Feisty49

Annie gets it at the required intervals. She's never had a reaction. I will continue to get recommended vaccines until something occurs that speaks otherwise because I'm not willing to take a chance on the diseases vaccines protect against. FYI, there is an alternative, to quote from an on-line article: "Vaccine titers can performed on your dog's blood to determine whether your dog still has immunity to these diseases. Some dog owners prefer to test the blood first before vaccinating, especially in cases where it is believed the vaccine may be harmful to the dog. However, the cost of these blood titers is not insignificant and, if the blood titers prove to be low, vaccination will still be necessary. Consult with your veterinarian about whether blood titers are an appropriate option for your dog prior to vaccination."

Sounds to me like vivid dreams, as mentioned above. Since Murphy doesn't turn toward/at you or air snap, I would assume it's not sleep startle, though of course continuing to monitor him is advisable. Annie whines and yips and softly barks in her sleep. It's usually accompanied by her legs moving. She also does a soft whistle when she breaths in a certain way that makes her cheeks do the flub-flub thing. She does not have sleep startle at all, though out of respect for her, I do not just walk up to her and pet her without warning her I'm coming.

Pacman is handsome handsome handsome. Glad to read he's cooperative on walking. Don't be surprised if he reverts, though. My girl still tries it every once in a while and next month is her four year gotcha day anniversary. After all this time, though, she can tell by my tone of voice (my serious mom/grandma voice) that she better *not* do that because it's not acceptable, and she'll then move. :-) Heat: Greyhounds in particular are very sensitive to heat and walking can be a problem when it's hot. My girl pants when it's 60 degrees and sunny. When it's 80 degrees with a high dew point and sun, she starts heavy panting in a couple of hundred feet. Just saying that walking in hot weather is best done early and late, before and after the hottest times of the day, and walks may have to be shortened even then. We've had cool weather the past two days with no sun and Annie loves it. She was back to trotting down the street, tail wagging, happy as a clam in salt water.

Pretty girl with a greyt personality. How wonderful for both of you.

She's beautiful....and yup, is doing it right.

Want to toss out that while I don't know anything about this recall, I don't trust dogfoodadvisor.com regarding its rating of dog foods. The man who rates the food is a dentist, and though he claims assistance from people who have more animal-like credentials, personally, I think he's full of himself and his own words. Feeding too much peanut butter can be an issue for some dogs and it's loaded with calories. My girl Annie weighs 65-66 pounds. She's tall and long. She also puts on weight easily so I am conscious of calories. She is fed just under 1.5 cups of food twice a day plus a few treats. Except for Milk Bones, which I buy in the large size and let her have half of one once or twice a day, she gets Mother Hubbard's small-dog treats, which I break in half, or Nutro's itsy bitsy treats. She rather have 6 real small pieces so she can "find it" more often than 3 bigger ones, or at least that's what I tell myself. LOL She also gets about a tablespoon of peanut butter when she takes her pain pill. PB helps everything go down, don't 'cha know. Isn't it wonderful when they pick you? Most if not all of us have had this experience at one time or another, and there's no way to ignore that pull. BTW, we need pictures of your pretty girl.

So sad.

I would not do this because it isn't what you want. It could backfire and confuse him. Don't reinforce a practice that won't work for you or is against house rules. You could end up with a habit of him wanting YOU downstairs, instead of him upstairs, which could be more difficult to break. Greyhounds need lots of love and gentleness. They also need to know that mom and dad will take care of him/her and, just like a child, need to know the rules, so to speak, so they feel secure. Part of feeling secure is not being alone but being with their humans. And while they don't sit around planning how to manipulate their humans -- after all, they are just dogs, no matter how special -- they remember that mom did *this* yesterday and maybe she'll do it again today, and I'll let her know I want it again by crying or whining.

Yepper. Posted just one minute apart.

My first inclination is that he doesn't want/need to go out for a pee. He is probably lonely, which is pretty common among Greyhounds who have never spent a day/night alone until they go to a Forever Home as an only dog, and wants to sleep in your bedroom. Is there a reason you don't want him in your room? Sleeping in your room doesn't mean you have to let him on your bed. He just needs one of his beds to curl up on and he'll probably be happy. Stairs: There are lots and lots of posts about teaching stairs. I understand not wanting to toss too many things at him at once, but it's time, and it can be done fairly easily and quickly. Here's a good post about teaching stairs with different suggestions. http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/312972-stairs-training-help/?hl=stairs And remember, he is the dog and you are the hoooman. :-) Even if he protests and doesn't want to learn stairs, he needs to so have confidence.

Yuck. That's too bad. Hope he's better soon. When you introduce food again, give him cooked chicken and overcooked rice.

You've become a member of The Greyhound Cult. Enjoy!!

You'll get lots of good advice. I won't go into much with my post. Just want to say it can take weeks or even months for a Greyhound to settle in and understand that he's in his Forever Home. Have you read any of the Greyhound advice books, such as "Retired Racing Greyhounds for Dummies"? This link can be a help too: http://www.gpa-az.com/gilley.html Walking: I'd encourage him to walk because it's a good way to bond, plus he needs the exercise, but for a couple weeks, avoid areas that you know have lots of people and/or dogs, if possible. If he plants himself when you're walking, don't pull on the leash. You could hurt his neck. The trick is to get his feet moving. Try holding him firmly, by keeping the leash short, against your thigh and walk in a circle, pushing gently on his neck/shoulder area so he has to walk with you. When you come out of the circle, keep on walking straight ahead. It may take a couple of times. Also, try to be confident. Dogs can pick up on human insecurities and if you feel anxious and worried about him stopping on walks and not getting him going again, he'll sense it. Jumping into a car: With my girl, all I had to say was, "Kennel up," and she jumped in the back of my SUV. I was told -- don't know if it's true -- that that was the term used to get her to jump into her crate at the track. Girl crates are usually stacked over boy crates, so I don't know if that phrase will work for your boy. Others will have good advice for you about that. It would be a good thing to get him acclimated into going into the vehicle without being picked up because he'll milk it for all it's worth. LOL BTW, we need pictures of Pacman.

I have no suggestions re handling the problem because I have no experience. I do suggest, though, that you muzzle her whenever she is in public. If you continue the nursing home visit, muzzle her. IMO, it is wrong any way you look at it to bring a dog known to bite anywhere without a muzzle. I think you're lucky that your neighbors are understanding and happy with baked goods. I might not be so kind if I was bit or my granddaughter were bit.

It's difficult with his coloring to get a good look, but if he were mine, I'd want to take off a couple of pounds. I don't think he's fat, and certainly not obese, but I just think he'd look better a bit lighter. He is a gorgeous guy and I love his fuzzy wuzzy belly. It reminds me of Annie's.

The first thing that crossed my mind is a UTI. A sudden change in pee habits would indicate that. Also, If he really has to go, which apparently he does because he's peeing in the house, he'll just pee upstairs if he can't go down. If there is no medical reason for his peeing at that early hour, I have no advice as to how to break him but I do know that to avoid the peeing in the house with the eventual smell and stains, I'd let him out when he starts to whine, toss him a small treat to satisfy hunger and go back to bed.

It's impossible to assess without knowing your dog intimately as you do, but if Annie was prone to snapping, or even if she had done it only once, I would not take her on therapy visits where people expect to be able to pet and poke a dog without concern for being bit. Annie was never certified, but many nursing homes don't require certification, so for a while we did a weekly visit to a local home. I've been told by friends with 20+ years of experience with Greyhounds that Annie is the most laid back, calm, complacent Greyhound they've ever seen. She's never growled. She's never snapped. Even so, I was always on alert around the folks at the nursing home just in case something happened that she didn't like. BTW, Annie wasn't thrilled with visiting people indoors -- she liked it when out in the home's garden -- so come winter, we quit going and then I moved anyway.

This. Not considering any medical condition, many/most Greyhounds are very heat sensitive. Even sitting in the shade on a hot day with high dew point/humidity can overheat them. My girl rather be walking in 30F than 60F and when it's 70 or more, we walk in the morning and evening when the sun is low and the temps are likely to be lower than at other times. On days where it's extremely hot (90+) we may not walk at all. I treat summer temperature extremes as I treat winter extremes, such as we had this past winter, the same way when deciding on when or if to walk Annie.

My suggestion is to get up and let him out in the morning when you hear him pacing. In my little experience, if a dog has reached the point of whining to go P&P, it's reached the point of, "I GOTTA GO!" LOL

It's been mentioned a couple of times that a confident dog would be a good fit for Ruby. This sounds like good advice, but for me, this raises the question that those with experience can answer: How does one evaluate a puppy in that regard? Is it they way puppies play or approach a new situation? I still think an older dog, at least a year old, would be better and easier for the household, but that's only from my perspective of not wanting to have to teach all the things that babies need to learn.

When I started it a few months ago, I did the recommended dose, and it worked well for Annie. I wouldn't think an introduction is necessary. I mix up a day or a day and a half worth of it ahead of time. I use cold or warm tap water. It makes no difference with the final consistency. Only the amounts of each, carrots/water, makes a difference. I refrigerate what I don't use. I don't know if it's necessary, but if I were hydrating a human dried food, I'd refrigerate it so I applied the same principle to the carrots. I usually mix it in with Annie's kibble using warm water but if it's cold water, Annie doesn't care. I will say Annie doesn't seem to be crazy about it. She eats it because I mix it well, but if any of it ends up in the bottom of her bowl with no kibble, she leaves it.

Really? I suspect there are other words used to describe you. It's probably good you didn't say more because no doubt it wouldn't have contributed to the conversation as what you said above didn't. I haven't yet used the word rug to describe Annie, but I have mentioned that a second dog would be nice for more companionship. Rug-like, though, would describe my girl. I like what is said above about an off switch. Annie is always off, unless there's a reason not to be, such as being asked if she wants to go for a walk or for a ride in the car. Having grown up with Boxers, I know that dogs who are always on can wear on one's energy after a while. Whatever you decide on getting, make it a cute one! LOL

I noticed it in the past 6 months or so and Annie is only 7-1/2. The first thing I noticed was when she shook herself from tip of nose to tip of tail, her back paws/legs no longer came off the floor; just her front paws/legs would fly. She just wasn't shaking with as much energy. Also, she tires quicker on our walks compared to last year. Depending on weather, we usually walk 1.25 miles twice a day, give or take a tenth. If it's extremely cold or hot, we take shorter walks at more appropriate times for the temp. This spring she starts off the walks with enthusiasm and a good trot, but at about half a mile, she's slowed down a lot and her enthusiasm has waned. Annie doesn't really run. She'll get into a slow run in the backyard to get her first-of-the-morning poo ready to come out, but even with other Greyhounds and a big area, she won't run. This started over a year ago. It could be because she's not a dog's dog and doesn't play with other dogs. She gets along with other dogs nicely but prefers humans. She does have arthritis in her spine and the vet has her on Vetprofen, but I think her back legs are starting to age a lot. As far as keeping Snow active, I'd do what you think she is capable of doing. Unless there is a serious medical reason, walking is good for dogs just as it is for humans. If you walk slower maybe you can put in an extra tenth or two of distance to make up for the speed. I don't know how you would "push" her to be more active. They can't be forced to run so I guess walking is the way to go. Perhaps the pushing is doing it even if she seems reluctant.

Annie does not like any vegetable. She sniffs at a carrot and ignores it. She does eat her kibble, though, with Olewo mixed in. I don't think there's any taste to it. It has no smell that I can detect. I mix up a couple of tablespoons +/- and water --- hot or cold doesn't matter --- and let it stew, so to speak. It's usually the consistency of soupy squash, though it can be any consistency if the amounts of water and dried carrots are shifted around. I do usually follow the recipe on the package but I omit the oil. I make up enough for 3 meals and refrigerate, adding warm water to the kibble when I stir it in. Annie doesn't know it's there. It helps her poo to be firmer, but it's not bouncing or rolling down hills. Nonetheless, I think it's worth it, and a small bag lasts a long time with just one dog.

Poor girl. It must hurt her. I figured pum-pum meant her genitals, vagina area, etc., but I too have never heard that term before. Real words don't hurt but they do clarify. While I might not want to do a personal service for a dog that isn't mine, it wouldn't bother me at all to take care of any parts of Annie. I love her from ear tip to toes and the idea of doing something to make her feel better, makes me feel better. As your vet said, I wouldn't use baby wipes for something that is sore/irritated. They have stuff in them as well as fragrance. I think it would make the area hurt more. Whatever you use, just think how you are helping her heal and feel better. I hope it clears up quickly.