Feisty49
-
Posts
3,032 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Store
Articles
Posts posted by Feisty49
-
-
Beautiful poem. We are all feeling your loss.
-
Heartbreaking she didn't make it but so glad she had so much love while in her training period. Her trainers did a wonderful job. Love does wonders.
-
He's beautiful. It's so exciting to bring home a new Greyhound.
-
Ow! That must have hurt. Good luck with her recovery and keeping her quiet.
-
You're a beautiful Greyhound. I love B&W animals and you fit the bill. How lucky your new family is to have you adopt them. Looks like you made a good choice.
-
Yep. If I skip one day, Annie's breath becomes a bit stinky and the next time I brush, there may be a smudge of blood on the toothbrush.
-
In the above link, I read nothing about transmission to animals. Did I miss something?
-
I'm not one to jump at drugs either, but IMO your question, "He would be perfectly happy to live out his days in the house, never going outside again, peeing and pooping where ever and when ever the need strikes. Is that a reasonable/rational way to live?" says it all. If other aides don't help, it appears you will have to go the drug route in an effort to give him a reasonable life.
-
OMG!! This is one hell of a bad disease.
-
I agree about the eyes. Annie will jump out of the car, either from the cargo area or a side door, but she's tentative. I know she has sight issues being she has an auto-immune disease in her left eye and has an atrophied optic nerve in her right. She has no problem running around, finding treats, walking, etc., but I think, as mentioned above, her perception when looking down is off.
My suggestion is to use treats to encourage him, and if possible, park on the same type of environment so he gets used to it and loses the tentativeness.
-
Annie's left eye became red and blood shot in February 2014. There was no discharge. Our vet didn't know what it was. She thought it could be Pannus but hesitated to make that diagnosis. I was referred to an animal ophthalmologist who diagnosed nodular granulomatous episclertis (spelling may be a bit off), an auto-immune disease . She said it was a cousin to Pannus and would result in blindness if left untreated.
Needless to say, I immediately put Annie on the recommended drops and the disease has not progressed. She gets one drop in each eye, even though right eye is not diseased, twice a day.
My advice: If you have one in your area, make an appt with an ophthalmologist. It's worth the time and expenditure.
-
Regarding being incredibly tired after a fun weekend: That's normal. If your girl is used to walks and perhaps a short run around a yard, then heavy exercise/fun/running will make her extra tired, just as it would people. When we used to go to our group's annual picnic, at which there could be 20+ Greys, Annie would run and play and do it again two or three times, and the next day, she was flat out napping.
-
My sympathy on the passing of your boy. Your words are beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. Run swift, sweet boy, and then take a nap in soft, green grass.
-
Good job. Annie wouldn't go within 5 feet of it let alone stick her nose out.
-
It is the most difficult of decisions to make, whether for human or animal. Good thoughts and courage being sent your way.
-
I use a variety of things: for when Annie gets her eye drops; for after her teeth are brushed; for when she comes in from going P&P.
I buy the mini Mother Hubbard dog treats. I also buy from the local specialty dog food store something called Gourmet Cuts Treats for Dogs, made in the USA by Sunshine Mills out of Alabama. Annie also gets half of a full size Milk Bone after our morning walk and the other half after the afternoon walk. She also occasionally gets a small piece or two of cheese. If I have popcorn, I toss her a few. She LOVES marshmallows and occasionally we share a few minis. All treats, except for the half of Milk Bone, are small and low in calories and are not given in abundance. Annie puts on weight easily, though we walk about 2.5 miles a day.
-
He's a big, handsome boy! I hope it works out because he sounds so nice.
-
They're all different in their methods of indicating, "I gotta pee." After almost 4 years, I still don't know for certain when
Annie is asking to go out. Nine times out of 10 I get it, or maybe I'm just lucky, but there is nothing overt about her asking. I do know that if I think she's telling me and I ask, "Gotta go potty?", if she lays down she doesn't have to go, though the next time the same look/body stance may mean, "Yes, I do," and out she'll go.Annie drinks a lot of water a couple of times a day. Luckily, she has the bladder the size of an elephant because she can hold it for hours on end, usually her choice, and sometimes 12 hours overnight.
Peeing when you leave work: Do you give him the chance on grass to go pee or do you walk directly to your car? Do you say, "Go pee, Merc," or whatever words you use, and let him sniff and wander for a few minutes?
-
You'll get a lot of responses. What works for this dog won't work for that. The green bag referred to above is Iams Proactive dog food. It's in a mostly green color bag. It has done wonders for many of us in that the output is usually a good poo that is pick-up-able.
For what it's worth, I am not a proponent of high-end dog foods *just* because they are considered high end. My girl does lousy on them, hence I use 2/3 Iams and 1/3 Limited Ingredients Natural Balance (weird but it sets well with her). I'm one of the older folk on the forum so no doubt my thinking is influenced by how dogs thrived 30+ years ago without special food, and I believe that people tend to buy into the hype about low grain food, but it does work well for many many dogs, and that's what counts.
One other thing, have you tested her feces for worms? That's the first thing I'd do.
-
Hi from Upstate New York. Bore us? BORE US? ROFL. Nobody is bored with stories of houndies. And as said above, pics please.
-
Great article. Thanks for the information.
-
Pretty much Annie poos three times a day: First thing in the morning in our fenced yard. Second time is during morning walk about 2 hours later. Third time is afternoon walk about 4 hours after morning walk. Her poos are usually consistent and can be picked up without leaving smears behind except for sometimes her afternoon poos. To combat that, I carry a lunch size paper plate with me, and as she gets into her poo position, I put it under her bottom. The small paper plate goes into the poo bags I use with no problem, and everything remains clean, including the neighbors' lawns.
I would not plan my walks around the consistency of Annie's poos. That's not practical for the human in the house nor her desire to walk.
-
And a reminder: No matter how good, or not, your houndie is with your cat, all bets might be off when outside. A small animal, even your own cat, in the backyard is often looked at differently by a Greyhound when it's "in the wild."
I wonder how many Greyhounds are good with cats. I wonder if it's a majority, meaning at least 51%. My girl is fine with my cat and was from day 1. After almost 4 years, she's still reluctant to get near the cat, even when said cat is laying on said Greyhound's bed. My Annie is also fine with anything outdoors, so much so that even the rabbits in the yard are safe. I think that's unusual, but ya never know what you're going to end up, and I'm aware that one day Annie might decide that all the small things need to be tasted.
-
Yah, short leash. I keep Annie's leash length at 2', with the other 4' in my hands. If he's able to walk in front of you, the leash is extended too much. Just like teaching a real kid to say please and thank you -- it takes 10,000 consistent reminders -- it will take consistency and time to make your boy do exactly what you want.
I think that most of us who say our dogs walk great have had them for a while. Annie wasn't difficult to walk but she did have to learn that walking means mostly being at my side and not pulling. It also means not planting, but that's another topic.
Annie has favorite places to sniff and that's fine, but if she lingers too long, I remind her it's not a walk unless we're walking, and give a gentle tug.
Stairs Training Help?!
in Training and Behavior discussion
Posted · Edited by Feisty49
First, Auggie will learn but your husband has to stop carrying him up and down. Lots of people will give you good advice and much of it will start off by saying your husband is enabling Auggie to not learn the stairs.
I too was hesitant to "make" Annie do the stairs. I tried, but she trembled and shook and was obviously scared. So every night I went upstairs to the bedroom while she slept alone downstairs. One night about 6 months after adoption she woke me with crying and whining. She didn't have to go potty. She was lonely. That night I slept downstairs with her, but I like my bed too much to do that all the time (unless Annie was sick) so the next day I said to her, "You will learn stairs today!" And she did.
She is not food motivated. Food on each step did nothing. I did praise and encourage each step and give a treat at the top and bottom of the stairs. I started off by standing behind her butt and gently pushing on it while lifting front paw/front paw then back paw/back paw allll the way up 14 stairs. She trembled the entire way. Bending her leg in order to put her paw on the next step wasn't easy, but it had to be done. On the way down I was one step below her on her right side and gently pulled on the leash/collar. If she got stuck -- forgetting what to do next -- I would put one paw on the next step down.
I did this 4 times, one after the other, with each time being just a little bit better. On the 5th try, she took off by herself and that was that.
I think I was lucky in that it was only about 15 minutes worth of work, if that, but if it had taken an hour of up and down, I would have done it because I do not sleep on my couch when it's bed time.
So my suggestion is go at it. Have resolve in your body language and your tone of voice and do not give up. All Greyhounds can learn to do the stairs but mom and dad have to be firm about it.