XTRAWLD

Lighting is important. Ours did the same thing at the start. Did them fine outside, not inside. Make sure all the lights are on inside, lots of encouragement. I've stood behind Ryder for half an hour encouraging him up the stairs. He would often stretch his legs as high up the stairs as it would go without moving his back legs and would stand there for minutes..... I walked his back feet up for him and I let him rest his butt against me while on the stairs. He also very often wanted to turn around but I wouldn't let him. Try standing at the base of the stairs with your dog, lots of light, lots of encouragement and patience. It helps if the stairs are carpeted as well. You are her hooman, and she must trust she will not fall with you behind her. Edit: I also find the "closed" stairs are better than open. The ones that have a backing on the stairs so their legs won't go flying through. Good luck.

The time spent with you was the best she could ever have had.

I've bought the actual stuffers for the kong....they aren't exactly the healthiest thing, but they fit in the kong nicely and if he's not careful, it'll fall way inside and it'll take him forever to try to get it out, or just give up. I have also frozen the kong with peanut butter and some kibble inside..... Frozen lasts much longer

I have heard in animals that the bright red "showing" is to tell the males that she's "ready". After a spay, do they still have horomones racing around the bodies for a few weeks? I have no idea otherwise though.

Oh my gosh, poor guy. For "road rash" like that - although if there is a GASH it sounds more like road rash, I'd put polysporin on it, or if you have any Collodial Silver at all. If it's a deep cut, I'm honestly not sure, but for starters I don't think polysporin would hurt things.......it would get clean and prevent infection from the get go I would hope.

I just found THESE. Anyone ever try them?

I second this as well. Ryder restricts his happiness for a carpeted only area when we come home....he greets me, and runs to a small piece of carpet with his wubba and squeaks away. I have heard of a spray application for feet but I do not know the name nor have I used it - a lot of help I am I know.

Our vet often recommended putting a t-shirt on when Kasey would scratch a lot for his allergies. The vet though would always tell us t-shirt for comforting, t-shirt for preventing licking, t-shirt this t-shirt that. I second the T-shirt idea but check with the vet if it's ok for it to be against the wound.

We have a velcro dog and one partial velcro dog. I find it does lessen with age, that's why I say we have one partial. Kasey, our first grey, always had to be in the same room, would get up if we got up, etc. Now he will lie on his bed if we get up to go into another room, but usually this doesn't last for more than 5 minutes. He really just wants to hang with his people! Ryder is up the second we rise. We've had Ryder for a year now, and after a few months of first getting him, he realized we can indeed go to the the bathroom and come back, there isn't a secret escape door we can leave from! He will lay on his bed now if we get up to go to the bathroom because he knows we'll be back. I find a cue that works well for us is lighting. If all of us are piled into the same room and the lights are on in that room and we have to leave (usually it's because we have to get something from another room and come back - like when getting ready for work in the morning), they seem to know we will be back in the room to finish what we were doing, etc., and will then turn the lights off when we are done. In our house, lights are never on in a room that is unoccupied, so I think that might be why it works so well. People in the room = lights on. People not in the room = lights off. Don't forget to try to keep your dog busy. If you get up obviously something more exciting is going to happen wherever you are as opposed to staying on his bed. He might get a treat, he might get some pets. You can try to keep him busy with a stuffed kong, or a bone while you go about your business in the house...of course supervise him and keep an eye on him as he chews away, but he may not feel as solitary when he's left in a room alone without anything to do, as opposed to chewing on something yummy and keep his mind off of not being with you constantly. That's all I've got for now. Good luck!

a lot of greys have this ADD so it seems. Kasey has had these moments and they get frustrating. Have you tried toys? If they are play motivated, that might work for you instead.

Sorry to hear. I read about Steak here a few times. Bad news indeed.

Beautiful tribute.

We had this with both boys when we got them initially and I think it's totally normal. They will test your mental abilities to ignore them, this is certain. You are right in saying if you keep getting up at 3 when he cries, he'll always keep crying until you go up to see him. Plain and simple. Him speaking got your attention and why not keep trying it every night so he gets what he wants? Withhold water for 2 hours before crating and make sure he goes potty just before being crated. You will then know he doesn't need a bathroom break in the middle of the night. I second the advice of giving a nice bedtime snack. Once crated, ignore him. I know it's hard but it's the only way he'll learn. If he carries on with whining for 15-20-30 minutes (mine have), I stomp over to the crate and give them a firm "no" and "quiet" and I go back to bed. Surprisingly, disturbing the pack leader means trouble and I've had success more often than not telling them to shush and going back to bed. Hopefully you'll have well rested nights shortly.

Welcome from Canada!

So sorry. She'll be in all of our thoughts.

I'm sure when their nails are long and they are used to having them touch the floor and then the next day they can't feel the floor anymore might be unnerving for some greys. Perhaps he just had to get used to it depending on how much you trimmed?

What a great story. Sad news indeed.

Hmmm, if they weren't bleeding before but they are now....sounds odd. Usually they bleed when you start brushing, then the gums toughen up and the bleeding subsides.....how old is she now?

I second that it is prepuce. A little is ok, but for you to notice so much and it's odour is a little odd.

I love the stripe on his face! Hi Joe!

Kasey is on a very low dose (10mg twice a week or less). I can't imagine having to give him 80. I feel for you and am so sorry. Kasey pees like a racehorse too with just 10mg, and cannot seem to gain weight, but those are the only side-effects I am aware of, esp since he's on so much of a low dose compared to yours!

My boy is on predinsone (low dose) and he can't put weight on, so no - it doesn't necessarily mean you automatically gain weight when on that drug. Weight has always been a struggle with our boy. You should be able to see the outline of 2 ribs and a bit of the third, some spine showing an perhaps even a bit of hip bone. Kasey (who is the one on pred) is actually a little under weight to my eyes, and my other boy Ryder is just right. Oddly, Ryders hip bones show, Kasey's do not....however Kasey has up to 3 ribs showing. If you see NO bones anywhere on your grey - IMO it could stand to lose a little weight.

I also find that with age comes affection. Our Kasey would always be close and want to be "in the know" but I find over the past year he's changed to be more "cuddly" for lack of a better statement and I just think it came with time. We've had him 6 years now.

Hand up. I've got an allergic dog. He's a PITA but we love him anyway. To tell you the truth, the only way to be certain if and what he's allergic to is to go through testing. We had blood testing done, which is actually less accurate than skin testing. We could not keep Kasey off meds long enough to go for the skin testing. His allergies were exhibited mostly on his face, ears especially. When you do blood testing, they will give you a full report of allergens that hit high, medium and low on the scoreboard. Those are the allergens in general that you want to try to avoid. Your boy may not be allergic to chicken, but perhaps he's allergic to the corn or the oats or the soy that's in the ingredients. Of the odd things, Kasey is allergic to Kelp....found as an ingredient in some cookies. It would be extremely difficult for you to narrow down what he is allergic to without some guidance. He's even allergic to certain grasses (note your itchy paw comment) and dust and tobacco smoke - the latter was his trigger. We moved into a house that was smoke filled and his senses went into over load. He just hit his limit and it's been a struggle to bring him back down ever since. If you happen to find a food that works on his allergies, it might not work on his bowels. It really is a huge trial and error timeline, and it will not be fixed quickly. You have to resist giving him scraps, and look for cookies that also avoid the same allergens. We switched to raw, but it was difficult there too. He had allergies to chicken and to pork - what's left....lamb that gives him gas and it's expensive....etc...etc.... He's finally on some food now (kibble) that doesn't have ANY allergens and I think this is the best he's been in 3 years. Yes, it took us THAT long to get him right. He's on meds to assist with that, it's too difficult to get rid of all environmental allergens but at least reducing his food allergens is a big help. I would like to suggest you to do testing since you are suspecting allergies and then go from there.

EWH. At least you know what made him feel "off".