Feisty49

Not being critical but seriously curious because I don't know: If there is concern about humans getting a bug from the meat, why isn't that concern for the dogs?

Keep on trying! I have an only dog so there is no distractions of that manner, but IMO, she can be quite stubborn (and I know there are many who don't think dogs can be stubborn but I disagree -- no big deal) and she can also push buttons to see what she can get away with. Overall, she's a really easy dog (doesn't go on furniture, chew things, jump, etc.), but I'd like her to become a therapy dog and there are certain "tricks" she has to learn in order to pass. What's worked with us is clicker training. I started out by clicking and tossing Annie Bella a treat (very small and smelly) for doing nothing but breathing. :--) I did that a couple of times a day for a few minutes for 3 days. She then associated the clicker with a treat. It was then a matter of catching her doing what I wanted, click immediately and treat immediately. Up until using the clicker, she would come to me in the house 50/50. After one day of saying, "Come," and immediately clicking when her feet started to move toward me and then treating when she reached me, she's now coming 100% of the time, and I am only clicking/treating 1 out of 3 times, soon to go to 1 out of 4 times, etc. If you can separate out your other houndies and work with Magic alone, this might do the trick!

Congrats!! He is gorgeous. A greyhound adds so much goodness to a household.

Wonderful!!! He sounds like a wonderful boy. Enjoy.

That is wonderful!! I'm hoping some day for the pet therapy international certification but Annie will not go down on command 80% of the time. Need to work on that.

He's handsome. I met Annie Bella at a Meet & Greet on a Saturday I deliberately went to after searching on line for ones near me. I didn't know what dogs would be there. I went just to start looking around. When I walked up to the group of Greys, Annie B met me and leaned. I scratched her ears and pet her side and she leaned even more. I moved a bit and she almost fell over. I talked to the volunteers and Annie followed me around as much as her leash would allow. I spent three hours at this M&G and the volunteers started calling me "Mommy." When I came home, I filled in the group's on-line application, indicating I had met Annie and would like to adopt her. On Monday night, two days later, I had been approved and arranged to pick her up the upcoming Saturday, a week after I had met her. My group, with which I now volunteer, moves quickly once all the criteria has been met and a good match is found.

I can only imagine how sick you must feel. Things happen, though, no matter how much we try to protect. You are so right about there being more to dog ownership than what can be read in a book. I hope your boy heals thoroughly.

Me too. I yearn to have another Greyhound but realistically it would be more than I can, or want to, afford. I'm thankful that Annie B likes being an only dog.

Welcome. Can't wait to see pics of your kids.

Yeah!!! Yah, it does feel like Christmas. The group sounds terrific in that they could see a different dog would be better for your household. Can't wait until your girl/boy arrives and we get to see pictures.

Annie gets 1 cup of Nutro venison and 1/2 cup of Iams green bag for breakfast and the same for supper. Mixed in with each meal are a couple of tablespoons of dried beet pulp and a couple of squirts of fish oil. Her coat is soft and has a nice sheen to it. Annie has never had smelly gas, and in the 15 months I've had her, she's been on a few different brands. Adding the beet pulp has given her better poos, though by the time she does her 3rd poo of the day (which is how many she has every day), it's softer than the morning poo.

This topic has a few posts. Here's what I wrote back in March about what worked for me. I've had Annie Bella over a year now and she so seldom plants herself that I don't even think about it any more. The below info is at this link: http://forum.greytal...ng#entry5283679 If you decide he is done with his walk, that is he has P&Pd but is just not wanting to go home but you want to go home, here are some suggestions to get him moving that I wrote somewhere else on the forum (the link appears below). When I first got Annie Bella (July last year), she planted herself more than walking, I swear. She still plants occasionally, but I have many ways to get her moving. The first thing I recommend, which sometimes stops the planting, is to not slow down just 'cause your boy does, if indeed you ever do that. Walk along with the expectation he'll come along and don't slow or stop, even if he falls back a few feet. Without realizing it, we often pace ourselves to our dog's pace, and it should be the other way around. Don't let him stop and sniff just 'cause you think it's his right if he's one to stop and plant. Try walking him in a circle. Hold him close to your thigh, walk around pressing on his shoulder with that thigh and as you come out, keep on walking. I don't use this any more because my Annie Bella is beyond that but it always worked for me, if not the first circle on the second. Give him a gentle push on a shoulder with your knee or a hand. I don't know about other Greyhounds, but Annie Bella does not like that at all. Talk about giving me stinky eye. The push should be firm enough to make his feet move and that movement starts them walking again. Using two hands, give a gentle, but firm, push on his side. If the push on the shoulder doesn't work with Annie Bella, I do the side push, firm enough so that all four feet have to move, and again, that movement gets her going. The above two pushing/touching moves work the best. Once their feet are unplanted you get going and going quickly. What also works for me, and I tried it out of frustration one time when I was really really really irritated with her, is to stand in front of her, bend down (I bend down so close that often her nose is touching mine), look her straight in the eyes and say with great firmness and aggravation, "Move!" or "Annie come." That always gets her going, because if I've reached that point, she knows I am pissed! (There are some dogs with whom this wouldn't work because of space issues. Annie has no problem with it.) Often, especially when we're in the driveway heading to the door, she'll plant, or go slowwwwwwly, and I use my shame-on-you voice, and say something like, "Shame on you Annie Bella. Shame on you," my voice just dripping with disappointment and I tug. It took a few months of bonding before that worked. You can always use treats. I never walk Annie Bella without treats in my pocket. They're good for training, if the opportunity comes up, and they're good to get her going. Gotta toss them, though, so your dog has to move. Once he's moving, you start out at a good pace with expectation in every step that he will follow. The final way to get Annie moving - which I've had to use only twice because she refused to walk through a doorway -- is to hold her collar by the loop on the Martingale, which has her touching my thigh, and walk, tugging on the loop at the same time. The thing is to get their feet moving again so don't be afraid to give that firm push, either on a shoulder or on the entire side. He may not like it but he will soon know that it will be done each time he stops. Annie Bella still occasionally pulls the planting thing and all I have to do is move my hands toward her body and she starts moving. Good luck. I used to feel so foolish on a public street practically begging Annie Bella to move but those days are long gone, thankfully. http://forum.greytal..._1#entry5145374 http://forum.greytal...ng#entry5184756

Just want to say to Kaila that I have enjoyed reading your posts and not just for their content. They are very well written, and it's a pleasure to read them. You're a dog food snob. I'm an English language snob. :--)

Did you use old-fashioned cooked oatmeal or instant?

Don't ya just love the way they do this? Annie B, at an all-out run, heads right for me, ears back, big smile on her face and then... whooshes off to one side or the other. She is soooo happy when she does this.

Annie B was living with me for just about a year before she started chattering fairly regularly. Now she chatters almost every time she approaches me for some love. It makes me pet her twice as long as I otherwise might have.

With an uncooperative dog who doesn't want to move along, giving a gentle nudge on his shoulder or his rump with your thigh, hard enough to make his feet move, often helps. Usually, Greyhounds will start moving again if their feet are moving, even if it's a forced move by being gently pushed.

Yah, Florida is really hot but I've read that the kennels are A/Cd so in actuality, the dogs don't spend that much time outside in high temps. I suspect when they're turned out for play and P&P, they don't do a lot of playing in the hot hot weather.

As many people who have Greyhounds who do the above is probably as many people whose Greyhounds don't do the above. It's like a new topic that started this morning about walking. Some Greyhounds can walk forever it seems (mine is one of them) and others want to give it up after 10 minutes. Also, Annie Bella has never been a dog who got up earlier than 6 AM unless there was an issue, and with the onset of fewer daylight hours, she's likely to sleep until 7 AM. I can count on one hand the number of times Annie B has had gas, or at least gas I could hear or smell. I don't worry about Happy Tail and the chance of breakage because so far (after 15 months), she only gently sways her tail back and forth. I can't begin to imagine she'd stick her head in a bucket of anything weird. She doesn't even smell the garbage can let alone take a look. I think the best thing you can take from all these posts is ya just don't know what you're gonna get until you got it, though if your houndie has been fostered, you will get some head's up about her/his personality from the foster parents.

My suggestion is keep him on a very short leash and if possible, you walk nearer the grass so he's walking in the middle of the sidewalk. Correct him every time he tries to mark with whatever word works for you and pull him away. Obviously he'll have to pee at some point, but it's been my experience that dogs have a certain behavior when they have to go, so keep an eye open for what he does just before a real long pee. :--) One other thing, and I don't mean this in a dominant way, remind yourself that you are in charge of the walk. The walk is for exercise and fun for both of you, but Luke needs direction. It took me a few weeks after I adopted Annie Bella in July 2011 to realize that I was letting her set the tone for the walk. I was letting her walk on this side or that side; letting her pull me just because she wanted to go smell that tree; letting her plant herself just because she .. well who really knows they they plant! LOL Once I started managing the walk, it took only a few days for Annie B to get it -- that we walk nicely, that we aren't rude by pulling, and that heeling is a necessity most of the time. I say most of the time because every dog needs to smell pee mail but it's not a high percentage of the walk.

This question goes along with: why are some Greys stuffie-playing fools and some don't care? Or.. why do some Greys climb on furniture and others don't? Every dog has a different personality, and assuming there is nothing physically or medically wrong with the dog, I put differences down to variations in personalities, even eating habits.

I'd be a bit more than disappointed but giving the benefit of the doubt, such as an emergency, is the way to go. I know that while my group is run by volunteers, an email with questions or an on-line application for adoption is responded to within 24 hours, unless the president of our group is at a Greyhound event such as Dewey Beach. Even though most (all?) adoption group are run by volunteers (and I am one), I think there is an obligation and responsibility to treat a prospective adopter with respect. After all, getting the Greys into a forever home is the goal and if volunteers don't have time to do the job within a reasonable time, then perhaps they should take a break. I don't remember if you mentioned it, but did you ask the group to which you applied the time frame from initial inquiry to placement, if approved and they have a suitable dog? I fell in lotsa like with my Annie B on a Saturday and I had been approved to adopt her by Monday night and picked her up the following Saturday. That may have been a quicker than average, but if we find an appropriate family for an appropriate dog, most adoptions are complete in a couple of weeks.

Ruby loves ya, but you're not you right at the moment. Just about the time she gets used to the new you, you'll be back to the former you and she'll be confused again! Hope the pain diminishes quickly, Karen.

Nope, she does this leashed. Guess I should just grab a hold even closer to her collar. That's the answer. Short short leash until she's learned not to jump without permission. I automatically put Annie on a short leash if I think she's gonna do something of which I disapprove, such as when we approach people or other dogs. She doesn't jump on people, or dogs, but she gets soooo happy that she wants to run to them for attention. A dog her size can be pretty intimidating, even though I know she won't jump, so my hand is right at her collar.

Yah, I'd be concerned about her being hurt too. I take it she's not on a leash cause you're fenced in. How about if, as you walk toward the vehicle, you take hold of her collar and keep her close to you?