'm sure the vet will look at his heart, especially if s/he knows about the issues getting to sleep lying down. Hopefully it's noting.

Took about a week for our first foster to go up and down the stairs on his own (minimal help and no treat until he finished them) and another week until he was comfortable with them and looked like he'd always known how. That first week we were literally moving all 4 paws for him and holding treats out and then praising like mad when he got there (well, when we got him there).

Yep. Spot on. It's likely to be anxiety coupled with, perhaps, two or three other things including the repeat peeing on the same spot because of the smell. Exactly. Um .. no. She wasn't taking revenge. She was displaying displacement activity, just like the dog who was yelled at and then destroyed a crate mattress. They get upset, they aren't clear on why or what to do next, so they do what dogs do. Usually it's chewing, vocalising or marking - or just plain pooping. Why do they run off and do it 'in secret'? Simple - if they start to do something right in front of you, they will be prevented and/or punished. Why did she choose your things? Perhaps because she was devoted to you, and seeking comfort in your smell, when the need for displacement activity overtook her? Now, anyone who has tried to train a dog to do the simplest thing knows this: you can have a dog who does a perfect sit, down, come here, say 'please' or whatever in their own lounge, but without a whole lot of reinforcement training in appropriate places, that dog will not perform in the middle of a field, in a shopping mall, or in someone else's house. To a dog, it's a different thing. They might know the command for 'sit-in-the-lounge-next-to-your-bed', but to have them apply it to all situations requires you to show them that that's what you want. Most experts agree that dogs can not make the association between past behaviour and present punishment, so why would you think they can take a memory of past behaviour and inflict 'revenge'? It's kind of comforting to think of our dogs as strange-looking people in fur suits, but anyone who truly thinks their dog (or cat, rabbit, whatever) is being vindictive needs to read up on their normal behaviour patterns and social signals and do a little detective work. JMHO. I never said my rabbit was vindictive or out for revenge, just jealous. I don't think he destroys my bf's stuff or pees on him or his stuff to be vengeful. He does it because he sees a new male impinging on his territory and leaving "scent" which he just feels the need to mark over. I just used it as an example of poor behaviour directed at a person.

Maybe her feet were cold? Could you try boots and see if that helps? Or leg warmers? I use my own arm warmers on Summit sometimes, but planning on trying to have some made (or make my own... hand sewn) so they stay on better. I've just been using elastics to keep them on.

My rabbit Caspian is a jealous little bugger. People don't believe me because he's a rabbit, but I tell you those bunnies are smarter than they let on with their giant eyes and twitchy noses. It's all a cover up. Last year I started spending a lot of time at my B/F's place and would only be home some days to feed and clean the bunnies. We would spend half the nights at my place and half at his. We ended up spending ALL our nights at his place because of Caspian. The poor neglected bunny was so furious about my giving this new man in my life (as far as the rabbit is concerned HE is the only man in my life that counts for anything) so much attention that when we would go to bed he would dig incessently at the floor of his cage. His cage is a metal, wire dog crate with a metal floor. He would dig for HOURS on end. If we sat up in bed to discuss what we were going to do the rabbit would be content and would stop. As soon as we laid down again he would start up again. We actually left my place at 12 or 1 in the morning some nights to go back to his place so we could actually get some sleep. Now that we live together the rabbits have their own room and Caspian has settled a bit. But if I let him out with my boyfriend around it's almost guaranteed that the rabbit is going to pee on something that belongs to my boyfriend, bite him, or chew something that belongs to him. Don't be fooled by the cute fuzzy ears. They're just waiting for the right time to take over the world.