Feisty49

I don't have this issue with Annie Bella - that is lunging and barking -- but if she sees a small dog, or any dog, she does perk up and wants to play. Unless I know the dog/owner, I take steps to control Annie Bella by immediately tightening up her leash in my hand so there is no slack and no excess for her to twirl around and I keep walking and say, "Come now." (Our phrase) With the leash tight in my hand and her neck next to my thigh, she pretty much has no choice but to keep walking with me. Taking away the slack in the leash eliminates the ability to jump and twirl.

Poor guy. It hurt him terribly but I know you were also hurting. I've heard Annie Bella give the GSD only once, and I swear it broke my heart.

Thinking that many if not most Greyhounds are afraid of t-storms, etc., comes in part, I think, because by virtue of one of its purpose, many posts on this forum are about problems/issues with Greys. Every once in a while, someone will start a no-problem subject (I did it once) which points out how not all Greys have "problems." My Annie Bella sleeps through storms, loves the wind when outside (she prettily puts her head up with ears back and a smile on her face as if taking it all in), and barely looks at the cat. My granddaughter's dog, a mixed mutt sweetie, shakes, cries, cringes, and crawls under blankets when there is a thunder storm.

Whether glucosamine works or not, I wonder if heating it up via the baking would change its chemical composition in such a way that if it did work, it no longer would. Many meds, 'scripts and OTC, require the medicine to be kept between certain temps to be effective.

There are a lot of Greys who don't like potentially slippery surfaces. I adopted Annie Bella 7 months ago and had to put down runners and small area rugs because she does not like the wooden floors that are in the house. She still won't go into the dining room because there are no rugs there. She wouldn't do the stairs to the bedroom until I put down treads. There are a lot of posts here on GT about this issue. Your boy may eventually not need rugs for security but for now he does.

Dogs, like people, react differently to meds. Annie Bella's Xanax dose was noticeable kicking in in about 10 minutes. Within 40 minutes, she was in a very calm condition that lasted for another 2+ hours before she started showing signs of becoming less calm.

Thanks for the video. I am going to do Annie Bella's nails today. I've introduced the noise to her already and, as usual, my almost comatose-calm girl was unconcerned. ETA: I just did them -- a short intro dremmeling -- and Annie Bella slept through it.

Annie Bella occasionally does this but at a slow pace so unless I'm looking at the clouds, I see it coming. If she has a walk where she decides she's the boss (and that is not acceptable to me), I hold the leash right where it connects to the collar, and it gives her only a couple of inches of movement with her head and she can't cross over either. I've never fallen over her but she has pulled me over! That's a shock and when it happened, it came out the blue. Now I'm aware of what sets her off to want to run (usually snow!!.. LOL) and keep her close.

What does your vet say? I traveled with my Annie Bella, a 67-pound female, just this past weekend, and the vet prescribed 1 mg of Xanax, to be given no more than every 24 hours. Annie has a lot of car anxiety which the Xanax relieved. The Xanax didn't knock her out. It did eliminate her anxiety almost 100%. She no longer panted. She no longer wandered the back of the SUV. She no longer stayed awake for the trip. I could tell she wasn't happy, but the symptoms of that unhappiness were not manifested in panting, drooling, drippy nose or pacing. There were no negative effects either. Even during the 5-hour trip, she was able to jump out of my SUV, do some P&Ping, walk around sniffing and then easily jump back into the vehicle. The 1 mg. didn't seem to last much beyond 4 to 4.5 hours, though. As the trip wound down she started exhibiting mile anxiety.

I adopted Annie Bella in July and didn't discuss it with the vet at the time. I will in April at her next well visit, because I live in a highly infested area of New York State. Actually, I got bit by a tick 2 weeks ago. It was on me from early afternoon, when we went walking into the woods, right into bed that night (yech ) where I finally felt it settling in, so to speak. I was told by two doctors that, at least on people, a tick has to be attached and sucking for 48 hours before being able to transmit Lyme. Nonetheless, both Annie and I at our annual physicals will have a Lyme titer taken as part of our blood work.

I've had Annie Bella since July. Her nails were a good length when I got her and I've had to trim them only twice. The first time I did it with clippers but wasn't happy with the results. The second time I took her to a groomer who did a great job with the Dremel. It cost me $15 and it is money well spent, at least for me. Annie Bella does most of her walking on macadam or concrete, which is, I assume, why her nails don't need to be trimmed often.

My Annie Bella does the same thing while walking on a leash. She'll kind of snort and then very gently take my fingers in her mouth. If I respond, she starts jumping and nibbling a bit harder or going after the bottom of my jacket, sleeves or my scarf. It's fun to interact with her like this. She knows what she's doing and the enjoyment is written all over her face and eyes. It took me a few times, but I've figured out where her nibbling is going to get too much and I stop it.

Nice video.

Awwww, great names for all of them. I love Dr. Pepper's colors. I fostered for a week a boy who was white with black paint splotches and he was such a love. Congrats and good luck!

Honestly, I can't imagine using any leash but the typical 4 to 6 foot ones I have. No matter how calm and docile a Grey may be, at some time there is bound to be something that makes her bolt. I've been pulled flat to my knees and/or face 3 times in the past 6 months, not because Annie Bella saw a potential meal but because she gets excited. Snow, yeah!!!! Wind, yeah!!!! She's feeling frisky, yeah!!! She can be walking calmly by my side and then jump and take off! I am so careful about not losing her that I make a loop through the loop on the leash, put my hand through that and put my thumb in the bit of space created between the first and second loops. I have the leash wrapped at least one time around my hand and because I have her walk on my left side, I also have a grip on the excess leash with my left hand. I don't let her wander far from me, partly because it's good manners but also the closer she is, the more control I hope I have, which has proven true because she's never gotten away from me.

Beautiful words for a wonderful boy. I am so sorry for your loss.

Poor girl. If it's not one thing, it's another. I hope keeping her quiet and calm and content without a lot of play is easy for you. A question about Embrace Insurance: Is the $500 deductible applied to each different illness/injury or is it just one $500 deductible for everything? ETA: I just called Embrace and the deductible is cumulative, not just for each and every problem. I currently have Trupanian and the deductible has to be reached for every *new* problem. Embrace is also less expensive than the Trupanian. But Trupanion is a one time deductible where Embrace is a yearly deductible. I have some of mine on Trupanion and some on PetPlan. PetPlan is cheaper but it is a yearly deductible - so with Briley for example I have to pay a $200 deductible for his knee every year and $200 for his thyroid every year. So basically an extra $33 a month ($400/12months). If he was on Trupanion I would have only had to pay the $200 one time for his knee and one time for his thyroid Sheesh, deciding on pet insurance is as complicated as it is for us humans. Thanks for the info about Trupanion. I was unaware of this - one of those things that got lost in the fine print, at least for me.

I thought Annie Bella had a tick in her left ear. She was scratching it, shaking her head and the ear was twitching and hanging funny. I could see nothing (those are darn deep ears!) so took her to the vet today. Turns out she has an ear infection in her right ear (which is odd because it is her left ear that was weird). The vet found bacteria in the stuff removed from Annie's ear and put her on drops. Has anybody else's pup had an ear infection?

Poor girl. If it's not one thing, it's another. I hope keeping her quiet and calm and content without a lot of play is easy for you. A question about Embrace Insurance: Is the $500 deductible applied to each different illness/injury or is it just one $500 deductible for everything? ETA: I just called Embrace and the deductible is cumulative, not just for each and every problem. I currently have Trupanian and the deductible has to be reached for every *new* problem. Embrace is also less expensive than the Trupanian.

I have no experience with your boy's issue but I looked at your blog site and your fur babies are gorgeous. I also watched Roxy open his present. How funny the way he bit, pulled and then tossed the paper aside. Wishing you much luck and I hope Seka's hip problem can be resolved.

Maybe she can be trained to take treats carefully while you wear gloves and when she learns to do it nicely, take off the gloves. If you're protected, you'll have the time to inhibit her lunge and teeth so she learns acting that way is a big no-no.

I don't have a sliding glass door so don't have this issue, but I know what you mean about not even noticing them any more (kinda like the cobwebs I have in the corners.. LOL). I wonder, though, if the dogs don't even notice them any more?

Gabby is so pretty! I've had Annie Bella for just over 6 months. It took a good month for her to settle in and relax but since then, each week there are more changes, some big and some very subtle. I expect as the next year goes by, there will be more positive changes in her.

I occasionally go to a particular dog park. The people and dogs both are nice and well-mannered. The problem that arises is from my quiet, calm, even-tempered Annie Bella. She is so sweet and laid back every other place, but is very competitive in a dog park. She can, of course, outrun every other dog there, but instead, runs with them and then grabs an opportunity to cut them off by running in front of them. I suppose much like on a race track?? Whatever, it can be dangerous to the other dogs -- I've seen more than one trip and fall down. Once she starts that, I leash her and have her settle down. I've heard many reasons why dog parks are bad from the physical danger to my dog as well as others, and that it's a good place to get fleas and diseases. I can't do much about the fleas (I live in the country so she gets them anyway very easily), but I never go into a dog park without first watching the interaction of the dogs already there. If it doesn't look good, we leave, and if a dog shows up that changes the balance, we leave.

Wow... I love Hank's ears! He looks like he's got an imp in his eyes. I don't have advice except as others have said, ignore-ignore-ignore, no matter how much your insides twist and you feel horrible. If you're going to be awake by getting up for him, be awake but stay in bed. Even pushing the time ahead by 5 or 10 minutes every couple of days will work (assuming there is no UTI).