Feisty49
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We walk twice a day unless the temperature is below zero because of a wind chill. If it's not windy, we're out there. I have a backyard but Annie likes her walks and it's good for both of us. She doesn't like anything on her feet so we're careful where we walk, and I wash her feet when we get home. She too hates clumps of snow between her toes and will stop, raising one foot and getting that pitiful look on her face, until I remove them.
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Good news. Keep us up-to-date.
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Hello All:
I'm thinking of getting a dog (would be my first dog), and it would seem that a Greyhound would be a good choice for me. They don't seem to require acres of land to run, they are relatively a calm dog and seem to be very sweet.
I have a wood fence that's quite old, and its missing fence in 2 spots. My plan is to fix the fence where its shot, and replace the two missing pieces. Also need to close up the backyard on the sides of the house maybe with a chain link 4 foot. Once that's done, I would have a yard to allow the dog to run around without a leash so I can play ball with him and let him be a dog.
Welcome. Do read as much as you can about Greyhounds. I just want to mention that most Greyhounds -- I'm not saying all so don't anybody jump on me -- don't play ball. They're not a toss and fetch-type canine. They're a maybe-I'll-play-with-this-stuffie dog and then sleep for 4 hours. Most like to run in a backyard and/or do zoomies, but not all. My girl is 7 years old. She has a large, totally fenced yard. She hasn't run in it for over a year, even with other Greyhounds over to play with. However, if you become a Greyhound lover, you'll discover that no matter the personality, you will love your hound more than you can imagine. Good luck.
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Yes re putting food down for 30 minutes and then picking it up, whether he eats or not, whether it be b'fast or supper. He may be hungry overnight, but he will learn that when food is in front of him, he needs to eat it or go without. Being hungry overnight may cause a problem which he may indicate by whining or walking around and generally being a pain. If this happens, I'd give him a biscuit to calm him down, but next evening, if he again doesn't eat his supper, give him a biscuit before you go to bed. You don't want to teach him that he's going to get a biscuit in the middle of the night every night.
Number of poos: We love poo talk!
There are poo posts on the forum where people relate their dogs poo on every walk. It may be only a little bit, but they do it. As I think I said above, my girl poos 3-4 times a day but her routine is regular. First thing in the morning; 2 +/- hours later during morning walk; 5 +/- hours later during afternoon walk. If there's a 4th time, it's usually during the morning walk and it happens if she's had too many treats the previous day. (She loves marshmallows and sometimes I give into those begging brown eyes more than I should.)Some more advice: Dig down deep and be confident about how to be around him and what you expect. He's a dog. You're a human. You wouldn't let your child run your household and your dog shouldn't either. Write down what you'd like him to do, or not do, and then make a plan to achieve it -- and follow through. Until you are 100% sure he's "got it," you need to keep a schedule and not give into that sad look our Greyhounds give us. You and he will get it, I'm sure.
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Methadone as in methadone as in meth (labs)... as in what's used by recovering heroin addicts. It's a heavy duty narcotic pain reliever. Hell, it sounds contra for use by humans! It certainly sounds wrong for back pain in a dog.
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I wish I had advice or an answer for you. The only thing I can say is that 3+ poos is perfectly normal. My girl is pretty regular, doing 3 poos most days, but every once in a while, she'll toss in, or out, a 4th one. Walking generates the urge and we do a lot of walking.
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Treats are always good for learning a new behavior. High-value are better for learning in the beginning. After a while, regular treats are fine. I never go out with Annie without little biscuits in a pocket just because I never know when a teaching moment will come up. I also use them on our walk to reinforce: stop, wait, come, etc. Not all on every walk but something on every walk. To avoid too many calories, I buy mini size biscuits. Most have only 13 to 17 calories a piece and I'll even break them in half. Annie's happy with any little tidbit when it comes to treats.
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He needs to be walked until he poos, no matter how much *he* doesn't want to do it. I understand him planting himself and being stubborn. Stubborness is, IMO, one of the negative, and sometimes cute, Greyhound traits. You need to remember that we are the people. They are the dogs. He doesn't have the right to dictate to you. You say he dragged you back inside. You let him drag you back inside.
My girl Annie Banannie Whisker Face had the worst case of planting when I first got her. I had no experience with a dog who just stopped and stared into space. I remember not wanting to walk her for fear she'd stop -- and what the hell was I to do? LOL I couldn't drag her. I tried pushing. Nothing worked. I would get tears in my eyes. I lived in a small town and everybody knows everybody and I'd run into people in the bank or store and they'd say, "What's with Annie? She doesn't like to walk?" Then I had a trainer come to the house for an hour session to help me with a couple of issues.
The trick to getting a planted greyhound walking is to get his feet moving. The trainer had me hold Annie on a very short leash (no extension of the leash at all), with her head against my left thigh and then walk to my left, in a circle, pushing on her neck as I turned. As I came out of the circle, I kept on walking and Annie would come too. Another way to get feet moving is to gently, but firmly, give a shove on the shoulder area, with with your thigh or a hand, so that all 4 feet give a little jump and then gently pull on the leash (which is very short) and start walking. I always tossed in the word, "Come."
Also when you're walking Optimus, keep the leash short, keep walking and don't let him dictate when he wants to stop and sniff until you're comfortable knowing you can get him moving again. Even after 3 years, Annie occasionally will stop and stare. What DO they see? LOL I give her a few seconds and then I say, "Come now, Annie," and she moves because she knows if she doesn't the next thing will be a push on the shoulder.
You can do it. It takes some confidence and knowing that you are in charge, and I don't mean dominant. I mean Optimus needs to know that major decisions in his life are made by the people in his life. You wouldn't not take him to the vet just because he doesn't like it. He needs to walk, though he appears not to want to.
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That's greyt! All those teeth gone and he's still munching.
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It's important if your dog is cold, and there are many factors to consider. The particular dog. The outdoor temp. Whether it's sunny or cloudy. Whether it's windy or not. How highf/low the humidity/dew point are.
A good indication that a coat is needed is if your hound shivers. If s/he's in a coat and starts to pant, then s/he's too hot.
It was 30 degrees here today and cloudy with a strong. It was cold. Annie was dressed in her new single-fleece coat, and I put the snood on her too, rolling it down to cover just her neck. In less than a block, she was panting so I took off the snood and she was fine.
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Don't apologize for the descriptiveness of your posts. When it comes to our dogs' guts, we go all out!
As many people as post here is about as many suggestions you'll get for food. First adopters, such as I was over 3 years ago, tend to be nervous about a lot of things, especially getting THE BEST food for our hounds. Yah, well, what is best? What is best is what works for your hound. Firm poos, correct weight maintenance, little or no gas, no vomiting, and of course something he'll eat.
You mentioned trying yogurt and Alewo Carrots. I wouldn't do both at the same time. Try one and if it works, skip the other. If you do both at the same time, you won't know what's working and what's not.
Many people will suggest switching slowly to a new food. Some people switch cold turkey. I tended to switch quicker than not. It's probably better to err on the side of caution.
It took a while to find what works best for my girl, most of the time. She's on 1.5 cups of food twice a day. Each portion is broken down to 1 cup of Iams Proactive in the Green Bag (Annie prefers the mini chunks) and 1/2 cup of Natural Balance LID Sweet Potato and Venison. There are times when her poo is sorta mushy but that's usually because she had an unusual treat the day before. For instance, she loves marshmallows but they will give her soft poos 24 to 36 hours later for just one time, which is why she doesn't get them often.
Don't forget that most Greyhounds (dogs in general?) tend to have softer poos as the day goes on, so when your dog is doing a decent job at 6 AM, don't be surprised at 6 PM, or whenever, it's not as great.
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Annie has gas so seldom that I can almost say never. She used to have soft poo issues but no longer. She is fed 3 cups of food a day, split 1-1/2 cup each for breakfast and supper.
Each meal is: 1 cup of Iams Proactive (Iams in the Green Bag) and 1/2 cup of Natural Balance LID Sweet Potato & Venison Formula.
Once I got her on this combo, her poos, which had been OK on Iams in Green Bag, firmed up even more. Since she likes the combo and does well on it, I don't even think about changing anything.
Good luck!
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First full day was a success. We think Rudy took his muzzle off (or the walker didn't put it back on) but no damage done!
Yeah! This is good news. He's been in the household a couple of months, right? IMO, that's plenty of time to trust, especially when you have proof. Some of us don't ever use a crate or muzzle.
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She was a sweet and lovely girl and you wrote sweet and lovely things about her. They are always missed when they leave us.
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That's greyt! I bet the dogs liked it, and who knows, maybe some day you can work up to no muzzles. I have only one dog, but have fostered in the past and never muzzled when I had to leave the dogs alone. I'm retired, though, so never had to leave them for more than 2-3 hours.
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Welcome back. You must be glad you'll be spending the winter in a warm climate.
Poor Charlie.
I have no advice other than to have a vet's number handy in case it's needed. -
It would be a good idea to tell your son not to approach, touch, etc., your hound when she's laying down, even if she appears awake. Greyhounds often sleep with their eyes open. Even after 3+ years of Annie living with me, occasionally I can't tell if she's awake or asleep, though her eyes are open. She has no issues with me doing anything to her, asleep or awake, though out of respect for her naps, I don't bother her when she's asleep.
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It can take a while -- a while being months sometimes -- for a Greyhound to settle in, including playing with toys. As others have said about their hounds, my girl wasn't into stuffies until I bought what I call the stuffless stuffies; the flat ones with no substance other than the fur. She still doesn't play much, but when she does, she grabs a flat stuffy with lots of squeakers and sorta plays with it for about 60 seconds.
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I think it's pretty obvious that Aiden wants to go outside with the other dogs, whether to potty or play. When he's denied, he pees in the house. He's telling you and your mom big time, "Me too!" My suggestion is to use muzzles for rough play or have your mom leash him to her when the others go outside so he can't walk away and pee on the carpet. She can use treats and lots of praise to keep his mind off the others.
I'm sure you'll get more, and better suggestions, below. Good luck!
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Welcome to the world of Greyhounds. My advice is to seriously take the advice given above. I have nothing additional to offer because I've never had this issue with my girl, but those who have responded know what they're talking about.
We'd like to see a picture of Pluto.
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Thanks for the quick response so far. To be honest, we haven't really thought about not crating him yet. He's laid down in his crate quietly when we're in that same room with him (while my wife sews, for example) but when I go to let him out after work he's a fireball coming out of his crate. We usually gate him in the area where he sleeps (between bed and wall) at night, but we could try gating him in the bedroom.
Would it be better to give it a trial run (gate him in bedroom and walk down the street and back) or just go for it one day?
I'd try a trial run but I wouldn't do it with him in the bedroom all alone (if indeed he would be alone). Greyhounds like other live things around them: dogs, people, even cats, and he and Gus are used to each other now. IMO, they would need to be near each other.
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My girl plays only with the stuffless stuffies, and they better have lots of squeeers in them or they're just not worth it. Of coure, she doesn't often play with them, and even when she does chomp on one or throw it around, it's only for about 60 seconds.
As others above said, a stuffy is a stuffy to a dog. In his mind, they're all his. :-)
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Is if necessary to crate him? I know some dogs need to be crated because of a cat or because they are destructive. If destruction is not an issue, can you gate Rudy in one room or put gates up to block him from going into other rooms so the cat is safe? If so, try letting him be free. If he hates the crate as much as he's exhibiting, he may eventually hurt himself by chewing on it or trying to break out of it.
My girl hated her crate also, though not to the extent Rudy does. She never growled or ran away. She would walk away, refuse to move, hide her head between my knees.. LOL. It was obvious she was very unhappy so, long story short, I used it for only 1 or 2 nights and then put it away.
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Everybody who has posted and will post will tell you the same thing: teach him stairs and let him sleep with somebody. He's lonely. Greyhounds need and want to be with another living thing and you're it! LOL
It can be a bit intimidating trying to teach a dog something new, but teaching your boy to do stairs isn't an option. It's a necessity. My girl *hated* the stairs going up to the second floor and refused to do them. She slept downstairs alone for 5-6 months before she started whining and barking at night. That first night, I slept on the couch with her, but I don't like sleeping on a couch and I need my sleep. The next day I taught Annie the stairs. One step at a time: front paw/paw; back paw/paw; push on the butt; up to the top of the stairs. Up and down 4 times. On the 5th time, she did it herself and that was that.
There are poo posts on the forum where people relate their dogs poo on every walk. It may be only a little bit, but they do it. As I think I said above, my girl poos 3-4 times a day but her routine is regular. First thing in the morning; 2 +/- hours later during morning walk; 5 +/- hours later during afternoon walk. If there's a 4th time, it's usually during the morning walk and it happens if she's had too many treats the previous day. (She loves marshmallows and sometimes I give into those begging brown eyes more than I should.)
I have no advice other than to have a vet's number handy in case it's needed.
Diarrhea Question -- Insurance $ On The Way.
in Health and Medical discussion
Posted
OHhhhhhhhhh {{{{Joe}}}} Look at that face. He looks like a sick boy but getting better. I want to kiss him all over that sweet face.
Very nice that the vet's office sent a picture. Also good that they responded to your request to take him out for a P&P opportunity more often.